- Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development (usually called Banneker) is a public high school located in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, New York City. The school was originally a Drake's Cakes factory. Still today, different floors of the school are in Drake's colors. It has a small, but family type atmosphere for a high school. It is usually called a junior college because the faculty and students are so focused on college.Banneker, which serves grades 9 through 12+, is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Many of the graduates attend SUNY schools, HBCUs(Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and CUNY schools. There are also a few that attend ivy league schools. The school's graduation rate has been at least 90% since 2002.
- Facts
- The school's colors are Black and Gold. Each year Banneker holds a Homecoming party for the students in which they wear those colors. This event is usually the final event to their School Spirit Week, which places a different theme on each day of that week. The school's spirit week and Homecoming is planned by the senior committee and is held the Friday before the Thanksgiving recess. The school was founded in 1987 in memory of Benjamin Banneker.
- Benjamin Banneker has a 98% graduation rate as of the Class of 2008. The class produced many successful graduates including Usman Hameedi, Ganesh Ram, Najah Levers, and Sebastian Placide, all of whom graduated with honors and are currently attending top-tier schools.
- Student Demographics
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There 939 students in the school. The demographics are 83.39% Black or African American, 12.03% Hispanic or Latino, 2.76% Asian, 1.5% White (non-Hispanic) and 0.32% Native American.
- Extra curricular activities
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Benjamin Banneker Academy is known for its many great extra curricular activities which include a variety of sport teams, clubs and community service organizations.
- The yearbook commeiitee produces one of the best year books that btooklyn pblic schools have to offer.
- Two special events that happen at Banneker annually are the fashion shows that are presented by the school's fashion clubs, "The Banneker Scarlets" and the "Senior Fashion Show".
- Previously, the school's fashion club, "Rhythm Runway" presented beautiful shows, but the club came to a close when the advisor left Banneker Academy. The senior class of 2007 staged a wonderful show titled "Walk It Out". The show featured designers Dynasty, T.J& Robz, as well as many other models such as Nasheka Madden, Joseph Perez, Lemell Overton, Cameil Becco, Tarana Lewis, Cristian Leiva, El-hajj Cooper, the late Verdery Knights and a cast of many other outstanding young talents. As the group progressed it caused a rivalry between the "Senior Fashion Show" models and the "Banneker Scarlets" models.
- The Scarlets was founded in 2005 by Shyenne Burton and advised by school counselor, Deanna Salomon. Burton and Salomon, along with the club's two other student managers, Ganesh Ram and Kiy Howard, have worked diligently to bring Banneker unforgettable fashion shows. The first show, "Strut 2007" was held on Saturday, May 12, 2007 and solidified the Sacrlets as a legitimate club in Banneker Academy. The club's second show, "The Future Is Here" was held on Saturday, May 10, 2008. This by far, was praised by students and staff alike as the best fashion show to be presnted in Banneker. The show included custom made patent leather body suits and harajuku- themed pieces, including colorful bobs, graphic tees, etc....
- The models used in the show are Banneker students. Models cast in "The Future Is Here" are: Damilola Aghedo, Ashley Beatty, Janine Brooks, Climic Browner, Shyenne Burton, Terrance Byers, Gina Cooper, Courtney Davis, Chyna Fox, Bianca Garwood, Kharese Gittens, Katherine Gutierrez, Kiy Howard, Lemia Mckay, Alexandria Palacio, Ganesh Ram, Gianna Rogers,Leslie Watterson, and Kadeem Welbourne.
- Other clubs that are housed in Banneker are:
- TMD (Teens Making a Difference)
- Goddess (For Young Women's Empowerment)
- The Fencing Team
- The Debate Team
- The Pre- Med Club
- NOLA (Banneker Rebuilds New Orleans)
- The Robotics Team
- The Hispanic Club
- The French Club
- S.P.I.T (Soulfoul Poets In Training)
- The Drama Club
- Chorus
- Banneker Sisters United
- Banneker Brothers United
- The Yearbook Committee
- The Senior Committee
- The Africa Tours Club
- Nurange Dance Esemble
- Goddess Club
- Sports teams
- Baseball Boys Varsity
- Basketball Boys Varsity
- Basketball Boys Jr. Varsity
- Basketball Girls Varsity
- Basketball Girls Jr. Varsity
- Bowling Boys Varsity
- Cross Country Girls Varsity
- Cross Country Boys Varsity
- Indoor Track Girls Varsity
- Indoor Track Boys Varsity
- Outdoor Track Girls Varsity
- Outdoor Track Boys Varsity
- Soccer Girls Varsity
- Soccer Boys Varsity
- Softball Girls Varsity
- Tennis Girls Varsity
- Volleyball Girls Varsity
- Volleyball Boys Varsity
- See also
- Empowerment school
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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