Advocacy, Outreach, Poetry

posted by Marion Palm ‘95, Leadership in the Arts alum, writing tutor, poet and singer

I have found great satisfaction in advocating for education in my community. Sunset Park, Brooklyn is a multi-cultural and diverse community that had no high school. For decades, residents campaigned for a high school for our children, but our children were forced  to attend high school in other schools nearby. (When my own child was of high school age, I had to send him to a private school in Masbeth, Queens rather than wait for his number to come up for a specialized school. He has since graduated from a private school in St. Peter, Minnesota with 4-year scholarships and is a per diem in the Cicero School System in Chicago, Illinois, when not studying to get into Second City.)

In the budget cuts, our planned high school was cut out by Albany saying that the law did not require the city to provide more than an eighth grade education to our children. A letter I wrote to our local paper as an “outraged parent” (their words not mine), launched a unified protest by groups in our community. Together with parents, educators, and local residents, we enlisted the help of elected officials in nearby Bay Ridge and Park Slope, also we were able to enlist the help of the borough presidents of our other boroughs, and the actress Cynthia Nixon to bring attention to our cause. We called attention to our plight on the City Hall Steps in Manhattan and invited lawmakers to come to a Town Hall meeting at Community Board #7 to hear what our community needs were and see our children first hand. The children wrote a song and protested with handmade signs. We also sent busloads of school children to Albany so other lawmakers could see first-hand the faces of the children being denied a high school education near their home. The process was long and intense, with nobody giving up on getting a high school for our children in Sunset Park. To make a long story short, the new Sunset Park High School opened its doors on September 8th, 2009.

I really feel my leadership training learned at Bank Street helped me coordinate this effort on the grass roots level. I also feel my work as the director of Poets Under Glass, a writing consortium I incorporated in 1987, helped me make the contacts that helped galvanize this effort, as did my relationship with the president of my borough who selected me (with his late Poet Laureate of Brooklyn, a member of my group) as the poet to launch Brooklyn Poetry Outreach, which has an open-mic series at Barnes & Noble Booksellers Park Slope retail store. This venue encourages children to submit poetry and perform it at the series. The children receive a certificate from our borough president and their poems are listed on the Brooklyn-USA official website. We are waiting to hear the announcement for the new Poet Laureate of Brooklyn. I hope teachers in Brooklyn will encourage poetry in their schools and help their students submit poetry to Brooklyn Poetry Outreach. I don’t have any other motive for telling you about Brooklyn Poetry Outreach except that it was created by a fellow educator I respected very much and I would like to see his name honored by seeing the program continue. Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!

Marion Palm is the founder/director of Poets Under Glass, a writing workshop that has provided more than 150 workshop meetings at the Brooklyn Public Library.

What I Learned from My Grandson, Eric…

posted by Linda Appleman (Guidall) Shapiro ‘81, psychotherapist and author

As a therapist, I know the importance of asking the right questions in order to help patients focus on how they’re thinking and what they’re doing to process their experiences. However, it’s often true that in everyday life a seemingly innocent, simple question can lead us to places in our brains that we wouldn’t necessarily have thought about.

The other day, I had one such “AHA!” moment with my grandson Eric.

It all started when he saw me using his family’s computer to check the number of votes I’d received that day in WELLsphere’s contest for TOP BLOGGER. I explained that I write a blog each Sunday, A PSYCHOTHERAPIST’S JOURNEY, and that so far I’m 12th in the top 20 bloggers. “That’s pretty impressive,” my not yet 9 year old grandson said.

I then went on to show him the title of some of the past blogs I’d written and I stopped when I saw the one I’d posted in September which talked primarily about his sister Sophie, entitled UNICORNS EAT STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM. He immediately proceeded to read it and even laughed at the appropriately funny places. But, then, he politely suggested that in all fairness I needed to consider writing a blog about him. Of course, I decided he was right. The question was what topic I would choose to write about.

Within seconds he suggested I discuss the new writing program instituted for the first time this year in his school. Designed to teach children how to improve their critical thinking skills, he explained that he’s learning to distinguish between a Personal Narative and an Essay.

He explained that “a personal narrative is written about a moment that something happened to you in your life (please underline the word you, grandma)… and an essay is a topic written on a subject with a particular theme.”

When I asked him to give me a sample of how his thinking is becoming more critical, he said: “Here’s how you start. First, you draw the letter T dividing a page into 2 columns. One says,”I noticed,” and the other says “I realized.”

“So,” he continued, “I noticed that we have 5 computers in our classroom at school. After noticing them, I realized that when my Mom and Dad were in third grade they didn’t have computers in their classrooms and that must have made how they learned very different from the way I learn.”

I must admit that at that point I was as impressed with the school’s new curriculum as I was with Eric’s ability to understand and explain it … he, my 3rd grade football, baseball, guitar playing grandson.

This led me to think about what I said at the start of this blog, namely how often we notice things without stopping to think about them. For instance, when we’re driving down a country lane in the north-east during these brisk autumn days and we notice that the once lush green-leafed trees of summer are now bursting forth with leaves of reds, oranges and golds … do we stop to wonder about or realize how it came to be that this seemingly magical transformation isn’t merely a part of the scenery that we’ve come to expect to see each year?

Then, too, how often do we notice things about people: the way they dress or talk, the habits they have, the passions they talk about which we may or may not share. Yet, because we want to like them or because we’re at a particularly lonely time in our lives and feel in need of friendship, we don’t take the time to realize that what we’ve noticed should tell us something, be a reminder of what’s important to us, what and whom we wish to welcome into our lives and what would serve us better to avoid.

I understand now – perhaps better than ever before – that our children and grandchildren can make us realize so many things when we take the time to talk to them and listen to what they have to say.

When asked what else he would like me to share about him, Eric said not to forget to mention that he Loves (capital “L”, grandma) all sports and has been playing all of them including: hockey, soccer, tennis, swimming, ping-pong, and air hockey for as long as he can remember.

“And, oh,” he added, “I think a good ending would be: ‘As Eric was lying on the carpet crunching away on UTZ potato chips, with his hands all greasy, we both laughed at the bag with the name UTZ written across it, wondering how it got its name.”

So, to honor Eric’s curiosity, I will end as he wished me to and ask any of you if you have noticed a bag of chips with the name UTZ, what have you realized about the origin of its name?

Here’s to noticing and realizing all that matters to you!

Linda Appleman (Guidall) Shapiro ‘81 is a psychotherapist, addictions counselor, oral historian, and author.  Her book is available at amazon.com and also as an audio book from Recorded Books Inc. (narrated by actress Suzanne Toren).  Linda shares more of her thoughts and experiences on her blog www.beyondatrauma.blogspot.com.

“We’re not social activists yet.” (Or are they?)

posted by Alisa Algava ‘08, leader of a small Hudson Valley progressive school

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead

The fifth and sixth graders were working on a project together outside on the driveway earlier today. They were painting a banner with pink paint – “Kids for the Cure, Sunday 12-3pm” – and, as soon as it is dry, they are going to hang it on our front fence for everyone driving by to see. These seven kids, along with their teacher Anita, have been brainstorming, debating, compromising, and envisioning this Sunday’s event for some time now. But the amazing thing is how much more there is to this project than this weekend’s Celebration of Life, even with all of the activities they have planned. Yes, they are so excited about the music, face painting, chair massage, information table, bake sale, “StoryCorps” type recording center, and pink bracelets they designed and ordered and will be selling. And, yes, they are thrilled that they are raising money for the American Cancer Society. But why are they doing this? Really?

This morning, a good family friend of two of our students spent an hour talking with all of our 2nd-12th grade kids. Drawing on his long history as an activist, he shared with us his experiences and his vision of social activism and civil rights. He told stories (including the time he met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and some of what he saw and did during the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War). And he talked about prejudice (how in our society we are brought up to judge other people based on appearance), communication (that how we talk to and look at each other matters), and social change (we can change ourselves, that’s the first step). I then got the chance to sit and talk with our 5th and 6th graders about this Sunday’s event…

• You’ll walk up to the porch and be greeted by me and Andrea. You’ll get a program and get sent to the information table.
• You’ll see the chair massage by Oscar’s mom.
• I printed 50 copies of a sheet on breast cancer information.
• 100% of the money is going to the American Cancer Society.
• The story table is where people can record their story about why they’re donating, a personal story of breast cancer in their life, their reasons for being at this event.
• There’s going to be music. It’s a celebration of life. So it’s going to be a party.

And then we had a conversation about social activism. I had asked how our speaker’s experiences might relate to their project. And Anita asked them if they are social activists…

• We’re not social activists yet.
• Yes, we are. We’ve already started by getting people aware. By emails and talking to people. And in two days…
• No. It’s a really small thing. We’ll only get $500 at the most, and people raise like a million.
• We are social activists because we’re socially active. We’re telling people our interests and what’s important to us.
• We want to help.
• We’re raising money.
• Social activism is the way that one person or a group of people helps the community or the world to make a difference.
• If no one even buys a bracelet, people are still coming and getting educated.

We talked for a moment about the Constitution and freedom of speech, which they also have been studying and discussing. Anita said that social action can happen because of our Constitution and the right to speak up. Our speaker had referred to this concept, too, when he described how exercising that right gives courage to other people to speak up, that it has done this throughout U.S. history.

I noticed a new project appear recently in the middle school, a timeline hanging from one of the beams. It starts in the year 1400 and reaches all the way to today. Our fifth and sixth graders are just beginning to work with it, to investigate American history through a new lens. But ever since they began this social action project, they have been grappling with ideas that extend far back beyond the “founding” of the United States. They have been trying to understand freedom and citizenship and power and, most importantly, respect for other human beings. Throughout this experience, the 5th and 6th graders have tied together social studies, writing, graphic design, research, and even math. By doing integrated projects like this, our kids learn to make connections and solve problems. They are the thinkers, the do-ers, the active constructors of their own knowledge. And they make things happen. You can see for yourself this Sunday!

An afterword…

The event was held almost two weeks ago.  Our 5th/6th graders raised $590 for the American Cancer Society.

The next day Anita sent an email to all the teachers and families: “Our children are so lucky to be part of a community that embraces their vision and helps them to achieve it. Sunday, and the days leading up to our event, reminded me that at our school, I am never alone. The work that we have done, since the beginning of September, helped us to create Kids for the Cure. To recap, here are some of the ways we prepared for this event:

• Lists of personal interests
• Lists of the way our family fits into our extended community: church, politics, sports, etc.
• Writing about our beliefs and things that we are passionate about
• Learning about young social activists such as Ruby Bridges, Lincoln, Ben Franklin….
• Learning about the Constitution and the structure of government
• Learning about local social activists
• Visit from a parent who is a lawyer (discussion of constitutional law)
• Visit from a parent who shared her personal reasons for being active in raising funds for breast cancer (discussion of our interests and passions)
• Visit from a musician/activist (what does it mean to be socially active? getting up in the morning and stretching beyond your comfort zone)
• Visit from a political activist (civil rights activism and prejudice, what does that mean about our daily interactions)
• Current Events
• Elections
• Graphing the cancer death rates from 1999-2005

We are not finished. We are constructing a time-line of American history, focusing on important events and their relationship to social action and civic responsibility. Who are we in the world? Our work this year revolves around this question.”

Alisa Algava graduated from Bank Street’s Leadership for Educational Change program last December. For the past 14 years, she has taught and learned in public, private, and charter schools in NY, NJ, and RI. She has written a handful of postings on the Alumni Blog about her experiences leading and learning in a small progressive school. Alisa loves learning. She loves moderating The Alumni Blog. And she really loves her nephew.

Economic and Educational Ideas…Brainstorming Together

posted by Susy Ogden ‘97

At Bank Street’s Graduate School, we are interested in learning how schools are coping with and adjusting to the economic downturn. Last April, our new government declared education to be a priority. To mirror that interest, and to support our own school administration, graduates and students, I am eager to hear what is happening economically in your school. Given the cutbacks so many schools have been facing, how is your school administration addressing educational issues and financing? How is your faculty handling their needs if you are having to deal with reduced staff? How are the children faring?

One idea, at Bank Street, was to use volunteer energy. In April, our library had several thousand new books shelved by a pizza-fed, volunteer group of faculty, parents, graduate students and other special workers. Pizza is even more enjoyable when there is camaraderie and a goal, and, the cost of pizzas and fun-loving-power made the work a pleasure! The Tom Sawyer theory was at work! Thanks to the Library Staff for their support, too. Everyone was (and is!) joining in.

Please share your experiences. Together, we will be ‘richer’ for our pooled ideas. I hope we can continue to support and encourage each other, and truly make education of children and support of the teachers a primary focus.

Falling in Love with Bank Street…and Out of Love with “Education”

posted by Fred Baumgarten ‘84, writer/musician/naturalist/father

Twenty-five years ago I earned my master’s degree in pre-service teaching at Bank Street, squeezing by on a rather thin thesis five years after I first enrolled in the program, fresh out of college, and a year before I would leave teaching for good.

I was ill-prepared to be a teacher, not because of Bank Street, but because I had a poor sense of myself and what I wanted in life.  In my confusion, I struggled uncomfortably through my year of coursework, my thesis, and my brief teaching career.

I didn’t “get” Bank Street.  In my naivete, I remembered only my own traditional public school education and thought, “I turned out to be a decent student.  What’s wrong with traditional education?”

Now, a quarter-century later, not only age and (perhaps) wisdom have changed my perception.  I have grown up and had children and watched my two girls make their way through elementary school.

It would not be an overstatement to say that my perspective has done a complete reversal.  I must have absorbed everything I learned at Bank Street by osmosis.  As a practical matter, that means I spend a good part of my day wishing I could magically transpose my daughters from the school they’re in to Bank Street or one of the many schools inspired by the Bank Street model.  (Not a very productive pursuit, admittedly.)

I see and grasp what a real education can be.

Yet life circumstances preclude any imminent change in my daughters’ schooling.  Ironically, the public school they attend is in a tiny town two hours from New York City, with tiny class sizes.  Yet the curriculum and teaching could have been imported wholesale from the New York City public school I attended more than forty years ago.  A factory model predominates.

Undoubtedly, larger pressures are at work: No Child Left Behind, relentless standardized testing – the results of which affect school district funding – and the national pendulum swing toward “basics,” “standards,” and “accountability.”  But that can’t possibly be the whole story.

It can’t explain social studies lessons that are ripped right out of mass-produced textbooks, or a mathematics curriculum that is an endless parade of facts and operations devoid of any meaningful context or joy in numbers and patterns.  It can’t explain the unending stream of homework assignments that consist of inane worksheets, random spelling words, and rigid reading assignments – never reading just for pleasure.

It can’t explain why, even though our school is located adjacent to a wetland and a forest, with even a desultory nature trail right behind the ball fields, my children have never set foot anywhere close to these areas. It can’t explain why my daughters get 20 minutes for lunch – often not enough time to finish a single sandwich – and 20 minutes for “recess,” on a full (or semi-full) stomach, one assumes.

For my older daughter, now technically in “middle school” in grade 5, the problems grow acute.  The daily schedule is built on the old-school model of a bunch of fragmented 45-minute periods.  Typically a good student, she is already struggling under the weight of 90 minutes of homework a night, including weekends.  Worst of all, her love of learning is being extinguished, particularly in math.

I went to talk with the principal about some of the problems.  In the waiting room was a copy of John Holt’s classic “How Children Learn.”  If only they would read it, I thought.  All the flaws in the traditional paradigm Holt wrote about 25 years ago are still true.  Nothing has changed in our little corner of the world.

Now I face the problem of trying to improve my children’s educational experience without becoming a pariah in the community.  I would welcome ideas and hearing about others’ similar experiences.

Fred Baumgarten is a writer, musician, and naturalist, and is presently Director of Foundation, Government, and Corporate Relations at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, NY.  Fred was previously at Bard College and before that he spent 20 years at the National Audubon Society.  He lives in Sharon, Connecticut. Fred would be thrilled if you click “Add Comment” below.

The Occasional Paper Public Forums

Participate in person or live on the web!

These forums are available online, live and after the events, at www.bankstreet.edu/gs/op.

Teacher Leaders: Transforming Schools from the Inside ~ Special Guest, Eric Nadelstern, Chief Schools Officer, NYC Department of Education.  Authors will speak about the process of becoming teacher leaders and transforming the schools in which they work.
Monday, November 16, 2009, 5:30-7:00pm at Bank Street College

Classroom Life in the Age of Accountability ~ Editors and authors spoke about the impact of NCLB, high stakes testing and audit culture on the emotional lives of teachers and children in today’s classrooms.
Thursday, October 29, 2009, 5:30-7:00pm at Bank Street College

On the Shoulders of Ted Sizer

posted by Alisa Algava ‘08, leader of a small Hudson Valley progressive school

I cannot teach a child well, whom I do not know well. How can I teach that child well, if I do not know her enthusiasms or why she makes mistakes or what seems to be out of sorts for her at a given moment, or what is behind her at home? And no two of our children are alike. ~Ted Sizer

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. ~Isaac Newton

We sat in couches and chairs in his living room on the East Side of Providence, 15 college juniors and seniors, sharing our writing with each other.  The week before, we had driven together with Ted Sizer and his wife, Nancy, to visit a high school outside of Boston.  Each of us, including our two professors, had “shadowed” a student for the entire day, trying to experience and understand the school through the eyes of that teenager.  Everyone had photocopied and passed out a one-page “portrait” that we had written, a description of one moment or interaction we had observed during that child’s day.  And now we were all discussing what we had learned.

Ted Sizer, education reformer, school leader, teacher, visionary, was one of the most kind, humble, and forward-thinking individuals I have ever known.  He was my advisor, teacher, and mentor in college and beyond.  My sister worked with and for him after she graduated from college.  I decided to go to Bank Street after a conversation I had with him.  Ted’s work and ideas are a big part of how I think, what I believe, and who I am.  When I read about the current small schools movement, I think about Ted.  When I hear about instilling habits of mind in kids, I am reminded of Ted.  When I work to hold students accountable for their learning in authentic ways (not through standardized tests), I credit Ted.  When I think about creating communities of adult learners in schools, I am deeply inspired by Ted.

Ted Sizer’s work has affected countless students and educators.  In regional and national school reform efforts, he continually focused on the importance of each community identifying its own needs and defining ways to better serve its children.  In the early eighties, he founded the Coalition of Essential Schools, a network of teachers, leaders, students, and schools.  Guiding each school, whether elementary, middle, or high school, is a set of Common Principles, not dictates or rules, but shared values.  Learning to use one’s mind well, knowing each student, believing that less is more (curricular depth over coverage), creating a tone of unanxious expectation, and modeling democratic practices are some of the principles that are envisioned in CES schools and are exemplified in Ted’s own life. Ted’s integrity, hopefulness, and generosity of spirit guided both his interactions and his vision of equitable schools, schools that inspire every child to learn how to learn.

In the mid-nineties, Ted and Nancy helped found a charter school in Massachusetts where they later served as acting co-principals.  Whenever Ted was asked to give a talk at a conference or university, he brought high school students with him.  When Ted sat and listened to a twelve-year-old, he spoke with the exact same tone, interest, and gentle questioning as he used when meeting with an education world bigwig.  He believed that schools should be places of decency and trust for everyone, and that is how he lived his life.  Last week, Ted Sizer died at the age of 77 after a long fight with cancer.  Ted was a giant for me.  I know I will continue thinking of him as I learn so much every day about collaborating with colleagues, working with families, spending time with children, keeping a school.

If you have thoughts to share about Ted Sizer, please add a comment below or submit an Alumni Blog posting through Your Voice.

For more about Ted’s life and work:
The New York Times
The Coalition of Essential Schools
The Forum for Education and Democracy

Alisa Algava graduated from Bank Street’s Leadership for Educational Change program last December. For the past 14 years, she has taught and learned in public, private, and charter schools in NY, NJ, and RI. She has written a handful of postings on the Alumni Blog about her experiences leading and learning in a small progressive school. Alisa loves learning. She loves moderating The Alumni Blog. And she really loves her nephew.

Folding Paper, Constructing Meaning, and Following a Child’s Lead

posted by Alisa Algava ‘08, leader of a small Hudson Valley progressive school

“We know only what we do, what we make, what we construct; and all that we make, all that we construct, are realities.”
~ Naum Gabo, constructivist artist, 1890-1977

Folding and flying paper airplanes has got to be one of the greatest things about being a kid.  You can take the simple, traditional five-fold approach; you can follow instructions from paper airplane books; you can even design your own.  During the past few weeks in the Upstairs (that’s what we call the place/program where the kindergarten through 4th grade groups are at my school), paper airplane folding has been HOT.  In the morning, I often walk up the stairs and find someone standing at a table, a piece of paper already creased and on its way to becoming airborne.  There are test flights – for distance, tricks, turns.  There is artistry (with scissors especially).   And there is collaboration.  This is the kind of work and play that inspires younger and older kids to work together.  Last week, Jordan came into the 2-1-K room looking for Liam so that he could teach him a new design.  And then Liam passed it on to someone else.

Last Thursday, I was lucky to spend an hour or so with the K-2nd grade group after lunch.  We came in from Outdoors Time and they explained to me that this is the time they usually read or draw quietly.  I know that after-lunch-time-of-the-day well — it’s a time to engage in activities that help us slow ourselves down, do some quiet work, feel ready for the rest of the afternoon.  Some of the 3rd and 4th graders had been flying planes outside.  As soon as we arrived in the room, one of the 1st graders immediately began folding an airplane and, naturally, wanted to keep working on it.  I suggested maybe we could draw some planes instead.  Jerry stapled together a few papers to make a book and brought it to the table.  He started with a title, and together we sounded out how to spell FLIERS!  PAPER!  AIRPLANES! (The “upside down i’s” at the end of each word were his idea).  I thought he was simply going to draw the planes that he had already folded or even the ones he might imagine.  Jerry’s first drawing was a rectangle with a line drawn down the center.  When I asked him about it he told me that it was the first step.  We then realized that an instruction manual would be a great project.  It wasn’t always easy for him – drawing the lines and shapes, showing with arrows how to fold, sounding out words, writing letters – but Jerry’s determination and deep interest allowed him to create one of the most amazing step-by-step manuals I’ve ever seen (by a first grader or anyone else).

It’s a beautiful thing, to be able to see a child’s interest and help him use what he cares about in a “school” kind of activity or project.  As Jerry worked on folding his airplane and creating his manual, he was developing and strengthening his spatial and sequential ordering skills, his letter-sound recognition, his fine motor abilities.  Did he know that?  Probably not.  But we see him, we see what he can do, we see how he can reach and stretch, and we help him along the way.  And, at the school where I work, there is a structure to the day that allows children to delve into what they care about, to extend their thinking, to construct their own meaning from their own experiences.  I’m so thankful that I happened along at just the right quiet time.

Alisa Algava graduated from Bank Street’s Leadership for Educational Change program last December. For the past 14 years, she has taught and learned in public, private, and charter schools in NY, NJ, and RI. She has written a handful of postings on the Alumni Blog about her experiences leading and learning in a small progressive school. Alisa loves learning. She loves moderating The Alumni Blog. And she really loves her nephew.

Owen and Mzee Motivate Reluctant Writers

posted by Barbara Silver ‘80, literacy consultant and former NYC first grade teacher

The second and third grade teachers at one of the Jewish day schools where I work as a literacy consultant for AUSSIE (Australia & U.S. Services in Education) were comparing notes one day about their students as writers.  All six teachers were interested in finding more creative ways to motivate the students to enjoy writing more and take risks in their writing.

I had recently read about a student teacher’s special project in her Florida school that was intended to involve families.  Since there are alligators in their community, she decided to create a take-home project involving a stuffed alligator and a book about them.  That description reminded me of the stuffed animals that had been donated by Craig Hatkoff, the author of two books about a baby hippo rescued from the 2004 tsunami, and a 130-year-old tortoise.  Mr. Hatkoff visited the school two years ago after receiving letters from the students about his first Owen & Mzee book.  The books, which were also donated by the author, are: Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship.

With the help of the principal, teachers, and office staff, we collected six backpacks and created a take-home project for each class, which included the stuffed animals, Owen and Mzee, one of the books by Craig Hatkoff, and a writing journal for students to record their experiences during the two-night visit.

A letter was sent home to the parents explaining the project; then the teachers got the ball rolling as they each took the backpack home first and modeled recording in the journal.  Excitement was in the air!  Students eagerly took home their “guests” and the writing flowed!  There were many drawings accompanying the writing and some photos as well.  Families learned of this remarkable story along with the students and were delighted to participate.

Here are some comments direct from the student journals:

“I was so happy when Mrs. D. chose me to be the first one to have and do the project.  I took them with me to After-School and showed them to my friends.  I told everyone that they will sleep with me when it is my bedtime.”

“I love Owen & Mzee.  I had a lot of fun with Owen and Mzee.  We had a big sleepover with popcorn.  I also ate dinner with them. And we are acting out the story together.  And I was the reader.  And my parents also liked them.”

“We read the book.  My mom and I were shocked that Mzee lives for 130 years.  Also I never heard that a hippo and a tortoise could be friends.”

“I liked this book because it teaches me stuff about Owen and Mzee.”

“Stay one more night please!”

“I think the hippo felt sad at first in his new home.  Then I think he felt very happy for his new friend and new home.”

“Owen and Mzee were having so much fun and me and Owen and Mzee were watching a movie.  We were eating and me and Mzee and Owen were making a puppet show with all my toys.  It was the best time ever.  We draw and paint.  The book was amazing too.”

“Thank you for this unforgettable story.”

“My brother read the book with me.”

“Owen asked me, “Are we going to see you again?”  “Maybe”, I said.”

“Tonight I read the book Owen and Mzee to my little sisters.  They said they loved the book Owen and Mzee.  They told me to read it again.”

“If I was lost like Owen I would feel frightened because if I was separated from my family I would feel terrible and upset.”

“One thing is when I was playing with Owen and Mzee my bear Saro was mad that I did not play with her and I said what happened Saro and she said that she was mad because you are not playing with me.  Oh, I am very sorry.  I had to take care of them.  We’ll all play together OK.  So we played and had fun.”

“I think it is good that friends are together and friends should listen to each other…… I think it is a good idea to do this project.  I read the story.  It was sad and fun.”

In addition to all the eating, playing, watching movies and reading together, one student wrote about how Owen and Mzee helped her study for a spelling test.  In her words, “they really helped me a lot.”

This project was successful on so many levels:

• The goal of motivating writing was achieved.
• Students practiced reading over and over.
• Families were thoroughly involved.
• Everyone learned about a very unusual friendship.

In the words of Caroline Kennedy, whose remarks appear on the back of the first book:  “This heartwarming story shows the power of a single friendship to transform a life, and inspires us all to look at the world around us and reach out to others.”

In the words of the authors, “We hope the incredible story you are about to read inspires you as much as it has us.  It shows how connected we really are with everyone and everything.  It is also a vivid reminder that even when the world seems its bleakest, we should never give up!”

Barbara Silver has been actively involved with Bank Street’s Alumni Association for almost three decades. She was a NYC public school teacher for more than 25 years, and now works with teachers and children in Jewish day schools throughout the city.  For more information about Owen and Mzee, visit their website at www.owenandmzee.com.

A Few Announcements…

2009 Commencement Photos

Photos are still available online for viewing and purchase.

Please visit http://web.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/login.asp
And enter Event ID#: BSCclassof09

Election of Alumni Officers

Congratulations to the elected BSCAA Officers for the July 1, 2009-June 30, 2011 term.

President: Jesse C. Pugh ‘76
First Vice-President: Ada Rosario Dolch ‘94
Second Vice-President: Whendy Carter ‘03
Treasurer: Labiba Abdur-Rahman ‘93
Secretary: Jim Clay ‘88