Marta Valle High School Newsletter
The Vine MAY 2011
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Will the New Schools Chancellor Make a Difference? By Jeffrey Tineo
The Vine would like to dedicate its first issue to Adrian Rodriguez, an exceptional student and human being who will be tremendously missed by Marta Valle High School.
New York City, which runs the nations largest public education system, has been facing a load of issues lately. Between the looming budget crisis, the threat of even more teacher layoffs, angry parents and clashes with teacher's unions, the position of chancellor seems about as appealing as bath-time with a toaster. After Joel Klein's eight year tenure, Mayor Bloomberg appointed Cathie Black as the new chancellor; causing a state of flux at the Department of Education. Following only ninety-days under new leadership , Bloomberg accepted Black’s resignation from her position as she felt she was ill-prepared for such a position. Now, stepping up to bat is Dennis Walcott who has a reputation for attempting to provide the best possible education to the students of New York City. Seeing as how Chancellor Walcott is a product of the very system he's running, we can expect a passionate attempt at recovery. Leaving your mark on something as large as the New York City schools won’t be easy, however. His mind seems to be in the right place, now let's see if he'll be able to bring stability and direction to the Department of Education. Photo courtesy of The New York Times
Help the World Through Fashion
Inside this issue:
By Diana Fernandez
The News
1
The News
2
Teacher Profile
2
Dear The Vine,
3
Horoscopes
3
Calendar
4
Fun Facts
4
On March 11, 2011, an 8.9 Richter scale earthquake hit in Japan, which led to one of the largest tsunamis to date, destroying everything in its path. Projects such as the FEED project allows one to support Japan through fashion. One can purchase totes and shirts that read FEED JAPAN across the front and have the flag of Japan on the back. It costs $35 to purchase this tote on www.feedprojects.com and for every tote or shirt purchased, ten dollars will be donated to Japan. The FEED Japan Fund will aid in the disaster relief efforts and will target the programs and organizations that need help the most. FEED also allows us to help other causes such as relief in Haiti and Kenya. Another cause called It’s a Small World, represents a unifying idea that an
individual’s nationality or ethnicity doesn't matter because we are all more similar than we are different. The shirts cost thirty dollars and for every shirt purchased three dollars will be donated to U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the baby bodysuit and pants set costs $39 (donating $1.50), the baby bib costs $18 (donating $1.50), and the tote costs $48 (donating $10). So far 510,636 FEED bags have been sold providing a total of 59,775,862 meals for those in need.