BY: ELLEN & GINA

P.B.I.S: What does it mean? It stands for Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports. This program was implemented to make the school a better and safer place for students. P.B.I.S. coordinator and English teacher, Mr. Mazzocchi, who attended Brooklyn College and majored in English, later transferred to George Washington University where he ended up getting his Masters in educational leadership. He originally wanted to be a psychologist, professor, and poet, but his final decision was to “spend [his] days talking about books with young people”.

When Mr. Mazzocchi applied to John Adams 9 years ago, they were facing many issues such as low graduation rates, high suspension, etc. So, roughly 5 years ago, Mr. Mazzocchi and Dr. Silverman, the assistant principal, came to a consensus that something needed to be done to make this school a better place for students and staff.

They decided to visit a college in Connecticut which is where they discovered P.B.I.S., and they claimed it was “the most appealing program in our eyes”.

Implementing this new program into our school wasn’t as difficult as it seemed. They originally turned it to a class that consisted of many supports that the students could partake in, so they would lend a helping hand into making our school a better place. Therefore, it's an effort on both parties.

Since P.B.I.S was established in John Adams, “the attendance rate has gone up 6%, the college readiness rate has gone up 8%, the credit accumulation rate has gone up 7%, the suspension rate has dropped 14%, and the graduation rate went up 18%”.  

With all the great progress P.B.I.S. has made, we are all looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

Next month, on April 14th, we’re holding the VIP lunch, which is when you can redeem your rack-em ups and buy your way into VIP lunch. As we know, school lunch might not always be appetizing, so this is your time to score some good food. All teachers bring in food for our students and the students get a variety of options to choose from, due to our very diverse staff.

When it comes to the actual program, P.B.I.S, we are still making changes to make the school better. For example, in Tier 2, we have 12 supports such as mediation, mentoring, substance abuse counseling, etc. We are also trying to double the supports so by the beginning of next year, there will be 24 supports. Also, in the upcoming years, we can expect a new game implemented to help students deal with their emotions. This game will consist of electrodes that take your heart rate to show what you are feeling in that exact moment.

Here at John Adams, we are still trying to Raise The Bar!!!!!!!!!!!

BY: JARAAN

Global Kids is a non-profit organization that helps youth become developed for the global stage through education and leadership development program. At John Adams, it is currently in it’s second year of a three year contract funded by DOE (Department of Education). The current CEO is Evie, who is also in charge of the programs.

This program leads students to a bright beneficial future in future careers. It lets students learn about global issues that affect students here and over the world and inspires them to pursue careers that help address global issues such as President of The United States.

Nicole ,currently the clinical social worker of the “Global Kids” team, provides social and emotional support to students and teachers. She also provides a mental health service in case a teacher or student is having problems and teaches a yoga and meditation class.

Also, there are many programs and extracurricular activities that students can participate in to help them become more educated about global and political topics:

Human Rights Activist Project - Give students the opportunity to learn more about human rights around the world.

Girls Digital Leadership Program - Educates girls about using computers to create coding so they can design their own video games.

Social Activist Performance Art - Allows students to experience and perform different cultural dances.

Lit Minds/Literary Program - Students debate about global and political topics.

College/Career Readiness - Helps students enlist in college course classes to help them earn college credits and apply for college.

Parents can also participate in this organization to help them become more aware of the world around them. If parents are interested, they can meet with Bo, a staff member of the organization, who will get the parents involved in PTA (Parent Teacher Association) meetings and educational workshops.

Also, students go on international trips to universities to experience college life and what it takes to enter college. They also go to a yoga retreat called “Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health which provides student on the learning of yoga and many more. In the past, students went on a international trip

called “Peace Boat” which takes kids around the world.

What we can expect in the coming weeks of global kids is a community school meeting in March for students, a new yoga program coming soon that’s going to be referral based, more trips and a citywide conference on April 26 at Hunter College.

ROBOTICS AT JAHS
By: Samantha

One of the greatest clubs that students can join at John Adams is the robotics team. Meetings are held Monday, Wednesday, and occasionally on Friday. Anyone interested in joining can find a mailing list in room 233.

You may be wondering what the robotics team is all about. The robotics team is for students who are interested in learning about engineering, leadership, and teamwork. The team works together to build robots that will then take part in competitions against other schools.

These competitions take place in a big field with other schools. Each side has three robots from different schools who work together to complete certain obstacles. These obstacles include picking up balls to determine if the robots function properly, and more. The robotics team competed in their first competition on March 23rd.

The team is mentored by Mr. Roeder. His inspiration to mentor the team came from his wonderful experiences with constructing robots in high school, and later on in college.

Mr. Roeder is extremely passionate about robotics as well as the dedicated students on the team.

He really enjoys being a part of the team because the team members remind him of himself. He regularly encourages the team to work together by reminding them of their goal, why they got involved, and their individual strengths.

By: Jasmine and Heather

Photography, is a part of human desire to capture and express life. By using our artistic vision through photography, we are able to encapsulate the moment in which we are currently living. Photography can be used as a tool to take familiar objects and present them to the world in an unfamiliar way. Photography is a form of communication in which the photographer uses their image to inform, educate, entertain and share the moment with their audience.

In John Adams High School, students are motivated to use photography as a means to express their creativity and artistic vision. Photography teacher Ms. Gibbs has made it part of her goal to teach each of her students of to increase their visual intelligence, and to take better photos. She encourages student use their the ability to look and analyze photographs in order to create their own vision. John Adams has been able to provide the students with the equipment necessary for projects that are both inside and outside the classroom.

Throughout the course of the year, students are encouraged to participate in projects to help develop their skills. Students have engaged in photographing various different types of food such as fruits and eggs. One of the major projects that students focused on was self portraits through the use of tripods. Students also practiced photographing images in “landscape mode” on trips to places such as Central Park.

These excursions occurred over the course of two days alongside other staff in the students preferred location. Each student has the potential to hone their artistic skill, students have gone on to start their own businesses as well as help motivate others to become more interested and engaged in photography.