Fund for District Five Announces 2009 Grant Awards for Harlem Public Schools
Grants up to $1,500 were awarded to teachers and parent leaders in NYC District 5 Schools for innovative and educational projects.
Class Lending Library
C.S. 133 Fred R Moore Academy
Award amount: $530
Herbert Bleich , Teacher
Grades served: Pre-K
To spark increased reading at home among children and parents, this teacher will build a classroom lending library stocked with 160 new multicultural books, Spanish language books, and other high-value, developmentally appropriate book collections.
Library Media Center
C.S. 133 Fred R Moore Academy
Award amount: $1,383.88
Patrice Hughes-Martone, Media specialist
Grades served: 2th – 5th
To increase students’ exposure to the arts, the school’s library media center will be a workshop space for visits from visual and performing artists. Students will then take field trips to museums and performing arts venues.
ALEKS Study/Assessment Tool
M 367 Academy for Social Action
Award amount: $1,500.00
Valerie Johnson, Math coach
Grades served: 7th
To increase student performance in math and better inform parents of their child’s performance, the ALEKS Program (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) will customize online programs for individual students to practice and build their math skills.
Middle School Debate Team
M499 Fredrick Douglas Academy
Award amount: $1,500.00
David Enders, Teacher
Grades served: Middle School Grades
To increase students’ abilities in research, speaking, critical thinking and responsibility, and to increase parent involvement in the students’ education, students will participate on the school’s weekend debate team tournaments.
Interactive Science Learning is for Education “Is Life” Science Project
C.S. 133 Fred R Moore Academy
Award amount: $1,338.00
Desiree Fulton, CTT teacher
Grades served: 4th
To increase student performance in science and to increase parent involvement in science, parents will be trained to work together with their children in a series of hands-on, inquiry-based and interactive science sessions.
Visual Arts Program
M685 Bread & Roses Intergrated Arts H S
Award amount: $610
Ikuko Wakiya, Art Teacher
Grades served: 10th and 12th
To provide a rich instruction and to increase students’ exposure to visual arts, students will now have access to high-quality supplies and materials to use in a series of drawing and painting projects, including a school mural project. ”
From Cradle to College: A Dream Wall Mosaic
P.S. 318 Thurgood Marshall Lower School
Award amount: $1,500.00
Dawn Brooks DeCosta, Fine Arts Coordinator
Grades served: Elementary
To start college preparation at the elementary level and increase parent involvement in college preparation, Cradle to College will start a school-wide campaign that includes mentoring, career days, and speakers. In addition, students and parents will co-create series of school mosaics that represent their aspirations for higher education.
Jaguar Journal
P.S. 197 John B. Russwurm School
Award Amount: $960.92
Robert Melendez, Teacher
Grades served: 5 th
To develop great readers into effective writers and to share the students’ work with parents, students will publish their own school journal of student-generated creative and non-fiction writing.
Science Club
P.S.M.S 129 John H Finley Campus School
Award Amount: $1,458.95
Ermelinda Perez, School Leadership Team (Parent Representative)
Grades Served: 5th – 7th
To increase parent involvement in science and to increase science instruction for students, the Science Club will provide students with extended instruction three times a week and bi-weekly parent workshops with information about curriculum and activity ideas to show how science is part of everyday life.
Children’s authors and families attend Read Out Loud event
Children at Read Out Loud! choose books for their home library
Over 249 children and parents attended Read Out Loud! a family literacy festival on December 5, 2009 at the Ralph Bunche School (P.S. 125) in Manhattan. About 30 students from Barnard College, Columbia University, St. John’s University and Teachers College volunteered as individuals and representing organizations Jumpstart and the African Students Association.
Every child that attended Read Out Loud! met children’s authors and received a signed book. Children also chose new books to take home for their home library. Hundreds of books were donated by publishers, local organizations, bookstores and individuals. Approximately 350 new books were given away at the event.
Visiting authors who read aloud and signed their books included Roscoe Orman (”Gordon” of Sesame Street”), Javaka Steptoe, Zetta Elliot, Edel Rodriguez, Jerry Craft, Lucia Menzinger, and Sandra Maria Esteves. Workshop and activity hosts included author Torrey Maldonado, poet DuEwa Frazier and Broadway actor Jarrell Singleton.
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Children’s authors, poets and illustrators appearing at Read Out Loud on Saturday, December 5, 2009!
Join these authors for read alouds and book signings: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm at PS 125, The Ralph Bunche School, 425 W. 123rd St.
Roscoe Orman is an actor, writer and artist who since 1974 has played “Gordon” on PBS-TV’s highly acclaimed children’s series Sesame Street, where he has become a symbol of fatherhood to an entire generation. Orman’s memoir, Sesame Street Dad: Evolution of an Actor was published in June 2006. His children’s book, Ricky & Mobo, which he wrote and illustrated, was published in 2007. In 2008 he was named “Chief Storyteller” and national spokesperson for Audible Kids, the nation’s leading provider of digitally downloaded children’s literature.
Born in Canada, Zetta Elliott moved to Brooklyn in 1994 to pursue her PhD in American Studies at NYU. Her poetry and essays have been published in several anthologies, and her plays have been staged in New York, Chicago, and Cleveland. Her first picture book, Bird, won the Honor Award in Lee & Low Books’ New Voices Contest; it was named Best of 2008 by Kirkus Reviews, a 2009 ALA Notable Children’s Book, and Bird won the Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers.
Edel Rodriguez was born in 1971 in Havana, Cuba. He is the recipient of both a Gold and three Silver Medals for editorial illustration from the Society of Illustrators. He has illustrated six children’s books, two of which he has authored—Sergio Makes a Splash and Sergio Saves the Game. Edel’s artwork is in the collections of a variety of institutions, including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., as well as in the private collections of a variety of writers, actors, designers, businessmen, and political figures.
Jerry Craft is the creator of Mama’s Boyz and one of the few syndicated African-American cartoonists in the country. His award-winning comic strip has been distributed by King Features Syndicate since 1995. His books include Mama’s Boyz: As American as Sweet Potato Pie!, Mama’s Boyz: Home Schoolin’ and Mama’s Boyz: The Big Picture. His illustrations have appeared in magazines, comic books, greeting cards, book covers, board games and the children’s books, “Hillary’s Big Business Adventure” and “Looking to the Clouds for Daddy.” Get more info at www.mamasboyz.com/
DuEwa Frazier is a writer, author, educator, speaker and performer. She is the author of two volumes of poetry: Shedding Light From My Journeys and Stardust Tracks on a Road. DuEwa is the editor and publisher of the award nominated anthology, Check the Rhyme. Her poetry, essays and arts profiles have featured in Essence Magazine, Mahoganybutterfly.com, Aalbc.com, Drumvoices Review, Poetry Ink Anthology, Mosaic Literary Magazine and others. She resides in New York City.
Lucía Menzinger has been in many different worlds, both great and small, through sight, word, and the magic of different languages. One day American Reading Company approached her about sharing some of the tricks that open wide the doors of books for those beginning to read in Spanish, and she said “Sure! Let’s do it!” Almost all she does these days has something to do with children, books, and reading, and she loves it. Lucía was born some years ago in Spain, and now lives near Philadelphia with Ángela, Jaime, and Coffee, the cat. Her dad calls her “Lucero.”
Sandra Maria Esteves, poet and visual artist, is known as the Godmother of Nuyorican Poetry. The author of several poetry collections, her first book, Yerba Buena, was honored as Best Small Press by the Library Journal, 1981. Her poems are published in many anthologies. She has received numerous awards and has taught poetry workshops for over thirty years. For more info visit her website and online gallery at www.SandraEsteves.com. She can be contacted at estevessan@aol.com.
Also appearing, Javaka Steptoe, author and illustrator of numerous books, including In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall, Coretta Scott King award-winner for illustration.
Check out these fun workshops!
SECRET SATURDAYS: Want super hero X-Ray Vision? Join Torrey Maldonado, the author of Secret Saturdays. A Conflict Resolution expert and a middle school teacher, he’ll give you X-Ray Conflict Resolution Vision to see hidden reasons for people’s behaviors. With fun games, an action-packed reading, this is the best way to spend your Saturday. (Grades 5-6)
CARTOONING WORKSHOP: Join syndicated cartoonist Jerry Craft as he shows you how to create your own comic characters using simple shapes and step-by-step instruction. He’ll use this same process to show you how to draw some of today’s most popular cartoon characters. You’ll be amazed at what you can do, once you know how! (Grades 3-6)
Other activities at Read Out Loud:
Sign up for a New York Public Library card!
Make stained-glass inspired bookmarks with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
- Make your own “Where the Wild Things Are” inspired puppet with students from Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science and Engineering!
- Art, drama and creative writing with Léna Roy, granddaughter of A Wrinkle in Time author, Madeleine l’Engle
- Meet Jarrell Singleton, child actor who has starred in Broadway productions of The Lion King and The Little Mermaid
- Storytelling activities in Spanish and French
- And more!
Click here to see a slideshow of past events!
Click here to download a flyer (English)
Click here to download a flyer (Spanish)
Click here to download a flyer (French)
