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By Joanna DelBuono
Brooklyn Daily
Prospect Park South
It’s not easy being a leader, but Denise Vivar has a good head start. The up-and-coming senior at Sunset Park High School just finished an eight-week internship at the YMCA of Greater New York, where her presence was priceless. “Denise is the go-to-person if you need assistance making sure camp families get the materials they need,” said Lauren Barr, youth and family director at the McBurney YMCA. Our rising star got the gig through the Bank of America Student Leaders program and worked her tail off this summer gaining invaluable skills and experience. In today’s economy, teens have a tough time finding jobs, so Bank of America provided this opportunity to get on-the-job-training to 225 high school students, including our Denise. “Through the Student Leaders program, students are receiving more than just a paycheck. They are gaining real-world experience,” said Jeff Barker, president of the New York City division of Bank of America. Denise is a member of the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council, and has volunteered with Project Reach Youth. She loves to read, telling us she “can’t go anywhere without a book in my hand.” No wonder she was selected. At the end of the internship Denise took a trip to DC to network, and schmoozed with other student leaders in a summit program. She also got the chance to hone up and develop stronger leadership skills, ’cause you never know how many freshman you’re going to be leading.
Standing O offers congratulations, and wants to know, “What’s in your Kindle?”
Canarsie
IAM, said I
Three cheers to the first graduating class of the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media (IAM). Whoa, that’s one long title! The school, which was formerly Canarsie High School, graduated these take-charge, innovative, and creative students this past June. The budding executives took their cues from “Mad Men” (not the bad ones, of course) and studied advertising, merchandising and the art of selling us stuff we don’t really need, but really, really want. And just like the show, graduating seniors made the school a hit with incoming freshman who want a heads up on those Madison Avenue jobs.
Today Mad Men, tomorrow the Cleo awards.
High School for Innovation In Advertising and Media (IAM) [1600 Rockaway Pkwy between Avenues J and K in Canarsie, (718) 290–8760].
Brighton Beach
Go ESL - Go USA
How do you learn a language? Practice, practice, and enroll at the Shorefront Y English-as-a-Second-Language program. Recent immigrants Natalya Gribenik, Tatyana Samardina, and Marina Nikulina joined with ESL teacher Marina Meshman and singer Anna Samardina to celebrate their mastery of our Americaneeze by singing a string of patriotic songs in English at their graduation. Most of the grads hailed from the former Soviet Union, Middle East, South America, and Korea. Shorefront Y has been helping immigrants acquire the necessary skills to become as American as apple pie for the past 60 years.
Shorefront Y [3300 Coney Island Ave. at Brightwater Court in Brighton Beach, (718) 646–1444]
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