East Harlem teacher among 20 educators
honored with DOE’s Big Apple Award
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
An East Harlem high school teacher
who tended to her students’ mental
health throughout the pandemic
while tackling tough topics like the Jan. 6
attack on the Capitol and a wave of Black
Lives Matter protests was given a “Big
Apple” Award Tuesday by Schools Chancellor
Meisha Ross Porter.
Ivelisse Ramos Brannon, an English
Language Arts and Advanced Placement
Language and Composition teacher at
Central Park East High School, is one
of 20 teachers receiving the award this
year which celebrates educators who
have gone above and beyond in teaching,
inspiring students, or leading their school
community.
“Out of all the amazing teaches in our
state, she was selected because of her amazing
teaching process, the way she’s engaged
in her school,” said Porter who surprised
Ramos Brannon during a morning class
to hand-deliver the award. This year, over
6,000 educators were nominated for the
prestigious award with winners selected
from a panel of superintendents, former
“Big Apple” winners and Department of
Central Park East High School teacher Ivelisse Ramos Brannon is the second
educator to receive their Big Apple Award this year.
Education staff. Porter is only personally
delivering the award to fi ve educators, one
per borough, and the remaining winners
will be announced over the next two weeks,
according to a DOE spokesperson.
The award takes on a new level of prestige
this year given the challenges public
school teachers and students have faced
over the last 15 months amid the ongoing
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT
pandemic. When schools suddenly had to
shift to remote learning last spring, Ramos
Brannon led the Central Park East High
School’s transition to remote and blended
learning and supported the school community
“going live” shortly after Mayor Bill de
Blasio ordered the fi rst system-wide shut
down of public schools. In addition, Ramos
made it her mission to ensure her students
thrived academically and emotionally by
routinely coupling instruction with mental
health check-ins with her students during
class time.
“Check-ins could be something like a
warm-up activity like the kids telling me
how they are feeling, or I would have them
write a little narrative or I would call them
into my virtual offi ce hours,” Ramos Brannon
told amNewYork Metro. If a student
seemed off or said they were struggling
in any way, Ramos Brannon followed up
with “many, many” phone calls, emails and
surveys on Google Meet.
But the most powerful way Ramos Brannon
would care for her students’ emotional
wellbeing was not shying away from talking
about complicated issues that came up during
a very complicated year and a half. “If
we ever needed a time to talk about what
was happening in the world, what was happening
at home, we had that,” said Anahi
Ramos, 16, one of Ramos Brannon’s 11thgrade
students. Ramos Brannon would
frequently spend full class periods talking
through some of the painful events that
have taken place over the last 15 months,
the murder of George Floyd, violence
against protesters, and the spike of violent
attacks against Asian Americans.
Massive Central Park comeback concert slated for August
BY MATT TRACY
A large concert will be held in
Central Park as part of a citywide
“Homecoming Week” in August to
celebrate New York City’s recovery from
the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Bill de
Blasio said during his daily briefi ng on
June 7.
“It will celebrate the summer of New
York City, the comeback, and it will
emphatically make the point there is no
stopping New York,” the mayor said. “It’s
going to be a great lineup.”
That lineup, however, remains unclear
for now as the city works out the details of
the main event, which will be spearheaded
by fi ve-time Grammy award winner and
record producer Clive Davis.
According to The New York Times, the
show will be staged on the Great Lawn —
and Davis is hoping to secure eight prominent
music stars for a three-hour event in
front of 60,000 attendees.
“I turned to Clive, I said, ‘I need the
biggest, most extraordinary all-star lineup
New Yorkers will flock to Central Park in August for a huge concert to
celebrate the city’s comeback.
you can put together, heavy on New York
artists,’” de Blasio explained. “He said, ‘I’m
on it. I’m going to make it happen.’ So, in
August, get ready for an unforgettable
REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS
week, a once-in-a-lifetime concert and a
moment that really says New York City’s
back.”
Citing the latest coronavirus numbers,
showing a 0.71% citywide positivity rate,
the mayor expressed no reservations
about the safety of a larger-scale event two
months away.
The concert will be the centerpiece of
an action-packed week fi lled with “major
activities” throughout the fi ve boroughs,
according to the mayor. The details
and timing of those events are not yet
solidifi ed.
“Folks in the suburbs and the tri-state
area appreciate and love New York City,”
de Blasio said. “And for most of them, New
York City is where the roots are. Time to
come home, time to help us move forward.
This homecoming week is going to be
something very, very special.”
Live Nation is playing a role in producing
the main event. The tickets will be free, but
there will be some exceptions, such as for
VIP tickets.
Both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals
will be permitted, though 70% of
the space will be reserved for those who
have completed the vaccine series, according
to the Times.
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