Students at Cardozo High School in Bayside celebrate the Lunar
New Year. Photo by Thomas Kim
Cardozo celebrates
Lunar New Year
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Korean language students
at a Bayside high school
“drummed in” the Lunar
New Year last week.
Benjamin N. Cardozo
High School held its firstever
Lunar New Year
celebration on Friday, Jan.
31, organized by the school’s
Social Studies and Korean
instructor Thomas Kim with
help from assistant principal
Sheila Clark.
According to Kim, the
showcase was born out of the
Spotlight Korea grant and
scholarship program that
he signed up for through the
Korean Cultural Center of
New York. Once Cardozo was
given the grant, they were
assigned a teaching instructor
from the NY Korean
Traditional Marching Band
in Flushing who taught two
dozen students a traditional
Korean drum dance.
Students in the
intermediate Korean class
were “starting from scratch”
when learning the drum
dance, Kim said. But over
the course of 10 weeks, Kim
shared that he saw noticeable
improvement once it was time
for the students to perform.
“They did really well,
I’m glad they were able to
perform in from of the other
classes and faculty because
they didn’t know anything in
the beginning,” said Kim.
The NY Korean
Traditional Marching Band
also treated the audience of
500 students to a performance
Year of the Pig festivities and
students served traditional
Korean food to staff and fellow
classmates in the afternoon.
“We live in a multicultural
society but people think
that Lunar New Year is only
for Chinese people,” said
Kim. “Other Asian countries
celebrate it as well and it’s
good to tell others what
Lunar New Year is about.”
Kim hopes that through
the student body’s newly
acquired knowledge of Korean
culture, they will also be
interested in registering for
Korean language classes in
September. Since being asked
to teach the language classes
in 2017, the program has
expanded from two to three
classes, but his “dream” is
to have five Korean language
classes in the near future.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
224-5863 ext. 214.
Saving the world
John Adams students advocate global climate change
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Two students from John
Adams High School in
Ozone Park recounted their
memorable trips to Japan and
Poland, where they studied and
participated in climate change
activities and events.
Osamuyimen Omorogbe
and Josiah Dunn — both 16
years old and in 11th grade
— shared their experiences
on Jan. 29 in an interactive
panel presentation at John
Adams High School — located
at 101-01 Rockaway Blvd. —
with Shantanu Roy, a senior
trainer at Global Kids.
The nonprofit organization
conducts after-school programs,
where students participate and
talk about world issues across
the globe.
“When we do an international
trip, we try to bring in kids from
different sites,” said Roy. “Our
after-school programs are all
throughout various schools in
New York City, and we try to
recommend the best students
that are committed to Global
Kids and are passionate about
the topic.”
Omorogbe and Dunn are
both involved in the HRAP
program, Human Rights
Activist Project, where youth
advocate climate change and
its impact on other countries.
Omorogbe traveled to
Fukushima, Japan, for 10 days
with eight other students in
August 2018. She met with
industry experts to learn and
analyze the events related to
the Tsunami, the Great Japan
Earthquake, and subsequent
nuclear power disaster.
She interacted with youth
from Futabi Mirai School
who are engaged in efforts to
changing perceptions since
the disaster.
Omorogbe immigrated
from Nigeria to the U.S. in 2015.
Growing up, she didn’t have an
Global Kids leaders Josiah Dunn and Osamuyimen Omorogbe are
both involved in the Human Rights Activist Project, where youth
advocate climate change and its impact on other countries.
idea of what climate change was
until she learned about the topic
in school.
“We have been doing a lot
of stuff contributing to climate
change and I felt that I could
really impact people by standing
up for my community and do
something that will stop our
planet from sinking down,” said
Omorogbe. “Climate change is
still very important because I
think people like the Japanese
people, and even people from my
country and other places around
the world have been affected
by what other people do even
though it doesn’t matter to them
but to others.”
In December, Dunn spent a
week in Katowice, Poland, where
he participated in the United
Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (COP24). He
and three other students attended
workshops and exhibitions in
partnership with Peace Boat,
a non-profit organization that
conducts activities on a ship
that travels the world promoting
peace, human rights, equal and
sustainable development and
respect for the environment.
The group also held climate
change workshops about water
Courtesy of Global Kids
pollution at two local Polish high
schools and joined numerous
environmental organizations
and activists at a climate march.
“It’s not just me and other
people in New York who
think climate change is real,”
said Dunn. “There’s a whole
worldwide movement and a lot
of people outside of America
who think climate change is
real, and they have brilliant
and outstanding ideas on how to
change that.”
Both Dunn and Omorogbe
plan to continue studying
climate change and its impact on
the planet, and look forward to
going abroad on another servicelearning
trip in the future.
“Traveling abroad is a
transformative experience
and our young people use the
opportunity with Global Kids to
learn about and address critical
issues facing our world,” says
Evie Hantzopoulos, Executive
Director of Global Kids. “Josiah
and Osam will continue to share
what they learned with their
peers, as well as organize around
environmental sustainability,
climate change, and the
importance of being an active
global citizen.”
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Acts of Kindness...........................................8
Police Blotter................................................10
Editorials and Letters................................18
Valentine’s Section...............................28-31
QGuide ....................................................33-37
Sports.......................................................39-41
Classifieds.............................................42-50
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