Donald Trump Wins Presidential Election by Joshua Stamer

Donald Trump is slated to be the 45th president of the United States. Many Americans held their breath on election night as the two candidates, with substantial controversy surrounding their campaigns, traded leads throughout the election. The contest started on November 7, election night, and on early Wednesday morning Trump was announced the winner.

How exactly did this happen? Well, on Tuesday night, Trump won the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and Iowa. These states were especially important because they were won by Barack Obama and the democratic party in the election of 2012, making them blue states  (www.nytimes.com). According to CNN, these were also states that Hillary Clinton was projected to win.  

Now that the election is over, Trump will officially be in office on January 20th, 2017. Some of the ideas espoused by Trump consist of building a wall at the border of Mexico and US, deporting criminal illegal immigrants, reducing taxes for the working/middle class, defeating Isis, creating jobs, and strengthening the United States foreign affairs with different nations (www.donaldjtrump.com).

Port Richmond High School Tree Lighting

                                                                                                      By- Diana Stewart

On Friday December 2nd, Port Richmond High School held its annual tree lighting in the lobby. Mrs. Woodmen conducted the band as they played Christmas songs, Mr. Gannon presented his holiday card created by Alex Bros an eleventh grader. Then, Mr. Gannon counted down from ten when he finished he said “our Raider spirit will light the tree” and the tree was magically illuminated. While there, Raiders shared their favorite parts of the holidays. Ryan Horgan sophomore said his favorite part is receiving  presents and spending time with family. “Christmas is my favorite holiday” said David Rivera as well as “getting presents”. Although gifts are received during this holiday, people should take time to be thankful for what they already have and what they can give to people who may not have as much as others. Port Richmond High School gives back to the community in several ways. One way they give back is through the Giving Tree. The Giving tree, is a Christmas tree, decorated with garland that has the names of people who are in need of specific things. Staff of Port are then invited to choose a name and be a secret Santa, who humbly doesn’t ask for anything in return. Port Richmond takes time to recognize the holidays that are celebrated during this time of year as well as, giving back to the people in need!

College: The Next Step of Your Life
                                                                                          By:Hayoung Choi

    College is becoming more competitive, and students are applying more than ever; with

the ever-growing amount of high-schoolers, many wonder if college is as attainable as it

seems. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the number of

students enrolling for college, increased from 16.9 million to 20.4 million since 2003

to 2013. With the world becoming more globalized and technologically innovative,

higher levels of education are becoming prioritized and students are getting ambitious to

search for the best of the best.

    At first, the process seems daunting, many often don’t know where to start. Students

often wait until the last minute to get their prerequisites in and end up rushing their essays

and applications which would lower their chances to get into the college of their choice.

However, by understanding exactly what the college process is and by following a few

steps, students can overcome the pre-college application anxieties head on and get

accepted to the college of their dreams.

Applying to college is a big job, but by breaking the process down into a series of small

steps it can be a stress-free experience for everyone.

1. Building the Real You:

    Throughout your high school life, choose the kinds of extracurriculars that interest you,

not the ones that look the best for a college application. Colleges appreciate it more when

a student is passionate about their interests rather than a student who is trying to join

multiple clubs and sports they may have no interest. List the accomplishments that you

take the most pride in and write the essay that best represents who you are - make your

voice unique.

2. Get Connected:

    Talk to your family, friends, or anyone else you’re close to about your college plans. Talk

about why you want to go to a certain college; this will be great preparation for

interviews later on when you apply for colleges. Also, get to know your teachers and

guidance counselors. They all have been through the same experiences you’re going

through and can provide you with tips and advice to help make your experience the best it

can be.

3. Research Research Research:

    Start conducting on the kinds of colleges you might want to attend. Find colleges that

offer or provide the best support and attention to the major(s) in which you are interested.

Get informed about the different kinds of programs and special activities that each

individual college offers. For example, Brown University provides a BS/MD program for

undergraduates the opportunity to graduate earlier than standard medical schools and

does not require students to take the MCAT test. For medically interested students, this is

an opportunity of a lifetime. Get to know the requirements some of these schools have

and work your way towards achieving each and one of them. Getting started junior year

for college prep is never too early because it allows more time for students to prepare

without stress and eases the overwhelming amount of work.

    For many high school students, college is just a step away. College is not only an

unforgettable experience, but it is a step into adulthood freedom and a time to learn life

lessons. By following these three steps, anyone can make their college application

process simple; you can expect your acceptance letter in no time.

Editorial

Trump: The Future Face of America

By: Haiyoung Choi

On November 8th, 2016, the 45th President of the United States was elected. Millions of people flocked to the polls, writing in their choices for the future leader of America. As the morning of November 9th approached, anxious crowds of people watched to see who the next president would be; the winner of the election was

Donald Trump.

As an underage citizen, I was not able to partake in voting, forced to watch helplessly from the sidelines as the fate of the country was decided. I was not content with either candidates, Clinton or Trump,  but felt rather indifferent about the turn out of the election. Although Clinton, for me, was the better choice Clinton lacks much of the qualifying qualities that I believe a president should possess; Trump, however, lacks much more. When I saw who won the election, I was not only shocked but quite disappointed. Out of all the millions of people living in America, these were the two candidates who were chosen to represent the Republicans and Democrats. These were the best both parties could do.  But, as disappointed I was with the results, I believe what is done is done, we can’t change the outcomes at all. I believe we have to make the best with what we have and we should give Trump a chance. I believe if Trump is influenced and aided by the right people, it could provide the change that many Americans seek.

A Successful Med-Tech Blood Drive

By: Diana Stewart

       On October 25, Port Richmond High School had its first blood drive of the new school year.  The Med-Tech students along with phlebotomists from Staten Island University Hospital, collected seventy-four pints of blood.  It was “the most successful blood drive we have had in several years,” said Mrs. Wright,  the Med-Tech coordinator at Port Richmond High School.  All seventy-four pints were donated to SIUH/Northwell blood bank.  The contributions of 91 willing donors led to a successful first blood drive.  

     Many of the donors were students who have specific reasons for donating blood.  “I wanted my first experience of donating blood to be through Port Richmond, and I had a good experience doing so!" said Tatiana Ferrerias,  a senior at Port Richmond HS.  “I like to help those in need,”said Joshua Stamer.  The students enjoyed reaching new milestones and helping others. 

    This is the second blood drive Mrs. Wright organized as the Med-Tech coordinator.  “I love to combine learning with community service, I am fortunate that this opportunity is part of my role as Med Tech coordinator," said Mrs.Wright.

Med-Tech Participants

Forget Your Troubles, Cabaret at Port Richmond!

Cast of Cabaret 

When Mr. Medugno brought Cabareback to Port Richmond he thought it would be smooth sailing, but soon encountered a few rough patches including a date change, casting changes, and a few costume fixes. Originally the dates of the play were April 15 & 16, 2016 but due to technical difficulties the show had to be pushed back. With the show dates being moved almost a month back, to May 13 & 15, 2016, the cast, crew, and Mr. Medugno got a little longer to work on sets, wardrobe, and to run lines and scenes. The cast and crew also received mentoring from Roundabout Theatre Company towards bringing together the final product.

The two performances received great reviews. Some of the students in Mr. Medugno’s  drama class wrote reviews of the production.  “Eddie Nieves was very entertaining to watch,” “Kaitlynn Gonzalez wowed me with her amazing vocals,” “Everybody was amazing” said student Jayda Casiano from Medugno’s third period class. Two of the cast members wrote about their experience of being part of the production. Christina Bae stated, “...being a part of this production has been an amazing journey. I’ve never been part of a show that has such a serious storyline, so it was cool to have that experience.” Mason Crowley, who played Ernst Ludwig said, “Most might see high school as a stepping stone into college, and that’s where you take the leap into adulthood, but in reality we take leaps with decisions we make in high school.”

EMCEE Posing with Dancers
 (LtoR Top) Sasha Jara, Chloe Roberson, Eddie Nieves,
Alyssa Garcia, and Jennifer Patron
 (LtoR Bottom) Viviana Delgado, Alexa Manno,
Chelsea Romero

When sitting down with the director, Mr. Medugno was said to be very proud of the cast, crew, and band of the show. In the playbill he was interviewed about the show, he was asked a wide variety of questions. Of the questions he was asked how he compared Eddie Nieves playing the role he played (EMCEE) to his performance. Mr. Medugno’s discussed, “There is no comparison, because we both played two different versions of it. Mine was the more traditional version, originally played by Joel Grey, and Eddie is taking on the more modern depiction portrayed by Alan Cumming. Two very similar versions, but also extremely different.” “It is the best! I love being able to participate (as a staff member) in all of the activities I loved so much as a student. Why not pick up where you leave off… right?  It is very symbolic for me.  Actually, it just so happened to work out this way.  I didn’t plan it, but you know what they say, things have a way of working out mysteriously.  When we took our students last year through the Roundabout partnership to see Cabaret at Studio 54, they were so into it. I sat quietly and watched them all become enthralled in this production.  Low and behold, I started to think in my brain about the possibility of putting it on here at Port, and realized, we in fact have the dynamic talents needed to mount it.  I also felt that since I hold this show so near and dear to me, why not come back to where I ended my love for performing at Port Richmond and pick it up from there.  My last role as a student was in fact the Emcee of this production.  Coincidentally, this year marks not only the 50th anniversary for Roundabout (who we’ve partnered with), but it’s also the 50th anniversary since Cabaret first opened.  As you know Roundabout revived it, therefore it essentially is a Roundabout show as well.  So there were a lot of different things pointing me in the direction of choosing this one as my first.”

Myself being the stage manager, and having to run back stage, I felt the show ran very smoothly on the days we performed. The first performance we had a packed house, and the second performance, we had a good crowd with a little less of a crowd than the first. During the week of tech rehearsals, we ran into a few minor bumps and bruises but overall the cast and crew had a great show. The exciting part of the whole experience was being filmed for CTV a local community television station, and going to the American Airlines theatre to participate in the Student Arts Festival. At the festival, the tech team participated in a Tech Challenge consisting of two costume changes, a set change and then tying two clove hitch knots. We ended up coming in first place with a time of one minute and thirty-three seconds. Later that day, we got a quick pep-talk from Zachary Levi, and then the cast was sent backstage to open the festival. The cast did amazing and received a standing ovation for a second year.

Cabaret is a play based off of Christopher Isherwood’s travels to Berlin in 1925. Within twenty years’ time, Isherwood had his travels published in a series of short stories called The Berlin Stories. In the 1950’s the series of books were turned into the movie called I Am A Camera, which was then turned into a musical when Harold Prince obtained the rights to the movie in 1965 and was opened in 1966. The musical starred Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli, and because of the great success Harold Prince’s version was adapted back to film but held closer to the play than the original movie, it also starred Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli. The musical made its way to Port Richmond High School in 2004 where Mr. Stoebling and Ms. Delaney put on a great production. Mr. Vinnie Medugno brought the musical back to Port Richmond High School in 2015 as the Port Richmond High School Spring Musical for May of 2016.

Photos Courtesy of Port Richmond High School Instagram:

@prstudentactivities

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part 1 & 2 Opens up in London by Brianna Messina

A new play by J.K. Rowling and Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part 1&2,  is being presented on stage in the Palace Theatre in London. It’s the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and this will be the first story to be performed live on stage. On HarryPotterthePlay.com it gives you an inside look on the play as a whole, but it gives you little information about the plot of the play. The creators said, “It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus, struggles with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.”

    J.K. Rowling is making sure this play is being kept under wraps by trending the hashtag “#KeepTheSecrets” worldwide so people have a chance to see it before anyone spoils it. She stated in a tweet on June 8th “So, reaction to first preview was… wonderful. Feedback is, fans really do want to #KeepTheSecrets for each other’s sake. #DontBeWormtail.” Cast member Paul Thornley, who plays Ron Weasley, stated after the first preview “What an extraordinary 1st preview. Thank you to all the Potterheads for your love and support. You were amazing @HPPlayLDN #keepthesecret”. Harry Potter fans, who call themselves ‘PotterHeads’, are all ecstatic about the play opening. For those who can’t attend the play in London, they will be able to buy the script on July 31st, 2016.

Senior Week 2016 by Jessica Gottleib & Chelsea Romero

Senior Citizen Day- What better way to start off senior week than by being a senior citizen? We may be 18 now, but before we know it we will have gray hair and a walker. Hana Ahmed killed the game coming into school with a walker to portray her character as an old man. “I took this walker from my aunt who just had a double knee replacement, but don't worry she had another one.” said Hana. Another great example of being a senior citizen was Jessica Gottlieb who topped her outfit off with a one liner, “Give Grandpa a hug.”

Twin day- grab your best friend and rock the same outfit, it's as easy as that. Whether they’re best friend was a student, teacher, or dean, seniors dressed to impress. The two questions students had to ask themselves is, “who should i match?” and, “what should we wear?”

College Day- with decision day being 20 days ago, almost every senior knows where they are going to college, so we made Wednesday college shirt day. People were wearing their shirts and hats loud and proud. Jazmine Hernandez wore her Stony Brook hat and shirt said she is, “extremely excited for college and meeting new people.” Lauren Rapaport, who will be attending Suny Cortland for teaching alongside Jessica Gottlieb, hopes to further her softball career as a Cortland Red Dragon. Nowoola Awupato wore his villanova hat and shirt to show where he will be playing D1 football and making his raiders proud.

Throwback Thursday- on Throwback Thursday students revisited their favorite decade, though we don't know what they were really like, seniors portrayed what they see on tv. Amaris Lighty and Kaitlynn Nunez took on Cher and Dionne from the 90’s hit movie Clueless. “Its awesome to dress how they used to back in the day because the fashion then was so different from now,” said Amaris.

Senior Night-With the school year coming to an end, the class of 2016 are counting down the days until graduation. The senior activities started on May 16th with a Senior Spirit Week and ending the week with Senior Night. Senior Night is the official start of the goodbye and the seniors created many memories that will last a lifetime.

In the end of the week, the senior class had to wear their Senior shirts, designed by Matthew Moen. Later on that day, they were to wear the shirts to Senior Night starting at 7. The seniors met up at the tennis courts where they had four inflatable games. There was an inflatable race, basketball, a challenge to get up a ladder without falling and a castle experience where people were met with different obstacles like crocodiles and boulders being thrown at them. Catered by John’s Deli, students had the choice on four different sandwiches and three different pastas. An ice cream truck was provided as well as a cotton candy machine. “Senior Night was a really fun experience. It showed how close friendships really are out of school,” said senior Victoria Modica. The entire night, the DJ provided us with music from today’s top hits to some throwback music to spanish music. There was also a photo booth where the students could capture their memories from a great night. “Senior Night was a really good experience for me. It was a really good night and everyone came together and had fun,” said senior Nyema Williams. The night was filled with laughter and the class of 2016 will carry this amazing memory from highschool for the rest of their lives.

Graduates from the Lyfe Center Honored by Isabel Moldonado

 

On May 24, the graduating moms from the Lyfe Center had a special ceremony at Columbia University. There were different schools from all five boroughs present at this ceremony. The graduates met other parents who experience different struggles but overcame their obstacles and attained success. Each graduate brought two guests and their children to the ceremony. Some children walked down the aisle along with their parent. The ceremony lasted about one hour. After the ceremony graduates had food, cake and the children participated in fun activities. “Being part of the whole experience it was really wonderful, and getting too share it with my family was the best part!” said Isabel Maldonado

Drakes ‘Views’ Lived Up the Hype! by Ally Labita

The wait is finally over. After months of Drake fans waiting for “Views From the 6” to come out, the album finally dropped on April 29th, 2016. Out of the 4 albums Drake has released, I wouldn’t consider this the best one, but it’s high up there. He opens up the CD with “Keep the Family Close”, a smooth song talking about how his family will always be there even though he struggles with trust, after being betrayed by friends. Throughout the album, the mood changes. Right after “Keep the Family Close”, Drake brings up the beat of the CD with the song ‘9’, a so9ng about the impact he's made on his hometown. Every song varies with the music behind the lyrics, and that's what makes the album so enjoyable.

Out of the 20 tracks Drake gave us, 12 of them have samples from some old songs. Although Drake haters believe Drake used the samples as an easy way to get songs on the CD. However, Drake demonstrates his creativity by combining his old songs with his new ones. He added an interesting style to the new songs by either twisting the lyrics or the beat of the old songs.

If I had to pick my top 5 songs, they would have to be “Too Good” (ft Rihanna), “Still Here”, “Keep the Family Close”, “With You” (ft PARTYNEXTDOOR)  and “One Dance”. “One Dance” and Controlla have already taken over the radio. “Too Good”, “One Dance” and “Controlla” will be the songs of summer.

Views was the first album in 2016 to sell a million copies and spent two weeks on top of the billboard 200. “Doing plat, plat only” said Drake.

Senior Prom 2016

Port Richmond High School had its Senior Prom 2016 this past Friday. The Event kicked off at 7pm, but students started arriving at 6:30pm to be sure to get a spot on the Good Morning Port Richmond Special: Prom Live!. With a Bollywood theme, students took the meaning of the theme, to the next level with some students wearing headpieces, and special outfits that matched the theming. In the center of each table was a vase with various colored feathers of orange, pink, and purple, as well as a genie lamp and jewels.

After a few minutes settling in at the tables, and placing their dinner orders, students were called to the dance floor by Mr. Medugno, and the DJs for the night. The students heard a various selection of music from Drake's latest album to nineties hip hop to songs that got everyone dancing. The students spent about an hour dancing and mingling with each other before they were asked to find their seats and enjoy the main entrees. While the students ate they watched the Good Morning Port Richmond Prom Live! Special. Students cheered when they saw their friends on the screens that were placed in front of the DJ booth. They saw the whole special before it was uploaded to the Good Morning Port Richmond vimeo account later that night.

After the students finished their meals, they were once again back out on the dance floor dancing with each other. A little while after the main entree was served Mr. Medugno took the control of the dance camera that was perched on top of the DJ booth and had students show off their dance abilities on the camera. Soon after most students failed to realize dessert had been served and was sitting at their table because they were having too much of a great time dancing and making a few more memories as high schoolers before their graduation that is coming soon. A few students even took time out to take a few more pictures in front of the Senior Prom backdrop on the red carpet. When the time came students started to trickle out and head their separate ways. Over all the students had a great night, and its a night they will soon not forget.

Varsity Baseball by Joshua Stamer

    The varsity baseball team gave a good effort this season. The Port Richmond Raider squad posted a record of 8 wins and 8 losses. The Raiders had a talented group of players across the board. Starters Joshua Lopez, Bobby Hart, Jim Baez, Christian Harjo, James Mullaney, Angel Santiago, Khalid Lambert, Chris Masterson, and Christopher Maiorana, all played in the playoff game that took place at Randall’s Island field against Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Manhattan. Eric Benedetto was the starting pitcher and he was caught by Christian Harjo. The Raiders lost by a score of 11-1. Their run came on a passed ball, with Bobby Hart sprinting across home plate. It has been over five years since the Raider baseball team has made the playoffs. The team will return a high percentage of their roster next season and will be ready to make another playoff run.   

(SI.Live.com)

Panhandling: Telling the Difference by Joshua Stamer

It has happened to everyone at one point or another. Walking down a Staten Island street you see a man who appears less fortunate. He then either has a sign saying he needs help, or he may even just ask for ask for money. Awareness has been raised on these situations, since in the news there has been multiple documents of panhandlers who are scamming people, and made a lot of money from their actions. So the concern for Staten Island people has now become, do we cold-heartedly turn down people who seemingly need help ? or do we provide our hard earned money (even if it's loose change) to people who could be scamming us ? A Port Richmond senior named Ryan said “ The Fakers are spoiling it for the people who actually need help. If I see someone who needs help I would give them the money. If they are faking, then they have to live with that. “ Perhaps the most difficult part of this entire situation is telling the difference between people who actually need help, and the posers. Another student named Amanda stated, “ I ignore the panhandlers, I don't want to waste my money that I work for.” Since there is no real accurate way of telling the phony  from the genuine, I have come up with a new solution. Whenever, a panhandler, asks for help, you could provide him with food instead of money. While money is an important part of anyone's life, it is not edible, and the homeless people cannot eat money.  “ I am always considerate to panhandlers since I know that sometimes people really need help. But there are times where people use children to beg for money or use the money for drugs so I try to supply food instead.” Said Mrs. Baptiste a tenured Port Richmond Trigonometry teacher.   If you are one of the people who wants to help the needy, providing a protein or granola bar would be a big help. They usually cost around 50 cents and you wouldn’t have to feel any guilt of not helping someone in need. If more people were to do this, scammers would be really upset at the end of the day when they end up with 50 granola bars, instead of 50 dollars.  

After School App Goes Viral by Noashmie Bosa

The new app,  After School,  has gone viral. The app is a way to anonymously communicate with people from your school . This app has taken over the social media accounts of people who subscribe to it. Many people think that it’s a horrible idea and is just another way to bully people. There are no restrictions on the app. It is just an easy way to talk about people. “It’s a very dumb app just for people to talk about other kids,” said Jada. The app is crashing on some phones. When it crashes it does not let people post or see what others had posted or what they are posting currently. “ I hate that app it’s so annoying,  people talking about other people, but can’t say it there face,” said Pablo. While some people highly dislike After School, others are indifferent about it. “ I don’t really care about the app; it’s useless,” said Justin. There are others who have positive thoughts on After School. “It’s a fun loving app.  It’s some of the people who use it that make the app bad.” stated Josh.  “ I think the After School app is entertaining,” said Matthew. There are many differing opinions on After School, but everyone has to remember it’s just an app.

Are One-Size Stores Body Shaming? by Michelle Ortiz

Recently, a woman by the name of Abby Richmond posted on “Teen Voices” about a clothing store named, “Brandy Melville.” The opinion of this brand was not good. “Brandy's clothes appeal to girls who prefer a simple look. However, there's one important thing that separates Brandy from the other clothing chains--their one-size policy… Melville's clothes aren't just aimed at teenage girls--they're aimed at SKINNY teenage girls,” Abby exclaims.

Abby had actually purchased at that store before, “Confession time: I own several pieces of clothing from Brandy Melville. I love its style, but not its ethics. Brandy Melville's body exclusivity gnaws at my conscience, and it's not just about whether or not I fit into their clothes. My problem with Brandy is that it is absolutely unaccepting of diverse body types,” she tells. She states how Brandy Melville tears away at her self-esteem.

On the bright side, a lingerie store, Aerie, has begun to stop photoshopping their models; they show their freckles, tan lines, tattoos, wrinkles and they send positive messages to girls to “love the real you.” “Luckily for us teenage girls, other clothing chains are rebelling against these tactics. Aerie, a lingerie company owned by the same company that owns American Eagle, announced last year that they will no longer photoshop their models… Their unretouched models present such a positive image for teenage girls. They show that all bodies are beautiful and that there's no need for everyone to conform to the same ideal. They let girls know it's good to be confident in themselves.” Abby states.

Here is what some Port Richmond students thought about Abby’s article. “I agree that some store’s marketing is overdone with their models, I see flawless faces everywhere and I wish I was them, but I’m not, I have a lot of flaws. I disagree with Abby though, because she states the clothes are for skinny 90-pound girls, but I am nowhere near that skinny and I love to buy there. One size clothing is really cool!” Samantha says. Samantha realizes and accepts her flaws, she wishes the fashion industry would too, but she still loves the idea of one-size stores.

On the other hand, Samantha’s friend thought differently. “I’ve been there before and it seems alright, but it’s almost all true. All the girls are skinny without blemishes or marks, and the clothes can be tight or uncomfortable because I’m not that thin. I have curves, my body is proportioned differently, but one size stores are supposed to try their best to fit all bodies, maybe Brandy Melville has to step their game up.” Alyssa says. Alyssa also notices her flaws, but she thinks that one-size stores like Brandy Melville should put more of an effort to fit more body types.

Brandy Melville has lots of work to do, but so does the whole fashion industry. Changes are happening every day and hopefully, one day we can all see models with flaws and express a positive atmosphere towards all body shapes.

The N-Word by Nikita Persaud

  On February 26th, 2016, Mr. Gregory Dickerson came to Port Richmond High School and talked about the use of the N- word. His goal is to help influence the students at Port Richmond and members of the community to stop using the N-word. He did so by explaining to students that it is disrespectful to call people a “Nigger/Nigga” and that the word makes a negative impact on society.

    A ‘Nigger’ is a contemptuous term for a black or dark-skinned person. Many people misuse this word because they don’t know the correct meaning and some use the word in the wrong context. Students at Port had altered views about the use of the N-word, “I use the N-word because I hear it around me a lot and it got stuck into my vocabulary,” said Zuzanna Gvzybowska. “I don’t use the N-word because it is offensive,” said Ernest Peiris. “Yes I use the N-word because it is more of a friendly and respectful way of talking to each other,” said Walla Baes.  

    Mr. Dickerson is a West Brighton native. He wrote a book called, “Steven: The education of a Young Black Man's Mind.” This book teaches a young black man, who uses the N-word, the true hate the word actually represents. Dickerson was inspired to write this book one day during his lunch hour while he was standing next to two young black men that were having a conversation and carelessly using the N-word.

    Mr. Dickerson has been visiting Port Richmond and many other high schools hoping to educate them about the power that words can carry.

                                                Photo by: Skii Magazine (Mr. Gregory Dickerson.)

Attention Juniors!

For many students, junior year of high school is also the most difficult year. Students must prepare for their upcoming ACT or SAT test dates, evaluate potential colleges and function beneath an immense amount of pressure to achieve high grades to impress these colleges.

-POSSE scholarships See Ms. Watkins in the college office, Rm. B233 ASAP

-QuestBridge’s College prep program: Deadline to College office: March 23, 2016.

-Soroptimist Violet Richardson Award:  Recognizes young women age 14-17 who have accomplished

something noteworthy as volunteers. See Ms. Watkins to be nominated by March 10, 2016

-Syracuse University Summer College NYC Scholarship Program. See Ms. Watkins ASAP on B233.

                                  TEST DATE              REGULAR DEADLINE        LATE FEE APPLIES

SAT I/SAT II            MAY 7, 2016               APRIL 8, 2016                 APRIL 22, 2016

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Username and password for registration on the Welcome page are Students Osis Number.

-Fee Waivers: if you qualify for free or reduced lunch, yoy will be eligible for fee waivers. Contact your

-Juniors start registering for SAT’s.

-Social Security Card/Number: Its important to start applying for a social security number if you haven’t

already as you will need it to apply for colleges.

Port Richmond High School & Career Fair – March 22,2016

NACAC’S NATIONAL College Fair – April 24,2016

Riverbank State Park College Fair – March 12,2016

Hispanic College Career Fair  - March 23, & March 24