S2S member Begins City Crime Spree

It was with shock and alarm (and maybe some pride) that we heard of S2S member Jakes brush with death over the weekend.

An innocent trip to the Dollar Tree to buy a piece of candy turned into this brave young man being kidnapped, threatened with a bullet and eventually resulted in the loss of his phone and some money.

Yet despite all this he maintained his cool and begged for the return of his wallet. The sullen thug was probably too stunned at his victims audacity to refuse the polite request. Either that or he couldn't stand the bawling.

March Madness

It was a clean sweep for ITC as our students scooped up the prizes at the recently held Green Technologies Fair at the NY State Fair grounds. ITC won $500 out of a total purse of $600, and were interviewed live on tv as it was happening.

Watch here as Jake and Calvin explain the workings of their green gym.

A short article on the event and ITCs win here.

Congratulations to everyone who worked hard on their projects and presented them so well!

(photos: Brittany Ditch)

Does this Make Cents?

This could also have been titled "Why Basic Math is Important" or "Always Check Your Phone Bill". Its part of a real conversation between a frustrated customer and a Verizon billing rep. who just doesn't get it:

Who Are You?

Are you in the teens or twenties, confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and open to change? If so, you are a Millennial, the term given to those of you that belong to this generation.

And this is what the latest Pew survey says about them:

They are more ethnically and racially diverse than older adults. They're less religious, less likely to have served in the military, and are on track to become the most educated generation in American history.

Their entry into careers and first jobs has been badly set back by the Great Recession, but they are more upbeat than their elders about their own economic futures as well as about the overall state of the nation.

How well do you fit these guidelines (stereotypes)? Take the quiz and see where you rank. Feel free to post your Millennial score below.

Learn From Home

Here is a great website to help you study in the comfort of your own bedroom. The Khan Academy was started by Salman Khan (not the Bollywood star!) to provide free access to students around the world to great lessons that he records on YouTube. He has archived over 1100 videos on everything from arithmetic to physics, chemistry, biology, trig and calculus. Yes even SAT Prep!

No excuse now to be stuck at home on anything you didn't understand in class. A permanent link will be added on the right.

Calling All Artists

If you are one of those students who sits in class and doodles while valuable information is being imparted (I know who you are!), then Doodle 4 Google might be just the place to showcase your talents.

Under the theme, "If I Could Do Anything, I Would....", you can doodle up some creative images of what you would do for the world. Form your doodle around the famous Google logo, like you see at the top of their page. They even give you free templates to work with.


Each school gets to send in six entries. The deadline is March 31st, so get those pencils sharpened and start sketching!



(Image: Google.com)

Get Creative!

As part of ITCs vision of preparing our students to become 21st Century innovators, we are encouraging our juniors to work on presentations for Great Green Ideas, a competition among area high schools.

We encourage all students to get together with their friends and come up with cool ideas to save the environment. The best part? A prize of $600 for the winning idea!

Got some cool ideas? Post them in the comments section, maybe someone else could use them.

Treasure Hunt

Why waste a whole week off at home playing PlayStation, watching Nickelodeon and stuffing your face with Doritos, when you could make an easy $1000?

Simply follow the clues posted each day for the next week and find a hidden medallion somewhere around these parts.

What are you waiting for? Put down that insanely addictive Math B take-home test for a few minutes and make yourself some real money!

UPDATE: The medallion was found in Oneida Shores Park

Valentine Quotes

Congrats to our very own Brittany who was one of several teens asked by the Post Standard about their views on Valentines Day:

"Have you found your Valentine? Ever since I was a little girl, Valentines day has been a favorite of mine. This year I will be spending the day with my amazing family, no Special guy over here. Which is alright because I have people that love me, for just me. Life just doesn't get better then that."

- Brittany Ditch, a junior at the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central

Digital Nation

A thought provoking documentary on PBS's Frontline investigated the effects of multi tasking with many forms of digital distractions and asked the question: can students learn effectively in such an environment?

Here is the link to the video of the program. It should be required viewing by teachers, parents and students.

Curious to read your thoughts, so feel free to leave some in the comments section.

Image: Beverly Naidus, Multitasking Queen

ITC vs Cato Meridian

Some pics from Saturdays action.

Haiti Relief Effort

Some really hardy ITCers showed up on a very cold day to help collect cans and bottles for the earthquake victims in Haiti. From the bags and bags collected it was clearly a success.







News story and video here.

Bottle/Can Drive for Haiti

Imagine living in a place where…

· More than one million primary school-age children simply have no access to education.

· Nearly 80% of the population lacks basic reading and writing skills.

· One in eight children dies annually before the age of five, mainly because of malnutrition.

That was the situation in Haiti even before the earthquake hit the island last week.

On Saturday, Jan 30th from 9am till noon ITC is having a bottle and can drive to raise money for the Red Cross for the earthquake victims.

Please collect all the empties you can find and bring them to the school and lets make this a huge success!

Thanks to Ms. Sobon for taking the initiative in this!

My School

Watch as Josh Gleba and Matt Smith proudly explain the working of the ITC Auto Club.

A New Years Pledge

Looks like our favorite poet Brittany is a woman of action!

Action is the New Resolution

by Brittany Ditch

A new year is among us
People singing
People drinking
People sleeping
Wake up
Wake up
Its a brand new year
A year to make new mistakes
A year to say I LOVE YOU 100 times more
A year to say I am changing today

This year my resolutions are as follows...
To stop lying
To stop teasing
To start singing
To live each day in Christ's light
And to eat way less Midnight Cheesecake
This year I want to mean what I say
Yesterday will not fade away
I will dream onto tomorrow
I say what I want
But i never do what I want
Saying the right words
Do not count

Action is the new resolution
Right now i feel AMAZING
With the radio playing
Nothing but my PJ's on
Looking at a blank page
I see the beauty I can create
With a single move
That will change the view
Of all those I do not know who
This image has a story
One that will be told
Nothing is holding me back
Not a shield
Not a scar
Not a boy friend

Right now my eyes are on God
I will let him take care of the rest
If my cloths don't fit
Oh well
He loves me at any size
If I trip
We will have a little laugh
That will soon be in the past
But this isn't over yet

I will teach myself to be happy
When happiness is that I have
Last year pain seemed like family
Every time it left
Guess what
I brought it right back
This year thats not how things will be
I am ready to let it leave
Bye Bye

Jesus I am alive

He is watching us
God is holding us
Although we can't see this magnificent sight
We must always keep the faith
This is where the hardest step is met
Giving our selves to what we can not see
Thats when we get scared
Lets stop giving up
Lets shine for those who need it most
We can be the living examples of faith
No more running
Unless we are in a marathon
Failure is in the steps that are not taken
We will succeed

Everything last year might be over
But God still stands

HAPPY NEW YEAR
:D