Members of the class of 2007 filled in their glass box on Wednesday, November 21, Alumni Day. This marked the first time in eight years that a graduating class filled its glass cube.
The classes of 2001 and 2002 followed, filling in their respective alumni cubes at the Mnemonics Block Party on Tuesday, December 11 at 6:30 p.m.
The event was attended by 150 members of the class of 2007. It was held after school on the seventh floor near the escalator, where the box is located.
Graduates were informed of the event through a Facebook group and e-mails sent from Stuy07, the official Web site of the class of 2007.
A Lego pirate representing Junior SING! ’06, a rubber hamburger representing Senior SING! ’07, a cell phone, an iPod and a copy of a New York Times article about the December 2005 MTA transit strike were placed inside the box.
The cell phone and the iPod allude to last year’s Department of Education policy, which prohibited the use of these items in public schools.
Senior activities advisor and technology teacher James Lonardo, and former senior class president Michael Tsidulko (’07) and vice president Lenny Frenkel (’07) were responsible for collecting the items and gathering alumni on Alumni Day.
“Basically, it was us having to speak to [Lonardo] and determining a time,” Frenkel said of the process.
Tsidulko and Frenkel began collecting the items at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. “We initially wanted to do it at the end of the year. We collected the items,” Frenkel said. “It took a while to agree on them.”
Members of the class of 2007 had a role in the selection process. “I wanted them to choose,” Tsidulko said. “I sent out e-mails to the entire grade.”
The only criterion was that the items had to be memorable and significant to the entire grade. “We judged what was appropriate. All the suggestions came from the student body,” Tsidulko said. “Lenny and I chose the best ones.”
No formal design or layout for the box was made in advance. “We did it on that day. It’s very hard to plan ahead,” Tsidulko said. “There are special types of screws [for the boxes] that are one-time-use. We never had a formal understanding of the dimensions of the box.”
The box is not permanently sealed yet because some minor changes may be made. The New York Times article will be laminated. The items, however, are final.
While other graduating classes have been planning on filling their alumni cubes, the class of 2007 is the first to fill its cube in eight years.
“It’s just something that we wanted to do,” Frenkel said.
According to Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association (SHSAA) Recording Secretary Christen Russo (’00), the class of 2007 may have been inspired to fill in its box because of a recent revival of interest in the artists’ Mnemonics Project, which originally brought the boxes to Stuyvesant.
“There was more awareness among the class of ’07,” Russo said.
The glass boxes are being photographed in a joint effort by Mnemonics artists Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel, photography teacher Jan Juracek and the SHSAA. The images of the cubes will be displayed on the artists’ Web site, www.jonesginzel.com.
Jones and Ginzel spent four years working on the Mnemonics Project. They collected items by sending letters to ambassadors, asking for relics that could be used for the project.
“We worked on the blocks to build a sense of tradition within the school. We wanted to bring some things from the old Stuyvesant building to the new Stuyvesant building,” Jones said. “I also want the blocks to encourage the kids to think. I want there to be some mystery and I want the items to bring back a flood of memories. Hence, the name mnemonic, a system for memory.”
When the classes of 2001 and 2002 filled in their glass boxes, Jones and Ginzel videotaped the event. The video will be incorporated onto www.jonesginzel.com.
The video will provides viewers with instruction on how to fill the boxes. The artists’ Web site will also contain information on how to find and use the tools needed to fill the boxes.
“Some students may not even realize that they are supposed to fill a block,” project coordinator Katherine Gressel, assistant to the artists, said. “We are hoping the Web site, as a portal for information about the project, will change this.”
When a box is opened, the mortar surrounding the box is removed and the temporary screws holding the glass cover are unscrewed. Then, the glass cover is removed with a suction device, so as not to break the glass.
When the box is filled with items, the glass cover is reattached and a set of four one-way screws are screwed in. The one-way screws prevent anyone from opening the box after it is sealed.
Seven members of the class of 2002 and one member of the class of 2001 attended the ‘Mnemonics Block Party.’
A picture of blue skies in the background, a picture of the World Trade Center, a Junior SING! Ticket, a picture of the Stuyvesant swimming pool, a picture of the Stuyvesant flag, a senior program card, a ticket to the senior prom, an ID card and a printout saying ‘The First Class of the Millennium’ were placed inside the class of 2001’s glass box. It is located outside room 303.
“We were the last class to see the Twin Towers before they fell,” Eva Latorre Drew (‘01) said. “I wanted to show the different times before and after 9/11.”
“We were able to win junior and senior SING! And we were able to win the swimming Championships [in 2001],” Drew said.
Drew was informed of the Mnemonics Block Party after Gressel emailed the Class of 2001 Gmail group. Members of the group agreed upon the items that were placed inside the alumni cube. Drew supplied the items.
Drew said it took time to fill in the box because “no one really thought of it after graduation. People just went their own ways.”
The class of 2002’s alumni box is located outside room 503. The cover of The Spectator’s 9/11 coverage, a Chunky’s Bowl-a-Rama patch representing Senior SING! 2002, a graduation program and set of five poker cards were placed inside the class of 2002’s glass box.
A photograph of Bill Clinton, who was their keynote speaker, will also be placed inside the box.
The members of the class of 2002 were seniors when the World Trade Center Towers collapsed.
“We wanted to remember the things that went on at Stuy,” Danny Abajian (’02) said. “I remember when a lot of kids stayed indoors during their lunch periods and played Chinese poker because of the health threats outside the school after 9/11.”
Abajian collected the items when he was a senior at Stuyvesant. He asked for other students’ opinions when selecting the items.
“When I was at Stuy, I remember seeing these boxes and they were just cool to look at,” Abajian said. “They were unique to Stuy.”
Abajian said he planned on filling in the box in 2002, but “someone removed the glass from the box and either the glass or screws went missing.”
“The boxes give a flavor of the graduating class to Stuy,” Amit Friedlander (’02) said.
“It’s special to be able to put in a little bit of ourselves into the building. We were part of world history when the Twin Towers collapsed and I’m glad that we can incorporate that into both the school and our lives,” Danny Garwood (’02) said.
The classes of 2001 and 2002 were unable to seal their glass boxes permanently because the boxes will be reworked. The expected date for the glass boxes to be permanently sealed is Tuesday, December 18, 2007.
“I’m really excited that the Stuyvesant community has really taken ownership over the process, both the alumni and teachers at Stuyvesant,” Gressel said. “We’re excited about the tradition being revived.”