News &Views VOLUME 33, Issue 2, Winter 2017 The School Magazine of the P.S.122Q Parent-Teacher Organization Vasiliki Zaharakis, 6-506 INSIDE: Spirit Week, Read-Aloud Day, Ice Skating, 100 Days of School, Earth Day, Water Works, Rock Star Movie Night, Ballroom Dancing, Panda Plight, Student Wax Museum, and More P.S.122 QUEENS Inside this Issue Mamie Fay School Message from our Principal . . . . . . . . . . 3 Message from our PTO Presidents . . . . 4 21-21 Ditmars Boulevard Editor's Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Astoria, New York 11105 Financial Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Telephone: 718-721-6410 Fax:718-726-0016 Assistant Principals’ Desk . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 http://ps122pto.org Secretaries' Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Principal: Pamela Sabel Guidance Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Assistant Principal: Anna Aprea News from the Parent Coordinator . . . 9 Assistant Principal: Alba Carlucci Library News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 Spare Change Harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Pre-K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 News & Views Committee Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Claudia Voyiatzis Philip Mazzone First Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Mary Geraghty Editor in Chief Executive Editors Students of the Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Spirit Week . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21, 28-29, 40 P.T.O. Executive Board Advertisements Third Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-23 Articles City Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Fourth Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Fifth Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Movie Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 News &Views The Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-37 Honor Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42-43 We invite you to advertise in our school’s publication, New & Views. The Publication is distributed to 1,400+ familes residing in Astoria. By advertising in News & Views you will not only be able to reach these families with the lowest rates imaginable, but you will also be helping support public education as well. Your support will allow us to continue printing this wonderful publication and to fund supplemental items and resources which would otherwise not be possible. Feel free to contact News & Views at 718-721- 6410 or send us an email at: [email protected] Advertising Rates: Advertisement Size One Issue Two Issues Three Issues Articles for submission should be emailed to: Business Card $ 20.00 $ 40.00 $ 50.00 1/4 Page $ 45.00 $ 90.00 $135.00 [email protected] 1/3 Page $ 55.00 $110.00 $160.00 1/2 Page $ 70.00 $140.00 $200.00 Any submissions are subject to Full Page/Insert $115.00 $230.00 $315.00 review and editing by the Newslet- Back Cover $350.00 ter Coordinators/Editors. 2 Winter 2017 A Message From Our Principal Pamela Sabel It’s spring! A time of renewal and energy. We recognize the fundamental importance of strong Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) on overall student progress. We have implemented many activities and programs to sup- port our children in key components of SEL: • Social awareness-Showing understanding and empathy for others • Self-management-Managing emotions and behaviors to achieve one’s goals • Self-awareness-Recognizing one’s emotions and values as well as one’s strengths and limitations • Responsible decision-making-Making ethical constructive choices about personal and social behavior • Relationship skills-Forming positive relationships, working in teams, dealing effectively with conflict. Our teachers have begun using a program called Sanford Harmony which includes activities that empower our students to communicate better, develop an increased sense of connection with peers, work cooperatively and col- laboratively with others, and build healthy relationships. School-based programs such as the arts, ballroom dancing, Spirit Week, Respect for All, Service Learning, afterschool programs, and others also help us achieve our goals. Our administrators, school psychologist and social worker, guidance counselors and SAPIS worker are available for ongo- ing support. Our children are making fine progress through our rigorous curricula and broad enrichments in the arts and look forward to continued success. Our Mission: Students will achieve their full scholastic and social potential to become creative and critically-thinking life-long learners and productive global citizens. Together we create the kind of school where our children are confident and growing, where our faculty and staff effectively impact learning, and where our- families feel welcome. By working together, we can celebrate every child’s accomplishments. As always, Ms. Aprea, Ms. Carlucci, and I look forward to making this school year a happy and productive one for all our children. News & Views The School Magazine of the P.S. 122Q Parent -Teacher Organization 3 THE PARENT-TEACHER ORGANIZATION P .S .122 – MAMIE FAY SCHOOL 21-21 Ditmars Boulevard, Astoria, New York 11105 Tel: 718-721-6410 ext 8 / E-mail: ps122pto@gmail .com / www .ps122pto .org Co-Presidents: Claudia Voyiatzis & Mary Geraghty Vice President: Naima Garvin Treasurer: Anna Katechis Assistant Treasurer: Justin Finkelstein Co-Recording Secretaries: Isabel Inniss & Anna De Chevalier Co-Corresponding Secretaries: Zsuzsanna Kertész & Jeannette Johnson Hello PS 122 Families, The PTO Executive Board is excited to release our very first electronic newsletter. We hope that you will enjoy all of the wonderful pictures and articles that we put together for this issue. Our students have been working so hard all winter, but as you know, school is much more than just work. Our teachers managed to squeeze in some really fun and engaging activities too! They went on some wonderful field trips, engaged in some enriching classroom projects, attended several fun PTO fundraisers, and participated in rewarding art partnerships. It was truly an eventful season and we are looking forward to more great activities this spring. Being part of the PTO Executive Board has been a rewarding experience for us. Without our supportive team of parent volunteers, our students would not have many of the resources and programs that they enjoy every school year. We commend our team for all the time and energy they put forth in making PS 122 a better place to learn and make friends. We encourage new parents and guardians to get involved in our PTO. Just a few hours of volunteer work goes a long way and it feels great! It's also a great way to make friends and connect with your school community. Please don't be discouraged if you are a working parent. All of the members of our current Executive Board have part-time and/or full-time jobs this year. There is a place for everyone on the PTO. You just have to take the first step. We can all make a difference when we work together! Have a wonderful spring break and we look forward to coming back to school refreshed and energetic. Your PTO Co-Presidents, Claudia & Mary 4 Winter 2017 EDITOR'S NOTE MIDDLE SCHOOL SHOWS TRUE SPIRIT On the cover of this issue we're featuring amazing artwork by middle school student Vasiliki Zaharakis. We love its message of inclusion that represents so much of what we value here as a community at P.S. 122. It seems especially fitting then that this year the Academy decided to include the entire school in their weeklong celebration of school spirit. The younger grades really enjoyed wearing colors and pajamas, dressing as their favorite characters, and representing their cultures. Thanks to a talented team of middle school photographers who roamed the hallways in search of spirit, we're excited to include six full pages of pictures from Spirit Week in News & Views. There were over 500 pictures and we didn't have room for all of them, though we hope to include them on the PTO website. Thank you to Misaal Tabassum, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Anika Burac, Andrea Huang, Easten Benziger, Yasmmine Yoon, Sarah Chan and Avery Look for all your hard work, and to Ms. Kamaris for bringing it all together. A large school such as ours presents challenges, but one of the advantages is the way in which our older students can help inspire the ones who will come after them. We hope you enjoy the photos! FINANCIAL REPORT PS 122 PTO Budget February 2017 [email protected] 2016-17 2016-17 2016-17 2016-17 INCOME: Proposed Actuals EXPENSES: Proposed Actuals Account Balance from School YR 2015-2016 $ 8 ,387.25 Contribution to School Membership Contributions (General) $ 18,500.00 19,059.00 Little Orchestra Society (K-3) $ 12,000.00 6,000.00 Membership Contributions (Special Appeal) $ 5 ,000.00 Noguchi Museum (4th Grade) $ 4 ,500.00 Recess Enhancement Appeal $ 3 ,000.00 Ballroom Dancing (5th Grade) $ 12,800.00 4,000.00 Magic Box (7th Grade) $ 4 ,100.00 Bake/PTO Product Sales $ 1,000.00 466.75 Learning Leaders Training $ 1 ,000.00 1,000.00 Box Tops $ 2,500.00 615.00 Black Board (Phone Service) $ 2 ,000.00 1,923.60 Cascon Pie Sale $ 2,000.00 2,026.00 Recess Enhancement $ 3 ,000.00 City Ice Pavilion $ 1,250.00 Purrell for Classrooms $ 5 00.00 422.25 Culture Night $ 3,000.00 Principals Wish List $ 5 ,000.00 803.69 Cherrydale/GA Fundraiser $ 10,000.00 8,426.50 Kindergarten Graduation $ 3 00.00 Gertrude Chocolates $ 5,000.00 1,581.50 5th & 8th Grade Grad Flowers $ 2 50.00 Movie Nights $ 5,500.00 2,491.00 5th & 8th Grade Bonds $ 8 50.00 N&V Newsletter Ads. $ 6,000.00 2,105.00 8th Grade Prom, DJ & Yearbook $ 6 00.00 Picture Day $ 6,500.00 8,577.66 ARISTA: Honor Society $ 4 00.00 Raffles $ 500.00 Learning Environment Survey Prizes $ 5 00.00 Store & Other Promotions (Pizza Uno, Modells) $ 750.00 127.51 School Garden/Landscaping $ 3 00.00 Kid's Stuff Coupon Book $ - 4,760.00 SASF (Champions) $ 3 00.00 Square One Art $ 3,000.00 36.08 Total Contribution to School $ 48,400.00 Fundraising Activities (Gross) $ 47,000.00 Fundraising Expenses $ 73,500.00 58,659.25 Box Top Supplies $ 1 00.00 51.43 Box Top Ice Cream Prizes $ 2 00.00 Cherrydale Fundraiser $ 5 ,000.00 4,701.00 Treasurer's Report Cherrydale Top 3 Prizes $ 3 00.00 Cash Balance 12/31/16: $ 28,371.03 Gertrude Chocolates $ 2 ,500.00 Checks (1/1/17 -1/31/17): $ 2 14.38 Cascon Pie Sale $ 1 ,500.00 1,803.00 Outstanding Liabilities Paid (2015-16 Budget): Culture Night $ 1 ,250.00 Deposits: $ 1 ,986.50 Kid's Stuf Coupon Book Cost $ - 2,175.00 Total Available Funds: $ 30,143.15 Movie Night Supplies $ 1 ,000.00 291.41 City Ice Pavilion $ 5 00.00 CHECK REGISTER PTO Membership Incentives $ 1 ,000.00 Date Chk # Name Category Amount Sq 1 Art $ 5 00.00 02/13/17 1022 Equipment Repair-JJ Equipment Repair $ 60.00 Picture Day $ 1 50.00 95.50 02/17/17 1023 Cherrydale Fundraising Exp $ 56.81 Total Fundraising Expenses $ 14,000.00 02/17/17 1024 Movie Night Supplies-NG Fundraising Exp $ 80.57 Contribution to School - Teacher Reimbursement $ 2 00.00 02/17/17 1025 Meeting Refresh- MG Gen Meet Refresh $ 15.00 General Meeting Refreshments $ 5 00.00 41.34 02/28/17 EFT Bank fees-Service Charge Bank Exp & Fees $ 2.00 News & Views Magazine $ 5 ,000.00 3,250.00 School Decorations & Gifts $ 1 ,050.00 1,083.79 Office Supplies/Expenses $ 7 00.00 537.95 Teacher/Staff Appreciation $ 5 00.00 Teacher/Staff Luncheon $ 1 ,750.00 Equipment Repairs/Replacements/Purchases $ 1 ,000.00 60.00 Exec Board Meeting Expenses $ 3 50.00 Bank Expenses & Fees $ 50.00 276.14 Total Expenses: $ 73,500.00 28,516.10 Prepared by Treasurer: 3/16/2017 Income: $ 73,500.00 $ 58,659.25 Date distributed to Principal: 3/17/2017 Expenses: $ 73,500.00 $ 28,516.10 Date distributed to Membership: 3/23/2017 Ending Surplus/Defict: $ - $ 30,143.15 News & Views The School Magazine of the P.S. 122Q Parent -Teacher Organization 5 Assistant Principal’s Desk Anna Aprea, Assistant Principal March met us with a snowy ice storm. School were truly excited to welcome guest readers into was closed for a day. We are all happy now their classrooms. that spring is here! The students are looking for- Our art residencies continue and are progressing ward to the warm weather and opportunities to go nicely. Little Orchestra Society continues to work out and play in the school yard. The third mark- with kindergarten and second grade students. They ing period ended and I hope all parents had an op- are busy composing music. If you have a student portunity to meet with teachers for Parent-Teacher in these grades, you will be invited in to hear their Conferences. If you did not have an opportunity pieces played by professional musicians. Ballroom to come in, please arrange for a meeting with your dancers continue to work with Mr. Jay Oates. They child’s teacher on Tuesday afternoon or during the are learning a variety of dances around the world. week. This marking period provides valuable in- What great fun and exercise! Magic Box is working formation as to how prepared your child will be for with our seventh grade students on stop animation. the next grade. We can’t wait to see the final presentation. This students and staff enjoyed Read Aloud This year our spring break will be from April Day. Many visitors came in and read their favor- 10 through April 18. On April 19 and April 20th ite stories to the children. This was a school wide we will hold our annual Family Night. There will event and a great success. We thank our librarian be fun and entertainment for all. We look forward Virginia Hood for organizing this event. Students to seeing you there. FROM THE SECRETARIES’ DESK We would like to start out by wishing all of you a Happy Spring! Just to follow up on a few reminders: Whenever possible, please schedule your child’s doctor appointments on days when your child does not have school. If you must pick up your child early, please write a note to the teacher so he/she can be packed up and ready to go. Also, please do not schedule pickups during your child’s lunchtime or dismissal. It is difficult for L-R: Debbie Lanzaro, Mary Pisido, us to locate students in the lunchroom or outside during recess or as they are being Erica Tzifas, and Yvonne Diaz dismissed. Thank you so much for your consideration. 6 Winter 2017 Assistant Principal’s Desk Alba Carlucci, Assistant Principal As we come to the middle of the school year, we Cell phones will be collected and stored during gear up for the New York State assessments for testing. Any child with a cell phone during the test- grades 3 through 8. On March 28, 29, and 30th, we ing will have their test voided as per testing regula- took the NYS English Language Arts (ELA) exam. tions. On May 2, 3, and 4th, we will take the NYS Math- The test scores will not be available until late Au- ematics exam. Grade 4 and grade 8 Science Perfor- gust or early September. However, the NYS Depart- mance Test will be given between May 24th and June ment of Education does let us know if students have 2nd. Grade 4 and 8 Science written exam will be on met promotional criteria in June, and we will share June 5th. The following are some ways that you can that with you as soon as possible. Contact Parent help during the testing time: Coordinator, Judy Milo, for information on how to access NYS Exam results before the end of the √ Encourage your child to do his/ school year. her best Also, as head of our Safety Committee, the safety of our children is paramount in our school. I ask √ Help your child not to stress parents not to double park and make u-turns around over the test by doing relaxing the school. This causes dangerous situations. Please or enjoyable activities together refrain from parking in front of the school during √ See that your child gets enough arrival and dismissal because this holds up loading sleep and the departure of buses. Parents waiting for their √ Make sure your child gets a nu- children will worry. Know that we are always open to comments and tritious breakfast the morning communication. of the exams GUIDANCE CORNER B y Anna Constantatos, Guidance Counselor Spring is around the corner, and everyone is looking forward to the nicer weather and more outdoor activity. I want to remind students and parents that all the hard work and dedication throughout the year is evident in the student’s academic progress and maturity. Keep up the good work! A reminder for all students from 3rd grade and up—NY State exams are coming up. I always urge parents to set a tone of calm reassurance for their children. With support and encouragement from home and school, students will be better prepared to meet academic challenges and expectations. A well balanced diet, outdoor activity and plenty of sleep are three sure fire tips for the last months of school. To all 5th grade parents and students—the middle school acceptance letters will be available for distribution by the month of May. If you have any questions or concerns, please call me or pass by the guidance office. I wish everyone a great Spring! News & Views The School Magazine of the P.S. 122Q Parent -Teacher Organization 7 GENERAL PEDIATRICS AT ASTORIA Christodoulos Iordanou, MDFAAP Michael Iordanou, MDFAAP Yael Robson-Kushner, MDFAAP Marianna Karavolias, MDFAAP Hana Pantuso, CPNP 37-11 23RD AVENUE 200-14 44TH AVENUE ASTORIA, NY 11105 BAYSIDE, NY 11361 (718) 721-6166 (718) 224-3000 8 Winter 2017 NEWS FROM THE PARENT COORDINATOR By Judy Milo Passwords for the online program myON went home with Hello Spring! It seems students thanks to Ms. McCabe. as if you would never She also opened up her com- arrive. Spring Break is just puter lab so that she and I could around the corner with extra help our families log in and use time for family and friends. myON at home. If your child In January we began our has lost the password let us know. Great Course, “Learning This is a terrific reading resource Spanish”. Our group has been that students can use at home or when they are on meeting regularly once a week and we have just fin- trips. Children have hundreds of books right at their ished lecture number 13. We are learning about Span- fingertips on all reading levels. ish culture, how to use proper pronouns and how to Our Champions Club after school programs for conjugate verbs. Hasta pronto. Elementary and Middle School are keeping very busy College Awareness Day on January 11th was an this year. They provide many fun and educational informative and inspiring event with guest speakers activities for children year round. If you would like from CUNY. Mr. Sung Lee and Mr. Gerlando Termini more information you can stop by their office at dis- had many interesting stories to tell about how they missal time. grew up and how they chose their career paths. The Family Game Nights are coming up right after the students asked many questions and CUNY provided break on April 19th and 20th. These are fun nights us with a lot of fun giveaways. Thank you to my where children can come to school and play board friend Nancy Ruhling for arranging their visit and games, enjoy a magic show, shop at a flea market, buy helping out with the event. baked goods while their parents puruse the raffle table. On February 7th we had our Museum Event for We always have many wonderful donations from local parents with many special guests in attendance. Rep- businesses, so please save the date for these fun nights. resentatives from many fine cultural institutions were Due to a generous grant from the Citizens Com- our guests including representatives from , Socrates mittee from NYC we will be offering our Hobby Sculpture Park, Queens Historical Society, Nogu- Afternoons and our Annual Hobby Night again this chi Museum, Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, year. Look for these events in May and June. MOMA, MCNY, Rubin Museum, Jamaica Center for Check the website where the GO Math textbooks Arts and Learning, Queens Library, NYC ID Program, and homework pages are available. To access this in- Queens Botanical Garden, Kings Manor Museum and formation for GO Math go to: www.aplusmathcoach. the FDNY Fire Zone. Thank you to all of the people com who helped us make this event a great success! Do not click on the GO Math icon on the right but NYC Survey time is underway. Our contest has select the grade from the top and the menu of options helped us receive a high rate of participation for the will drop down. This is a wonderful resource to have fourth year in a row. Students are eager to ask their from home or on the go. parents to return the survey so that they can receive Please go to the Parent Coordinators eBoard at a ticket to be in the drawing for the iPod. In addition www.parents.ps122.site.eboard.com or to the school the first 5 classes to turn in a complete class set will website at: http://mamiefayps122.wordpress.com/ for get pizza parties and for 6-10 we should be able to calendars and event information. also provide a reward. Thanks to the PTO for spon- You can always call me at 347-563-4213 or email soring the incentives for the survey contest. me at [email protected] if you need assistance. News & Views The School Magazine of the P.S. 122Q Parent -Teacher Organization 9 LIBRARY NEWS by Virginia Hood, Library Media Specialist School Website brings World of Reading to Students The P.S. 122 Library website ( www.ps122library.org ) brings the world to our stu- dents, not only when they’re in school but when they’re at home as well. All you need is an Internet connection to access the Library catalog, databases and encyclopedias, search engines, the public libraries, and other resources for students, teachers, and parents. One of the most important parts of the site is the link to our catalog, known as Follett Destiny. The catalog can be searched directly from the homepage or though the “Catalog” tab at the top of the page. A new component of Follett Destiny is Destiny Discover. When students search the catalog, in addition to getting the titles of books and audiobooks in the library, Destiny Discover also provides results for databases, e-books that can be viewed through Destiny, and other educational web resources. Students can filter the results by availability, author, format, interest and reading levels, number of pages, and publication date. This is a wonderful addition to the catalog, and should help students when they’re looking for nonfiction infor- mation, and the library either doesn't have materials they are looking for, or the materials are checked out. Directly under the Destiny search box on the homepage is information on databases. Databases are collec- tions of newspaper, magazine or encyclopedia articles, photos, videos, vetted websites, or primary sources that are searchable. The information has been evaluated for accuracy and authority. You can limit your results by en- tering a reading level, source for the information (magazine, newspaper, video, etc.), date, or format. Databases also have tools that allow you to easily e-mail, share, bookmark, download, translate, save, or listen to your resource. “Everything You Need to Know About Databases at P.S. 122” in the database section of the homepage explains how to find information using the 5 databases we subscribe to. Our databases range in difficulty from the E-Library Elementary (very visual for younger students), to the Gale Academic OneFile (for middle school students and above). As long as you are using them within New York State, there is no login required. Students can access Encyclopedia Britannica either by clicking on the link or by typing a search term direct- ly into the search box from the Library homepage. There are 3 different levels of articles (elementary, middle, high school, plus a "Learning Zone" for K-2 which has reading and learning games), videos, an audio tool that reads the text aloud, a translation option, nonfiction articles, and math activities. The username and password are both “ps122”. As a reminder, we are participating in the MyLibrary NYC program, a partnership between the NYC De- partment of Education and the 3 NYC public library systems. MyLibrary NYC allows students to search for materials beyond our own school library, rate library materials, create lists and keep track of their reading, and place holds. It also gives them access to books, e-books, magazines, databases of reference materials, and news- papers with high-quality information. Before borrowing materials from the Queens Library, students age 12 and under will need to complete a library card application with a parent’s signature. After the application is returned to school, students will re- ceive a new Queens Library card and will be able to use it at any Queens Library branch. See Ms. Hood in the Library if you need an application. Finally, a huge thanks to everyone who participated in our annual Read Aloud Day. This is a day dedicated to the power of stories, in which each class has at least one guest who shares a story or book. I always hear great feedback from students about the captivating and engrossing stories they’ve heard! 10 Winter 2017