Students, NYHS Friends Sparkle at Harbor Gala

by Naya Costner

Manhattan-- Harbor School held its Annual Benefit celebrating 10 years of academic excellence in the marine field on March 7th, 2013 at the exclusive New York Yacht Club.

The gala was pure perfection. It was like a scene out of a fairytale. Gentlemen were dressed so dapper and women were glowing in elegance. It was a night to remember and a star-studded one at that. From political leaders to representatives of big name foundations, all kinds of people were there.

President Bill Clinton addressed the attendees about the importance of the work we do at our school. Our founder Murray Fisher was there, gleaming with the

Continued on Page 5

Arne Duncan Visits NYHS

Secretary of Education Wowed by Harbor Spirit

by Joy Junious

Governors Island-- Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, visited the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School on February 16, 2013. It was a glorious and very honoring moment for all the Harbor School community, students included. It was also a learning experience for Mr. Duncan. During a question and answer period, this reporter asked Duncan “Mr. Secretary, what did you learn in school today?” He smiled and said “I learned that we can prepare students for both college and a career without having to choose which one is more important, because the training for both is happening at the same time.”

Continued on page 7

Oysters get a Hat Tip from the Governor

by Joy Junious

Vol. 2, Issue 3 April 30, 2013 The

Harbor CurrentSanguinem cæruleum portus effundimus

Late Island Final Founded 2011

Inside: The Shipwrights page 4

Underwater Robots!page 6

Students do Storycorpspage 6

1

Science in Society Forumpage 2

Oysters in the Citypage 3

New York City--When you think about what can help protect the coastal cities of the U.S. from the damages caused by hurricanes like the one we just went through, oysters are not exactly what pop into your head, right? Well, a lot of people seem to disagree, as Hurricane Sandy has upped the ante for the need of a solution to the growing problem.

In the State of the State report, submitted just after the hurricane, Governor Andrew Cuomo mentioned oysters as one possible solution to the problem of shielding the city from future storm surges. The Sandy-response panel that the governor convened also referred to the potential usefulness of oyster reefs. These reefs are helpful simply because they help to slow and break down wave energy during a

Continued on Page 3

Photograph : Guest of a GuestPOTUS for NYHS: Principal Edward Biedermann, NY Harbor Foundation Head Murray Fisher,

President Bill Clinton, and NYHS Senior Dee Olea

photograph by Cate HagartySenior Dante Rivera explains

aquaculture to Duncan

Editor-in-Chief: Joy JuniousContributing Writers and Collaborators: Ameena Peters, Kyle Rectenwald, Gabriel Ajara, Thomas “Cullen” Palicka, Manolo Caba, Maria Giraldo, Evelyn Jordan, Elias Ortega, Jose Diaz, Joean Vasquez, Michael Pichardo, Elvis Conde< Naya Costner, Peter Kite, Kennington Hall, Paola Suazo, Brittany Serrano.

Special thanks to Matthew Haiken, Murray Fisher and Cate Hagarty.

Adviser: Susannah BlackActing Principal: Edward Biedermann

New York Harbor SchoolBattery Maritime Building10 South Street, Slip 7New York City, NY 10004

We always welcome opinions, feedback, letters to the editor, and news tips. Reach us at newspaper@newyorkharborschool.org

The Harbor Current is an open forum for the expression of student views. The opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent those of the administration or faculty, or of the student body as a whole.

2Opinion/Editorial

Harbor School Science in Society Forum

The Perils and Promise of Nuclear Science: Two Students Consider the Ethics of a Crucial Issue

Kennington Hall:

Nuclear science has made huge advances in recent years, but because of the nature of radioisotopes, it brings up complex ethical and safety issues that need to be addressed. I strongly support the idea that scientists should continue to research, develop and test radioactive technology in medicine, in energy, and in weaponry. Clearly there are risks associated with nuclear chemistry but I believe that the benefits outweigh the risks.

I am not in favor of the use of nuclear weapons-- I don’t think anyone who had much humanity would be, but I am in favor of having nuclear weapons. The countries that we are worried about having nuclear weapons will always have a back-up plan. Earl Lane of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was quoted talking about how any of the countries that currently have nuclear weapons would be able to recreate them again with a week’s notice even if all their nukes were taken away.

Scientists should continue researching and developing radioactive medicine. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, “approximately one third of all patients admitted to US hospitals today are diagnosed or treated using radiation or radioactive materials, [or with] nuclear medical imaging, which combines the safe administration of radioisotopes with camera imaging, [helping] physicians locate tumors, size

anomolies, or other problems.” With so many people being successfully treated and diagnosed, there is clearly a need for this type of technology. In fact, “the most common radioisotope used in diagnosis is technetium-99, with some 30 million procedures per year [being performed using this radioisotope.]” (World Nuclear Association, 2012.) This shows that scientists have found safe and practical ways to use nuclear medicine. In rare cases treatment using radioactive medicine can do more harm than good, but that is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives are saved by it every year. Based on past success, there is reason to hope for advancements in the future and if we shut down the operation now because of fear, we close ourselves off to development.

Nuclear power plants are our last hope for clean, reliable energy. Some may say that nuclear energy does more bad than good for the local areas around the power plants because of the risk that looms over them at all times, but that is clearly not true. A survey done by the U.S. Department of Energy states that “operation of a single nuclear power plant generates 400 to 700 permanent jobs. These jobs pay 36% more than the average local salaries. Beyond jobs, the average nuclear power plant generates approximately $430 million in sales of local goods and services in the local community each year. Further benefiting the local economy, the average nuclear plant generates total state and local tax revenue of almost $20 million each year. These tax dollars benefit schools, roads, and other state and local infrastructure in these communities.” Power plants provide much more than

just electricity. There is always a risk of an incident, but since the 1950s there have only been about 28 so it is extremely rare. People also get worried about the treatment of the byproducts of the nuclear process. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has this to say about byproducts: “in the plant’s nuclear reactor, neutrons from uranium atoms collide with each other, releasing heat and neutrons in a chain reaction. This heat is used to generate steam, which powers a turbine to generate electricity. Nuclear power generates a number of radioactive by-products, including tritium, cesium, krypton, neptunium, and forms of iodine... Enrichment of uranium ore into fuel and the operation of nuclear power plants generate wastes that contain low levels of radioactivity. These wastes are shipped to a few specially designed and licensed disposal sites.” Because of this we know that all the bases are covered when it comes to the shipment of nuclear byproducts. And the people who live in the local communities of nuclear power plants can rest easy. Research and development should continue for nuclear power plants.

I believe that we should continue research and development of all aspects of nuclear science. I understand that the ethics and safety-based problems in nuclear chemistry leave room for debate. The benefits far outweigh the risks when it comes to continuing research and development in this interesting subject.

Peter Kite:

Radioactive technology is used in many ways around the world and without these advances we would be in the dark ages. I am primarily pro the use of radioactive technology except for a few cases. I believe the benefits of using radioactive technology surpasses the drawbacks. Many of the drawbacks come from the potential effects of radioactive technology on the earth and its inhabitants.

Most of these drawbacks have to do with the use of nuclear weaponry in the fighting of wars, or in the testing of new technology. The use of these weapons can cause the land to become barren, and the harmful effects are lasting. When a nuclear bomb is detonated, only five percent of the energy is transmitted initially in the blast. The remaining ninety-five percent is released from the Earth’s surface over hundreds of years, affecting both the people and animals that surround the area and the crops harvested there (Federation of American Scientists, fas.org). At the time of detonation, the temperature at the center of the explosion can reach the temperature of the core of the sun (Chemistry Daily, chemistrydaily.com.) The only good that I

believe can come out of countries maintaining and developing of radioactive weapons is that these weapons instill fear in their enemies. If all countries have the power of a nuclear weapon, maybe no one country will want to start a war because of the immediate threat from other countries.

Although there are many drawbacks to using radioactive technology at all, there exist some benefits. In my mind, the use of radioactive technology for energy is one hundred percent pro. It is true that emissions occur in the mining of the materials for radioactive fusion-- but that is true for any form of energy. Coal factories produce emissions at every step of their process. They must mine for materials, transport the materials, and burn the materials, emitting carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides along every step of the way. When using radioactive technologies, emissions are only created during two of their steps (mining and transporting). According to the Royal Society of Chemistry (rsc.org), energy from radioactive technology requires very little fuel, and the plants can run for months at a time before replacements have to be made in the equipment.

There are also many benefits when using radioactive technology in medicine. In the US alone, yearly over 18 million cases require the use of radioactive technology, and 40% of that is for detection. Over 10,000 hospitals worldwide use radioisotopes for the detection and treatment of disease in patients (The World Nuclear Association, world-nuclear.org). The use of radioactive technology is increasing by 10% worldwide annually.

For the use of radioactive technology in the preservation of food I believe there are many pros with very few cons. The irradiation of food kills bacteria, molds, insects and other pests, and reduces the rates at which food ripens and spoils. The use of radiation on food does not cause the food to become radioactive, and over 40 countries use irradiation for over 500,000 tons of food per year (Environmental Protection Agency, epa.gov.)

In addition, in every case, the use of radioactive technology requires work, creating jobs. Radioactive technology is used in many ways that I have not mentioned but I remain on the pro side of the argument until I am persuaded otherwise

3

Students Build Vintage Sloop

An Old Harbor Workhorse, Reborn

by Ameena Peters

Governors Island, New York Harbor -- When I first enter the Marine Services Technology workshop, all I see is sawdust everywhere. Every square inch of the room, including the workbenches are covered in the dusty remnants of our work. The biggest thing in the room is the sloop: you can’t miss that. These kids are dedicated to working on this boat and give their morning hours and after school hours every day to work on the sloop.

Cullen Palicka and Manolo Caba, two of the students most involved in the process of building the boat, describe some of the challenges that the boatbuilders have had to overcome as they have worked on the sloop, and some of the improvements to the original design.

As we work with our hands, the history behind the sloop comes

alive.

For example, in September, when they started trying to bend the ribs of the boat to the right shape, they ran into problems. The ribs are some of the most important parts of the boat: they help to give it its structure, like the bones in a human body that they are named after. The plans called for ribs that were quite thick pieces of wood, and when the boatbuilders tried to steam-bend them, they kept either breaking or not bending enough. So Brendan Malone, who is in charge of the project, developed a new method, which the students implemented. The idea is to cut the piece of thick wood in half lengthwise, about a quarter of the way along the length of the rib from either end. Then you steam it and bend it into the shape that’s needed, and then glue the split part up. They tried this technique, and it worked: the ribs bent more easily, without breaking.

As we work with our hands, the history behind the sloop comes alive before our eyes. The boat is of a type that was originally called the New York Bay Sloop. Designed right here, large numbers of them sailed around the harbor beginning in the 1830s, with the height of its popularity in the 1850s. It’s 20 feet long, and the originals were used to transport people, to transport cargo, and to fish. The boats were very fast, and so they were also used to race. Because they had centerboards instead of fixed keels, they were able to maneuver safely in shallow water, getting everywhere they needed to go close to the shores of Manhattan and the areas that would become the five boroughs.

“The students do most of the work,” Cullen Palicka explains. “Brendan or Kyle show us how to do something, and the students take over once a lesson is taught.” The book that they are using to help them on the journey to finishing the sloop is called American Small Sailing Craft. It’s an old book, and aside from the archives of the Smithsonian Museum, it is the only place that the plans for the boat are available. The design has been brought back to life by the Harbor School students: when the boat is launched, it may well be the first time since the nineteenth century that this classic craft has floated on New York waters.

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photograph by Brendan Malone

Checking for Square: Building the NY Sloop

Student Shipwrights Speak

New York Harbor Foundation Gala Albuma photo essay by Cate Hagarty

5Students’ Voices

The Harbor Current found Juniors Manolo Caba and Cullen Palicka in the boatbuilding shop, along with Marine Services Technology assistant and boatbuilding mentor Kyle Rectenwald and volunteer Eddie Greenfield. With the skeleton of NYHS’ sloop-in-progress just a few feet away, they interrupted their work to sit down with the paper and answer a few questions.

Harbor Current: Tell our readers about the boat. What stage of the project are you at?

Manolo Caba: It’s a New York Bay sloop. Twenty feet. These things used to be all over the harbor in the 1850s. They were taxis, and they were used to transport cargo. They were also really fast, sometimes considered racing boats, so they used to race against other vessels.

Eddie Greenfield: It has a centerboard, so it could go in really shallow water. And it’s gaff rigged-- see? [points to the relevant place in the boat’s sail plan.] It’s the old kind of rig.

Kyle Rectenwald: We’re at the framing stage now.

Gabriel Ajara: After we’re done framing, it’ll be smooth sailing. [everyone groans at the pun]

Thomas “Cullen” Palicka: Students do almost all the work. Once Kyle or Brendan shows us how to do one of the steps, like ribbing or whatever, the students are basically free to go ahead and do the work themselves.

HC: How did you get the plans?

CP: WWW... [everyone laughs] Nah, the only place the plans are available is here. [Indicates a book which Kyle has brought out: American Small Sailing Craft, by Howard I. Chapelle.]

HC: What had been done before the year started, and what have you accomplished so far this year?

CP: Year one, the seniors mapped it out on a giant scale. [They lofted the lines.]

MC: We started out, came in at the beginning of the year, and there were no ribs. So we had to start steaming the ribs.

CP: There are two ways to shape wood, right? You can either cut the wood to the shape you want, or you can steam it and bend it. Problem is, if you cut it, it’s across the grain, it’s weaker.

HC: What’s the next step?

CP: Once we have all the ribs in place, we’ll start the planking process. Then we’ll use glue with a thickening agent to re-seal that [sawed] crack.

HC: What’s been the craziest part about working on the boat?

CP: Sometimes, when you’re under the boat, your body’s all twisted every way, it takes thirty minutes to put one screw in...

MC: But we’re all here ‘cause we enjoy doing it. The official boatbuilding days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. But people come here every day.

HC: How do you deal with the sawdust?

CP: I’ll be honest with you, there are times when it’s been three days since you worked on the boat and you put your shoes on and they’re still full of wood chips. And you get splinters.

MC: But we try to keep our shop safe.

CP: There’s safety equipment for everyone. Usually on nice days we set people up to sand outdoors, but once we were working inside, the door [to the hall] was open and we set off the fire alarm-- there were just these clouds of sawdust.

MC: We never have any incidents. No serious injuries or anything. We’re super-safe.

CP: The most serious injury, I think, was a little cut.

MC: And splinters.

HC: What was the best story from working on this, so far?

Continued on Page 7

Students at the Yacht Club: Halcyon Spooner, Dariel Diaz, Joy Junious, Jasmine Hernandez, Jessie Floyd, Julian Perez representing their CTEs (and reporting for the Harbor Current!)

Hanging with Hizzoner: NYHS Principal Edward Biedermann, Daleisy “Dee” Olea, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NY Harbor Foundation Head Murray Fisher

The Reasons for the Celebration: Student Honoree Daleisy “Dee” Olea; Teacher Honorees/Founding Teachers Brendan Malone, Marine Services and Technology CTE; Ann Fraioli,

Introduction to Harbor; Roy Arezzo, Living Environment; Awilda Madera, Spanish

Gala-- continued from Page 1

Of course Harbor School students represented. We dressed up our everyday blue uniform, put on our finest clothes and showed the world what we are about. Everyone was impressed about our knowledge of oyster restoration and the future of aquatic ecosystems. They saw the genuine care we had for aquatic animals and our plans for oyster restoration to ensure a healthy future on this aquatic earth. They said we are the change: The future of healthy clear water and the end of destruction depends on us. They had nothing but praise and admiration for our movement. I was there to speak about my CTE

Program, Ocean Engineering. I answered questions and spoke about the mission of my school, especially our goals are and the future we are working towards. Often, I was asked why I chose to come to Harbor School. I say it was on its own island and it sounded cool. But the real reason I chose Harbor School and I’m sure the rest of my fellow class mates can agree is that the world needs to change and I want to be part of it. The earth is our home and needs to be treated with respect. So if I can undo any damage done to her even if it takes 20 years to see results then I will work 20 years to make the vision come alive. So, at this Harbor School Gala, we students showed some important people our gift for the future and how grateful we are to receive their support.

Hand, Reef and Steer:Paola at Sea

6

Storycorpsby

Maria Giraldo, Evelyn Jordan, Elias Ortega, Jose Diaz, Joean Vasquez, Michael Pichardo, and Elvis

Conde

Manhattan-- We recently visited the StoryCorps booth near City Hall on 12/12/12. StoryCorps is an organization that records conversations between two everyday people. The interviews are archived in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Our partners were often students from Harbor School. We were interviewing them about their CTE programs and to get to know them better. Each interview took about 40 minutes to record. We prepared by writing a list of questions and practicing our interviews with our partners beforehand. On the day of the interview, some of us felt nervous. On the other hand, some of us felt a rush of excitement because we didn’t know what to expect. In the booth, we expected to be alone but then suddenly a person walked in, turning out to be the facilitator. He asked us questions about our interview. He guided us throughout our interview and encouraged us to go on if we were stuck. Eventually, we learned more about CTE programs and the skills and habits to be successful in them. Also, we learned more about friends’ stories and how to go through life in Harbor School. On the other hand, two students had to interview each other instead of their senior partners. They talked about emotional situations; for example, what made them go to Harbor School and the personal experiences they had in school and how they resolved their conflicts. In the end, the StoryCorps experience was exciting and fun. We enjoyed talking to the 12th graders and learned more about them. They have given us a great start for Harbor’s CTE programs and we would like to thank them for their time. In the future, we hope to visit our old middle schools and share our interviews. We want to show the people in 8th grade why it can be an option to select Harbor School. Also, we can show the interviews to our families and maybe they will like to know more about our education in Harbor School. Additionally, we hope that not only the people that we know will listen. We hope that everybody knows how meaningful it is to be a Harbor student and what it’s all about. Also, all of us learned something different from our interviews that we can use in the future. Joean said, “Hard work always pays off. You have to put in the hard work it takes to make your life what you want it to be because no one will do it for you. For a successful life, it takes dedication and courage.” Michael said, “Life is short, so make it worth it. Don’t waste time.” We hope that others will listen to our

Senior Paola Suazo is the latest in a series of NYHS students who have taken part in Ocean Classroom, a program that gives students a semester’s worth of travel, adventure learning, and maritime experience on board a traditionally-rigged schooner. Below, the young sea rover at the wheel...

"The bathroom becomes the head, the floor becomes the sole, downstairs becomes more than just down below...it becomes home."

--Paola Suazo

Carraicouby Paola Suazo

Walking through town nothing looks the sameno more shiny bright lights,tall skyscrapers,no more New York City skylinebut vines and trees full of different fruitsfrom Dominica.The cocoa and oil down from Grenada warms up your heart.Antigua is all expensive shipsand fancy sails.It’s not all fancy ships, more liketraditional boats, and big giant whaleswith huge teeth, takes the heart ofthe poor Bequians.The tall mountains and trees are their skyscrapers.Smooth traditional sailing,with chilled traditional people,makes our days in Carraicou.No more walks to the train, but hiking up a volcano in St. Eusatius...All turtles and coral found in Buck Island.It’s all birds and beautiful flowersLiving in TrinidadGlass bottles full of Promin solution,And abandoned buildings only to be found in the heart of Chacachacare. Our hearts remain on VirginiaSurrounded by a sea of stars,reflecting the life underneath our hull.

Freshman Voices: Lucian Arana

Harbor Current: Tell us about your NYHS experience so far.

LA: I liked inDock the best, when we got to go kayaking and stuff. I’d never done that before. And then in field class, we went scuba diving... we had to build little robots that sat on the bottom of the swimming pool, and they were supposed to go in a figure eight. And I made one! We had a little instruction booklet. The hardest thing was to control it after we built it. You could use a robot like that to fix stuff, in really deep parts of the ocean that humans can’t get to-- or explore down there.

I want to do SCUBA or vessel ops. If I learned SCUBA, I could go to reefs, learn about wildlife there. Or shipwrecks. They’re cool because it’s like a mystery-- how they got down there, what’s inside, still.

I hope to get a SCUBA certification or a captain’s license. I like exploring-- that you can learn about stuff that you never knew about before. I’d like to explore where no one’s ever been before, put a place on a map that wasn’t there before.

We move around to a lot of places in the city, so I got to explore the city a lot. Next, I’d like to explore Staten Island. I’ve been there, but only a little.

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ShipwrightsContinued from Page 5

CP: Once we got the first rib in-- you remember that? [turns to Manny] Everyone was going crazy. We felt so successful.

MC: And then the next seven cracked.

CP: We thought, we’re just gonna knock this out! But no.

HC: What workarounds or new ways of doing things have you come up with in the process of working on the boat?

MC: The ribs used to break [when we tried to bend them]. But we developed new methods to steam them.

CP: The plans called for really thick frames for the ribs. Somebody-- Kyle?

KR: Not me. It was Brendan. I’m not taking credit for that.

CP: OK, Brendan. He came up with the idea of cutting down the middle of each rib-- only part way along, but it made each piece thinner, so that there’s less pressure, it steams easier, its narrower, so it’s less likely to break.

CP: Oh, actually, Kyle came up with this--

KR: I DO come up with some things!

CP: Hey, I’m trying to help you out here! It was this idea about putting plastic bags over ribs that

weren’t taking their shapes right-- they were extra dry. So Kyle had the idea to put plastic bags over them, and then pipe in the steam. And that did it.

And then there are these makeshift clamps we use, made out of plywood. We go through clamps like crazy, so we use these pieces of plywood with a notch cut out of them as substitutes.

MC: They have a little angle to them, see? So that they get tighter as you drive them onto the wood you’re holding together.

CP: We didn’t invent these, though-- they’re kind of an open secret.

HC: What innovations have students come up with?

CP: The thing about sawing along the length of the ribs, and the thing with the plastic bags-- those were the big ones. But there are all kinds of different little things-- we’ll say, “why isn’t this fitting?” and someone will have an idea. Students come up with solutions to things like that every day. Kyle will get frustrated, a student will suggest something. Here’s one--I’ll show you. See how the framing pieces come together at an angle up here [at the prow]? A clamp would just slide off. I think it was Gina who came up with the fix-- she was working up here a lot-- but I’m not sure. Anyway, a student came up with the idea of screwing a temporary support with a piece cut out to create a right angle, just to hold the clamp on.

HC: What have been some of the other challenges you’ve faced?

CP: [At the beginning of the year] we needed more underclassmen. Our class-- we’re Juniors now-- there

were a lot of us who came in, but we’ll be graduating in a while. Manny and I kind of started this, and we need people to pass it on to, so that they can pass it on to people who are even younger, later. But now we have a bunch of sophomores who are here on their lunch breaks, they come after school, everything. And we even have a handful of freshmen who come on Tuesdays and Thursdays, official boat building days. They’re shy, I think. As they get more comfortable, they’ll start coming more.

HC: Tell us about these tool boxes.

CP: Each student makes a tool box. They do it step by step-- first you do the technical diagrams, you learn how to draw them and read them, you do them so professionally you could send them into any woodworking company and they’d be able to make that exact toolbox. Then you decide what kind of wood would be best, and you cut the pieces, fit it all together, sand it down, wax it... We use this steam box here to steam the handles, [indicates a smaller steam box than the one used to steam the ribs); we give them a little bend. Here, I’ll show you-- [brings over a curved piece of wood about a foot and a half long] --here’s one. That’s a nice bend-- you see how the grain flows? A nice strong bend. That’s Natacha’s. She’s one of the Sophomores.

HC: When will it be done?

CP: It’s definitely going to be up and going by the time we graduate. Whatever we have to do, we’ll get it done. And we’ll sail it-- the ones who worked on it will get first go.

Underwater Robots! by Brittany Serrano

Hi, my name is Brittany Serrano, and I am 16 years old. The CTE class I take is ocean engineering. Ocean engineering is a class that teaches you how to build underwater robots. You can build them to do anything. For example, lately we have been working on how we can make our robots neutrally buoyant, by balancing buoyancy and ballast. It is very difficult to do this because we have to make sure the weight on the robot is perfect so that it doesn’t sink. The reason we are doing this challenge is to test our knowledge of buoyancy, and in order to make useful robots that will collect data for marine biologists. The concepts that we had learn to complete this challenge have to do with physical forces. The reason we need our vehicles neutrally buoyant is that in that way they can stay in place and they are easier to control. How do we do this? Well, we need buoyant material to help them with floatation, and we need heavy material for ballast (weight).

My CTE class is very fun. I have learned a lot, and it is preparing me for college and my career when I get older. Not that many people would know about ocean engineering, because people think it is not important. But it is! That how we get all our information on our ocean or any water body. How else can we know what we are living with and dealing with in life?

A month ago, we went on a trip to an organization called Web-Vision. While we were there, we built a robot called a protosnap mini-bot. It was hard: we had to solder the wires in place, and we had to get the prefect amount of gears so it would be able to move. in the end, though, I had fun and my robot is working perfectly.

photo by Susannah BlackBrittany and the Protosnap Mini-Bot

Governors Island-- On April 10, Harbor School’s library was thrilled to have New York Times best seller Paul Greenberg as a guest speaker. A natural storyteller, Greenberg told scuba stories about hunting for the invasive and venomous lionfish in the Caribbean and lead a scientific discussion about genetically modified farmed fish. A cautionary tale wrapped in hope, Paul began with a lesson for Roy’s AP Environmental Science class about a topic that hits close to Harbor home: the New York oyster. New York Harbor was once the most populated (and profligate) oyster estuary in the country. But 1927 marked the end for this hard working, filter feeding bivalve. Biological waste (sewage….yuck) contaminated the water causing oyster eating folks to get sick. It wasn’t long before people got disgusted and abandoned the NYC oyster, landfill extended the shoreline and oyster habitat became human habitat. The lesson continued as Greenberg discussed how Mississippi River fertilizer run-off (mostly from corn) is the leading cause of Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, or dead zones. (The Gulf is second in size only to the Baltic Sea.) Students also learned about red tides, harmful algal blooms. But all is not lost. Greenberg reminded students that they are the ones who can address and remedy these problems and bring the New York harbor back to its former glory. Later, Greenberg spoke to Pete’s aquaculture class about his book Four Fish and his upcoming book, The Fish Next Door, both of which address issues of overfishing and the growing business of aquaculture (which enjoys an annual growth rate of 10%, triple that of agriculture!). Greenberg concluded by touching on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in particular GM fish. Harbor School Library sends a big thank you to Paul Greenberg for visiting us. For more information on Four Fish or to ask Paul questions v i s i t h i s F a c e b o o k p a g e o r w e b s i t e a t www.fourfish.org. And of course, visit us in the library if you want to read some of Paul Greenberg’s work.

Greenberg Visits NYHSby Heather May

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Oysters-- Continued from Page 1storm surge, which means that they may be able to help prevent the kind of bad aftermath we saw with Sandy. While oysters can act as a natural wave barrier, they won’t stop the waves completely. Still, the smaller and weaker the waves that finally reach the shore, the less danger they pose.

The week before Sandy, the governor’s office had contacted Murray Fisher, the head of the New York Harbor Foundation and founder of NYHS, for ideas about ways to generally improve the environmental wellbeing of the city. Fisher explained the benefits of oyster restoration work, and described NYHS’ Billion Oysters Project. When, a week later, Sandy came barreling through our city, and the Governor’s office was preparing his response, oysters sprang naturally to mind. What this means is that our work here at New York Harbor School is now potentially influencing city and state policy. That’s exciting-- and we need to ask ourselves what our next step is, at this key moment in the life of the harbor and the city.

In the opinion of these reporters, what we should do is: Harbor Up! That is, continue with our mission, keep working to restore the harbor, and more and more, link up with other people and groups that are doing the same. One organization that we've been working with recently is New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, a long-time advocate and practitioner of oyster gardening. Having received a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Guardian grant, the New York Harbor Foundation has connected with Baykeeper, to

establish an oyster gardening program that brings together Harbor School students with the students of several different NYC middle schools, so that the high schoolers can act as oyster stewardship mentors for the younger students.

Ocean Guardian is a NOAA program meant to promote stewardship of the oceans by reaching out through schools to the wider community. “That’s us, automatically-- we already are ocean guardians, because of what we’re doing already,” says Kerstin Kalchmayr, who is coordinating the oyster gardening program through the Harbor Foundation and NY/NJ Baykeeper. “All of the other schools that are doing the Ocean Guardian program are in California,” she adds, “except for NYHS. They made an exception for us, allowing us to take the title of Ocean Guardians.”

The program so far involves four middle schools: The Institute for Collaborative Education, the School for Global Leaders, and Salk School of Science (all three on the Lower East Side); and the Ella Baker School (on the Upper East Side near Hunter). Last July, each school received a small cage of oysters. The cages were placed in the river at the Lower East Side Ecology Center and at Stuyvesant Cove Park. They are usually suspended off a pier or dock or piling; the middle school teachers installed the gardens during the summer, and the middle schoolers have been learning throughout the school year about the significance of oysters to the harbor’s ecology, and about the history of oysters in New York City.

In the Spring, Harbor School students will be visiting these four middle schools to discuss their own oyster restoration experience and to teach the younger children how to measure oysters. The Middle School Oyster Gardening Program is poised to grow substantially during the 2013/14 school year with the inclusion of at least 10 new middle schools in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Harbor School will be offering an oyster restoration educators' training on June 27-28 followed by three weeklong summer sessions for middle school students, in collaboration with Good Shepherd Services in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The goal of these new programs is to make oyster restoration (the Billion Oyster Project) a compelling citywide initiative that is driven by young people themselves and the communities in which they live. Specifically, it will teach the children about the importance of oysters to the health of the harbor and

Mr. Duncan came over to the Harbor School on a Water Taxi boat driven by-- who else?-- Harbor School graduates, and was driven over from the pier. Once he stepped foot onto the basketball court, he began to shoot some hoops with students, which everyone enjoyed. Inside the school, he was greeted by the two students: this reporter and Taylor Jenkins-Thompson, both seniors, who handed out welcome packets giving insight into the school and its six CTE programs.

Following his welcome, he moved around to the different CTE classrooms learning a little about each CTE from students. When he stopped by the Aquaculture lab he was given a tour of the lab and a lesson on oyster restoration, and also what each tank was for. He got to look at a microscope and check out live oyster larvae in their Veliger stage.

Surrounding Mr. Duncan throughout his entire visit were press cameras, reporters for newspapers, and even some former Harbor School staff. Noah Heller and Nate Dudley made a guest appearance for the visit. As the end of his tour neared there was a press gaggle where all the reporters and people who were around got to ask the secretary questions. New York City Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott, who was also present, answered questions as well. Following the press gaggle there were snacks and drinks served in the Aquaculture lab and the secretary was on his way.

As a community the Harbor School did so much in preparation for this visit and it is an honor and memory we will have to cherish for many many years. Special thanks are in order to the students of every CTE, for sharing what you know, and welcoming and helping to educate Mr. Duncan about our School and how it is setting up students for their futures in the maritime field. Thanks also to these students for showing him how Harbor takes pride in the work we do each and every day in our CTE classes. We made an impression. Later that day, Duncan tweeted his reaction to the school: “I was blown away by @HarborSchool in NYC. Rigorous, relevant-- this is #CTE at its best. What if we had more high schools like this?”

What if, indeed?

--cont’d from page 1

SecEd visits NYHS

Photograph by Cate HagartyArne Duncan with the SCUBA crew

the city, and spread the word about the state of our seas to their parents as well. Last but not least, of course, it will actually help put oysters in the Harbor! Oysters are not actually the solution to every problem in the world, but it is our responsibility as stewards of the Harbor to do our best to leave it healthier, safer and more fruitful than we found it. Oysters are one promising avenue to help us do this. So keep an eye on those cages in the river, and be proud of your role in caring for the Harbor that you’ve been given.

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