It’s been done! Many mem-bers BCAM's senior class went toHonors Haven Resort in Ellenville,NY on May 11th. The dreaded"senior curse" of no senior trip did-n't affect BCAM’s third graduatingclass.

“I wouldn’t say the curse isbroken, it depends on the people ifthey want to go on the senior trip,”said senior Autumn Edwards.

At approximately 6:30 a.m. ona Friday, senior BCAM studentsmet at the school and waited forthe bus to arrive. Luggage and bagswere checked and loaded unto thebus for a two-hour ride up to theresort for three days and two nightsof non-stop fun and relaxation.

According to senior BrandonJones, this year’s senior class wereguinea pigs for the whole experi-ence.

The trip turned out well,according to senior SharondaGardner.

“It was fun and exciting.It was an experience that I want toexperience again, and I can neverforget [it],” said Gardner.

According to Jones the trip toHonors Haven Resort was ulti-mately "amazing."

“I would stay there for a year,”said Edwards.

Having friends around, partic-ipating in activities like horsebackriding, paintball, and a bungee run,and having access to an indoorpool/Jacuzzi, free breakfast, lunchand dinner made many seniorswish for another chance to stay atthe Resort.

Weeks before the trip started,many seniors were excited and

already planning what they woulddo.

Senior Amyr Wynder, hadplanned to be “sniffing the fresh airand thinking about what I’m goingto do, and [asking] where’s the bas-ketball court.”

“I’m going to choose the bedfirst,” said senior Kimberly Scott.Senior Aaron Lewis planned onhaving fun and jumping on his bed.

“I’m going to the pool andswimming. I’m going to do paint-ball and gonna go horseback ridingbecause I like the scenery,” saidsenior Alex Casado.Other students saw the trip as a

last chance to really bond withfriends.

“This [was] our first and lasttrip as a class, after is prom, andthat’s our last moment together,”said Lewis.

According to Jones, “[The tripis] special because I never reallyspent a night with classmates andfriends.”

“This [was] one time we goaway before we graduate, and it’swith our friends,” said seniorSharon Vega.

12th grade Economics teacheragreed.

“This one is special becauseit’s the first senior trip,” saidCoston. “I’m excited that this sen-ior class gets to go on this trip,” sheadded.

Gardner said she would rec-ommend this senior trip to futureseniors at BCAM because it wasjust fun.

”I think any senior trip will befun, it doesn’t matter where,” saidGardner.

300 Willoughby Avenue, 3rd Floor Brooklyn, N.Y. 11205

BCAM BacktalkVolume 1, Issue 4 May 2012

photo by Tamara Mouzon '12 and Dominique Arzu '12

BCAM Earns ‘B’ on Quality Review

Recently BCAM received aQuality Review grade from the NYCDepartment of Education. This gradereflects the progress that the school ismaking.

"I think [the B grade is] fair;however, I would like to see howother schools are being ranked," said11th grade English teacher, Mr.Pedergnana.

Mr. Pedergnana also talkedabout improvements that BCAMshould make in the future.

He mentioned "putting things in

place that can show teachers concreteinformation about how prepared thestudents are not [only] for college butfor the world.”

"I feel happy about the grade butmixed about where we are as aschool, pertaining to the rubric. Ithink that we really shined, but weneed to continue to improve," headded.

Mr. O'Brien felt similarly.O'Brien suggested that the

school needs to "be more consistent.As principal I need to improve on

supporting teachers in their practice.The final piece that requiresimprovement is the fact that we needto do a better job as a whole school inallowing students to know how we'redoing in terms of their development."

"I'm happy that we got a B," saidjunior Jamelia Thompson. "We as aschool should get more after schoolprograms that will increase our gradeto an A."

Given the course that the schoolis taking perhaps BCAM will get anA the next time around.

BCAM recently received a 'B' grade from the state.

The First-Ever Senior Trip: Over and Done!

Senior Aaron Lewis shows his excitement for the senior trip to Honors Haven Resortdays before departure.

Eyeshadowon the Lips?

Page 2

Teacher News!

Page 4

BCAMSports!

Page 3

by Tamara Mouzon '12 and Joanna Sledge '12

by Gevaughn Laird '12

My name isRayanna Latham, andI am one of the tutorsin Mr. Diallo's class.

Every Tuesdayafternoon, I come tohelp students whoneed extra help inAlgebra II. I became atutor after gettinggood grades, mostlyA's, on my homeworkand quizzes in Mr.Diallo's class. Myability to quicklyunderstand the work

in class also got mehere.

I actually take joyin helping my fellowpeers. I normally helpmy classmate, JanaeHolder '13, with hermath work. From time

to time, I help PatriciaBenoit '13.

"Sometimes it'sbetter to learn fromyour friend becauseyou are comfortableand not afraid of mak-ing mistakes," said

Benoit.Patricia enjoys my

help because sheunderstands the workbetter after I workwith her.

When I finishtutoring her, her

grades go up and sodoes her understand-ing of math.

If you are interest-ed in tutoring or beingtutored in math,please see Mr. Diallo.

Natkwynjai Floyrd '13 and Melisa Smith '13 pose for thecamera.

photo by Daijonae Moses '12

word cloud created using wordle.com

Creativity Has No Bounds

Tutor YourPeers!Or BeTutored byThem!

There has been a phe-nomenon going aroundBCAM. Blue, yellow, blackand even green has been seenon mostly the 11th gradegirls' lips. Just what is this ontheir lips, you ask?

Many think it's just lip-stick. Wrong! The girls actu-ally came up with a cleveridea: by first applying a layerof lip gloss then a selection ofeye shadow right over it, thenapplying lip gloss again, theycome up with a lipstick withan interesting color and long-lasting wear.

I feel this shows the artis-tic creativity here at BCAM,and it works just as well andlooks just as good as regularlipstick.

“I think it’s a great ideasaid junior KasheenaBloomfield.

Melissa Smith, who start-ed the trend here at BCAM,said “I got the idea in thesummertime after trying tomatch my lip stick with myoutfit."

She said she’s delightedthat BCAM girls have gottendown with her trend.

However some peopledisagree with the idea.

"It is 'un-smart' and someof the colors are inappropri-ate for school,” said one stu-dent who will remain anony-mous.

While going to a schoolof the arts, I feel it's our dutyto express our artistic creativ-ity.

I feel this makeup inno-vation is just our students liv-ing up to our BCAM motto:“academic, artistic and pro-fessional preparation for the21st century.”

Why I think BCAM's eyeshadow lipstick trend is a good one

Either way, it's fun,un-stressful, andyou learn a lot!

What do you think of the eyeshadow-as-lipstick trend?CelinaCaesar '12:"They obvi-ously thinkits cute, sothey’redoing it.”

Ms. Murray,School SocialWorker: “Somegirls use the eye-shadow as analternative to lip-stick becausecompared to actu-al lipstick it’s a lotcheaper.”

Leon Godard'12: “If thecolors theywore werebrighter, therewould be lessof a problem.”

MylaechaAska '13: "Withregular lipstickyou won’t getthat much of avariety in col-ors like theeye-shadow.”

by Rayanna Latham '13

by Daijonae Moses '12

Page 2 May 2012BCAM Opinions

For a long time BCAM's soccerteam has been in the shadows of thebasketball team. Fewer studentsattempt to be on the soccer team, thesoccer team has few to no games forspectators to watch, and the team isstill not a part of the Public SchoolsAthletic League (PSAL), accordingto Coach Diallo.

The soccer team has at timesbeen a team that played against otherschools and at other times has been aclub where kids have fun kicking a

ball.Practicing every week on

Tuesdays and Thursdays has nothelped the team grow in popularity.

Mr. Diallo, founder and coachof the soccer team, has been instruct-ing students in developing their soc-cer skills ever since 2007, when hefirst started the team. And since thefirst team of soccer players atBCAM, the team has had a few awaymatches against small high schoolsin Queens.

Because the soccer team nolonger plays against other schools, ithas become more of a club. Thatsaid, some students continue to par-ticipate.

"I'm still on the team to becomemore skilled at the sport," said seniorAnthony Parris, a team member fortwo years.

The newest freshmen, sopho-mores and a small number of seniorsand juniors, appear to participatemainly to spend time with friendswhile kicking a ball on the new field.

"I'm just on the team 'cause Ihave nothing better to do most of thetime," said sophomore Luis Santos.

"At BCAM, football (soccer) isregarded as a second-class sport, atleast for now," said Mr. Diallo.

The Boys Basketball2011-2012 season came toan unfortunate end, after awell-fought playoffschedule, while the GirlsBasketball team, strug-gled to keep up.

During the Boys var-sity season, the team had arecord of 12 wins, and 6losses, placing 5th in theBrooklyn B West 2011-2012 ladder.

"I believe we receivedsome misfortune duringthe toughest stretch of our

last game. We didn't losethe game we ran outtime," said coachLawanda Greene. CoachGreene also expressed herfeeling for the seniors onthe team. She started bysaying "We startedBCAM's PSALBasketball together. Fouryears ago, I walked into abuilding with no idea ofwhat our future held as anathletic program."

She continued."We've been blessed

to have student-athleteswho are dedicated to per-severing despite obsta-cles. Finally she ended herresponse with "The sen-iors paved the way for ourfoundation and the under-classmen will follow."

However the girlsstruggled, with a record of3 wins, and 10 losses,placing 4th in the GirlsBrooklyn B1 East 2011-2012 ladder.

Coach Hasaun Huntersaid his team, at first "didnot have good chemistry,but as the team pro-gressed, they got increas-ingly better." He also stat-ed that next season he justwants for them to"improve, and get better."But the star point guard ofthe team, Damany Smith,is a senior, who graduatesthis year.

Coach Hunterexplained that when sheleaves the team is going tolose out on "points, assist,rebounds, a lot, which

means the team has toimprove and step-up over-all." Both teams andcoaches played theirhearts out, and hope forgreatness in the nextupcomingseason.

"I feel like severalpeople on the team need

to stand up, likeKennieka, Shatiya, andCandice," said DamanySmith. "They need tobecome strong rebound-ers, and aggressive scor-ers, and if they work onthat during the summer,they should have a veryproductive season."

The girls' team and Coach Bullock put on their bestgame faces after their first ever football game.

photo by Mr. Greer

Memory lane: Coach Diallo poses with the first-everBCAM soccer team.

Coach Hunter is in charge of the girls' basketball team,The Lady Lions.

photo by Dominique Arzu '12 and Tamara Mouzon '12

Flag Fball Team Loses First Big Game

Boys TeamRipped; GirlsTeam Skipped!

The Soccer Team Continuesto Evolve

The new BCAM flag footballteam has now been going on for aboutthree months. The football team isnamed after BCAM's mascot:“Lions.”

Coach Bullock says there’s atotal of 14 BCAM students that areparticipating onthe BCAM footballteam. The 14 BCAM flag footballplayers are ready to play and alsoready to win.

The players are senior ShatiquaSmith, senior Damany Smith, seniorNiasha Jenkins, senior KayannThompson, senior Brittany Williams,junior Alison Holder, senior AutumnEdwards, senior Kassandra Perez,junior Alecia Parris, junior AshiekaScott, senior Dominique Arzu, andfreshman Chasidy Walker.

Coach Bullock said the football

team will do good things for BCAMHigh school.

“The football team will giveBCAM another sport to look forwardto. It’s something new, and somethingto experience from.”

Bullock said the girls are easy towork with.

“They all work hard in practice.They come to practice all the time,and it's actually fun.”

The football team will help thesenior students because it’s extraexperience that they can put down forcollege.

“It's very different but fun. I’mhappy that I’m getting to experienceit,” said senior Shatiqua Smith.

Just before the first game, theplayers were nervous. Hours beforethe game started, Jenkins was asked

how do she felt.“Um um um, I’m nervous but I

think we can do it if we really want todo it,” she responded.

Some of the girls were upsetabout losing their first game but stillseemed to be motivated.

“We played. We lost and theywas [sic] cheating. Niasha waselbowed in the cheek. And Damanywas bumped multiple times by one ofthe other school's teammates," saidArzu.

"We played a good game.We justgot two intersections and the pointswas [sic] 12 to 18,” Arzu continued.

The flag football team will con-tinue to practice after school andwork on winning the rest of theirgames before the season and theschool year end.

...but that doesn't stop them from winning three others (at press time)!

The girls' bball team will losea key player to graduation

photo provided by Coach Diallo

by Zakeira Edwards '12

by Jeremy Matthews '12 and Ms. Morris

by Logan Rodriguez '12

May 2012 Page 3BCAM Sports

BCAM’s science teacherMs. Jones got married onApril 16th to Antonio Llopizafter dating him for five years.

There are no current plansfor any babies but there are upcoming honeymoon plans fornext year. Since they were notable to have abig honey-moon after thewedding, theyplan on goingto Hawaiisoon.

"I don’tfeel any differ-ence orchange [now that I'm] mar-ried," she said, and apparentlyher last name did not havemuch change either.

“My husband's last nameis hard to pronounce, andsince all my students knowsme as Ms. Jones, it’s a lot eas-ier to keep my name thesame,” Ms. Jones said.

In other news Mr. Ped-ergnana, BCAM’s 11th gradeEnglish teacher, is also goingto be hearing wedding bellssoon. His wedding will be

held in Saratoga on July 1st.He will be marrying AmyCrawford, a first-grade schoolteacher at “The Island School”on the Lower East side ofManhattan.

After dating for 3 years,when away at a vineyard on ahill over looking the grapes,Mr. Pedergnana got down on

one knee andproposed to hisfiancée.

“I’m notnervous as yetbut it might hitme when the ac-tual daycomes,” Mr.Pedergnana saidof his wedding.

“I don’t know what to ex-pect after I get married, I don’teven know if the school playwill continue," Mr Pedergnanasaid regarding the school play.

Although Ms. Jones de-cided to keep her maidenname, Mr. Pedergnana's wife-to-be, Ms. Crawford, has cho-sen to change her last name toPedergnana on their weddingday.

Samantha Richards '12 asked Ms. Pelletier thedetails of her upcoming departure from BCAM.

1. When are you leaving?I'm leaving NYC this

summer and moving toPortland, Maine.

2.Why are you leaving ?My husband and I want

to be closer to our familyand begin a new chapter inour life in a new place.

3. What are your emo-tions towards leaving?I have mixed emotions.

I'm sad to leave BCAM be-cause I love the people Iwork with and I'll missmany students, but I'm alsoreally excited to experiencesomething new and differ-ent.

4. What will you miss about BCAM, and yourcurrent and old students?

I'll miss many students who I've watched growup throughout their years at BCAM. I'll also miss

those students who come to BCAM who don'tthink they can create art, but realize they are cre-ative and talented after they take my class.

5. What would you want the students to con-tinue doing or to start doing ?Draw all the time! Experiment with different

art materials/suppliesand seek out every artopportunity outside ofschool that comesalong.

6.What techniques orcool projects would youwant the students to do,if you had a chance toplan the curriculum?My favorite projects

over the years havebeen the grid portraits,Photoshop AwarenessPosters, and the WirePortrait sculptures.

10. Are you doneteaching, or are youcontinuing somewhereelse ?

I'm still going to teach. I'm waiting to hearfrom a few schools that I've applied to in Maine.I won't teach forever because I have other goalsI want to accomplish, but for now, I love it.

photo provided by Ms. Jones

Ms. Jones poses for the camera on her wedding day.

photo by Dominique Arzu '12 and Tamara

Ninth grade art teacher Ms. Pelletierwill be teaching in Maine next

Ms. Pelletier Not Returning Next Year

by Leandra Ramkissoon '12

by Samantha Richards '12 and Ms.Morris

Andrea Cross '13 and Tykeah Baker '12 are two ris-ing models to be. Cross and Baker have both been tak-ing modeling classes with Barbizon, a modeling school.

The class trains girls on how to carry themselves,how to take photos and how to walk the runway.

"Modeling can be hard because you have to bewell trained, know what you're doing and knowing howto walk the runway.[It] can be hard because you're goingto be in heels that won't be comfortable wearing," statedCross.

"It can be stressful at times, but it could also be alot of fun; you just always have to be ready [to] fit some-thing new," said Baker.

Modeling has always been an interest and passionfor both girls.

"I started modeling because I thought it was cooland everyone was telling me I should be one [model]because I have the looks, the height and everything. Iwanted to try it out," explained Cross.

"I've always considered modeling to be interestingbecause it was part of the entertainment business," saidBaker.

Modeling has influenced both Baker's and Cross'slives.

"Modeling made me become more confident andchanged the way I dressed and carried myself. Since Istarted [modeling] my manners improved," said Cross.

"I've tried not to eat high calorie food , I've alsobeen trying to stay away from junk and [I] been exer-cising more lately," said Tykeah.

Being in modeling school has both positive andnegative aspects.

"The ups are having fun and being able to expressyourself. The downs are being yelled at , but I don't re-

ally mind because I never get yelled at personally ," saidTykeah."It can be hard and it can be easy. You get a lot of re-

spect for doing modeling ,which feels good," statedAn-drea.

BothAndrea and Tykeah plan on modeling as a ca-reer.

"Modeling has affected my life by teaching me cer-tain skills that would help me along the way in the realworld and modeling world. I definitely plan on takingon modeling as a career," stated Tykeah.Andrea has already been in photo shoots and walked

the runway. Tykeah was recently in a fashion show onMay 5th at the Tribeca performing Arts center.

We won, but yet we lost.The new school, Urban Dove

Charter School for Sports, Healthand Fitness, will be added to thebuilding but they won't be here aslong as we thought; the fifth schoolwill be in the MS 117 building forone year instead of two.

In return, the building may begetting a few new upgrades.

"They told us to make a wishlist of things we need," said Mr.O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien had a long list

of things he told the committee hewould like done. He asked for thefollowing fixes:

- The gym and auditorium needto be upgraded.

- The girls' and boys' lockerrooms need to be fixed.

- There are two classes in thebasement that are burned out. Oneroom could be an art and mediaroom, and the other room could bea technology lab.

These are a lot of fixes to askfor. The BCAM community willhave to wait and see if the requestedchanges end up happening.

BCAM Enters TheModelingWorldby Katelyn Moeser '14

Update on the Fifth Schoolby Dominique Arzu '12

photo provided by Tykeah Baker '13

Tykeah Baker '13 poses for thecamera in full modeling regalia.

Ms. Jones Married!Mr. P is Next!

Ms. Jones

"I don’t feel anydifference or

change [now thatI'm] married."

Page 4 May 2012Teacher and School News