Friends of 187 – Programs Supported/Funded for 2011/12 school year:

Principal of the Week:

PS 187 Principal Cynthia Chory Believes in the Positive Power of Community

GRANTS RECEIVED:
Literacy Grant from the Cornell Family Foundation Junior Great Books for grades 3 & 4
Last June, PS 187 received a $2,500 literacy grant through Friends from the Cornell Family Foundation. The foundation specializes in higher educational grants in the arts and sciences. Our school’s award was the first-ever award made to an elementary school. As a result, two full grades of children (grades 3 & 4) are benefiting this year from the Junior Great Books curriculum. This program combines rigorous discussion, complex text, reliance on text evidence and persuasive writing. The grant monies have funded six teachers’ enrollment in an initial, two-day “Shared Inquiry” Junior Great Books training as well as purchased needed materials for one 4th grade class. Ms. Burns, Ms. Chory and Ms. Marrero are doing a great job not only implementing the funds but reporting back to the foundation regarding Great Books’ progress in the classrooms. Our hope is to sustain and grow this relationship!

F-STATUS TEACHERS:
Art Teacher Ms. Waldman 2 days a week grades K-4
Science Teacher Ms. Gilmore 2 days a week for grades 1&2
Spanish Teacher Ms. Lewis one day a week for grades 5&6

AFTERSCHOOL ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS FOR 7th and 8th Grades:
Friends of 187 will be supporting a variety of afterschool programs to meet the needs of the seventh and eighth grades, including:
• Debate Club
• A Yearbook for the Eighth Grade
• A School Newspaper
• The Talent Show
• Open Computer Room
• Football
• Basketball
As with all programs funded by Friends of 187, these programs are open to all children in the relevant grade(s). If a particular program is oversubscribed, spaces will be distributed by lottery with all children having the opportunity to participate in at least one program (or more than one, if space permits).

ARTIST-IN-THE-SCHOOL ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS:
City Kids Art for Kindergarten – Provided by (local!) Artist Donetta Riley
Master’s ART Shop is a child’s introduction to great art masters throughout history. Each week, students are given a bio of a famous artist and an overview of the artist’s work focusing on style and historical context. The bio is designed to be age appropriate and easily understood for ages in Kindergarten through Second Grade. Then, children create two art activities inspired by the Artist’s work. Donetta Riley is very excited to be working with P.S. 187 this school year! You and your kids may know Donetta from her generous contributions to our neighborhood, doing face painting at the neighborhood events, and teaching music and arts through the Music Together program.

Young Audiences New York (YANY) 3rd grade- Provided by Actor/Writer/Director Anne Pasquale
http://www.yany.org/
YANY provides students with in-depth meaningful learning experiences through the arts over a multi-week schedule. Residency programs are skills-based, integrate with the curriculum, and address the Learning Standards and Blueprints for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Young Audience New York’s teaching artists collaborate with educators to gear residencies to meet the specific needs of participating students. This year YANY is planning a drama program that will integrate with Junior Great Books curriculum. YANY’s Anne Pasquale started her residency with a performance to introduce herself and acting with storytelling to the kids. Her show “Liberty Belles” is fun & informative. She has the kids interacting in many ways. YANY also set aside funds in the budget for another performance related to cultural dance and storytelling that align with the curriculum. The residency will end with performance in the classrooms with the parents invited in to also participate in some of the exercises.

Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Program 4th grade- PENDING, details TBA
http://poamericas.org/aboutus.html
Performance in connection with Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas connected to the 4th grade study of the American Revolution. Students will write stories and create art based on their American Revolution studies and then the orchestra will interpret it and turn it into a musical score. The primary goal is to introduce students to the basic building blocks of classical musical composition, and work with students to compose a new work for orchestra using student melodies, rhythms and instrumentation choices. Student compositional material from the in-school teaching sessions is then combined by a professional composer and arranger, and crafted into a suite of world premiere orchestral pieces for full symphony orchestra, which are then performed in public concert by the full Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas at its annual Niños Concert in New York City, before a sold-out audience of the students and their parents (who are provided with free and subsidized tickets), as well as regular patrons.

Marquis Studio grades 4, 5, 6 – Provided by Architect Joseph Zaboi
http://marquisstudios.org/home/
Marquis Studio Architecture Program across 3 years delivers art/science/social studies. This program reinforces development of math skills and also provides meaningful cooperative skills as the students work in teams to develop their designs. Each program results in a large hands-on art project from an architecture perspective. And each program is very different so our kids will have unique architecture experiences each year- not REPEATS, the knowledge will build from year to year here’s what it looks like:

ARCHITECTURE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD (grade 4)
Students will explore the history and social fabric of their neighborhood through the eyes of an architect. They will learn how to judge a building’s age based on its architectural style and features. Students will study the meaning of the built environment to those who live in it and either through model building or drawing, reproduce neighborhood features. Skills taught — dependent on age level of students and previous exposure to architecture — will include drawing to scale, scale model building, drawing buildings as pictures (rendering) and drawing buildings to scale (elevation).

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN (grade 5)
Through hands-on model building and design projects, students learn that the architectural process is multifaceted, incorporating mathematics, vocabulary, history, sociology, culture, design, and problem solving. Students are divided into teams to fulfill their project designs. Often in conjunction with a study of a neighborhood or as part of the social studies curriculum, each team will choose which type of building it will propose. Previous examples have included choosing between a memorial, sports center or school. Each team designs the project in both plan and elevation and makes a presentation, including materials, to classmates. Following the critique each team makes a scale model from cardboard and a variety of materials. Skills taught – – dependent on age level of students and previous exposure to architecture — will include drawing to scale, scale model building, reading architectural plans, creating architectural plans, presentation as a group, drawing buildings as pictures (rendering) and drawing buildings to scale (elevation).

ARCHITECTURE AS A STUDY OF CULTURES (grade 6)
Students can come to better understand the aesthetics of various cultures by studying the traditional architecture of that region (e.g. Mexican pyramids, Islamic Architecture, etc.). The architectural choices of styles and materials will also reveal much about a region’s environment. The weather and natural materials of a region greatly affect the architectural choices, which in turn reflect the cultural aesthetic. Inuit make Igloos, Nomadic Mongolians live in Yurts, and a house in the Middle East uses high outside walls to shield its inhabitants from strangers’ eyes.

Marquis Studio is also providing a special visits for our students by renowned architects:
Martin Rich http://www.richaia.com/

Andrew Pettit (pronounced Pet-it) designer, architect and professor of Design at Pratt Institute
http://www.pratt.edu/academics/art_design/art_ug/interior_design/faculty_and_staff/bio/?id=apettit