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We’re excited to be working with a fantastic group of young New Yorkers in the 2015 Learning Together fellowship program. This year’s fellows are:
Celine Christory is a sophomore at the Lycée Français de New York. She is very interested in social studies, history, and science. She loves Model UN, and learning about different religions and cultures to expand her horizons. |
Kapil Dayal is a sophomore at Brooklyn Technical High School. He is a Hindu, and a competitive wrestler. He loves to eat, and doesn’t really love talking about himself. |
Ameenah Drammeh is a senior at the Islamic Leadership School, in the Bronx. She has participated in many interfaith education programs, and has dreams of one day becoming a Navy Seal. |
Yardena Gerwin is a sophomore at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School. She has two sisters and lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Her favorite subject is social studies, and she also loves Model UN, reading, Broadway shows, and exploring New York! |
Jolaun Hunter is a sophomore at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. Her interests include playing basketball, watching Netflix, and of course learning about different types of religions! |
Ishika Kasliwal is a freshman at the High School of American Studies. She practices Jainism, and her parents came to the US from India. She moved to New York from California last year, so she loves going to the beach. She also loves watching movies – especially Marvel superhero movies. |
Folasade McMullen is in the 8th grade at the Community Partnership Charter School, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She is a lover of dance, and a Yoruba practitioner. |
Maya Mesh is in the 8th grade at MS 245, in Manhattan. She is a bi-racial Latina Jew and is very proud of both her cultures. She loves reading and is also a published poet. Some of her other hobbies include singing in choir and participating in her congregation. |
Amani Mohamed is a senior at the Brooklyn Studio Secondary School. She is a secular Muslim, and was born and raised in Egypt. She enjoys writing research papers – especially with a political/economic focus on the Middle East. She hopes to be a political analyst when she graduates from college. |
Lizsandra Montiel is a junior at the Islamic Leadership School, in the Bronx. She is a 17 year-old Mexican-American Christian enrolled in an Islamic School. In her free time she likes to draw and write, and she hopes to be either a journalist, cosmetologist, or fashion designer. |
Isaias Morales is a sophomore at Cristo Rey New York High School, a Roman Catholic school in East Harlem. He was recently bit by the “drama bug” and is now performing in Our Town. He is also interested in the arts, and hopes to be a graphic designer after college. |
Chloe Pitkoff is a sophomore art student at Laguardia High School. She lives in Brooklyn with her parents, her younger brother, and her corgi. Chloe attends St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan where she is a chorister. She loves chocolate and the moon. |
Anu Rajagopal is a sophomore at the Baccalaureate School for Global Education. In addition to her schoolwork and spending time with friends, she enjoys playing the violin and performing in Bharatanatyam, Indian classical dance. |
ICNY’s trainers for the 2015 Learning Together fellowship program are:
Dr. Henry Goldschmidt is the Director of Education Programs at the Interfaith Center of New York. He is a cultural anthropologist, community educator, and scholar of religious diversity. In his work at ICNY, Henry develops education programs for a number of audiences, including teachers and students in New York schools. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and has taught religious studies and anthropology at Wesleyan University and elsewhere. He is the author of Race and Religion among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights (Rutgers University Press, 2006), as well as a number of scholarly and popular essays on American religious diversity. He is a native New Yorker, and lives in Brooklyn with his wife and children.
Kelly Siegel-Stechler is the Co-Trainer and Outreach Coordinator for the Learning Together fellowship program. She brings to the table an extensive background in youth leadership training, outreach, and development. Kelly has worked for a variety of educational programs focusing on diversity and citizenship, including the United Nations Foundation’s Global Classrooms program, ICNY’s Debate in the Neighborhood program, and Camp Rising Sun at the Louis August Jonas Foundation. She currently serves as Program Manager for the CUNY Institute for Education Policy and Chief Program Officer at Foundations for Leadership. Kelly holds a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in Politics, both from New York University. She lives in Queens with her husband and two cats.
