M.S./H.S. 223 is known as one of the best schools in the borough mainly because of the opportunities it offers.
But many students, especially the newcomers, aren’t aware of programs or don’t know who to reach out to.
For this reason, in collaboration with Mr. Ohl, Ms. Haines created the first Opportunity Fair in the school last February.
“We realized last year that having it in December is too late in the year,” Mr. Ohl said in an interview. “A lot of the opportunities have already happened. So we’re kicking it off early. September’s early to be doing this, but earlier is much better for getting in front of the opportunities instead of mid year.”
This year they decided it would be a better idea to do it earlier so that students have more time to examine their options without the pressure of close deadlines.
The Opportunity Fair on September 19, 2024 was held in the library and included more than 10 different clubs and opportunities that students can participate in that are both HS223 based and from outside organizations.
Ms Haines says, “So I think we’re really lucky in that we have a lot of opportunities at this school, but historically we’ve had a few students that try to participate in all the opportunities, which is great.”
Ms. Haines continued saying, “But we also want to make sure that more students know about them and more students are able to participate in them. So what I was thinking was just getting more students to know what’s going on so that they have they can make better informed choices for themselves about what they do and how they spend their time and how they build their resumes, but also just how they have fun in extracurricular activities.”
Some of the clubs at the Opportunity Fair included Sistas and Brothas United (SBU), a youth empowerment group, Urban Arts, coding through the arts, as well as the Arete Teaching Internship, that gives students the opportunity to act as tutors in the middle school after school program.
Further groups that were represented included the HS223 based Dance Club, Pre-med Club, Gender Sexuality Alliance, Minecraft Club and Self-Care Club.
While there were many different clubs and programs featured, the Fair didn’t represent all of the students’ needs. According to Gisleidy, a tenth grader, it would have been nice to see a music club or any programs relating to music. Steven Garcia, ninth grade, said “I would have preferred to see more one-on-ones.” Many students would like to see staff reaching out to them more to help them figure out what they may want to do in the future.
Ultimately, the second annual Opportunity Fair helped introduce programs, clubs, and internships that could potentially pave the way for a successful career including opportunities in a safe environment where students can just have fun.
Ninth grader Owen Morales said the Fair “gave me the opportunity to learn new things and put in my work hours.” He signed up for Urban Arts, where he will be able to use coding to express his creativity and share his identity. He believes the program will help him “see what I want to do in the future, like if I want to do anything tech related.”
