P-TECH at Watervliet Weekly Update
March 8, 2019
Students Volunteer at the Regional Food Bank
Students from the Capital Region BOCES Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) Watervliet campus spent their morning on Friday, March 1, helping the less fortunate at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.
Students sorted donations and learned how the food bank accomplishes its mission of collecting large donations and distributing them to the hungry and disadvantaged in 23 counties though local food distribution organizations.
“It feels good helping people in need,” freshman Kendryek Flynn, a P-TECH student from Watervliet, said as he sorted seltzer waters from soda.
Classmate Phoenix Tobin agreed.
“It’s a good feeling helping people but it’s sad because we shouldn’t have to be doing this (people shouldn’t need food banks),” he said.
Giving students a good understanding of humanitarian and charitable outreach is one of P-TECH’s missions. As a result, the school worked with its partner, the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, to arrange Friday’s opportunity for students to volunteer and learn about hunger in the Capital Region and beyond.
P-TECH Course Update
In math, students have been working with adding, subtracting, multiplying, and factoring polynomial expressions.
Students have also been learning about binary and hexadecimal code, and how to convert numbers to different bases.
In Participation in Government (PIG), students researched who represents their community at the various levels of local, state, and federal government. Students then selected an elected official to write a letter to about an issue that they are concerned with.
In science and English, students have been formulating opinions about the ethics of stem cell research and cloning technologies. On Thursday they discussed their opinions in a student-led Socratic Seminar.
Upcoming Trips
RPI Trip: Thursday, March 14
P-TECH will travel to RPI to tour the Stem Cell Core, which is one of the most advanced stem cell facilities in the country, and discuss topics in stem cell research with scientists in the field. Discussions will focus on the ethics behind stem cell research, sourcing, and applications. Bag lunches from the Watervliet cafeteria will be provided for students.
P-TECH students will depart Watervliet HS at 9:45am
P-TECH students will return to Watervliet HS at approximately 2:00pm
Helping Teachers Learn to Code: Thursday, March 21 (Rescheduled from 2/28)
Some P-TECH students have volunteered to help Albany Can Code run a Professional Development session for elementary teachers. The students will be helping the teachers design coding lessons that they will bring back to their classes. Only the P-TECH students who volunteered will be going to this session.
The session will take place at the Capital Region BOCES headquarters at 900 Watervliet-Shaker Road in Albany. The bus for this session will leave Watervliet HS at 7:25am. Students who are participating will need to ride the 7:10 bus to school that day, or make sure that they have other transportation to arrive by 7:25.
P-TECH students will depart Watervliet HS at 7:25am
P-TECH students will return to Watervliet HS at approximately 11:45am
R.A.P. (Realize Anything's Possible)
On Tuesday, March 4, P-TECH students were able to participate in the R. A. P. (Realize Anything's Possible) assembly along with their Watervliet Jr./Sr. High School peers.
Rappers Cutright and Ike Hill provided an interactive assembly program for students by way of a full production rap concert that connected with students through positive music while delivering encouraging messages around respect, optimism and perseverance.
It was an entertaining experience with a great message!
Important Upcoming Dates
- March 14 - Trip to RPI
- March 21 AM - Helping Teachers Learn to Code
- March 21 PM - Guest Speaker on making business pitches
- March 22 - No School: Staff Development Day
- March 26 - Guest Speaker on Cyber-security Careers
P-TECH Contact Information
To contact P-TECH staff, please use the email addresses below, or call (518)629-3331. Please note that this line is not always accessible to our staff. If it is an emergency, or you need immediate assistance, please call the Watervliet Jr./Sr. HS main line at (518)629-3300.
Kurt Redman – P-TECH Principal kurt.redman@neric.org
Tim Honsinger – P-TECH Guidance Counselor tim.honsinger@neric.org
Dharini Adhvaryu – P-TECH Science Teacher (Living Environment) dharini.adhvaryu@neric.org
Kirsten Dunn – P-TECH English Teacher kirsten.dunn@neric.org
Matt Battisti – P-TECH Math Teacher (Algebra) matthew.battisti@neric.org
Kate Burke - P-TECH Social Studies Teacher katherine.burke@neric.org