Free NYC ID Cards

Do you want to go to the Bronx Zoo for free this summer? How about the Museum of Natural History? MoMA? The aquarium? 

The City of New York is currently offering photo ID cards free of charge. City residents can gain entrance into a wide variety of cultural institutions for free as well as get discounts at businesses around the city.  Cardholders have access to one-year free membership all of these incredible places! For more information on how to apply, please visit the website here. Anyone over ten years old can get a card - including adults! 


To make an appointment at an enrollment center and learn more - click here. 

Paid Summer Employment Opportunities with DYCD

NYC (Department of Youth and Community Development) offers paid summer employment opportunities for 14-24 year olds. More info can be found here for 14-15 year olds, and here for 16-24 year olds.

Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Applications are out now and can be found here. 
All applications are due 4/26/19. 

Anyone who would like help filling out an application can email Danya.

Request for Guest Speakers on Accessibility Needs

Dear ICE Community,

9th Grade Physics classes will spend Cycle 4 designing an electronic device to assist users who struggle with accessibility in their daily lives.  We are seeking speakers who have experience with accessibility concerns to provide insight to our community about common challenges that exist in their lives or in the lives of those they work with. If you or someone you know is interested and available to meet with the grade April 29-May 10, please contact Sammi.

Not Too Late to Apply: Girls Rise Up! Three Week Summer Program that Combines Dance & Coding

Great Scholarships Available - cost can be reduced from $425 to $50 (based on need). Exciting field trips and guest speakers. Last year they visited the Spotify offices, Palantir, and NYU Tandon School of engineering. They also had professional women in tech come in and speak about their experience.

Also here are some highlights from last summer. 

Girls Rise Up by STEM From Dance: 2019 Summer Program 
Spend three weeks falling in love with code and dance - and the magic that happens when you bring the two together. Over the course of the program, girls will be introduced to software and electrical engineering principles, as well as choreography fundamentals. They will learn to write code, construct circuits, and create movement. By the end of the three weeks they will have a tech project they imagined and brought to life, and a dance routine that incorporates it. This is an opportunity to collaborate with inspiring instructors, build community, and let creativity flow. This program runs July 8 - July 26 (M - F) from 9AM - 3PM. Learn more here, and apply by May 5!

Details:

• July 8 - 26 | Monday - Friday | 9AM - 3PM

• Location: Bishop Loughlin High School |  Brooklyn (Fort Greene)

  • Accessible by 2/3/4/5/B/D/C/G/N/Q/R trains and several buses

• New York City girls ages 12 - 18

• Only 100 spots available

• No code/dance experience necessary

• Apply by May 5th

• Read our brochure for more info 

ICE PAC

Help spread the word on test refusals beyond ICE!

In case you missed it, ICE PAC announced in the last edition of this newsletter that 89% of ICE middle school students had refused the New York State ELA tests. (It actually turns out to be 90%, but that's not the subject of this item.) Families in other schools around the city may not have realized they had the right to refuse or were incentivized or intimidated not to opt out. In fact, the scare tactics reached such heights that NY's highest education officials were compelled to issue a statement reaffirming parent rights of refusal (and chastising school and district actors who have blocked information, or worse, misled parents). 
 
While that statement is appreciated, it is long overdue and we're not sure it will make it to parents on the ground. So, in advance of the math tests in early May, we at ICE PAC ask YOU to help get the word out. Do you have children at another school? Does your neighbor have a 5th grader? Your sister an 8th grader? Let them know that they can refuse the math tests even if they took the ELA. (And for the record, word on the street and online is that the ELA tests were BAD: children as young as 8 testing from 8:30 to 2:30 with just a brief lunch break, students staying beyond dismissal, passages rated at reading levels multiple grades above that of the children being tested, and computer system malfunctions so egregious the state had to suspend computer-based test administration.)

Need resources to help you out on this mission? Check out NYC Opt Out on Facebook or Twitter or optoutnyc.com on the web.