Turkey Time

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, a great time for a new poem by none other than our favorite Brittany! Makes me hungry just reading it.....

Gobble, Gobble
Brittany Ditch

With the holiday season taking off
Joyful songs are all we can hear

Thanksgiving is right around the corner
can you believe it?

Its time to pull out our appetites
Prepare our specialty foods that go so well with grandmas secret recipe
I can almost smell my grandpas turkey cooking in the oven
I can almost taste my aunts home made pumpkin pie
I get a stomach ache just thinking about it with extra whip cream
Don't forget to save room for Aunt Betty's famous Ambrosia
She only makes it 4 times a year
Each time gets better and better

This holiday season i am truly Blessed
A beautiful family is at the top of my list
Even on cloudy days
I was never left out in the rain
With out these special people in my life
the holidays would never be the same
This past year has been totally unexpected
Never thinking I would have fallen so deep
I never expected to rise so high
My family and friends are to blame
Thank you all for staying on top of the game

Its time to pull out or winter coats
Mix Match scarves and Mittens

The tree is on its way to being a sight to see
Memories that will last a life time
Are in the making

Have a Happy Thanksgiving

"Gobble, Gobble"

We Are What We Learn

Enjoy the video produced by the Graphic Communications class as they learned the basics of filming and editing. In it they share their joy and enthusiasm for being in school and learning with each other.

The Eagles Have Landed

The season closed for the ITC Eagles with a 12-22 loss to Nottingham. Overall it was the best season we've had as a young team. Some scenes from their final game of 2009.

Taser Talk

Where do you stand on tasers in schools?

Some ITC freshmen were asked their thoughts on it by Teen Voices and had this to say:

"I do not like the thought of being assaulted with a Taser. I believe that a Taser can really harm someone. Tasers, or any other weapons, should not be allowed in any school."
– Damian McKenzie Jr.

"I think it’s horrible that people think Tasers belong in schools. Such a dangerous weapon has no place in our schools. A Taser should only be used if the violence is so bad that other weapons are involved. Students shouldn’t be scared of the officers in their schools."
- Ashley Woolman

"I think that Tasers should be used only if there is a serious matter, like a big fight, and police could not break it up. Also, if someone had a weapon on them a Taser could be justifiably used."
– Michael Dykes

"Tasers should be used in schools. If students get into a fight that the police or staff cannot break up, then a Taser should be used."
- Alex Mitchem

Full article here.

The Mastery of Light

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded today to three scientists whose work has literally changed the way we think of light and information.

One scientist is recognized for his work in fiber optics, which is what we use for high speed internet and for sending other kinds of electronic information literally at the speed of light.

The other two scientists were the minds behind the invention of the CCD sensor, widely used in every digital camera.

Scientists work anonymously with very little recognition. As a technology school (and as a society), we should know Nobel Prize winners as well as we know Oscar winners.

ITC Eagles Remain Undefeated

Some scenes from the game last weekend against Phoenix, which ended in a one sided 61-6 win. Full details at Tech Know.

This Teen Knows Tech

Very proud and happy to announce that S2S big wig Jake O'Connell was chosen this month by the Post Standard to write for Teen Voices.

Read his essay and browse the Tech Know website for all important school news.

Growing Up Tough

Take some time to read this essay submitted by S2S member Jinnah Clark to the SU GEAR UP program. You would never know it by looking at Jinnah, who never seems to stop smiling!


I'm currently enrolled in the Institution of Technology at Central Tech as a rising junior. I'm highly motivated academically and play sports such as football, basketball, and baseball. I strive to be the best at what I do and I achieve anything I want with the positive mindset that I've embedded into my life. Not only am I good student, I am a good person in general. I'm good in school as well as at home. I am respectful to my parents and I do as I am told in a respectful manner. I am a well-rounded individual with the passion of educating myself as well as others who seek the same. Most importantly, I am humble in everything I do and I am humble and always ever so grateful for everything in my life. Considering my circumstances, I make the best with what I got even though it's not much.

I'm a typical African American male who has grown up on the poverty level. So bad that when I walked outside, I could be shot or killed any day. People selling drugs and cops riding up and down my street every other day. My family and I moving from place to place trying to survive on what we have. For example, my brother, mother, and me had to live in a one-bedroom apartment together. My brother and me had to sleep in the kitchen because that was our bedroom. Once, my brother, father, and me had to live in a shelter for almost a year barely making it day to day there.

I did not have many positive influences in my life. My friends just wanted to misbehave, fight, and do other reckless activities. I didn't stoop that low. I pursued my education and left that mischief behind. They weren't doing positive things with their lives. I was doing positive things with mine. Hitting the books every night and even on the weekends!

I have a drive and motor that keeps on going because I want to make it out and make a name for my family and myself. I want to go places and I want to live the best life I can. I want to make my family and myself very proud. That's what I work hard for each and everyday. To live my life the way it's supposed to be lived. Like I said, I strive to be the best!

SU Gear Up Campus Tour

The ITC juniors got to tour the SU campus courtesy of NYS GEAR UP. We met up with HS students who traveled from Cobbleskill, NY. After lunch and a chance to get to know one another we set off to see the campus. Full report on the Tech Know website.

Enjoy some of the scenes:







(photos: Amanda Williams, SU)

Free Online PSAT Course

There are some sites that offer PSAT style questions, but this one is an actual online course, followed by a full length exam. Its being offered for a great price: NOTHING.

Create a free account at GleimPSAT.com and get started. It is only free for a limited time.

Of Summer Past

ITCs poet laureate Brittany has penned another one for us. This time its a nostalgic look back at Summer 2009.

Summer went by too fast
This school year better go faster
Even with the dates passing by too fast
Life was able to keep up
Never stopping for a break
Like a human heart
Emotions flooded my mind
Gasping for air became a daily routine
Feelings changing by night
Never gave me enough time to catch a breath
This school year came
Everything that made the summer nights crazy went away.
Feelings became as still as a laugh in a magazine
The door opened
Water draining out
Things turned out alright
The sun shined in
No longer did the dark side of things seem to matter
Wasn't this one of the best summers ever?

My Education, My Future

Its very disappointing to hear that people actually have an issue with President Barack Obama talking directly to students about working hard and being successful. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Ok, bad choice of words!

Thankfully ITC is fully on board with the President on this, and will be streaming live his full speech on Tuesday Sept. 8th at noon.

Watch it below:



If you cant wait that long, read the prepared speech here.

ITC 2009 Football Schedule

Monday Sept 14th 4:30pm @ Jordan-Elbridge
Saturday Sept 19th 10am @ Westmoreland
Saturday Sept 26th 1pm Cato-Meridian @ Corcoran
Saturday Oct 3rd 11am @ Phoenix Central
Saturday Oct 10th 10am @ Cazenovia
Saturday Oct 17th 11am @ Cato Meridian

ITC Eagles Soar High

What a way to start the football season. A 42-20 blowout of the General Brown Lions shows we have a great season ahead.

I'll let you read all about it on the Online Student Newspaper.

Orientation, ITC Style

On a perfect afternoon ITC staff and several of our juniors welcomed the incoming freshmen and their families. I will let you read all about it on the brand new Tech Know News website.

The site will be used by students to be an online news source for all things ITC.

Pop Quiz Melo Style

With school just around the corner, theres no better time to get reacquainted with your classmates. So heres a quick quiz: How many ITC students do you see in this clip? Extra credit for naming them!

Carmelo and Boeheim at Wilson Park

Summer Reading

Now that summer is - dare I say it - almost over, I am curious to hear about student readings over the past couple of months. Please add some thoughts on books you might want to suggest for others, or maybe even get for the new school library.

As for myself, I read several books this summer, but 3 of them are worth mentioning.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jumpa Lahiri, was brilliant. She wrote The Namesake a few years earlier which was made into a movie. Both are definitely worth reading.

My favorite travel writer is Paul Theroux and his latest, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is a return to a trip he had made many years earlier and written about in an earlier book. It was very interesting to see the changes he saw along the way as he traveled through Europe and into Asia 30 years later.

And lastly I really enjoyed Tom Friedmans latest called Hot, Flat and Crowded a fascinating look at the climate crisis and the US after 9/11. Essential reading for surviving and competing in the 21st Century.

Ok, now its your turn....

One Night Only

Be on the lookout after midnight Wednesday and see if you can catch the Perseid Meteor Shower. The shower comes from the debris coming off the Swift-Tuttle Comet as it passes by Earth.

(Pic: AFP images)

Crunch Time

After several weeks of painstaking tower building the toothpick and glue structures were crushed in mere minutes. The winning design was from Jeremy whose tower carried 2 textbooks without failing.

A Royal Sendoff

The 2009 Summer enrichment Program closed for our students with a fully catered luncheon provided by the students in the CNY Works program.

Let this be fair warning to any future incoming freshmen that not only do they leave the program with a head full of great ideas but a belly full of good food as well.

Teamwork

How do 5 people carry a ball using only a string, a rubber band and some paper clips?

That was the dilemma facing the students who had to figure out how to get the job done. As you can see they succeeded in the task using some of the skills of teamwork that are necessary in any setting....communication, the exchange of ideas, patience, cooperation and lots of hard work.

Stage 3: Launch Day

The big day finally came with beautiful sunny skies and a light wind. All rockets took off perfectly and returned to earth in a less than perfect landing.

Justins mom showed up and got to launch the biggest one. It flew the highest and landed a few feet short of S. Salina St.

A perfect ending to a great integrated math/science summer project.


Last minute instructions


The launch site


Future NASA engineers


Team Smith making final adjustments


On the launchpad...

Blastoff!


The graceful touchdown

Stage 2: Painting

Once the rockets were assembled students got to spray paint them with their favorite colors:

Library Links

One of the biggest changes you will notice next year at ITC is the addition of a library, run by our new Library Media Specialist, Ms. LeFever. It will be housed in Room 215, and along with the computers already here, she is hoping to bring in lots of books and magazines.

I have a link to the ITC Library website posted on the top right, and Ms. LeFever is anxious to hear from you all about ideas for the new library.

Please spread the word over the summer to other students and email in with ideas on books, magazines, videos etc that you think will enrich our school and help you in your research or just to read over a break!

Rockets and Towers

Aiming high at the 2009 Summer Academy at ITC: