​You’ve just arrived, clutching your bags to your chest, zigzagging around pedestrians, staring wide-eyed at the chaos around you — how can everything be so big? — and you wonder how you’ll ever find your way around this place. 

Welcome to 6th grade. And New York City. Whether you’re a tourist entering the big city or a kid entering the big leagues of secondary school you know this feeling: it’s called lost. Fortunately, the students at NEST+m have successfully navigated both uncharted territories, and they’re here to help. 

Come explore New York through eyes a little closer to the ground. Experience the wonder of touring a real submarine (p. 43), discover a subway station in disguise (p. 14), view the offices of Spider-Man’s Daily Bugle (p. 35) and spend a night at the museum with Teddy Roosevelt (p.40). But be warned: with so much to see (and read!), you might be up past your bedtime. 

USING THIS PUBLICATION IN THE CLASSROOM

We invite you to use this text to spark inquiry in your classroom, and to imagine the potential for projects that position your students as experts. Use this publication as an example of how students can be engaged and empowered when given a purpose for their writing, especially when they're speaking to topics in which they have first-hand experience. As you consider the pedagogical implications for writing articles like those included in The City That Stays Up Way Past Its Bedtime, you might even learn a thing or two about NYC!
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Becoming a leader can be a challenging process. In Inside Out, student writers at the Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies offer thoughtful and compassionate reflections on their experiences as peer leaders. Through personal narratives, these young authors reflect on how to achieve success in a negative environment, how to navigate the journey to adulthood, and more.

Perhaps most importantly, they invite us to critically reflect on our perceptions, understandings, and assumptions about what it means to be both a teenager and a leader.

USING THIS PUBLICATION IN THE CLASSROOM

How do we inspire students to become leaders? First, we ought to help them believe they can become one. Inside Out is a powerful example of what budding leaders can achieve with perseverance and a desire to help others. We invite you to use this text to inspire your students to reflect not only on the meaning of leadership, but also on how they can become more active members of their school community. 

Graduate, Live, Celebrate is a collection of advice-based essays inspired by high school seniors investigating the legacy they want to leave behind following their graduation. Written for incoming freshmen at The Global Learning Collaborative in New York, this publication allows the GLC’s class of 2018 to reflect on their time as students, share their insider knowledge on how to navigate a new school, and offer their thoughts on how new students can make the most of their time in high school.

USING THIS PUBLICATION IN THE CLASSROOM

As we approach graduation season, a number of feelings can surface, especially for high school seniors. We invite you to use this publication as a way to ask your students what wisdom they’d like to pass on to others, or even as an innovative way to battle senioritis!

Graduate, Live, Celebrate is a powerful reminder of how meaningful tasks can allow students to flourish. Its authors were able to take ownership of their perspective, offer expertise, and work together as a community to generate powerful writing for a real-world audience.