Kids Who Care
Spotlight on:
Passaic County Technical Institute
Wayne, NJ
Grades 9—12
Passaic County Technical Institute students care about:
Addressing the needs of all students,
both for safety and cultural awareness
Moving Beyond the Traditional High School Experience serves as the motto for Passaic County Technical Institute (PCTI) in Wayne, which provides a strong technical and academic education to students drawn from all sections of Passaic 
County. Hands-on training and service-learning are intrinsic to the school’s mission, and are at the heart of many of the school’s courses. What is interesting, however, are two student-initiated service projects that address the specific needs of its diverse student body.
The first project, “Project Alert: Helping Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Students in Emergencies,” focused on making PCTI a physically safe place for all of its students, particularly those who were deaf or hearing impaired. Many hearing-impaired students attend PCTI; some students recognized that these students were at risk in an emergency because they would not be able to hear the warning sirens. Moreover, their peers might also be unaware of their disability. Students in Sign Language and Graphic Design classes collaborated to create posters and wallet size cars that depicted five signs pertaining to emergency situations. The students then displayed the posters in the school and gave cards to local law enforcement officials, so that everyone could communicate effectively with the hearing-impaired students in emergency situations. Clearly, this project brought many benefits: potentially, it could save lives; the students involved in creating Project Alert also felt pride in their efforts and a realization that their ideas and work could be used to address important issues.
PCTI also has a culturally diverse student body, many of whom have a strong sense of racial or ethnic identity. The tenth-grade Dance II class, realizing this, organized and held a “National Dance Week School Assembly” program that traced the various ethnic contributions to the dance, and then honored and exemplified these contributions through performance. Students were responsible for every aspect of the assembly, from planning the event to researching and performing the different types of dances. The audience’s enthusiastic response (they filled out commentary cards) showed the effectiveness of this project whose goal was to enhance cultural and aesthetic appreciation of the dance. The performers benefited in many ways: they increased their knowledge, honed their technical skills, and learned the value of teamwork, cooperation, discipline and responsibility. Their reflections after the assembly described the event as “awesome,” “emotional,” “satisfying,” and “meaningful,” clearly one beyond the traditional high school experience.
Get these lesson plans:
- “Project Alert: Helping Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Students in Emergencies”
Core Ethical Values addressed: Compassion, empathy, civic engagement
Curriculum Connections: Visual Arts; Social Studies; Language Arts; Consumer, Family & Life Skills - “National Dance Week School Assembly”
Core Ethical Values addressed: Teamwork, cooperation, responsibility
Curriculum Connections: Performing Arts; Health Ed.; Consumer, Family, & Life Skills