The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

Gail Robinson

Do High Schoolers Feel Prepared For College Applications?

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The story was written by Ryan Xiao

“I knew [college applications] would come eventually–and now it’s senior year, and we’re [at the] submitting deadlines–but I honestly do feel ready for this new chapter of our lives,” Baruch College Campus High School senior Ashley Saltl said. 

Applying to college is a rigorous process, but seniors at Baruch College Campus High School say they feel somewhat ready for application challenges because of support from peers and their school.

“My guidance counselor has helped me a lot with confidence. If it wasn’t because of her, I would’ve been more nervous,” Rosangely Alvarez said. “And also my siblings, they’ve prepared me for what I’m gonna go through.”

Saltl agrees and says she’s been surrounded by support.

“It’s always been talked about for me by my family, friends, and also outside people because I take a lot of extracurriculars such as Girl Scouts, and they also prepare me for that,” Saltl said.

But students also say there’s room for improvement in support for college applications. They feel that preparations for applications should have started earlier.

“In our junior year, college wasn’t talked about because [they made it seem] like no pressure but it is a really big year,” Anabel Suriel said. “[Students] all need support, they all need as much help as they can get. Students shouldn’t have to feel like they’re struggling their junior year.”

Adriana Seminario says she’s felt stressed since junior year and has mixed feelings about college in general. 

Students also face issues concerning counselors. Alvarez says counselors appear to favor certain students, which is damaging to others. 

“I feel like it’s just a communication thing where sometimes they forget about certain students and prioritize others,” Sultl said. 

Saltl suggests that counselors should be “Setting the time for each student to actually meet their counselor one on one [to discuss] what colleges you’re applying to and what your circumstances are.”

Amaya Trotman says that although college advisors are helpful for the application process, she feels she has had to rely on herself because of their lack of availability. 

These issues of leniency towards certain students and unavailability of counselors, as well as the lack of support in earlier years hinder students’ confidence in the college application process. But despite the nervousness surrounding applications, some students persevere and say they feel somewhat prepared.

“I’m a very confident person, especially in academics. I take pride in making sure that I’m prepared,” Suriel said.

Students React To Underfunding At Baruch College Campus High School

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This article was written by Ryan Xiao

With about 450 to 500 students, Baruch College Campus High School is among the smaller and poorer high schools in New York City. The school’s underfunding is a major discussion point among students and staff, and an issue that is constantly brought up.

Many students wanted more programs the school couldn’t provide, and many staff wanted more opportunities for students the school couldn’t afford. 

“There should be an inclusion of musical arts as well as arts itself,” said Lana Denis, a junior at Baruch College Campus High School. “We as a student body create a lot of clubs to be inclusive and have our [extracurriculars] in school, but our school should strive for more inclusivity. … I wish it had a music program and an engineering program for Hispanics and people of color.” 

According to the 2019-20 School Year Financial Transparency Report from the NYC Chancellor’s Office, the per pupil expenditure for Baruch College Campus High School was around $19,269.02 compared to the district’s school average of $26,234.77 and the state’s school average of $22,834.84.

The staff says the underfunding is apparent through missing opportunities–such as programs–and wants more ways to support students.

“More snacks would be nice,” Lily Kepstra, the school’s social worker, said. “I think it is true: kids can concentrate better with more snacks.”

The staff members also say they feel limited in their options because of financial issues.

“I would like to plan more trips, but I don’t like trips with money because it’s not as equitable,” Kepstra said. “I don’t want to ask kids to pay for trips.”

Kepstra said that she fears some students might miss out on trips because of the price, and the underfunding contributes to this. Because of that, she says, she has chosen not to plan as many trips.

Many students were bothered by the lack of funding and felt the school could do more.

Chloe Castera said that the bathrooms are often unsanitary and stink, and that the school could do a better job at maintenance. Many other students agreed with her, claiming that the school seemed old–dusty stars, tiles falling out, a ceiling collapse, etc.

“It’s very dirty and I don’t want to be in this environment,” Castera said.

Other students were less bothered by the lack of funding, but they still recognized the effects. Sarah Seleza says that she went to a poorer middle school, and so Baruch is an improvement. But she still recognizes that change is rare in the school because of lack of funding.

Some students said they didn’t care, even though the underfunding is apparent.

“We don’t get the full experience we deserve. If we’re gonna be here for so long–for four years–this school needs to be better,” Katherin Malik said. “[But] it does not really affect me, I don’t really think about it.”

Despite the great ratings–Baruch College Campus High School scores an A in the “College Prep” and “Teachers” sections, and an A- in the “Academics” section according to Niche.com–many students speak negatively because of the financial hurdles the school faces. 

“They could do better,” Kyle Zárate–another student–said.

(All names in the story were changed and are not the actual names of any students or staff.)

The Decline of School Meals

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This story was written by Hailey Kan

Murray Hill Academy students do not enjoy their school meals .

“I feel like [the foods] lack nutritional value. Some of the food doesn’t, it doesn’t look edible. And I don’t think many kids would really be excited for lunch when it’s time to eat, because then the food really just ends up thrown away,” senior Jesus said.

And it’s not just in Murray Hill Academy. Hunger Solutions New York, a report by the Food Research & Action Center, “reveals a decline in participation relative to the previous school year; 12.4 percent fewer students ate school breakfast and 4.3 percent fewer ate school lunch. Nearly 793,000 children in New York participated in school breakfast and just over 1.5 million participated in school lunch on an average day during the 2022–2023 school year.”

“Most of the kids really just want to buy food outside and actually enjoy something so that they could be able to go through the day with a full stomach,” Jesus said.

According to Funding Our Schools by the Department of Education, only 12% of the $4.9 billion School Operations Budget goes to food, serving 880,000 meals daily with free breakfast and lunch available to all students.

While this may seem to be a lot, according to Chalkbeat New York, Mayor Eric Adams cut $60 million of the city’s school food budget in November 2023. This forced the Education Department to “thin out” the school cafeteria menu by removing “pricier items.” This included cheese burritos, chicken dumplings, cookies, and more. However, these options were favorites for students, and were eventually restored to the menu.

In the School Meals Report by the New York City Council, the total cost per breakfast is $3.95, while the total cost per lunch is $6.00. So the lack of funding, and food options has led to fewer students eating and more waste. According to Food Service Director, “As the nation’s largest school district, NYC Public Schools generate more than 80 million pounds of trash per year.”

Some people have their own solution for how lunch should be handled.

“I think the problem is twofold. One, the quality of food is bad, and it’s because of the lack of funding and the lack of incentive for people to get good tasting food. In order to fix that, they need to make school lunches paid and only give free vouchers to kids who can’t afford it. And then the people who can pay for it can opt out and instead pay for things like outside lunch. And I think that will improve the quality of food for people who want to eat school lunch whilst not wasting food, because only people who can afford the lunch or people who buy the lunch will get it, so it also reduces the waste,” senior Kiroto said. 

However, other people do not see a problem.

“I feel like you [students] may get better food just because I know over the years they would constantly change the menu. Kids right now might say the opposite, but if you were growing up when I was here, you would definitely say the food is better,” Justin Moore, former school dean of Murray Hill Academy, said. According to the school’s official website, he graduated from Murray Hill Academy in 2016.

When asked about his past experience with the school lunch quality in Murray Hill Academy, Justin said, “It wasn’t the worst because at the end of the day, if you’re hungry, you’re going to eat. So I wouldn’t say it’s the worst thing, but some days I wasn’t really a big school lunch eater. So yeah, I usually do my own things … but that’s what the kids do now. But if they’re hungry, they’ll eat.”

“I lived in Brooklyn for a while and then I moved to Manhattan. I’ve been here since. So the food is okay to me, so it hasn’t changed anything,” Jason Alicea, supervising school aide, said. He graduated from Norman Thomas High School, which preceded Murray Hill Academy, in 1993 and worked at that school in 2001 before it split into four smaller schools. He was a founding member of Murray Hill Academy according to the school’s website.

When asked about his perspective on how others feel about school lunch, he said, “Everybody has their own prerogative on how, you know, eating wise, some kids will want it, some kids don’t want it. So I guess it goes based on who wants it and who doesn’t want it.”

To encourage students to eat school meals, the mayor should increase the school lunch budgets to allocate more money into the quality and quantity of food options that students can have in order for there to be less food waste.

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This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative. Matt Gonzales, Director, The School Diversity Project, New York Appleseed speaking at an event titled, The Harm of Segregation: Why where we live and learn matters. The October 23rd evening event took place at St. Ann & Holy Trinity Church located on Montague Street in Brooklyn.

“The curriculum taught me that white people captured me and took away my freedom. Why would I want to learn this?”

That goes through the minds of many black students as they sit in social studies class, says Jamaal Bowman, principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in Co-op City.

Cornerstone takes a different approach. While many schools begin their study of black history with American slavery, Cornerstone reaches back to Ancient Egypt’s African roots. His students, Bowman told a town hall on education in the Bronx last month, learn that they “are descendants of kings and queens, not descendants of slaves. That’s a big difference.”

Parents, students and educators at the town hall are part of a larger conversation about how to make schools welcoming and relevant for all children—not just the white, middle-class ones. Equalizing resources and even integrating schools is not enough, says Matt Gonzales, NY Appleseed’s Diversity Project director. We, also, he says, “have to do deep work so all kids who enter the classroom are uplifted.”

Nelson Luna of the Bronx, now a first-year student at Columbia University, agrees that’s not currently the case. “When you don’t see yourself, you don’t feel connected and you don’t feel passionate. You feel out of place,” says Luna, a co-founder of Teens Take Charge, which organizes students to speak out about integration and other issues.