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High School Students Learn Beyond the Classroom in NYC
Nearly 50 Columbia Heights High School (CHHS) students and staff from the District brought curriculum and academic standards to life during the biennial New York City Study Seminar this spring. Experiences like the Study Seminar allow students to “see, do and learn” as the District strives to make learning real for students beyond the classroom and homework.
The group’s excursions in the Big Apple began the moment they arrived with a trip to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Their expeditions continued throughout Manhattan with visits to The Oculus, St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity Church, Charging Bull and Times Square.
During their week in the city that never sleeps, CHHS Concert Band students attended band clinics with professional directors and performed for the public while AP Studio Art students toured various art museums and took photographs of and sketched sights around the city.
Band students visited Washington Square Park, toured New York University (NYU) with NYU Clinical Music Assistant Professor of Music Education Michael Breaux and toured Columbia University. The instrumentalists were lucky enough to witness a memorial ceremony for the 108th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire – which killed 146 factory workers on March 25, 1911. Some students were even given the opportunity to participate in the ceremony by laying down flowers in memoriam.
“It was a very powerful experience,” said junior Hannah Stewart. “The feeling of being able to lay down a flower for a girl my age was something that I’ll never forget.”
Fine art students visited the One World Observatory – the new World Trade Center tower – where they were given the opportunity to go into the Freedom Tower.
“The view from the observatory was breathtaking,” said senior Evony Vang. “It was really relaxing to sketch and just enjoy the view.”
The weeklong trip continued with a performance by CHHS band students on the USS Intrepid – a World War II-era aircraft carrier which now serves as a museum – certainly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Art students visited Fort Tryon and The Met Cloisters with a guided tour on art from the Middle Ages. Learning continued as art students toured the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) while band students toured the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and participated in a clinic with Michael Adelson – a member of the conducting staff for the New York Philharmonic. All of the students on the Study Seminar attended a talk with Associate Director of Media Production for the Philharmonic Mark Travis and a performance by the New York Philharmonic, including a special feature of Yuja Wang.
Near the end of the trip, band students had an opportunity to tour the Met to see the special exhibit on rare instruments from around the world before heading to a final band clinic with Breaux. Art students spent a day at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and were able to tour the museum before it was open to the public.
“I thought MOMA was the best museum we visited because it had more well-known pieces,” said junior Renee Booth.
Of course, the group couldn’t end their trip without experiencing theater! They attended Tony Award winning musical “Dear Evan Hansen” at the Music Box Theatre and “King Kong” at the Broadway Theatre.
“Seeing ‘King Kong’ before heading home was the perfect way to end the week,” said junior Kate Rockwell. “It was interesting to see the different music and setting styles, and the show was truly unique.”
The trip was aligned to District curriculum and while students were able to take in other landmarks of New York City, every minute of their trip served to be educational.