This week student’s visited Le Musée de Free People of Color, a historic house museum, and one of the country’s few attractions dedicated exclusively to preserving the material culture of and telling the story of free people of color. The tour focused on the historical roots of New Orleans, the fight for freedom and equal rights in a post-slavery America, and how these roots have affected our city and culture today.
We’re so glad that this visit provided insight into New Orlean’s history and culture, especially how the physical and social layout has been impacted. Thanks for having us, L.M.F.P.C.!
Student’s also stayed to learn this week during a special Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) presentation given by our student support leader Angel Cutno. We discussed the museum visit and how the cultural trauma of slavery has affected generations of children. We also viewed “Children of Central City“, which helped students connect real life examples of adverse childhood experiences to the presentation.
Internships!
Student’s also participated in mock interviews with a representative from AT&T to get ready for their upcoming internships in quarter 3.
Environmental Science & Awareness
We’re introducing a new segment for our Weekly What Newsletter. Our student’s are constantly sharing fun facts, realizations, and lessons they learned during their Environmental Science course. Kids are eager to share their new knowledge they gain through the big picture questions we evaluate in class with the community.
Questions this week required multidisciplinary research surrounding food and energy consumption. Here are some of the questions kids were asked about their individual and national food and energy consumption patterns. In most cases, students found that not all answers are cut and dry, but they include several various factors that alter the answer.
“How does your carbon footprint compare to the average American, and more specifically, the average Louisiana Resident?”
Student’s used an advanced carbon dioxide calculator to understand what lifestyle habits contribute to their carbon footprint the most. This information will guide them into making informed and responsible lifestyle decisions.
The average Louisiana resident consumes approximately 76,000 pounds of C02 per year! Vera and Izzy received the lowest scores of all students. Vera consumes just a fourth of that at 18,860 pounds of CO2 per year. Izzy consumes just a bit more, which she found has to do with her diet, at 23,810 pounds of CO2 per year.
Student’s found the following facts:
Your diet impacts your carbon footprint exponentially – especially when it comes to consuming animal products. NHH Student Vera, who received the lowest CO2 consumption score, is on her way to becoming vegan to get her score even lower! Izzy is encouraging her friends and family members to consume less meat.
Transportation can make a huge difference. Taking the bus, biking, walking, etc. exponentially lowers your CO2 consumption. Transportation and vehicles make up nearly 20% of CO2 emissions.
Clothing (hand-me-downs and thrifting) – The clothing industry uses a copious amount of water, harsh chemicals and dyes, and energy from factories to produce cheap fast fashion.
Air dry! And advocate for solar panels
Minimize shower time.
Being environmentally conscious is also better for budgets. Buying vegetables is cheaper than meat, taking public transportation or biking is cheaper than owning a car, purchasing vintage or thrifted clothing is often cheaper, and turning off unnecessary household appliances reduces your energy bill.
When you make more environmentally sound decisions, you’re also more likely to have a healthy body.
Vera and Izzy, our students with the lowest carbon footprints.
NHH Rotary Students:
Service Above Self
The mission of Rotary International is to “provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.”
A group of New Harmony students have elected to host a student-version of Rotary on our campus, known as Interact. On select Wednesday afternoons, a pair of students join our staff member Angel at her local Rotary lunch meeting at Manning’s restaurant for an opportunity to put into practice the professionalism they have been discussing in their career readiness class.
This week, two of our students were treated to a special guest speaker who impeccably impersonated Theodore Roosevelt while sharing an autobiographical monologue.
This relationship between our blossoming Interact students and Rotary of New Orleans will allow students to participate in future opportunities to study abroad, meet business professionals in various fields, and eventually earn scholarships through their involvement.
Guest Speaker
This week we welcomed Ashley Merritt, a local special FX makeup artist who has journeyed into her career through exploration, passion, and taking chances despite the doubts others have had. On Friday morning she spoke to our kids about following your dreams, looking into alternative careers, and how to get involved in the art field.
NHH FAMILIES
Upcoming Exhibitions
Can you believe that quarter two exhibitions are coming up in a little under 3 weeks?! Time is flying by for our founding class, and they’re almost half way through their freshman year.
Next week you will be receiving a message from our Operations Coordinator, Hope, to confirm your child’s selected time slot. We are hoping that New Harmony parents, family members, and friends attend exhibitions and will be doing our best to accommodate parent schedules to do so. Please look out for Hope’s message this week so that we can ensure your attendance.
HARMONY HIGHLIGHT
Jacelynn
What is something you do well?
I draw really well, but I don’t necessarily want that to be my future. I also play soccer.
What is something you learned in the past week?
I learned that fear isn’t respect.
What is the biggest misconception people have about you?
That I’m mean … I’m not mean, but people think I am because of the way I talk and look.
What is the biggest dream you have yourself that you are afraid to say aloud?
I want to be a ballet dancer. I have experience, but ran into a few obstacles; it is still my dream though.
Who has had a positive influence on your life so far and why?
My grandpa because he is always there for me and taking up for me. He tells me to be the bigger person in situations and helps me with math homework.
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
I would dress how I want to dress.
What do you like about New Harmony?
I like the teachers the best. You guys are so open-minded and helpful and not judgy. We get freedom and help when we need it without being afraid to ask.
