STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — In an effort to provide a sense of normalcy and connection for students while they were engaged in remote learning due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, many Staten Island schools said farewell to students in special videos of drive-by surprises.
Some faculty members and students received awards, while other students continued advocacy work.
Teachers at PS/I.S. 48 in Concord wanted to make sure students were surprised with an end-of-the-school-year celebration in June.
Lisaann Siracusa, a second-grade teacher, her co-teacher Victoria Wong, and paraprofessionals Maria Guarneri, Christina DeMarzo and Piera Santangelo drove by students’ homes on June 25, honking car horns and playing music. The journey to see their 32 second-grade students started at 9:30 a.m. and lasted until 6:45 p.m.
“We shed tears of happiness as we saw our students again since the pandemic in March. We have ended the year with happiness for them! We all had a memorable year, and wanted to send off the message to our students that we got this and we will always be shining stars!” said Siracusa.
She added that each child received a special award and a box filled with treats honoring their character and achievement.
You can view the photos in the gallery above.
SEND US YOUR STORIES
As the new school year approaches, we are looking to share special editions of the In Class education column, highlighting the positive, uplifting, inspiring and fun activities that schools, teachers, and families will participate in when they return to classrooms for blended learning — going to classrooms some days of the week and remote learning the rest of the week — as well as students choosing to learn remotely full-time.
Do you have a story idea for the In Class education column? Email education reporter Annalise Knudson at [email protected].
TOTTENVILLE PERFORMS WITH ITALY STUDENTS
Tottenville High School is engaged in a special cultural collaborative program with Liceo Statale “C. Montanari” School in Verona, Italy, as part of the “Italy-USA Cooperation Project” — performing a musical number together virtually.
In the project, music students and teachers at Tottenville paired up with students and teachers from Montanari High School virtually through Google Meets in May.
With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19), students and staff from both schools determined that an appropriate musical selection to collaborate and perform together would be “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In both countries, rainbows have been used a sign of strength and hope for health-care workers, those suffering with illness, and people quarantined.
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” served as the perfect music vehicle for the project, in which students at both schools collaborated to perform the song as a message of hope for their local communities and the world.
The “Italy-USA cooperation project” was born from the initiative of the MIUR – Directorate General for Internationalization in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy and the Consulates of Boston and New York in December 2019.
Teachers at the two schools worked to adapt the score, involve their pupils, create single audio recordings of all instruments played by pupils, synchronize and assemble audio, and assemble all the sent material. The final product of this first phase of the project consists of a film that contains the intentions and energies of all people involved.
You can watch the video below.
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) announced the third class of My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Fellows who have been identified as leaders in their MBK Communities and will be provided with mentor relationship opportunities in government, education, and business.
The 71 Fellows, all high school juniors, represent 24 New York State school districts. The fellows from Staten Island include:
- Mark Ian Calica, Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical High School
- Charles Okema, Port Richmond High School
- Kareem Alkassar, Eagle Academy for Young Men Staten Island
- Quincy Baker, Eagle Academy for Young Men Staten Island
“This year’s class of My Brother’s Keeper Fellows are joining the program during a significant time in our country’s history,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa. “The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the inequities that run throughout our education system. The Board of Regents and I are committed to ensuring that all children have access to high-quality learning opportunities and each of these young men will come away from the program with a unique perspective and the leadership skills to help address these issues head on.”
Each fellow will be partnered with a mentor from the NYSMBK Community Network and will be given the opportunity of a fellowship with one of the state’s partners. They will also be required to develop and execute a service project related to the initiative such as:
- Ensuring equitable access to high-quality schools and programs;
- Expanding prevention, early warning and intervention services;
- Responding to structural and institutional racism; or
- Engaging families and communities in a trusted and respectful way
In addition, Fellows will serve on a statewide MBK Fellows Workgroup to provide valuable input on the development and implementation of a statewide MBK Mentoring Network.
The approved MBK Community Networks were eligible to apply to the Fellows Program, and consist of a partnership between the Office of the Mayor and the School District Superintendent (or the Chancellor in New York City).
AWARDS GIVEN TO CSI FACULTY
Three faculty members at the College of Staten Island (CSI) in Willowbrook received prestigious awards.
Dr. Heidi Bertels, assistant professor of management in the College of Staten Island’s Lucille and Jay Chazanoff School of Business, is the latest winner of the Emerald Publishing Best Case Award. The award honors the best case as published in the 2019 issues of “The CASE Journal.”
Bertel’s case was titled “Startup on a Budget: Winning New Customers without Breaking the Bank.” The award comes with a $1,000 prize sponsored by Emerald Publishing Group.
Dr. Seokyoun Hwang, assistant professor of accounting in the College of Staten Island’s Lucille and Jay Chazanoff School of Business, received a prestigious Deloitte Academic Research Award for his research paper, titled “Auditor’s Quality Control Efforts and Independence: Evidence from the Korean Audit Market,” presented at the Korean Accounting Association’s Annual Global Meeting (KAGM 2020).
Psychology Professor Sarah Berger received a three-year, $485,916 National Science Foundation grant (with co-PI Regina Harbourne, Duquesne University) for a research project, titled “The Role of Sleep in Infant Motor Problem Solving.”
