*Parents and families, Please pay close attention to the following 3 announcements. Friends and community partners, feel free to skip ahead to our highlights and happenings.*
Early Release!
We will be releasing at noon on Friday, December the 20th for holiday break and students will return to school on Monday, January the 6th. Busses will run as usual on early release day. If your student is a car rider, they must be picked up by noon. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Semester 1 Exhibitions Next Week
Parents,
Please contact your students’ advisor for their exhibition presentation day and time. Community members, if you’re interested in joining us for exhibitions please request an invitation by emailing learn@newharmonyhigh.org.
Thank you!
Suicide Prevention Workshop on Monday the 16th
Students will be participating in a suicide prevention workshop next week. The program is called “Music for Mental Health” from Project Fleur-De-Lis. The mission of the program is for musicians and mental health advocates to provide a musically-based mental health outreach program for youth attending schools in the Greater New Orleans area. By sharing real-life, personal experiences with mental illness through the easily-accessible, creative medium of music, we seek to promote help-seeking and self-preservation behaviors in the city’s youth.
The event will take place on Monday, from 8:45am to 10am. Please contact our school social worker, Christine, for any questions or concerns. Christine@newharmonyhigh.org
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS…
A freshman is Semi-Finalist working with Drew Brees and Jnior Achievement
Emery KJ, a freshman at New Harmony High, was named a semifinalist in the Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge competition, sponsored by the Drew Brees Foundation and Junior Achievement. This means that he is one of twenty students selected from New Orleans to advance to the statewide round of competition in the spring for his invention, Auto Ramp. He also had the chance to meet Drew Brees at the press conference on Monday!
The competition is similar to ‘Shark Tank’; each student team conceived of an invention and submitted a business plan to the judges. They will receive ongoing mentoring around marketing and entrepreneurship skills throughout the spring semester and ultimately compete to win up to $70,000 in scholarships. His “crazy idea” is a lightweight, portable wheelchair ramp that enables a wheelchair-bound individual to be self-sufficient by rolling out the ramp whenever and wherever they need it.
Stay tuned for Emery’s Harmony Highlight interview at the end our newsletter
Leaving to Learn:
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Last Thursday morning, our ninth graders went for a tour of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. They visited the main halls, saw a convention in progress, and were intrigued by the golf carts and how one might be permitted to drive one. On a tour of the kitchens, the head chef described the logistics of feeding 20,000 people at a time before leading the students through a room-size refrigerator and a 10-degree freezer! The tour ended with a Q&A session with the Convention Center’s Special Events Sales Manager, GIna Locatto, who complimented our kids on their thoughtful questions and attentiveness.
“13 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Cerebral Palsy”
Last weeks’ Harmony Highlight, Kendrick, recently wrote a Buzzfeed article for a piece of his exhibition project. Check it out!
He recently wrote this thoughtful piece about our school:
“New Harmony High is a school built on different principles. Our classes aren’t just mindless sessions of memorizing words- but engaging classes full of learning, work, all based around real life. We don’t just learn about meaningless theories, but how to do taxes, calculate income and manage a budget, among other things. We prioritize project and field learning. Every week, we go out to learn about the world we live in and interact with the community. These ‘Leaving to Learns’ are more than just field trips. They are crucial to the mission of New Harmony, allowing the students to engage with the community, environment and themselves.”
What is something you do well?
I think that I solve problems pretty well.
What is something you have learned in the past week?
I got in contact with a game developer from MIT and now he’s teaching me about game design, so new things there.
What is a misconception people have about you?
Some people think that I’m really scared of everything, I usually act like I am because I’m tall and clumsy so I don’t want to accidentally hurt someone or get hurt myself! I’m just cautious.
What is the biggest dream you have for yourself that you do not often say aloud?
When or if I’m successful in life I would really like to help people that are homeless or impoverished. I value generosity.
Who has had a positive influence on your life so far and why?
Dina, my math teacher, has encouraged me to do more and keep working and has given me opportunities and connections to help expand my potential.
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
Correct everything that I thought was wrong.
What do you like about New Harmony?
I really like the way the teachers treat the students. We’re people, and not inferior, and they recognize that.
Happy weekend! Here’s a photo of Jeff’s son Gus with our science teacher Fernando and a baby goat to kick off your weekend!
