“I'm a product of the school, and this entire school is a living embodiment of this continued passion…you all bring a greater level of richness to this school collectively. The collective energy of that, when unleashed properly, and when students are empowered properly, that's what this place feels like.

…I'm grateful to be alive, but grateful to be able to come here every day and just get to see it continue to grow.”

-Mr. Erlenwein 

On Progress of the School Year: 

“Okay, now there’s two things I can say that I'm really proud of. One was something that was very planned. The second was kind of like a journey.”

The first question was about which big, bold, and new ideas Mr. Erlenwein was the most proud of. First, he recalled the Early Bird. 

“The morning announcements have been plagued for decades… As an educator, the best thing to do when you have a problem is to try to make it something that kids can help solve, but also kind of make it a teachable moment and mimic real life.”

As I’m sure we’ve all seen, the Early Bird took over the morning announcements and is full of silly segments and banter. From a student perspective, many only consider and value the final product, but what Mr. Erlenwein finds special is the progress and work behind it. 

“The early bird is really the manifestation of a desire to finally create a communication for all students that they actually cared about…the Early Bird is really the epitome and really the living, breathing example of when you take all these elements, put them together, and task students in creating a day-to-day episodic program”

As he sees it, students no longer have to wait for milestones such as SING or multicultural to show off their artistic talents, they’re now able to contribute to the arts every morning. The Early Bird serves not just as the morning announcements, but as a show of the wild imagination and endless creativity of tech students. 

“...knowing how creative and funny and thoughtful our students are, then seeing that on display each morning, and then watching it grow…to deliver and perform under that pressure is wonderful, but then new students get the opportunity to grumble to that position, too. So it's gonna continually evolve. It's always gonna be fresh and always gonna be new…”

The second thing that Mr. Erlenwein emphasizes his pride in is Barks & Beaks: Coffee with a Purpose and a Passion.

This journey began two years ago. It came to his attention that P.S.37, a school for students with special needs, lacks a traditional athletics field or sports facility. That’s why, Mr. Erlenwein invited students from this school to come to tech once a week. However, this year, a once-a-week visit turned into almost full integration of P.S.37 students into Tech.

“When Dr. Riggan, this summer or this spring, asked me  ‘I know that the answer is probably 99% no, but what would you think of our boys coming to your school every day?’

So I said, ‘don't make it the answer is gonna be no, because I think we might be able to do it.”

After working tirelessly to carve out a space for their students, eight boys (with ages ranging from 16-20) found classrooms around the school, completing projects with math classes or playing games in PE. They even opened a small cafe, one of their many contributions to their community. 

While Barks & Beaks, is a materialization of the joy, passion, and spirit the P.S.37 students have brought to Tech, it is also a testimony to the integrity and character of Mr. Erlenwein. Truly the living embodiment of the phrase “Never say never”, the utter community and pep resonating throughout the halls wouldn’t be possible without him. 

“We don't have, I guess what you can say, a traditional special education population for neurodiverse students in our building, like a lot of other schools do. So this was a unique way of creating an opportunity for neurodiverse students to commingle and colearn with our student…I could say they've brought such richness to the school community in ways that we've, I wouldn't say we haven't experienced before, but it's making these experiences regularly occur. And it's absolutely beautiful to watch the service learning, the spirit, the empathy, and the heart, that's going in both directions.”

On the School Community:

“Every day I get up, and especially on a Sunday, when I think most people have the Sunday night blues for the melancholy Mondays, I have to say, every morning I am so psyched. I don't like saying or calling it ‘going to work’. 

What I'm grateful for and have so much gratitude for, is what this entire school community has created. It is an anomaly.”

While the students buzz around the halls, with their minds always on the next assignment, they may miss things about Tech that Mr. Erlenwein finds so special. 

“I think what sets us apart is just the thoughtfulness that has gone into creating this environment. Nothing has gone untouched in terms of caring, about putting things always in favor of the student.”

Undoubtedly, Mr. Erlenwein has made the school more accessible and less stressful for students. Notably, he brings up the shift in school start times from 7:45 to 8:00, special evacuation drill schedules, and even the testing schedule.  While these changes are ones that many don’t bat an eye to, they are implementations that have been made with serious thought toward the students. 

But Mr. Erlenwein isn’t just grateful for the staff who put the students first, but of the community that we all have built. 

“There's a lot of love in the building. There's a lot of care. The environment and the feel of the environment is just sweet. It's just all goodness…there is a warmth here as soon as you come in, there is a sense of belonging...

No matter who you are and how different you are, you fit in here, unjudged. An unconditional acceptance.”

Message to the Students:

“I've always believed and lived life knowing that the secret to happiness and success is to never let go of being a kid at heart, and in mind, we were all children once upon a time, and we were experts at it…But you worked your butt off to get here and you continue to while you're here. So to play only as much as you work, that cancels each other out. So to really enjoy and benefit from the lasting effects of having fun, you gotta play a little bit harder.

The scapism of our imagination, our creativity is very much in a sense a form of sustenance and surviving.

It makes sense of this world.”