Programming Spotlight: The New Victory Theater and Phare Circus

“Hey!  Hup!  Hup!  Hup!”  were the directions one of the students gave the rest of our group of teachers, students, and staff when taking the reins from Hassiem Muhammad and Marisol Rosa-Shapiro, two visiting teaching artists.  It was during a Phare Circus pre-theater workshop that the two visitors facilitated last week  in Belmont’s little library.  

There by tackling basic juggling challenges our group developed a deeper appreciation for the teamwork and precision required to successfully juggle plates,  balls,  and rice-filled balloons.  With the aim of preparing us to learn from and enjoy the New Victory’s presentation of the Phare Circus performance at Stage 42,  our two talented workshop leaders engaged everyone in hands-on circus activities and developed the participants’ schema around rice and Cambodia.  

The following day Physical Education teacher Mr. Bent and myself led a school trip bringing the same groups to the theater where we all oohed and aahed over the performers’  dazzling circus feats.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Programming Spotlight: Field trip to the Jay-Z exhibit at BPL

photo credits: Jamila Abdulrashid

During September & October 2023, students from Bronx Hope took a trip to visit the Jay-Z Exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library. On display were various artifacts from the career of the legendary rapper including magazine covers & Grammy Awards. In addition, for a limited time only, any New Yorker with membership to the Brooklyn Public Library can obtain any of the limited-edition Jay-Z library cards.  Click here to see them all.--Jamila Abdulrashid

NYPL's College and Careers Pathways at Passages Academy--Belmont

Would you like to have $1000 to spend toward your postsecondary plans?  Would you be willing to complete 30 library programs and a portfolio of documents to prepare yourself for your postsecondary journey?  Passages students at Belmont learned about the opportunities offered by the New York Public Library’s College and Careers Program last month from the manager of the program itself, Katrina Ortega. 

The “magic money” program, aka ICCAAN, is just one of many ways the public libraries offer support to teens as they consider their options after secondary school.  We can’t thank Katrina enough for personally visiting with all of our students inside Belmont’s school library, building bridges, and signing students and staff up for library cards. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy

This fictionalized memoir  begins  with a confrontation between Huda and her mother who is holding up a mediocre report card and demanding to know where Huda keeps her drugs.

After grabbing the reader’s attention in media res, the story rewinds back to Huda’s move with her mother and four sisters to Dearborn, Michigan.  There the sisters attend  public school for the first time with other hijab-wearing Muslim girls.  

With a heaping dose of self-deprecating humor, this story of an American Muslim teen is highly accessible to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Raina Telgemeier graphic format memoirs and offers a humorous perspective on one girl’s effort  to fit in and find herself. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

You can find a seven-page educator's guide, including discussion questions and extension activities from the publisher here.

The Waiting Place: When Home is Lost and a New One is Not Yet Found by Dina Nayeri

This picture-book brings the reader into the world of a Greek refugee camp populated by children from Iran and Afghanistan living in repurposed shipping containers.  The author effectively anthropomorphizes the camp as she writes,   “The Waiting Place doesn’t mind.  It wants more children and mothers and fathers.  It doesn’t want you to visit the nearby lake… to learn your new language, or to work, or build, or learn.” 

The Waiting Place invites the reader to investigate refugee crises past and present.  

Back matter includes a lengthy afterword by the Iranian American author who is a refugee herself, as well as a helpful glossary.

This is an excellent picture book for older readers and a jumping-off point for conversations and explorations of purgatories, asylum, undocumented persons, migration and, immigration,   and may pair well with When Stars are Scattered.  Teachers and facilitators may find engagement materials here, including a six page discussion guide from the publisher.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Welcome Back!

 Welcome back to an exciting new school year!  The Passages Academy Library team is ready to provide innovative and social-emotional based student programming for our court-involved students.  As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month we'll explore the life of Frida Kahlo and how in the early 20th century she managed her social-emotional well-being by using self-portraits or art therapy to alleviate and/or mitigate her daily pain.  Self-care in any form is vital.  Stay tuned . . . great literacy is on the horizon!--Jamila Abdulrashid

Programming Spotlight: Mindful Coloring

On Tuesday, May 30  and Wednesday, May 31, the library hosted mindful coloring workshops led by Passages’  school psychologist Rebecca Fernandez.  All groups were invited and Ms. Fernandez played calming, ambient music throughout and encouraged participants to reflect on the experience after they had 15-20 minutes of practice.  Everyone present was noticeably calmer.  

Students received gifts of coloring books and mindfulness techniques for teens from our generous partners at LIT.  Most participants seemed eager to continue to practice mindful coloring to release stress and manage anxiety. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Trip Report: NYPL’s SNFL Teen Space

On Wednesday, May 24, Belmont’s Rising Ground group visited the New York Public Library’s gorgeous new teen space at their SNFL branch and had a joyful experience there.  Ricci Yuhico, John Grafton, and Cacau Araujo made  everyone feel welcome and connected.  Music was played, library cards were received, books checked out, and smiles seen on all faces. One student exclaimed at the end of our visit “I’m dead gonna come back here and bring my girl.” --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle

 Dani has never been in love and doesn’t know if it can ever happen to her.  Prince is the most popular guy at school and has had a crush on Dani for years while he was also serving as a love guru on a local radio show, Love Radio.

Both high school seniors now, Prince tells Dani he can make her fall in love with him in three dates - will she give him the chance to win her heart?  Set in Detroit with well-developed characters and alternating perspectives, teens looking for a romance read will enjoy this one.

The publisher has made Julia E. Torres’ nine page curriculum guide available here for teachers wanting to engage students in reading contemporary YA literature.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Programming Spotlight: Dance Africa

                                                            image credit: BAM website

Ms. Bespalova and Ms. Ikawa in collaboration with Ms. Fenster-Sparber Ms. Tamika and the NSD staff arranged a trip for Richmond Hill to go to BAM to see the 46th annual Dance Africa Festival.  

We were in good company with 2,000 people in the audience dancing in their seats and enjoying the show! This year’s production featured music and dance from Ghana entitled “Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Anase and Abusua.” During the introduction, we learned that the people of Ghana welcome visitors with the wonderful word “Akwaaba” which literally translates as welcome! The students also enjoyed call and response with the words “ago," and "ame” which were first uttered from the BAM stage by Baba Chuck Davis, the founding father of Dance Africa. “Ago” means "attention" and “ame” means "you have my attention."  Well, Dance Africa certainly grabbed our attention! --Lori Ikawa

Programming Spotlight: BAM's Word. Sound. Power. 2023

 On Wednesday, April 26th Belmont’s St. John’s group had front row seats for BAM’s annual celebration of poetry and hip-hop called Word. Sound. Power.

This year’s performance highlighted the griot as emcee with the ever-fresh artist-poet Baba Israel in that role.  Students’ favorites included  Dahlak Brathwaite, Helixx C. Armageddon, Silent Knight, and Pri the Honey Dark.  

Brilliant, heavy, inspiring, and hard-hitting,  and just when we  thought  the show couldn’t get any better it found new ways to amplify the messages we all needed to hear.

Even better yet, the following week, Jayson P. Smith visited with our students and led a creative writing workshop which brought us back to Armageddon's "James Baldwin."
A language-rich SEL-grounded experience indeed.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Duolingo

 

All Passages students -  secure, limited and non-secure -  now have access to Duolingo. The free application allows students to use their Passages Academy Google Classroom credentials to log in, sign up for one of the 40+ languages, and begin their journey to learning a new lingo.

Did I mention it’s all free and accessible through their chromebooks!  Big thank you to Mr. Garvey for making it happen.– Claudio Leon

Connections 2023: A free guide for formerly incarcerated people in New York City

 

This excellent and important guide entitled Connections has been around for a long time and this new edition is the best one yet.  It has wonderful artwork and opening narratives by the  powerful and brilliant voices of Grace Detrevarah, Kelley Harnett, and Terrence Coffie. 

 

If you, or those you work with are now incarcerated, or have been, this is the single most important guide to read.   And note if you’re reading this on a digital device, you can access Connections  here, free from the New York Public Library. 

 

The 400+ page guide provides  resources for dealing with Covid-19,  housing,  financial assistance, physical and mental health, addiction, legal and immigration issues,  veterans,   women’s and elder issues,  LGBTQI+ issues,  youth needs,  parents and caregivers’ needs, and very importantly offers resources to help with the job search.

 

Also included is a 2023 calendar, blank pages for notes, and an  index,  with artwork and quotes sprinkled throughout.  Hats off to editor Kate Heenan and the writers for this invaluable volume. Thank you to Sarah Ball and Ricci Yuhico for ensuring it reaches every site at Passages Academy.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

 

Published: No Matter What I Should Be Myself Fully: An Anthology by Passages' Students at Belmont

Congratulations to our student authors just published by 826NYC in the anthology No Matter What I Should Be Myself Fully.  Out this week and available exclusively at Passages, this volume collects writing crafted with the gifted teaching artist Jaydra Johnson in February as part of our Frederick Douglass interdisciplinary project.  Participants read about Douglass' life in Bolden's biography, then read excerpts from Douglass' autobiography, and finally drafted their own pieces of memoir and poetry to share with the world. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes by Tracey Baptiste, illustrated by Shauna Grant

You probably know who Rosa Parks was, and it’s likely you’ve also heard of Claudette Colvin.  But did  you know the two women knew each other?  And do you know what teenager Colvin was up to during the time of the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott?  

In this double biography of the two civil rights figures author Baptiste and illustrator Grant give readers the missing pieces needed to better understand the events of the Montgomery Bus Boycott,  and the brave actions of Parks and Claudette,  all done in comic book format.

Adolescent readers who enjoy comics as well as reading about history and civil rights heroes will enjoy this book as will Social Studies teachers.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Baptiste, Tracey.  History Comics: Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin.  New York: First Second, 2023.  Print.

Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection

Finally they’ve split themselves apart. The Hulk and Bruce Banner are now two separate beings able to go their separate ways - at least that’s what they think!  After wanting nothing more than to live without the Hulk,  Bruce Banner’s wish finally comes true, only to realize he needs the monster within him more than he expected. 

Meanwhile The Hulk believes his life will be different now that he is rid of Banner,  but   trouble finds them both descending into a pit of madness and suddenly they find themselves intertwined once again through unforeseen circumstances.

 

Can The Hulk and Bruce Banner keep their separate identities? Or will fighting for their individuality destroy everything around them? Any Marvel or Action comic book reader should be sure to pick this one up.--Claudio Leon

Aaron, Jason. The Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection. New York: Marvel, 2017. Print.

Digital Data Security by Heather C. Hudak

This is a well-rounded look at data security written on at a middle school reading level explaining how data breaches happen and how readers can protect themselves. Readers are also given information about digital literacy, and each chapter introduces important vocabulary,  as how to research more about digital data security. The author also explains how to evaluate primary, secondary and tertiary sources.  

Text blocks are broken up by pictures, charts and graphs to highlight information. This book is a great starting point for learning  about digital data security and information literacy.--Claudio Leon

Hudak, Heather C. Digital Data Security. Crabtree Publishing Co. 2019. Print

Frederick Douglass in Brooklyn edited by Theodore Hamm

New York City mayor Eric Adams wrote a note prefacing this account of the towering 19th century figure Frederick Douglass making the book especially relevant and timely to us New Yorkers today.

In his intro the book’s editor provides the reader with context for meeting Douglass through the eyes of the poet Walt Whitman and the “varied reactions to his positions on abolition and black equality thus illustrate the ways in which those issues shaped the city in its formative decades.”  

Each of the book’s chapters highlights a speech Douglass made in Brooklyn between 1859 and 1893 and are fascinating primary sources including contemporary public responses to his ideas.  Thus the reader is given crucial, often painful insight into how Brooklynites viewed issues of equality 160 years ago.  

Footnotes add important context.  Recommended for educators.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Programming Spotlight: Percussion Workshops with Mike Ramsey

Mike Ramsey at Bronx Hope 12/22/22 photo credit: Jamila Abdulrashid

Happy 2023! While we are looking forward to what’s ahead in  the new year we didn't want to forget to tell you about last month’s percussion workshops with the brilliant percussionist and music educator Mike Ramsey.  Mr. Ramsey visited with all students in all groups at both of Passages’ non-secure sites, Bronx Hope and Belmont and students drummed their hearts out.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

14 Ways to Die by Vincent Ralph

After ten years, everyone has forgotten about Jess’ mom. The media no longer covers  what happened back then,  and everyone has gone back to their daily lives. The killer,  however, is still on the loose,  has kept on killing,  and now 13 more victims are dead.  But Jess’ mother was the first and Jess’ life has never been the same. 

Now Jess has a plan to catch her mother’s killer and the whole world is going to be part of it. 

Readers of One of Us is Next, Disappeared or The Female of the Species will very likely enjoy this murder mystery.--Claudio Leon

Ralph, Vincent. 14 Ways to Die. Naperville: Sourcebooks Fire, 2021. Print