Category Archives: Port Richmond

Port Richmond, Staten Island

Mentor to Mentor

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Exterior of Port Richmond High school.

Today was the first day I was able to meet with my mentee from Port Richmond High School. It was actually quite fun so I thought I would write about my experience and give some advice to those that have yet to go from this program at Wagner or anyone that is about to mentor someone.

My first piece of advice would be to not go alone on your first meeting with your mentee. I went with three other mentors: Allison, Shannon, and Kim. Although later on you may want to meet with your mentee one on one, a bigger group at first can make them feel more comfortable and relaxed. One of the mentees was very shy so having more people around helped to get him to talk more. The four of us and our mentees were able to sit down and talk for a period and get to know each other. We learned so much about them. Where they live, their family life, sports they play, television shows they watch, and many other little facts. We also discussed their love for cooking, which brings me to my second piece of advice. Don’t assume they want to pursue a culinary career. Many of these students are in this program because they enjoy cooking as a hobby. So when mentoring them about college, make sure to talk about all possibilities and not just a narrow frame for culinary careers.

Whether or not you go alone, my last piece of advice is to think of some questions you’d like to ask them before going. Having the conversation flow easily will relax your mentee and make them open up more. Ask them a mix of questions about themselves and about cooking. For instance I asked them a question about their favorite sports team and then Kim asked about their favorite dish to prepare. We went back and forth with different questions. We also asked them if they had any questions for us about ourselves or about college. We told them about our college experience thus far and asked them what their plans are for the future so that we can help them prepare and give some advice. I believe it was a very successful first meeting and hope all of you have a similar experience.

Port Richmond Partnership Panel

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Last Monday, the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement held a panel to discuss the Port Richmond Partnership. Many of us packed into the room and attentively listened to what the panelists and guest speakers had to say in reference to their hopes and dreams for the neighborhood. It was truly inspiring listening to how passionate each panelist was discussing their hopes and dreams for the betterment of the neighborhood. Although I have lived on Staten Island all my life, I did not know about the neighborhood of Port Richmond that well. I found the presentation on the history of the neighborhood to be very interesting. I never realized what a cultural melting pot Port Richmond was due to the influx of immigrants. I would have never thought that Port Richmond was the center for immigration or even commerce. I was a little taken back to see how Port Richmond went from such a thriving, commerce filled area to a poor neighborhood.

I am happy that I attended this panel. It has extended my knowledge of this neighborhood as well as given me a sense of the area that I will soon be spending my time in as I work as a mentor for a student at Port Richmond High School. Having a background on the culture of the area will help me understand the perspective of my student. Background knowledge of the environment the student encounters on the daily basis will hopefully assist me in forming a bond and create a level of mutual understanding.

Port Richmond Highschool

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On October 8th, my classmates and I visited Port Richmond Highschool. Our learning community teachers have required us to be mentors to Port Richmond students. Arriving at Port Richmond Highschool we were taken on a tour of the school, mainly focussing on their culinary program. Students once a day have a cooking class where they cook various meals. Monday and Tuesday the students discuss the foods they will be making, Wednesday and Thursday they begin cooking and on Friday they all eat.  As a student coming from a private catholic highschool this was an extremely different environment. I never had the oppurtunity to be in a culinary program in my highschool. These students were able to make various foods that i can not even make, i find that amazing. My job as a mentor is to help these students and guide them into college and their future. Walking into the classroom i was nervous because i had no idea what to say to these students from the minute that i was in their shoes a couple of years ago. I found a group of students and i started a conversation with a girl named Allison. She was extremely welcoming and opened towards me. Im excited to mentor Allison to be able to guide her in her path to college because i know the process can be extremely stressful. I enjoyed my trip to port richmond im excited to go back.

Port Richmond High School Experience

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My visit at Port Richmond High school was very pleasurable. Being a private school student my whole life, walking into public school and getting to know what it has to offer was very knowledgable. I was in shock when I saw the culinary class they offered because my school never had such a class. I assumed the students just learned easy food dishes inside a regular class room but I was wrong. The culinary room had stoves and many utensils for the students to use. I was also intrigued when I saw the garden the culinary program and Wagner nursing program had started because it allows the students to grow their own food and use it in their cooking class.

Before walking into the class room I was some what nervous because I didn’t know what I would talk about with my mentee. I knew I was in their positions just 2/3 years ago which allowed me to feel connected to them in a way. But once I assigned myself to a group I was able to jump right into talking. I enjoyed all of the students because they were very welcoming and opened to meeting up during the week..

I think this partnership with Port Richmond High school is a great thing because we are able to help these high school students get an idea of what college life is about and assist them in finding a career path they are interested in. I also like the idea of being there for them during a time when the college process very difficult and they are able to ask us questions in order to help them. I am really looking forward in meeting up with my men-tee and being involved in this partnership.

Port Richmond HS Visit

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Last Thursday, our learning community arrived at Port Richmond High School. This was part of our experiential learning and our task was to mentor the students in the culinary arts program at the high school. At first, I was nervous. I didn’t know what that entailed. How can I mentor someone in the culinary arts when I wasn’t too familiar with the topic? Would my mentee even listen to my advice?

When we first arrived we were given a tour of the program and got a look inside the kitchens and the garden outside. I loved the whole aspect of the program and would have loved to partake in it if it had been available at my high school. When we were introduced to the class we were going to mentor, it was a bit awkward, but I realized they were just as nervous meeting us. I introduced myself to one of the girls at a table in the back. Her name was Maya. She was extremely sweet and I realized that we even had a few things in common. Both of us are picky eaters and we both enjoy baking. It was then I understood the purpose of the mentor-mentee relationship. We were both supposed to learn and grow from our experience together this semester. This Friday, my friends and I coordinated to meet with our mentees together. I can’t wait for the opportunity to get to know my mentee even better.

Port Richmond Partnership

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The Center for Civic Engagement recently held a Q & A Panel discussing their mission. By attending this session I received a different perspective of Port Richmond. The night began when we were first introduced to the panel and each individual shared their mission for the future of Port Richmond. Everyone was so passionate in creating change through leadership and community building.

One of the main aspects that i enjoyed during the night was when the history of Port Richmond was told. It was interesting to learn how the influx of immigrants made Port Richmond a prosperous location. This area was the center for commerce and immigration.  Over the years, Port Richmond has become a poor neighborhood, losing most of its capital. This area now houses the impoverished people living on Staten Island. I can’t believe how fast this drastic change took place.

I left this presentation with one piece of information that really struck me. The Staten Island community is almost as diversified as Manhattan. I couldn’t really believe it until the professor provided statistics. Living on Staten Island for many years, I have never realized how many cultures make up our neighborhoods. Some of these nationalities include Italian, Asian, Hispanic, African, Philippine, Polish, and many more which can be seen here. After this presentation, I am excited to be working with the Port Richmond Partnership. I hope that through peer mentoring, I will help others but also have learn from my mentee.

Adventuring to Port Richmond High School

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Yesterday, LC 13 ventured outside the classroom to Port Richmond High School. We all received a walking tour of the culinary arts program. I couldn’t believe that the high school students are able to prepare meals together. The director of the program explained that the students learn about the meal they will be preparing on Monday. They start preparing and cooking the meal on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, each group is able to taste the meal they have been working so hard to make. This sounded so interesting I wish my high school had this kind of program.

After a tour of the various kitchens, we we taken to a little garden that is located outside at the end of the hall. I found it extraordinary that this program really takes a hand-on approach to teach students good eating habits. Port Richmond High School is investing in this program so students could take what they learned in class and apply it to everyday life.The teachers focus on teaching recipes that are easy to make, yet good for you.FullSizeRender

When the bell rang for the next classes, Genesis and I decided to mentor together. I was  finally going able to meet my mentee. Rebecca is a sophomore at Port Richmond High School and she hopes to go to culinary school after graduating. I realized how this program has influenced her decision to pursue a culiarycareer. Over the next few weeks, I hope to build a friendly relationship with Rebecca and learn more about her. This experience will be very rewarding.

My Port Richmond Experience

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On October 8th, a beautiful Thursday morning my class and I ventured into Port Richmond. For our experiential learning in our LC’s, our class is going to take on the task of being suitable mentors for the students in Port Richmond High School. More specifically, the students a part of the schools’ culinary program. I remember first walking into the classroom and thinking, “Oh god, how am I going to mentor someone and help them out when I was in their position merely a few years ago!?” I was nervous but, at the same time excited. I enjoy helping other people out in whatever way I can. I get a sense of satisfaction from simply being able to put a smile on someone else’s face. Thus, when we first walked into the room to meet our mentees, it appeared to me that both classes just awkwardly stood their for a while just looking at each others apprehensive facial expressions. Then one teacher called out “Okay guys just introduce yourselves to someone and make friends.” With that said, everyone began to socialize with one another. I, still confused and nervous, just stood their for a few moments just thinking who am I going to mentor? Then, with some encouragement from my friend, went up to a girl in front of me to simply get to know her. Her name was Rebecca. Rebecca and I instantly clicked. She was a sweet, enthusiastic, and funny girl with a strong passion for cooking and baking. We spoke about all the foods she’s made as well as her experiences in the culinary class. We even shared a few laughs about my lack of cooking skills. By the end of the class, a friend from my class needed a mentee and decided to join Rebecca and I. Now that the three of us have been placed together for the rest of the semester, we will get the opportunity to get to know each other, learn from each other and grow from each others experiences. I’m excited to see what this mentor-mentee relationship will bring about for I have truly enjoyed my trip to Port Richmond High School. 🙂

Reunification of Families on Staten Island

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This past Thursday, October 1st, Wagner College held a seminar titled “Transnational Families: Staten Island and San Jeronimo de Puebla.” This was a touching event in which families shared their emotionally moving stories of being reunited with each other after ten, fifteen, or even twenty years of being apart. This project allows the family members of the families left in Mexico to come to America for a week or more to be reunited with the family for a short period of time. The family members coming from Mexico had to learn a dance in order to come to the United States and the family members here in America worked hard for a year, attending meetings, in order to make the reunification possible.

The first speaker spoke about how the world now is not the way it should be and that nothing can be changed by just building giant walls between two countries. He emphasized that young people are the ones that must make the change in the world. Following his beautiful words, another family was able to tell their story of being reunited. A mom and daughter gave a beautiful statement on what it was like to be away from each other for such a long time and how great it felt to be reunited. When the mom came to America she left her three daughters behind (ages 4, 5, and 8) in Mexico and tried to do everything to be able to make them happy even though she was so far away. She talked about how difficult it was to come to somewhere where she did not know the language and did not know anyone here. Following her words, her daughter spoke about how wonderful it was to see her mom after so many years. Her mom left when she was four years old and now she is nineteen. She continued to say how she was raised by her grandmother and the only relationship she had was through photos and telephone calls. Thanks to her mom coming here she was able to get an education and was able to pay for her college. This would not have been possible if her mom wasn’t working in the United States and although it is very difficult there are some positive outcomes of it.

The rest of these immigrant’s stories are very similar. They all touched my heart in a special way because I realized how hard it must be for these people to be able to stay in the United States without having their families around.

The families that were reunited through the "Nani Migrante" project.

The families that were reunited through the “Nani Migrante” project.

Personally this event touched my heart because at the age of 19, my mom left her entire family in Poland in order to come to America to work and create a life here for herself. After a long twelve years she was finally able to be reunited with her family. The stories my sisters and I have heard from her are almost identical to those told by these Mexican families on Thursday evening. They all came here not knowing the language, worked hard in order to support their families back home but most importantly they left the people they loved the most back in their home countries. This inspires me because I know how much dedication and work my mom put in into being who she is today. She came with nothing many years back and now has created something of herself. This was only possible through the endless hard work she put in and the mindset she had of achieving her dreams. I think we can all learn from immigrants today because most of them come not knowing anyone in the United States and not knowing the language but through believing in themselves their dreams become a reality in this beautiful country.

A Shocking Reality

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Prior to watching A Place at the Table, participating in class discussions and visiting the neighborhood of Port Richmond, I didn’t realize the magnitude of the struggles faced by residents of food deserts. A food desert is defined as an area that lacks adequate access to affordable and quality fresh food items. These areas lack supermarkets and places where fresh fruits, vegetables and meats can be purchased. Instead, these neighborhoods are filled with fast food restaurants and bodegas, where a bag of chips or cookies can be easily bought in volume for an inexpensive price.

After watching A Place at the Table, I was left speechless. It is heart-wrenching to see what these families go through on a daily basis. I find it unfathomable that people in this country could possible go hungry, considering the over-production of food and amount of waste. A common problem that many families in the film face is known as “food insecure.” When you are food insecure, you do not know where your next meal will come from, if there even is a next meal. That is extremely frightening! When food is easily accessible, it is typically of poor quality. As stated in the documentary, the price of fresh fruits and vegetables has risen by 40% since 1980, while the price of processed foods has declined by 40%. The significant shift in price levels undoubtedly affected food choice. Low income families are forced to choose quantity over quality. Expensive produce and meats are sacrificed for chips, canned foods, cookies and anything else that will give more for less. Unfortunately, the end result is a higher incidence of obesity, diabetes, and lifelong health struggles.

As we took a tour of Port Richmond, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of supermarkets as compared to my own neighborhood, which seems to have too many. I did observe one, but it was destroyed in a fire and there is no immediate intention to rebuild it. That leaves the residents in this neighborhood without easy access. In order to shop in a large supermarket, the residents will have to find a means to travel outside of their neighborhood. There is a market located on Port Richmond Avenue that sells fresh produce, but sadly that was the only one that I saw. Fast food restaurants, however, are plentiful.

Watching the documentary and visiting Port Richmond afforded me the opportunity to see, first-hand, the problems facing our local communities. I didn’t realize these very real struggles existed so close to home.