Dear Inspiring Cobble Hill Students
Mid - December is here! After a warm weekend, it will be chilly outside this week but there is a sense of warmth within us as we experience this season of giving 🎄. Our character trait for this month is Respect. This month, our assemblies in the 9th and 10th grade are focused on delving deeper into this character trait and this has led me to think about how respect is so closely connected with our school mission and vision - that we are a caring learning community that advocates for student voice and agency, pride in our work and commitment, and a mutual respect for teaching and learning. All of these attributes depend on respect - that you respect and value yourself enough to not settle for a poor learning/teaching environment and that you advocate for yourself if you see that happening, that you respect yourself, your peers, your teachers and your families enough to to do your very best, and that you show pride in the learning that you achieve and the work that you produce - revising and refining as necessary. I want to thank one of our 10th graders, Zoree Branchnewton, who shared her thinking and discussed how sometimes people use fear to gain respect. I remember that all throughout my own experiences as a student, children were expected to only answer questions when asked, and be seen and not heard. Classrooms were quiet and orderly for the most part, but I was curious and I did not feel safe to ask questions and so my learning experience, while a good one for which I am grateful, was not as rich as it could have been. And so, let’s consider how we can all work together so that our feelings of respect for one another are centered on authenticity and so that our school is a place where everyone is valued and appreciated. Again, this week I am thinking about how intertwined caring and respect are with one another. We show that we care for one another when we respect each other’s ideas, personalities, ways of being, choices and celebrate how truly unique and special we all are. In this season of giving, let’s think about how we can demonstrate the character trait of respect every single day!
If you are interested in being a member of student government, my brother’s keeper, my sister’s keeper, please let me know as soon as possible by emailing me at
amule@schools.nyc.gov. Space is limited.
I also want to give a warm shoutout to Tanesha Fuller and Nafisa Tarannum for presenting their speeches at preliminary round of the Soapbox Competition. You gave amazing speeches, Nafisa and Tanesha, and we are all proud of you. We are also thankful to Ms. Vemic for supporting them. I also want to shout out the Opening Act teachers and our student actors. They presented a wonderful showcase last week and I loved their performance and their reflections at the end of the performance! Shout outs go to Jaden Newell, Mea Richards, Gayana Thomas, Maria Schirmer, Justin Daniel, Halimah Henderson, and Nadair Palmer (Cobble Hill Alumni) on doing such an awesome job!
The Cobble Hill High School community wants to congratulate our very own Mr. Giles, and his wife, on the birth of their new precious baby ANTONIO!
Our 11th grade and 12 th grade assemblies are happening this week. Please be sure to attend.
Continue to attend school and all of your classes every day and please remember to sign in by completing the attendance form every morning. Enjoy the rest of your week!
