advisory cornerstone project

The Advisory Cornerstone Project is an educational journey undertaken by each ninth grade advisory class. The common threads are:

  1. Each project focuses on a field of interest identified by the students.
  2. Each project pairs its advisory with an outside organization doing exemplary work in that field.
  3. Each project culminates in a meaningful end product that helps students reflect on what they’ve learned while enabling them to share that newfound knowledge with their schoolmates.

This advisory chooses poetry as a unifying force. Working with Urban Word NYC, students explore poetry as a means of vibrant expression. Students work with a writing mentor to delve into the writing process and create original pieces. Through seeing performances and participating in city-wide SLAM competitions, students find their voice as spoken word artists.


This advisory chooses photography as a unifying force. Students work with photographer Michael Meyer to reflect on their community and identities using creative expression and an artist's perspective. They create an exhibition of their work that explores the ways in which they see and are seen.


This advisory chooses art and media as a unifying force. Students work with painter and artist Karioki Crosby to develop original work in response to experimenting with new media and responding to though provoking questions. Students cultivate their artistic voice and accumulate a body of work to be displayed in a year-end exhibition.


This advisory chooses leadership and government as a unifying force. Led by a DreamYard artist in residence, students work on projects that explore both personal and political subject matter. Students use the creative process to connect the events in their everyday lives to greater social issues through innovative art and activism projects.


This advisory chooses sisterhood as a unifying force. With Voice & Vision Collective, students explore issues important to young women, are trained as peer leaders, and work to truly understand and harness the strength of sisterhood. They plan and facilitate a day of youth-led workshops culminating in a fundraising event to benefit an organization working to improve the lives of girls and women.


This advisory chooses reading & writing as a driving theme. Through Operation Breaking Stereotypes, students use penpal relationships with ninth graders from a sister school in Searsport, Maine to dissolve preconceptions and create lasting bonds. The exchange will culminate in reciprocal visits.

"The Advisory Cornerstone Project embodies SLJ's commitment to integrated partnerships; to blurring the boundary between SLJ and the outside world; to exposing students to the professional world in a way that enhances their education and opens up a whole new world of possibility."

—SLJ Principal Elana Karopkin