Author Archives: Katti Gray
Harvard Researchers Aim to Stop Teens Use of Unsafe Weight Loss Supplements
By Radiah Jamil Fueled by less than half the calories he usually consumed, 17-year-old Stanley Huang ran more than three miles a day in 2018, hoping to lose weight. Looking back, Huang, who considered himself chubby at the time, regrets the way that he lost those 30 pounds. “I was losing a lot of muscle […]
“Flushing Community Fridge” Bonds Neighbors, While Filling Hungry Bellies
By Nicole Wong Thrilled to provide fresh produce, hygiene products, and other necessities to community members free of charge, rising high school seniors Kaitlyn Noemi and Isabel Noemi are celebrating the launch of the Flushing Community Fridge. Mutual aid finds strength in communities by ensuring that those most affected by issues like poverty are also […]
Teens Debate Whether Being “Triggered” Stops Important Conversations
By Adithi Vimalanathan Sitting in the large white halls of the Notre Dame School auditorium, Mary Sanfield observed as a NYPD officer spoke on online safety. Clicking through the slideshow, the officer eventually landed on a slide with a short clip. She then warned students she was about to play a video of a car […]
Even as Teen Births Drop, Teen Moms Still Exist and Sometimes Struggle
By Emmanuella Agyemang The second and last time her father kicked her out of the house, 17-year-old Melody Mota and her son, Aiden, who was 6-months-old, got sent to live with relatives in the Dominican Republic. She’s been there since January, mostly cut off from her New York family and struggling to get by on […]
As Offices Re-open, Workers Ponder the Pros and Cons
By Katie Chang As much as she loves the convenience of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate accountant Kamila Gosiewski said some of what happens while handling clients remotely can be annoying. “Not all of our clients want to show their faces on camera,” said Gosiewski, audit and tax manager at Anchin, Block […]
When Choosing Careers, Should Students Follow their Hearts or the Money?
By Yumna Qasim When she was 10 and told an inquiring family friend that she planned to write books someday, that grown-up’s response “was unforgettable,” said Morgan, 17, a senior at Brooklyn Latin High School. “He told me that I shouldn’t become an author and that I shouldn’t do writing because I won’t make […]
Public Housing Tenants Made 200K Complaints About Bedbugs and Roaches
By Brandon Sanchez For the 19 years that he’s lived in public housing, Jaylen Ramos has dealt with a range of problems, including having to boil water and, then, stand in his tub to bathe. “Just this month, there was no hot water for like two days,” said Ramos, 38, a barber, who lives in […]
Community Gardens are Feeding the Hungry and Bestowing their Bounty on Nurses
By Benjamin Raab As the 553 community gardens listed in New York City’s “Green Thumb” program begin ramping up activities after COVID-19 slowed so many things down, the Atlantic Beach Village Garden is preparing for its garlic and shallot festival and other upcoming community events that are designed to feed people and build camaraderie. “We […]
Playhouse Stages Multicultural Productions to Help Diversify the Arts
By Alefiya Presswala When the Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center reopened in June, after being closed for 15 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, “Tenali Raman: Folk Tales From India” was the first play it staged. Having an all-Indian cast for the reopening reflected the center’s mission of ensuring diversity in the performances it stages at a […]
Social Media Sites Can Be a Safe Haven and a Place to Show-and-Tell
By Felicity Robles Within a span of about 20 minutes, Hala Kurbeh watched her TikTok video showing the jeans, shirts, tops and necklaces she’d bought at an online clothing store rack up 79,000 likes and 280,000 views. “I was not used to my videos blowing up … ” said New Jerseyite Kurbeh, 16. “So many […]
Teen’s “Project Involve” Connects Youth to Local and World Concerns
By Edward Kim Since her June 2021 launch of Project Involve, an online platform aimed at encouraging students to become more aware of and involved in issues around the world, 16-year-old Aashi Chandna has attracted 1,300 followers. “People turn away from reading the news because it is associated with a lot of negativity and anger,” […]
In Nigeria, Brooklyn and Other Points Abroad, Ancient Art of Tie-Dye Thrives
By Oluwatobi Oyinloye Adesina Adeseye dips a sponge into wax that was boiling in a tin pot sitting directly on top of a cylinder of propane gas. Quickly, he moves the sponge across plain white fabric, making whirls, swirls, straight lines, dots and all sorts of asymmetrical shapes. When the wax dries, he dunks the […]
Thrifters: Recycled and Repurposed Clothing Helps Protect the Environment
By Reva Anna Gujral At Yellow Tag Thrift store, Zoey Alexis, 18, spends her work shift organizing clothing racks and ringing up customers at a vintage cash register with punch keys. She loves what she does in that Green Brook, N.J., store, and she loves the store’s environmental mission. “When you consider how every piece […]
NJ Middle School is Debating Whether Short-shorts, Spaghetti Straps, Etc are OK
By Sofia Pasqua It was hard for Valentina Altman not to feel like there was a double standard when one of the boys in her class at Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School got to play soccer shirtless during gym class without consequences last spring. The day before, she was sent to the nurse’s office to change into […]
New York City Mayoral Race Frontrunner Promotes Plant-based Eating
By Akil Kasubhai If elected mayor of New York City, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will become the first vegan to hold that position, which he plans to use to persuade others to eat less meat and way more vegetables. After dealing with the crippling symptoms of type 2 diabetes Adams turned to a plant-based […]
Churches Create Safe Ways to Worship, Serve Communities During Covid-19
By Baijun “Jack” Jiang Spectrum staff Unable to gather for worship in the sanctuary, youth leaders of Bethany Church sang and prayed from the rooftop of the Wyckoff, N.J., building where, before a pandemic, they usually gathered indoors. The people for they whom sang and prayed either sat inside or stood beside vehicles in the […]
Student Internships Went Virtual, Too
By Amira Shimin Spectrum staff Though she attends a top-tier high school whose students are pretty much guaranteed a summer internship, Pop Joslaine Manos fretted that she would have no place to apprentice this year. So many workplaces were still struggling with how to make work work during Covid-19, how would they possibly fit in […]
Son Rallies for Mom Killed by Cop
By Marian Caballo Spectrum staff The first time he heard a protester shout his murdered mother’s name, Andrew Ocasio broke down. “I was balling, with tears. It really hit me that day,” he said, remembering what happened after he spoke at a June Black Lives Matter rally. He’d started showing up at those rallies to […]
Setting Free the Wrongfully Convicted
By Lucia Shen Spectrum staff In 1974, a Philadelphia judge sentenced 17-year-old Edward Baker to life in prison for murder and robbery, crimes he couldn’t have committed. He was at a funeral wake 12 miles away at the time police said the crimes happened. “December the 23rd,” Baker said, “was the day I got locked […]
Race and a Summer Reading List
By Rohini Devi Spectrum staff When leaders of Sewanaka Central High School District, in June 2020, voted to list mainly authors of color in the recommended list of books for students to read, it was the first time they had made such a leap. They were showing that they weren’t going to ignore the Black Lives Matter movement and the summer’s unrest.
Retailers Hire Social-Media Influencers
By Isabella Ji Spectrum staff On a Monday in April 2020, Kaitlyn Zayas, 19, sat in her living room, recording a social media post about the “happiness” bath bomb and the “luau” facial and body soap bar that had arrived in that day’s mail from one of the retailers she represents online.
Virtual Class Tough on Kids, Teachers
By Rachel Todd Spectrum staff A music teacher went viral after posting a video of herself describing virtual learning: Hey, so, some of you guys might know, I’m a music teacher. And I’ve found that one of the best ways that I can process the whole transition to online learning is to write a song […]
In the Park — With, and Without, Masks
By Tenzin Lama Spectrum staff After quarantine had left children and adults antsy from spending so much time indoors, people who recently made their way to Windmuller Park in Woodside, Queens were having lots of fun outdoors — even though many didn’t wear masks or social distance. “This is the most crowded I’ve ever seen […]
Public Garden Soothes Amid Pandemic
By Ama Anwar Spectrum staff After being closed for more than four months, the 250-acre New York Botanical Garden re-opened to the public on July 28. Eileen Vurgos, a social worker from the Upper West Side, was one of the first people to glide through its entrance gates. After so many months either under quarantine […]
Adjusting to Re-opened Public Transit
By Karen Zhang Spectrum staff As New York City continues to rebound from being an epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, public transit also is revving up again. As it maintains safety protocols to prevent the spread of the virus, the Metropolitan Transit Authority is scaling up service to accommodate returning riders and riders who are […]
A Retired Cop Joins Black Lives Matter
By Paige Gibbs Spectrum staff Rose Facey’s 27 years as a sworn officer of the New York Police Department gave her a close-up view of what can and does go wrong in American policing. And that’s why, at 69, she has joined Black Lives Matter protesters — at three separate rallies, so far — who […]
Addressing Race in Yorktown Schools
By Ashley Alexander Spectrum staff When Amy Belfer looks back on what she learned while a student at Lakeland High School in Yorktown N.Y., she thinks about how much got left out. “We learned the basics about slavery, a tiny bit of Reconstruction,” the 2015 Lakeland graduate said. “And that’s all the black history we […]
Supporting Community via Social Media
By Shruti Vadada Spectrum staff Using proceeds from a GoFundMe campaign that attracted, among other donors, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, one youth group donated 200 masks and 400 medical gowns to a nursing home. Another youth organization has partnered with several public libraries on Long Island to teach seniors, via Zoom, how to stream […]
Reporting Assault Allegations Online
By Kirah Tianga Spectrum staff “He told me he wanted to have sex, but I expressed my uneasiness because I was worried his mom would come down. He told me it was fine, and he pulled me onto the floor and started pushing my dress up.”