Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Churchill alumn picked to lead 5,000 students

In college, Churchill alumn Shoshana Rosen turned initial struggles into success. At her recent graduation from University of Maryland (UMD), Shoshana was one of eight Senior Marshalls selected out of 5,000 students to carry UMD’s flag representing her grade.
“It was one of the proudest moments of my life,” Shoshana said at a recent interview at an Upper Eastside coffee shop. “I was leading everyone else.”



Shoshana had to work very hard to earn her success. The adjustment from Churchill to UMD, a large state research university with 300 student freshmen classes, was rough. During her first semester an English professor refused to tolerate any dyslexic errors, even after being informed about Shoshana’s LD issues, and the Writing Center did not offer any proof reading services. Instead, Shoshana paid a proof reader to help weed out typos and grammar errors before handing in her papers. In the beginning of her sophomore year, however, the Writing Center had a new director who was receptive to Shoshana’s self-advocacy.  From then on, the Writing Center helped Shoshana with her papers. As a result of persistence, hard work and obtaining the support she needed, Shoshana made the Dean’s List almost every semester.

“Academically it would have been easier at a smaller school, but for me academics were not the only aspect of college,” Shoshana says. She picked UMD because of its variety of student activities, student diversity and an active Jewish community.
“Socially UMD was the best option for me,” she says.

At UMD, she was able to create her own major, an endeavor that entailed writing a thesis arguing her proposed major and convincing faculty members of its feasibility. Shoshana’s “Children with Special Needs and Family Support” major consisted mainly of courses in psychology, special education and family science.

Throughout her four years at UMD, she participated in many different organizations, including a peer counseling and crisis intervention hotline  She also had an internship at The ARC, an organization that works with families of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities where she created an online support network platform that helps families of disabled children ages 0-3  to connect and share experiences. Another advantage with UMD is the proximity to Washington, DC, which Shoshana visited about once a week to spend time at museums, restaurants and enjoy big city life in general.

Shoshana graduated from Churchill in 2008 after being at Churchill since middle school.
“Churchill did a great job teaching me how to learn,” she says. Also, at Churchill “I felt smart for the first time.” Churchill teachers are the best teachers in the world, she says.  Churchill’s supportive and nurturing environment, however, made her unprepared for the harsher UMD reality. No one at Churchill had told her that in college she might get assigned to read 100 pages in one night. She was the first Churchill student to attend UMD while most of her classmates selected smaller schools. Initially she felt as if “I wasn’t expected to succeed at Maryland,” she says.

Shoshana now looks forward to volunteering with families of intellectually and developmentally disabled children in Israel during the coming year. Long term plans include obtaining a master’s degree in Social Work and running a support center for families with intellectually and developmentally disabled children using a holistic approach including art therapy, teaching social skills, and offering sibling and family counseling.

Shoshana’s advice to Churchill HS students and their families: Students: know yourself and pick a school where you can see yourself for four years (or more). Parents: It’s not about the name of the school, but what the student wants and the college being able to provide the support the student needs to succeed.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Churchill alumn Julia teaches art at Churchill

Julia Romano took a gap year before attending college. Now she teaches at Churchill.
When Julia Romano, 25, was a senior at Churchill, she applied to college “because that’s what everyone else was doing so that’s what I was doing too,” she said in a recent interview at the Churchill Middle School art room. She applied to 12 schools, which resulted in 11 acceptances and one wait-listing. After a few weeks at a college in New Hampshire, however, Julia realized that she had made a mistake and dropped out. Instead, she spent her first year after high school working in retail and pondering future career plans.

“I gained a lot of responsibility and independence,” Julia says about her time as a retail employee. Adult life also sparked a desire and motivation to obtain higher education and focus on art. She had friends at Manhattanville College and became interested in the school’s strong programs in art and education. When her acceptance letter from Manhattanville (the only college she applied to) arrived Julia was very excited.

“I was hungry for new challenges,” she says. During her freshman year at Manhattanville, Julia was enrolled in The Higher Education Learning (HELP) Program, an individualized support program where she worked with a tutor who helped her with papers and essays. After her freshman year she did not need the Help Program, which costs extra, anymore. Overall, she had a rewarding college experience.

“My grades were much better in college than in high school, she says. She is dyslexic and had to work very hard, and credits the solid foundation built at Churchill for her success mastering her college courses. Having never studied any foreign language prior to college, Julia took two language courses and studied art history for a semester in Barcelona, Spain where she also enrolled in an intensive Spanish language course.

Dennis McConkey, Churchill’s head art teacher, has been a mentor for Julia and remembers her as a nine-year old. “She was the kind of kid that you knew was going to become a good adult,” Dennis says. In addition to being a serious student, he remembers her artistic skills. Julia and many other Churchill students are talented artists, but they are not fully aware of the significance of their creative gifts until they are in a different learning environment, he says. Julia and Dennis share values regarding teaching and art. “She often says exactly what I was going to say,” he says, "I’m passing on the torch.”

Julia recalls Dennis telling her early on that one day she’d make a good art teacher. During her senior year in college, Julia applied for teaching jobs at various LD schools in New York City. After she graduated in the spring of 2010, an assistant science teacher opening materialized at Churchill elementary school. A year later, she landed a position as middle school art teacher. She enjoys being back at Churchill and having some of her former teachers as colleague. The feeling is mutual.

“It is funny to have one of my former students as a colleague,” Dennis says.

Friday, June 1, 2012

CUNY’s College Now program prepared Marisa for college


To get an idea about college studies, Churchill senior Marisa McCaffery took advantage of College Now, a free college program for high school students run by the City University of New York (CUNY).  For a part of the summer between her junior and senior year, Marisa studied psychology at Baruch College with other NYC high school students. 

“I would recommend College Now to every high-schooler,” Marisa said in a recent interview over the phone. In the fall of 2012 Marisa will start at Hunter College with three college credits already under her belt. College Now gave her an opportunity to discover learning outside the Churchill environment at one of the top CUNY colleges.

Students attending state-funded schools such as Churchill are eligible to attend College Now, but the participating CUNY college program administrators don’t always realize that Churchill students are eligible, Pauline Ores, Marisa’s mother says. Applying can be a bit confusing as there is a central CUNY College Now program site and additional sites maintained by the participating CUNY colleges. 

Each college offers different College Now courses, mostly during the summer, but some also offer these courses during the school year. Students need to apply to each CUNY college program separately, but can apply to as many programs as they like. While Hunter College is mainly offering math and science classes, City College and Queensborough Community College have been offering an all-day theater course. Depending on funding, courses offered by CUNY College Now schools vary from year to year. Eligibility is determined by Regents exams and/or PSAT/SAT scores.

Since the 2008 recession, top CUNY schools such as Hunter College and Baruch College have become increasingly competitive and selective.  Last fall, 26 % of those who entered these CUNY schools had SAT scores at or above 1,200/1,600. With an annual in-state tuition of $5,430 for the 2012/2013 school year for New York State residents, CUNY is a bargain.

When Marisa’s turn to apply to college arrived, Pauline (a seasoned mother with an older daughter who is currently a college junior) focused on helping Marisa not only evaluating colleges where she would thrive, but also assessing post-graduation job placement support. Pauline stresses the importance of starting early to alleviate some of the inevitable stress during the student’s junior and senior years. Sports scholarships, for example, usually require game videos and may have earlier application deadlines. 

“I’d recommend downloading the common app in 9th grade,” Pauline suggests. This creates an opportunity to get familiar with what type of information colleges look for and how to organize this data, for example number of hours per week for each community service program. Most of all, Pauline emphasizes the importance of supporting the student obtaining a strong GPA. “If you have limited resources, you’re far better off helping your child get good grades than spending money on SAT tutoring,” she says, pointing out that many colleges no longer require SAT scores.

 “Churchill really cares about the students,” Pauline says about the transition to life after Churchill. While other schools may try to push students to apply where they are 100% certain to become admitted, “Churchill is truly interested in finding the right fit.” The school also organized applications for the New York State Scholarship for Academic Excellence, which Marisa was awarded based on her Regents scores.

Marisa was accepted by all seven of the colleges she applied to, mostly in the New York City region.  She selected to attend Hunter College, where she was awarded an academic scholarship, which requires maintaining specified grade point average. Her scholarship also includes a one-on-one adviser to help her select her classes, a dorm room and help with internships and job placement. “Hunter offered me really nice things,” Marisa says. She looks forward to studying math and statistics this fall.