Less reading means less literacy

By Evelyn Ramirez As the popularity of physical books and bookstores continues to decline, John Kruth tries to make the shop he helps manage a comfortable place for people who love and buy books.  I “can’t imagine going through life without having so many books. Just like albums and records, [they] have made a difference […]

Loving and reading books, as literacy declines

By Marvely Gonzalez Sitting on a bench in Washington Square Park, with his partner beside him, Thomas Hummel was reading “The Communist Manifesto.”  That book by Frederick Engles, Hummel said, gives the reader “a world of knowledge beyond your immediate experience.”  It lets Hummel, who works in IT at the Queens Public Library. “ learn […]

Honing neurodivergent learners’ tech skills

By Leane Kwon Computers hum. Students click through animations. Roars of excitement burst out as someone’s code project finally works. This isn’t your typical coding class. It’s a classroom built for 10- to 24-year-olds diagnosed with learning disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, executive function disorder and sensory challenges.  Those dozen or so neurodiverse learners […]

For 40 years, training next-gen journos

By Suriah Joseph Student journalist Michelle Yang was looking for free journalism programs ”that had a diversity of participants” and would help her build upon skills she’s gained during two years of working on her high school newspaper. The New York University Urban Journalism Workshop, which selected her for its 2024 summer cohort, provided what […]

A broken elevator, crawling pests, big tuition

By Senida Wright Weinstein Hall, one of NYU’s biggest dormitories, has its pluses and its minuses. “Location, No. 1,” said Lacy Hardy, 21, an NYU film major and peer assistant at Weinstein. “ It is so nice being super central. The 6, N & R [subway trains] are all right here, so it is so […]

‘Drag Story Hour’ combats homophobia, gender-identity biases

By Huria Ali The hate she received when she was 22, made Gloria Sotelo Quijano feel like she should stop being Lori Lu, the drag artist she turned into for performances and bookings for Drag Story Hour. “They will say very misogynistic, homophobic and even sometimes transphobic comments towards me …  I got very, very […]

Oh, the pressure! (To get into a top college)

By Isabella Alvarez-Gomez On a typical school day, Aryan Vadlamudi, 16, dashes through the front doors of Troy Athens High School at 7:20 a.m. From then until 3 p.m., he trips from class to class: AP chemistry, AP US history, honors pre-calculus and honors English. When classes end, he dives into his duties as treasurer […]

NYU, New School adjuncts want more pay

By Aida Sall Wages for adjunct professors at NYU are so low that some of them cannot afford health care. That’s according to leaders of the adjuncts’ union, which organized a recent protest to urge  higher wages for those part-time instructors. “What do we want? … Contracts!” “If we don’t get it? …  Shut it […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

How to Diversify NYC’s Elite Schools

By Rainier Harris Spectrum staff At Manhattan’s elite Stuyvesant High School, only 10 out of the 766 admitted students in the 2020-21 freshman class were Black.  At Staten Island Technical, another of New York City’s eight competitive, specialized high schools, this year, only a single black student — in a freshman class of roughly 1,320 […]

Students: Not Working is Not an Option

By Aniya Greene Staff Writer A student asked her for a roll of toilet paper. “Sure,” Ra Carroll answered, from where she sat behind the welcome desk at Palladium Hall dormitory. For handing out toilet paper and door keys, pointing summer guests at that NYU dorm toward the best pizzeria and performing other duties, Carroll […]

“Rising Leaders,” a Peer-to-Peer Project

By Olivia Chen Staff writer The 15 trainees, aged 11 to 14, listened and learned as their three instructors, aged 18 to 19, schooled them on how to debate the pros and cons of a topic. That day’s make-believe topic was vanilla ice cream. What, asked Abigail Neely, 18, if vanilla was the color and […]

Drumbeats for Justice

By Aishamanne Williams Spectrum staff The dozen or so teachers were stomping their feet, clapping their hands and chanting: “We who believe in freedom cannot rest … ” they shouted and sang, standing in a circle inside a classroom at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Taped to walls of that room […]

Valuing Catholic Education–and Trying to Keep the Doors Open

By Olivia Medina Spectrum staff Brian Fox so believes in the value of a Catholic school education that he already is scouting the right ones for his 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. “In public school, you’re just another number and a part of their system,” said Fox, 42, a New York City Police Department officer […]

Scholarships, Mentorships are Among NYU Diversity Efforts

By Julia Kim Spectrum staff Based on the racial, economic and geographic backgrounds of its students and faculty, Niche ranked New York University the 10th most diverse college in America in 2017. It has achieved that status, partly, through efforts such as the NYU Momentum campaign and the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Task Force, […]

“The Door” Opens to Low-income Teen Workers

By Mohammed Diallo Spectrum staff Marcus Bruno, 17, is part of a household of four that struggles financially. “You know my family isn’t in the best position right now and I want to start helping out … and I have a younger sibling in my family that I can take care of,” Bruno said. That’s […]

Courses Give High Schoolers a NYU Preview

By Somaya Bracy Spectrum staff Minutes before her last creative writing class, Leelu Ravi, 15, was sipping coffee and raving about what she’d learned during a whirlwind week of instruction at New York University. “You learn a lot,” said Ravi, of suburban Westchester County, north of New York City. “I now feel more ready for […]

Showing Foster Kids and Justice-Involved Youth Their Possibilities

By Bri’a Smalls Spectrum staff The main lesson that Niquana Clark learned during her years as a client of a Chelsea-based organization serving, among others, youth who’ve been in foster care and those who’ve been incarcerated, is that she didn’t have to keep her private story a secret. “Up until I came into the Possibility […]

Fall ’16 Freshman Class Sets Diversity Record

By Melissa Denizard Spectrum staff As he applied last year to New York University, 18-year-old Justin Hernandez doubted he’d get enough money to pay for that $75,000-a-year education. “‘Screw it. I probably won’t get any financial aid, but I’ll try,’” said Hernandez, a Latino whose mother is a cafeteria worker and whose father is a […]

Barnard Changes Policy to Admit Transgender Women

In fall 2015, Barnard will become the latest member of the prestigious “Seven Sisters” colleges to admit and enroll transgender students.

Previously, Barnard had no admissions policy specifically addressing transgender women. However, after a year of deliberation, Barnard enacted a policy June 3, 2015 stating that a transgender applicant can attend if they identify as a woman. Reactions among members of the Barnard community were mixed.

Tuition Fully Covered, Newbies Prep for College

While other fall 2014 freshmen were spending their summers getting away from school, Kiara Ventura and Oscar Balbuena went against that norm and, instead, were studying weekdays at the colleges they will attend. Through the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), Ventura, an incoming New York University freshman, and Balbuena, who has been admitted to Fordham […]