Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School » In the News

June Letter to Parents

elias — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:57:20 +0000

English Version Download
Spanish Version Download

BREAKING NEWS

elias — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:54:10 +0000

The National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Human Rights Committee of Puerto Rico have the great and historic pleasure of announcing that Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres, after serving 30 years in U.S. prisons for his commitment to the independence of his nation, will be released on parole in July of this year, to reside in Puerto Rico.

This historic release is due to Carlos Alberto’s maintaining his integrity and commitment throughout three decades behind bars, and to the support of the people of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican communities in the U.S., as well as those who support human rights throughout the world. This broad support was key in winning his release, and he is looking forward to expressing his gratitude in person.

For no legitimate reason, he was made to serve almost 11 years more than his compatriots who were released in 1999, when president Clinton deemed their sentences to be disproportionately lengthy. The United States stands out as the country whose political prisoners serve among the longest sentences in the world.

Two Puerto Rican political prisoners remain in U.S. custody. Oscar López Rivera, who this month will mark his 29th year in prison, is not scheduled for release until 2023; and Avelino González Claudio, who this month will be sentenced to a term not to exceed 7 years. While planning the celebration of Carlos Alberto’s release, the National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Human Rights Committee of Puerto Rico will continue to work for the release of both remaining political prisoners.

Perfect Attendance Students for the Month of April

elias — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:19:40 +0000

List of the students fot the month of April.

Aurora Álvarez
Luz M. Rivera
Jesús García
Lisette Cruz
Rubén Mercado
Caprinda Grant
Tanairi Colón
Xiomara Grimaldo
Ángela Escobar
D’Angelo Luciano
Jocelyn Hernández
Lourdes Matute
Crystal Martínez
Lionel Booker
Grace Rivas
Rubén Cuadra
Mayra Pagán
Tania Castillo
Gabriel Valle
Janet Salgado
Anthony Soria
Alejandra Lugo
Sandra Salgado
Jolina Ramos
Natalie Oquendo
Onely Onofre
Tania Castillo
Joshua Lucena
Ashley Cartagena
Octavian Pagán
José Toledo

Principal’s List for the Third Quarter

elias — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:27:20 +0000

Student Jesus Garcia

Students that achieved a 3.0 GPA or higher in their Third Quarter report cards. Their reward is a special lunch with the Principal.

LGBTQ issues: Humboldt Park

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:44:56 +0000

431 final final presentation lgbtq.ppt

This Spring the students of CHSC 431: Community Assessment, a graduate-level core UIC School of Public Health class engaged in a collaborative learning experience with students and faculty at Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School to conduct a community health assessment of Humboldt Park. The UIC SPH class of nearly 40 students broke into six groups of students to assess separate health areas identified by PACHS as important – gentrification/sense of belonging; issues of LGBTQ youth, physical activity, nutrition, young women’s sexual/reproductive health, and health literacy/diabetes. Each group engaged in a mixed method
assessment modeling the assessment component of the Mobilizing Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process typically carried out by local health departments. Each group had at least two members engaged in an ongoing community learning experience so as to better discern community perspectives with respect to their health topic. The learning experience ranged from to engaging/facilitating small group learning to facilitating a schoolwide survey to volunteer coaching of a youth sports club. Existing quantitative data on population demographics, health status and health behavior were analyzed in light of qualitative data from key informant interviews, participant observation or focus groups (debriefing groups) gathered from community engaged learning experience characterizing/contextualizing the health topic. Preliminary findings were discussed at Humboldt Park Library 4/21 and 4/28.

Gentrification and belonging (presentation)

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:34:57 +0000

Gentrification and belonging 431 final-3.ppt

This Spring the students of CHSC 431: Community Assessment, a graduate-level core UIC School of Public Health class engaged in a collaborative learning experience with students and faculty at Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School to conduct a community health assessment of Humboldt Park. The UIC SPH class of nearly 40 students broke into six groups of students to assess separate health areas identified by PACHS as important – gentrification/sense of belonging; issues of LGBTQ youth, physical activity, nutrition, young women’s sexual/reproductive health, and health literacy/diabetes. Each group engaged in a mixed method assessment modeling the assessment component of the Mobilizing Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) process typically carried out by local health departments. Each group had at least two members engaged in an ongoing community learning experience so as to better discern community perspectives with respect to their health topic. The learning experience ranged from to engaging/facilitating small group learning to facilitating a schoolwide survey to volunteer coaching of a youth sports club. Existing quantitative data on population demographics, health status and health behavior were analyzed in light of qualitative data from key informant interviews, participant observation or focus groups (debriefing groups) gathered from community engaged learning experience characterizing/contextualizing the health topic. Preliminary findings were discussed at Humboldt Park Library 4/21 and 4/28.

(re)voicing teaching and learning in Paseo Boricua (Video)

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:35:48 +0000

What does it mean to take a “narrative approach” to exploring school, community, and literacy? When Alexandra Cavallaro and Patrick Barry were in a graduate seminar on inquiry-based learning, we thought about this question a lot as we heard stories about the Pedro Albizu Campos High School (PACHS) in the Paseo Boricua neighborhood of Chicago and the efforts that were being made there to extend learning beyond the space of school. (re)voicing teaching and learning in Paseo Boricua is a short film that we created with teachers, administrators and students. One teacher, Elaine Vazquez, joins us as coauthor on this video, which was presented at the the fifth annual Community as Intellectual Space symposium in June of 2009.Patrick Barry

PACHS Students write to Carlos Alberto Torres

Raymond — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:22:09 +0000

April 4th, 2010 will mark thirty years that Carlos Alberto Torres will have been in prison for “Seditious Conspiracy to Overthrow the US government.” As a school and a community, we will be trying to educate people about the terms and conditions that he has faced. The Batey Urbano is sponsoring a group of individuals to spend twenty four hours in a mock cell (located in the Batey Urbano’s store front window 2620 W. Division). The cell is 6 x 9, has a cot, a guard, a toilet, and these individuals will be imprisoned at 6:00PM and released at 6:00PM the next day. The event started Friday March 19th with our school’s own Janeida Rivera.

March 25th, students of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, will be writing letters to Carlos in their classes. The lesson is described below…

For more information and to visit the National Boricua Human Rights Network please click here

Task:
Write a letter to Carlos Alberto Torres addressing the questions below, and including anything else you would like him to know.
Criteria:
1. Letter must be one page (written)
2. At least a three sentence Introduction: Who are you and how long have you been with the school?
3. Respond to one or more of the topics below
4. Three sentences or more “thanking” Carlos Alberto Torres for his effort in creating the school that they now attend

potential topic 1 – how has the school played a role in your growth and development as a person? as a student? as a member of your community?
potential topic 2 – how has the school supported you in pursuing your educational and life goals?
potential topic 3 – what have you learned about Puerto Rican culture and history, or other cultures and histories from being here?
potential topic 4 – share some experiences that were meaningful to you during your time here at the school.
potential topic 5 – share some of the “most funny moments” that you have by being here in the school.
potential topic 6 – share why you think this school is unique in comparison to other schools.

5. Students are also encouraged to write to Oscar Lopez Rivera

Please use these videos to understand the circumstances that Carlos Alberto Torres is experiencing…

This is a video put together by the Boricua Human Rights Network…

This is a video of the Batey play “Crimes Against Humanity.” Documenting the day to day life that some of the Puerto Rican Political prisoners experienced. This play was put together by Mike Reyes and Luis Rosa and the Batey Urbano…

This video is a news clip from 1999 discussing a view on the “Clemency offer” by President Bill Clinton…

Albizu Campos Alum Receives Academic Award in College !

elias — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:29:23 +0000

Jesse Fuentes

Albizu Campos Alum Receives Academic Award in College !!

Working hard in her Northeastern coursework, Jessie Fuentes has been recognized for her academic excellence. Ms. Fuentes, like many Albizu Campos graduates, have had to deal with many social hurdles on her journey of success. She continues to balance her school life with the many obstacles and continues to do so in stellar form. Her motivation? She sees her family going through difficult times, she sees her friends’ families going through difficult times and she feels that it is “not right”, and that something “needs to change”. She believes that her hard work in school will give her the tools she will need to make that change in her community. Her determination at school has also been matched with her commitment to ongoing community building. Ms. Fuentes is leader and member of the collective of the Batey Urbano, a writer for the longest run student publication in Northeastern Que Ondee Sola, and an active leader in the Student Organization Union for Puerto Rican Students.

Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School would like to congratulate Jessie Fuentes in all of her efforts! Stay strong! Keep up the hard work!

Perfect Attendance Awards: February

Raymond — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:14:33 +0000

Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, celebrates students with perfect attendance in the month of February. The principal sings and dances as students receive a certificate for being in school every day in the month of February. This is made possible every month by Casa Puertorriqueña, and the hard work of students and staff.

Please watch the video below to see some of the action and hear student reflections to the event.