WEBVTT

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[Music] Welcome to Academic
After-School Clubs.

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My name is Ana Diaz-Booz.

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I am the principal here at Kearny
High School of International Business.

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My name is Erica Heinzman.

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I am a teacher here at Kearny
International Business.

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Diaz-Booz: From the beginning, from
when students first enter our school,

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one of our main goals is for them to
understand how to get to college and,

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more importantly, to understand that
regardless of where they have been prior

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to us, or what their situation at home,
or what their language ability is,

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that they are still able
to go to college.

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Most of our students come from families

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where they are many times not
only the first to go to college

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but also the first to
graduate from high school.

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So it is critical for us as a school
to introduce them to the idea of going

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to college from the time
they come to the school.

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Heinzman: The after-school
opportunities here

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at Kearny really reinforce
the college-going culture.

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We do have a number of clubs that
are centered around academic themes,

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such as the science club,
where students can get excited

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about studying a subject area
and really embed themselves

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in all the possibilities.

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The students do have
opportunities to also explore careers

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through the after-school experiences.

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So in the science club they do
a different project every week,

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and they feature different
aspects of science.

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So students learn about
microbiology and what would that look

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like in the career type if
I would want to pursue that.

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Or what does it look like in forensics,

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and then what are my
different career pathways.

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Heinzman: Today the mystery is
all around the Fountain of Youth,

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and so there is a scientist
who's discovered the Fountain

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of Youth that's been murdered.

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The students first select which
of the rooms they are going to.

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So there is different aspects of the
mystery going on and they get to decide,

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are they going to go to the bio
room and learn about forensics,

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are they going to stay in the chemistry
room and learn about a chemical compound

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and they have to identify which is a
chemical compound, or are they going

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to go wander off to the physics room
and learn about some physics experiments

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that relate to the central
theme of the mystery.

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Diaz-Booz: There have been times when
I have walked into the science club

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and there are 100 kids jammed into one
classroom, and they are all excited

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about whatever science
project they are working on.

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That is very atypical to what
I have seen at high schools.

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You get the kids who are considered
the "geeks" and the smart kids

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that like math or science and those
types of clubs, but if you were to walk

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into our science club it's all kids.

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It's kids from ninth grade to twelfth
grade, some that are learning English,

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some that can speak English fluently,

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some that are skaters,
others that ride bikes.

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It's a very diverse group.

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And they're just kids having
fun and enjoying learning.

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Heinzman: The other thing that I think
our clubs do really well is they support

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the students in our hard classes.

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In order for our students to
succeed when they go to college,

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we need to run an extremely
rigorous program here.

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But then at the same time we have an
obligation to support our students,

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and so we run extensive tutoring
before school and after school

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so that every student can be
successful in these rigorous classes.

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And so there is a large part
of after-school that's centered

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around just getting academic help and
making sure the students are successful

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in their academic classes, and
that helps build a community.

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Heinzman: AVID is an elective that
extends beyond the school day.

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So the kids are also enrolled in an
official class during the school day,

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and then it extends after
school as well.

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And so through AVID they explore
colleges, they learn how to fill

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out financial aid and
scholarship applications--

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in general, be a competitive
applicant to college.

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Heinzman: Today the students are
going to be coming in to start looking

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at mock college applications so
that the students really understand

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when they start putting together
their information how they look.

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So for example, we will look at common
app; these are actual ones we got

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from a conference where
we white out the names,

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but there is all the other
information for the common application.

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And the students are getting
to look through and decide

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which of the four students
gets to go to college.

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And they can start seeing and being very
self-reflective in their own choices.

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So for example, they will see an
application where there is not a lot

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of extracurricular activities, and how
does that look to an admissions officer.

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And they will look at
the different essays,

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and how well does the students express
themselves and how well do they make

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that necessary human
connection with the essay.

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Diaz-Booz: The after-school
activities are so academically focused

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that students make a really
positive connection between school

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and their social lives because
we have fused both together.

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The career- and college-related
experiences really change our students'

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perceptions of themselves.

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Because many of them come to us and they
really don't have very high expectations

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of themselves, and when they see adults
around them having high expectations

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and then on top of that they are able to
have some really authentic experiences

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in either career- or
college-related activities,

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I think that they start
believing in themselves,

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that they start envisioning themselves

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in situations they never
would have thought of.

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To learn more about Academic
After-School Clubs,

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please explore the additional resources
on the Doing What Works website.

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[Music]