Despite only having received their instruments two months ago, the band played on—and very well at that!
The true spirit of celebration for education in general and the entire Maspeth community was felt by everyone in attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony which marked the official opening of the new Maspeth High School on Monday morning.
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott was at the center of the action, holding a giant set of shears to cut the ceremonial ribbon. He was joined by elected officials including Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Council member Elizabeth Crowley and Diana Reyena, Leroy Comrie and Assembly member Cathy Nolan, as well as school Principal Khurdish Abdul-Mutakabir, Assistant Principal Monika Garg, faculty, staff, students and a host of other well wishers.
The school made it’s technical debut in September, however the ceremony gave school officials and the community an opportunity to celebrate the success already being enjoyed by the state of the art educational facility.
Cody Chiorotti and Andrea Papp entertained the audience with a classic scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Speaker after speaker lauded praise upon the school’s accomplishments after only a few short months of making its entrance on to the scene.
Also the recipient of praise was Principal Abdul-Mutakabir, described by Council member Crowley as being responsible for tremendous accomplishment thus far. “In just a few short months, he has shown that this school is one of the best schools in the city of New York,” she said. “You can see the level of commitment to the community from this school.”
The program revealed not only the obvious academic potential of the school but an undeniable integration of music, art and language that promises to make it one of the leading learning facilities in the city.
Chancellor Walcott echoed the enthusiastic spirit of the ceremony’s unofficial emcee, Council member Crowley who has been at the forefront of making the new high school a reality.
“This is a great morning for our students,” said Walcott. “You will see education thriving because of great teachers, and parents who are totally engaged in the lives of their children. But most importantly,” the Chancellor pointed out, “as a result of fantastic students.”
Jia Chen delivered a stirring rendition of the Gettysburg Address
Principal Abdul-Mutakabir was quick to credit the elected officials and the Department of Education for bringing the dream of his school to fruition and spoke with great hope for the future of the students fortunate enough to be in attendance.
“I believe we are a school that is on the way to excellence,” he said. “We’re very fortunate to have such a wonderful place to have our students come everyday.”
But the ceremony offered much more than official speeches. It was an encapsulated display of various areas in which the school has obviously stepped up to show off the diversity of offerings and opportunities for students to excel not only in academia, but in so many other vital components leading to well rounded and enriched learning experience.
The dance troop at Maspeth High School thrilled the audience when they took on a vigorous and complex Bollywood performance
The audience was treated to a variety of showcase performances from various clubs at the school. The Maspeth High School String Orchestra presented two selections under the direction of Mr. J. DiMeglio and students Cody Chiorotti and Andrea Papp from the Maspeth High School International Thespian Society amused the audience with their performance of an act from Romeo and Juliet. From the English Department Jia Chen delivered her rendition of the Gettysburg Address which led to explosive applause form the audience and finally the Maspeth High School Dance Company entertained everyone with their performance of a Bollywood Fusion selection. The morning came to an end with a tour of the facility by AP Garg.
Please see next week’s Forum issue when we go inside the school for a look at the educational platforms and some of the curricula offered in the highly touted classical approach.
By Patricia Adams
