36 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • APRIL 25, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
school spotlight COMPILED BY MORGAN CHITTUM AND BOB HARRIS
Hillcrest High School employee goes
the extra mile to help students
Hillcrest High School’s Transitional
Coordinator, Johanna Diaz, is in charge
of alternative programs for students
at the school. She provides students
with personalized academic assistance,
helps them explore options for tuition
help and teaches them about vocational
training programs. In the past, she
has taken students to the Coop-Tech
Program Center in Manhattan, where
they explore one day entering technology
and vocational fi elds. Th e photo
shows students at Queensborough
Community College where they had the
chance to tour campus and sign up for
career programs.
Students pursue excellence with the
formation of their new academic community
The Benjamin
Franklin High
School for Finance
and Information
Technology, in the
Campus Magnet
Complex, Cambria
Heights, has developed
an Academic
C o m m u n i t y
of Excellence
(ACE) Program
to encourage
greatness both
inside and outside
the classroom.
Students must
have at least a 90 average and volunteer
to mentor their peers to qualify for the
prestigious program. Th e ACE students
are distinguished from the other students
because they are given two shirts
and a jacket to wear. Th ey also get ot take
two trips each semester and attend several
ceremonies of distinction. Th e list
of participating staff include: Principal
Brenord, AP Cuffi e, College Advisor
Bujan, Senior Adviser White and teacher
Yacoub.
Student Organization President
has high career aspirations
Th e Student Organization President of
Hillcrest High School wants to become a
commercial pilot. In his role as President,
Elmer Gomez helps to plan senior activities
for the Class of 2019 and makes
the morning announcements to the student
body in Principal David Morrison’s
Offi ce. Th e Jamaica, Queens, resident
volunteers with the following: March of
Dimes, Parent Teacher Conferences, the
High School Fair in Francis Lewis High
School, Teens-On Point Club, and a local
food pantry. He is also in the Pre-Med
Small Learning Community.
Gomez is considering a future at
Vaughn College where he would pursue
a Aeronautic Engineering Degree and
become a commercial pilot or join the
United States Air Force.
Civic minded student aims to give back
to his community and travel the world
Junior Daniel Cardenas serves as
President of the Student Government
of the Pan American International
High School in Elmhurst. As President,
Cardenas must meet with Principal
George Nadia to discuss important
issues and coordinates all student activities.
Th ese activities include planning the
Halloween Parties and the International
Night event. He also works on the school
newspaper, and has volunteered with Life
Poker Face and Youth Council. He was
in the ACE Mentor Program of Greater
New York where he studied architecture
from his mentors. Last Summer, he
did an intensive architectural program
at the Parson School of Design with an
$8,000 scholarship given to the school.
Among several others, Cardenas is passionate
about his love for art, equal rights
for every person, ending sexism, poetry
and stopping gentrifi cation of the community.
He would like to travel the world,
promote education, learn to play a variety
of instruments and several languages. In
the future, Cardenas wants to study architecture
and musical composition in Spain.
Valedictorian from Jamaica, Queens
doubles as a martial arts expert
Jonathan Jarju is the valedictorian for
Th e Benjamin Franklin High School for
Finance and Technology class of 2019.
He’s also a mixed martial arts expert.
Sarju, a resident of Jamaica, Queens, has
maintained a 98 average in his courses,
and is a member of his school’s chapter of
the National Honor Society. He is a part of
the Academic Community of Excellence
program in the school which requires
members to have a 90 grade point average
and regularly volunteer. Along with
his academic excellence, he participates in
the school’s Christmas food drive, racking
up 60 cans of food in 2015. He assists his
teachers with the following tasks: grading
papers, setting up bulletin boards, organizing
the classrooms and fi ling papers
for them.
In the future, this MMA afi cionado
wants to attend Pace University where
he will pursue a major in Finance. Sarju
has been investing in the stock market for
over a year. One day, he wants to operate
his own hedge fund, and is applying for
several scholarships based on his grades
and athletic activities. From Australia to Van Buren
Martin Van Buren High Schools Senior
Class President recently moved to Queens
from Australia. Due to her move from a
diff erent continent, Harmonia Kathleen
Peet has a global perspective, which has
led to her involvement in various school
activities and career aspirations. Peet has
participated in Mock Trial, Model UN and
in Moot Court last year, where she competed
at the Hague, Holland as a representative
for the United States. Along with
numerous workshops, she has attended
a 3 day United Nations Conference
and was on several teams for court trials.
She also went on a mission trip to India
with her church and is in the Pre-Law &
Leadership Small Learning Community.
Along with Senior Class President, Peet
has led in other capacities as well. She was
still involved with Student Government
last year as the Student Organization
President. As a student in the Leadership
Class, she is involved in all phases of
student activities which include: Blood
Drives, Valentine’s Day events and the
Th anksgiving Day Feast.
In the future, the Senior Class President
wants to work for a non-profi t or the
United Nations. She plans to study political
science and has applied to schools
such as Duke, Brown, Princeton, Albany
and Binghamton.
/WWW.QNS.COM
