School Features Article(s):

      As soon as it hit 6 o’clock, a herd of guests rushed into the auditorium. It was at this moment that I knew it would be a long night for the stage and backstage crews. As time kept ticking away, there was a lot of running around and models getting yelled at to prepare for their positions; everyone was in shambles. As the time got closer to 6:30 PM, the lights closed, and nothing could be seen. Everyone was settling down and waiting for the magic that will soon happen. Soon, the hosts stepped on the stage, and from that moment on it was show time.

     It was truly amazing to see how hard everyone worked and finally, their work was ready to be shown off. One after another, you could've seen dresses to cute tops! It was truthfully incredible how every designer created such beautiful art pieces for these models to wear. It felt like watching a real fashion show in Paris!  For some of these designers, it was possibly the last piece of their artwork before they moved on to the next stage of their life; graduation, college and more. They had worked very hard throughout the months to put this show together and it was a huge success, shoutout to Mr. D’Aquisto and Ms. Bille! show began.    

I want to thank everyone who came to support the show and cannot wait to see what’s in store for us next year! 

     Three months ago, a group of New Utrecht students embarked on a journey of a lifetime from New Utrecht High School across the globe to Japan, and I was one of the students on that trip. 

     We spent six days on a guided tour in Japan, hosted by EF Tours. Hirokazu Mizukoshi, “Hiro-san” for short, was our tour director for our week in Japan. A Japanese man over 6-feet-tall with “platinum-gray hair,” which are his words, not mine. Hiro-san led us on an expedition where we first spent a couple days in Tokyo exploring the many districts. We spent a day in Kamakura and visited some historical places. At the end of the day, we spent the night near the base of Mt. Fuji where we slept on futons on tatami mats, a full Japanese experience. The next day we climbed up Mt. Hakone and visited Owakudani and Lake Ashi, before catching a ride on Japan’s famous Bullet Train, the Shinkansen. The Shinkansen took us to Kyoto where we visited many historical landmarks for a day before heading to Nara Park, where we encountered deers that would bow at you. We also ended up feeding the deers in the park. Finally, the trip finishes in Osaka, spending our last evening visiting Dotonbori, a famous walking street where you can indulge in many Japanese street foods.

The accumulation of all these experiences is what made this the best trip of my life, as this is the only time I will ever experience this trip dynamic of going abroad with my high school class and my teachers.

Mr. Rosario Giarratana, who teaches AP Human Geography and AP Economics, began organizing this trip in early 2023. Mr. Giarratana said in an interview, “We hosted an international trip because we really wanted to have an opportunity for students to travel again since the pandemic. The last international trip we did was actually to Japan, but it was so long ago all the students who went on that trip already graduated. We figured it was a good time to go back.” Overall, there was great enthusiasm surrounding the trip’s announcement, and the 36 available seats quickly filled up. Our group of 36 was then accompanied by Mr. Giarratana and 5 other chaperones: who were Ms. Leovie Diaz, Ms. Deena Horowitz, Ms. Barbara Ng, Mr. Jorin Reddish, and Mr. Michael Seltzer. In total there were 42 of us who ventured to Japan.