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FEBRUARY 2006 ■ FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE3EDUCATION UPDATEMailing Address:17 Lexington Avenue, A1207New York, NY 10010Email: ednews1@aol.comwww.EducationUpdate.comTel: 212-477-5600Fax: 212-477-5893PUBLISHER AND EDITOR:Pola Rosen, Ed.D.ADVISORY COUNCIL:Charlotte K. Frank, Ph.D., Senior VP,McGraw-Hill; Augusta S. Kappner, Ph.D.,President, Bank St. College; Alfred S.Posamentier, Ph.D., Dean, CCNY; AdamSugerman, Publisher, Palmiche Press;Laurie Tisch, Chair, Center for ArtsEducationASSOCIATE EDITORS:Heather Rosen, Adam Sugerman,Rob WertheimerASSISTANT EDITORS:Liza YoungGUEST COLUMNISTS:Gina Bellafante, Keith Berman, M.Ed.,M.S. Ed., Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg,Howard Dodson, Joel Haber,Ph.D., Dr.Carol Hankin, Senator Liz Krueger, JillLevy, Phyllis Murray, Alfred Posamentier,Ph.D., Lenore RubenSTAFF WRITERS:Jacob Appel, J.D., Stevanne Auerbach,Ph.D., Joan Baum, Ph.D., Gillian Granoff,Richard Kagan, Sybil Maimin, MarthaMcCarthy, Ph.D., Merri Rosenberg, EmilySherwood, Ph.D., Liza YoungBOOK REVIEWERS:Harris Healy III, Lillian Shapiro,Selene VasquezMEDICAL EDITOR:Herman Rosen, M.D.MODERN LANGUAGE EDITOR:Adam SugermanEDITOR-AT-LARGE:Steve BaileyMOVIE & THEATER REVIEWS:Jan AaronMUSIC EDITOR:Irving M. SpitzPOLITICAL COMMENTARY:Stuart DunnART DIRECTOR:Neil SchuldinerADVERTISING DEPARTMENT:Martin Lieberman, Manager.Steve Bailey, Nancy Kontos,David Edelman, Melissa VegaACCOUNTING MANAGER:Michael PortnoyEducation Update is published monthlyby Education Update, Inc. All material iscopyrighted and may not be printed withoutexpress consent of the publisher.Spotlight on Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7Editorial & Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Colleges & Grad Schools . . . . . . 8-11.16-18Special Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13COVER STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15Movies & Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Music, Art & Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19CAMPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-23Children’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Resource & Reference Guide . . . . . . . . . .25MetroBEAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Medical Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27GUEST EDITORIALNeeded: Quality Education for AllBy HOWARD DODSONThe crisis in American educationin general and black education inparticular is more serious than Ithought. Toward the end of lastyear, I attended the New York StateEducation Summit. More than 600 educatorswere in attendance, including the Commissionerof Education, Chancellors of the CUNY andSUNY Systems, superintendents of the majorpublic school systems in the state, Regents fromthe New York State Board of Regents, principals,teachers and educational reform advocates.The immediate focus of attention was on theincreasing performance gaps between AfricanAmericans and other minorities and whites inNew York States’ K-12 and university educationsystems. Plenary speakers presented the mostrecent statistical findings. They were not verydifferent from those presented in previous years.Just widening gaps. The overwhelming majorityof those in attendance were white and all seemedto nod knowingly as these statistics were rattledoff. There were few surprises in their recountingand the general mood in the hall was that that’sthe way it is and there is little that we can doabout it. Blacks and minority students are notmeasuring up to the challenges posed by the oldstandards, much less the new, and those in attendanceseemed to have run out of alternative strat-IN THIS ISSUEegies for closing the gap (if they ever had any).What snapped me into a realization of the depthof the educational crisis for black Americans andAmerica as a whole were some of the findingsreported by Kati Haycock of the Washington,D.C.-based education think tank, The EducationTrust. She had looked at the performance gap thathad developed between American education andits leading competitors in the global educationenvironment. Whereas the United States had ledthe world in educational performance for years,recently it had slipped into the twentieth placeor less in many performance areas. The newemerging stars are People’s Republic of Chinaand India, both of whom graduated more than amillion more students from college last year thanthe United States. In both countries, their highereducational programs are dwarfing U.S. productivity.China, for instance graduated over 300,000engineers last year. And India, graduated over150,000. The U.S. output was a mere 75,000from all of its colleges and universities. This isjust one area where American education is losingground in the global market place.But the crisis is even greater when looked atin the context of the American national economythat will exist 40 years from now. According toone source, at the present rate of performance,a significant percentage of the American publicwill not be qualified to fill the jobs in theLETTERS TO THE EDITORRe: A Glimpse into the Imprisonmentof Jean HarrisTo the Editor:Jean Harris has realistically described thewhole women’s prison situation accurately andhas given us many insights to how we mightrectify things within the prison system itself. Ifwe followed her guidance, our prison populationcould actually decrease, in time!!Myrna HuntBend, ORRe: Profiles in Education:An Interview With Ramon CortinesTo the Editor:In my experiences as a parent in Pasadena andas a teacher in Los Angeles, I came to admireRamon Cortines as the most approachable, conscientiousadministrator imaginable. I walkedinto his office when he was Superintendent inPasadena and was amazed by the fact that heknew me and the teachers of each of my threenew-to-the-district children. I always got answersto concerns regarding my children in Pasadena,and years later I received prompt and helpfulreplies to letters about my students in L.A. As isdemonstrated in this interview, Mr. Cortines honestlycares about education and about children,and he has a finely-tuned sense of what is neededin every situation for every person involved, childto administrator. His is a carefully balanced mixof ivory-tower educational wisdom and get-yourhands-dirty,practical problem-pushing which hasbenefitted every one of his communities. May theAmerican economy in forty years. Whereas ahigh school diploma was sufficient for one toenter the American job market in the 20 th century,a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent will be aminimal prerequisite for entry into the Americanjob market in the 21st century. The implicationsof this fact are both startling and sobering.The American education system is set up tooffer all students the opportunity to complete ahigh school education. Early on, those who arebelieved to be college material are selected outand tracked into college preparatory academicprograms. The rest are tracked to complete theirformal academic training in 12-13 years (K-12).The economic and social realities of the 21 stcentury require that all students entering the firstgrade be prepared to pursue at least 16 years ofacademic training leading at a minimum to abachelor’s degree. This is required if graduatesare to find work in the new economy. It’s alsorequired if America is going to be competitivein the global political economy. I repeat, ALLAmerican students must pursue undergraduatedegrees if they are to be successful, and theAmerican educational system must be retooled todeliver such opportunities if America is to remaincompetitive. This means that the Black and otherminority students who are being failed by thecurrent system are in even greater jeopardy. Butso are the rest of America’s children who are notpursuing college degrees today.#Howard Dodson is the Director of the SchomburgCenter for Research in Black Culture in NY.man be rewarded at this point with honor, peace,and fulfillment of all of his dreams.Julie-Ann Kosakowski,Retired Elementary TeacherPasadena, CATo the Editor:I have lost touch with Ray Cortines. Could youeither provide me with his e-mail, or e-mail thisto him so he can respond? Thank you.Clint E. SmithStanford, CARe: What in the World is a Grip & Gaffer?To the Editor:I like Shane’s story, there is some good advicetoo. I have worked on major films for 2 years asa truck driver (facilities person), making steps tobecoming an assistant grip. I live in the UK. Myaim is to set up my own film support vehicle withall the jibs, track and dollys. If any one wants toget into the film game, be prepared to work longhours in sometimes cold places for free. Enjoy.Steve Lewis.UKRe: Interview with Olympic Medalist NadiaComaneciTo the Editor:I’m doing a history day project on NadiaComaneci. Your article was very helpful.Samantha BeckCouncil Bluffs, IAPOSTMASTER:Send address changes to:Education UpdateP.O. Box 1588NY, NY 10159Subscription: Annual $10.Copyright © 2006 Education UpdateEDUCATIONUPDATEIS AN INDEPENDENTNEWSPAPER

4 SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FEBRUARY 2006William L. Taylor: Passionate Advocate of the Civil Rights MovementBy JOAN BAUM, Ph.D.The title of William L. Taylor’s influential, wellreceived legal autobiography, The Passion of MyTimes: An Advocate’s Fifty-Year Journey in theCivil Rights Movement—just out in paperback—is taken, he proudly points out, from OliverWendell Holmes’s comment that “As life isaction and passion, it is required of a man that heshould share the passion and action of his time,at the peril of being not to have lived.” What’struly admirable—aside from the author’s declarationthat he had “fun” writing it—is that for all ofWilliam Taylor’s over 50-year groundbreakingwork as a civil rights attorney and advocate, puttinghis mind and body on the line to serve thecause of equal opportunity and racial justice, he’sstill at it, the past alive in the present. Though abit on in years, a fact totally belied by the energetictenor of his voice and lively, focused humor,he continues to be as active as ever, going againstthe grain, if necessary, a fact recently attested toin a January 4, 2006 article about him in The NewYork Times by Samuel Freedman who calledhim “a grandee of the civil rights movement.”For sure, this particular eminence gris remains asdedicated and spirited as ever, even as he seemsto be upsetting some of his long-time liberal basein advocating for No Child Left Behind (pausefor compassionate chuckle).A graduate of Abraßham Lincoln High School(“the year [his idol] Jackie Robinson brokethe color barrier in the major leagues with theBrooklyn Dodgers”); an alumnus of BrooklynCollege, where he made waves opposing theauthoritarian administration of the day, youngTaylor, weaned on sensitivity to human rights byparents who lived in the glow of FED, attendedYale Law School, which still enjoys a reputationfor public affairs andpublic service, a legacy ofJustice William O. Douglas,and upon graduation in 1954was soon putting Holmes’sdictum of action and passioninto practice. Startingout at the NAACP’s LegalDefense Fund, where hejoined Thurgood Marshalland helped write the 1958Little Rock desegregationbrief, Taylor went on tobecome staff director at theU.S. Commission on CivilRights and to found The Center for NationalPolicy Review, at the same time teaching civilrights law at Catholic University. The sixties, ofcourse, for any civil rights advocate, black andwhite, was a historic, tumultuous and dangerousperiod, but the results found expression, amongother pieces of legislation Taylor helped write,in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 VotingRights Act. Needless to say, William Taylor wasin Natchez during Freedom Summer, a “palpablyscary” time but “nobody turned back.” ThePassion of My Times details with lively anecdotesand scrupulously fair analyses what thelegal and political fight was like in those daysfollowing Brown v. Board of Education. It alsoreinforces his “passion” to realize Martin LutherKing’s last dream to ensure equal opportunity forchildren living in poverty.What particularly distinguishes William Taylor,a distinguished Jewish fighter for the rights ofAfrican-Americans and other minorities, is howmuch he seems to have taken another Holmespronouncement to heart: “A man may fulfillthe object of his existence by asking a ques-AP/Wide Worldtion he cannot answer, andattempting a task he cannotachieve.” Like the Rev.King, a “visionary” whowould be pleased by manysocietal changes made sinceSelma, but deeply concernedat what still needs to be donefor the poor and underprivileged,William Taylor, whoacknowledges that he doesnot have answers to somequestions, refuses despiteenormous frustrations toyield to despair. A coalitionbuilder, he continues to lobby for subsidies forthose who would engage in public interest law.He sees more idealism than a sense of hopelessnessin today’s young graduates. He is amusedby the attitude that implies that a successful civilrights attorney ought to think now about being“a real lawyer.” He persists in opposing “territoriality”that would ignore individual schoolsuccess because it might threaten the status quoof entrenched bureaucracy. He recognizes butstrives against the societal effects of the separationof people that results in concentrated areasof poverty, inequitable school funding, and thusunfair educational opportunity. His late wifeHarriet Taylor was a Superior Court Judge andthough none of his three children have enteredlaw, they each, with multiple careers, have committedthemselves to help reform society throughthe arts, self-empowerment programs and servingthose with disabilities. In their way they haveinherited and acted on William Taylor’s strongbelief that anyone can—and should—try to makea difference, to be an agent of change.# CLAREMONT PREPARATORY SCHOOLIndependent K-8 School:9 LYCÉE FRANÇAIS DE NEW YORK505 EAST 75th STREET, NEW YORK, NY1002170 years experience inFrench-American Education. Multicultural and bilingual Private school. Graduates attend the most prestigiousNorth American colleges and universities as well asFrench institutions of higher learning,. New York High School Diploma andPreparation for the Baccalaureat. More than 50 nationalities representedfrom nursery to 12th gradeInformation and Admissions : tel. 1 212 439 3834admissions@lfny.orgwww.lfny.org

FEBRUARY 2006 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS5DR. HENRI FORD, PEDIATRIC SURGEON EXTRAORDINAIREBy JOAN BAUM, Ph.D.It was quite a leap for Haitian-born HenriFord who knew no English to attend John JayHigh School in Brooklyn—where he was called“Frenchie”—and then go on for his B.A. atPrinceton, not to mention moving from therein record time to Harvard Medical School, butfor this Vice President and Chief of Surgery atChildren’s Hospital Los Angeles and Vice Chairof the Department of Surgery at the Keck Schoolof Medicine (USC), affiliated with Children’sHospital, “leaps” are “challenges.” In fact, helaughs, recalling a saying of a classmate yearsago, “excellence will silence all your critics.”Considering Dr. Ford’s considerable reputationas a surgeon and as a heavily funded and muchpublished researcher in pediatric surgery, his specialty,it must be pretty quiet out there.Dr. Ford modestly refers to his John Jay H.S.days as a time of “difficult transition.” Not knowingEnglish, “the boy from Haiti,” as he wasknown, could hardly have expected a welcomingteam, but he wound up getting a fine education.When he got to Princeton, thanks to a summerlanguage tutor in high school who urged him on,he recalls how his first year there was one of “cultureshock.” All those fancy cars—late models,of course—but Henri Ford had a good line ready– “I parked my bus on the street.” By the end ofthe year, he felt entirely comfortable. Indeed, hesays that his undergraduate days were “the fourhappiest years” of his life. It was where he methis wife and where he a pursued a B.A. in publicand international affairs, with a special interest inLatin American politics, graduating cum laude in1980 and responding to what he felt was a needfor social change.But Dr. Ford loves challenge, and though his collegemajor served him well, he turned to medicinealmost inevitably, though he did toy with goingto graduate school, law school, and the KennedyEDUCATIONAL LEARNING GAMESThe FUN Way To Learn!We carry over 1,600 Educational Gamesat Educational Learning GamesEducationalDiscountsAvailableHenri Ford, M.D.School of Government. “I was, in a sense, deliveredto science,” he says, for a number of reasons,including the fact that an older sister, an inspirationalfigure, who also went to JJHS, persistedwith her studies, despite the loss of an eye andmultiple surgeries. Then there were mentors, andsisters married to doctors, but most of all, it wasthe surgery rotation of his third-year at medicalschool that sealed the choice—he “fell in love withsurgery,” and in particular with helping children.A friend, now the chief of surgery at Children’sNational who “takes credit for my career!” hadspoken glowingly of pediatric surgery.”Dr. Ford has been at Children’s Hospital fora little over a year, having left the Universityof Pittsburgh School of Medicine where hewas an attending surgeon, a member of thefaculty, and co-director of the Fetal Diagnosisand Treatment Center at Children’s Hospital ofPittsburgh and the Magee-Women’s Hospital atthe University. He also held the Benjamin R.Fisher Chair in Pediatric Surgery at the Schoolof Medicine. Under what colleagues called his“exceptional leadership,” pediatric trauma andpediatric surgical research programs reachedenviable new heights. So why did he leave andgo to California? Well, the population of childrenin Pittsburgh was shrinking and, well, “challenge.”Dr. Ford’s work on the “pathogenesis ofnecrotizing enterocolitis—the most common andlethal disease affecting the gastrointestinal tractof newborn infants”—has led to exciting insightsinto the diagnosis, treatment, and pre-natal prevention.Why do some children develop theseinternal problems and not others? Is necrotizingenterocolitis genetic and to what extent? If any,his research lab will get the answer.Though it may strike some as ironic, Dr. Fordcredits among his achievements being an activevoice on behalf of no surgery, “pushing the envelope”with traumatologists who work children,especially those suffering from spleen, liver orkidney disorders, to explore other treatmentsbecause “non-op management” is less risky. Ofcourse, Dr. Ford sees a lot of young victims ofAIDS and a good part of his life’s work these daysis also taken up with educating parents, especiallyyoung mothers with drug addiction problems,who are more prone than others to have prematurebabies. He also addresses parents on howto protect their children from injury—installingwindow gates, ensuring playground safety. He isproud to complete the circle—inspired by mentorshe has become a highly revered and belovedone himself.#CITY TECH STUDENT SHARESTHOUGHTS FROM IRAQJude Poku and his mentor, Dr. Pamela Brown, Dean of Arts & Sciences at City TechFor New York City College of Technology(City Tech) student Jude Poku, working on thebreathalyzer lab would build a relationship withhis mentor, Chemistry Professor Pamela Brown,that would sustain him during the long months hewas about to serve in Iraq.“Jude was a very good student and I knewhe wanted to go to medical school,” explainedBrown, who is now City Tech’s Acting Dean ofArts and Sciences. “I thought an opportunity forhim to do research would improve his chancesfor admission.”To work on the project, Poku, 26, a Flatbushresident, received a stipend from the NationalScience Foundation’s Louis Stokes New YorkCity Alliance for Minority Participation.“He went beyond the initial assignment by notonly developing the procedure but optimizing it,”Dr. Brown says. “That is, he found the minimumreaction time and materials needed to get reproducibleresults.”Poku’s work was presented by Dr. Brown inMarch 2005 at the American Chemical Society’snational meeting in San Diego.Days later, Poku’s world as he knew it changeddramatically—his army reserve unit was calledup, deployed to Iraq and put on convoy patrol inTaji. Subsequently, his unit was sent to Baghdadto patrol Route Irish, the main artery leading to theairport, which was a hotbed of insurgent activity.“While I was in Iraq, Dr. Brown wrote to meand sent me biology and MCAT (entrance boardsfor med school) study guides. When I wouldreturn to the base after doing a convoy patrol orsearching homes for insurgents and weapons, Iwould study these books.Five months after landing in Iraq, Poku’s humveeoverturned and the chest, shoulder and kneeinjuries he sustained cut short his tour of activeduty. Back in the New York area, he was able toattend City Tech as a part-time weekend studentduring the fall while continuing to serve at FortDix, NJ, until his discharge came through. Withrenewed focus on academics, he is enrolled as afull-time student for the spring semester.Born and raised in Guyana, Poku first visitedNew York in 1990 and then came here to stay in1998. “I was always good in math and science andmy father had been encouraging me since I waslittle to become a medical doctor,” Poku recalls.“Basic training in the military gave me theability to focus and helped me get back on trackafter the years of menial jobs,” he says. Hehas applied for admission into the CUNY BAProgram, which he hopes to enter next semesterafter completing his associate’s degree in liberalarts and sciences.Further down the road, after med school, heintends to travel to less fortunate countries andtreat their people. “I saw a lot of sick Iraqiwomen and children while stationed there,” heexplains. “My time in Iraq taught me to begrateful for what I have here in the States and toextend a hand when I can.”#

FEBRUARY 2006 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLSWilliam C. Thompson, Jr.: A First-Class Leader On His Second TermBy JOAN BAUM, Ph.D.Though The New York Times notedin its report on the Mayor’s January26th State of the City address thatWilliam C. Thompson, Jr. had beenreelected with 92 percent of the vote,the admirable Comptroller of The Cityof New York wondered why this factwas even mentioned two months afterthe fact, when he ran virtually unopposedin a race without a Republicanor Independent candidate. In his owninaugural address, given January 1,he spoke of being “deeply honored”at being given another opportunity toserve. Such modesty, genuine as it israre, reflects why the Comptroller is sopopular: he is direct, gracious, modest,thoughtful. Brooklyn born and bred,William Thompson speaks with affectionof his native Bed Stuy, where hestill lives, and of his family—especiallyhis father, Judge William Thompson,who swore him in, and his mother, whohad been a schoolteacher for manyyears (she taught at P.S. 262, he instinctivelyrecalls, without being asked).Both parents were great influenceson his choice of career. His fatherwas the first African American electedofficial to serve in the New York StateSenate and this fact caused his sonto turn to politics rather than governmentwhen he entered Tufts Universityafter graduation from Midwood High.But it was the rough and tumble of anactual campaign that confirmed Thompson’sdirection. As a teenager he worked on themayoral campaign of Kenneth Gibson inNew Jersey. This was in the late ‘60s; yearslater, Thompson would become Brooklyn’sthing clicked. He loved it, andhis life in public service tookshape. Two years later, he wasunanimously elected presidentof the board. The schoolsystem then, having endured20 dubious years of decentralization,was ready, he felt,for a strong chancellor to takecharge, and Thompson is particularlypleased with his rolein getting legislation passed inAlbany to that effect. Again,with no ego in evidence, hesays only that he helped createan environment for reform,“his proudest achievement.”Administrative change meantthat he could—and did—concentrateon bringing schooldistricts together, focusingmore on teacher quality,bringing the arts back into thecurriculum, moving on afterschoolprograms. He givesgood grades to the Departmentof Education, which in oneyear, can point to improvedscores and a continuation oftougher requirements. If theComptroller has reservationsabout education policies it isconcern that there be containmentof the rush of the lastyoungest Deputy Borough President (underHoward Golden).William Thompson tried the private sectorfor a while, working for a Wall Streetfirm, but when he became a member ofthe Board of Education in 1994, somelanguagearts private teacherEnglishThe Marvelwood SchoolA Guided Journey to Achievement7four or five years to make outcomes, in theform of standardized testing the sole standardof success.Of course, the “activist” 42nd Comptroller ofNew York City, out to “find new, creative waysto save the taxpayers money,” is not the SchoolsChancellor, though it would seem only naturalthat someone who had been at the helm of publiceducation in the city for so many years would nothave an opinion on current initiatives. He surelyrealizes that his own programs are integrallyrelated to education and turn on common themes—collaboration, innovative uses of technology,new investments and commitment to includemore women, African Americans and Latinos inmajor roles to “keep our city strong.”#GrammarVocabularyUsageResidentialTutoring$35 /hr.JanetPlease Call. ..1-800-440-9107 or 860 927-0047www.marvelwood.orgEmail: admissions@marvelwood.org• Grades 9 – 12• College prep curriculum• 4:1 student teacher ratio• Community service• Full interscholastic sports program,clubs• Excellent faculty: friendly, supportive• Summer school program forgrades 7-11, focusing on reading,writing, ESL, and math skills• Beautiful mountaintopcampus: hiking, canoeing, biking,fishing

8 COLLEGES & GRADUATE SCHOOLS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FEBRUARY 2006THE DEAN’S COLUMNSome Mind-Bogglers on By ALFREDPOSAMENTIER, Ph.D.From early exposure to mathematics,students become familiarwith π. As the most popularformulas in elementary mathematics(and those that seem to stick with us longafter we really know what they mean) are 2πr andπr 2 , many students begin to lose sight of what πmeans and may need some reminding. There areentire books written about π—one of which waswritten by this author. One of the best ways tomotivate someone about the nature of π is to showsomething a bit dramatic. Perhaps starting withthe following “experiment” would do the trick.Take a tall and narrow cylindrical drinkingglass. Ask a student if the circumference isgreater or less than the height. The glass shouldbe chosen so that it would “appear” to have alonger height than its circumference. (The typicaltall narrow drinking glass fits this requirement.)Now ask the student how he/she might testhis/her conjecture (aside from using a piece ofstring). Recall for him/her that the formula forthe circumference of a circle is C = πd (π timesthe diameter). He/she may recall that π = 3.14 isthe usual approximation, but we’ll be even morecrude and use π = 3. Thus, the circumferencewill be 3 times the diameter, which can be easily“measured” with a stick or a pencil and thenmarked off 3 times along the height of the glass.Usually you will find that the circumference islonger than the tall glass, even though it does not“appear” to be so. This little optical trick is usefulto demonstrate the value of π.Now for a real “mind blower!” To appreciatethe next revelation on π, you need to know thatvirtually all the books on the history of mathematicsstate that in its earliest manifestation inhistory, namely the Bible (Old Testament), itsvalue is given as 3. Yet recent “detective work”shows otherwise.Students always relish the notion that a hiddencode can reveal long lost secrets. Such is the casewith the common interpretation of the value of πin the Bible. There are two places in the Biblewhere the same sentence appears, identical inevery way except for one word, spelled differentlyin the two citations. The description of a pool orfountain in King Solomon’s temple is referred toin the passages that may be found in 1 Kings 7:23and 2 Chronicles 4:2, and read as follows:And he made the molten sea of ten cubits frombrim to brim, round in compass, and the heightthereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubitsdid compass it round about.The circular structure described here is said tohave a circumference of 30 cubits and a diameterof 10 cubits. (A cubit is the length of a person’sfingertip to his elbow.) From this we notice thatthe Bible has π = 30 = 3.10This is obviously a very primitive approximationof π. A late 18th century Rabbi, Elijah ofVilna (Poland), one of the great modern biblicalscholars, who earned the title “Gaon of Vilna”(meaning brilliance of Vilna), came up with aremarkable discovery, one that could make mosthistory of mathematics books faulty if they saythat the Bible approximated the value of π as 3.Elijah of Vilna noticed that the Hebrew word of“line measure” was written differently in each ofthe two Biblical passages mentioned above.In 1 Kings 7:23 it was written as ‏,הזק whereasin 2 Chronicles 4:2 it was written as ‏.זק Elijahcontinued on page 18Master Your Educationphoto by Annie Van AveryVermont College’sM.Ed. Programcan help.Student-designed,individualized studyLow-residency programProfessional developmentLicensure in:Offering:Contact:TeachingCounselingLeadershipB.A. • M.Ed.M.F.A. • Ph.D.M.A. in Psychology888.828.8575www.tui.eduWed., Feb. 22, 6 p.m.Fifth Floor and Sixth Floors325 Hudson Street(corner of Vandam)New York City

FEBRUARY 2006 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ COLLEGES & GRADUATE SCHOOLSPhi Delta Kappa, Columbia University,Celebrates Achievements of Principals(L-R) Maria Ciccone, Dr. Cathy Rikhye,Loretta CaputoBy POLA ROSEN, Ed.D.Phi Delta Kappa honored three principals fortheir outstanding work in inclusion and specialeducation, with a gala dinner at the ColumbiaUniversity Faculty House recently. MariaCiccone, the principal of PS 222 in Queens washonored as Principal of the Year. She has workedalongside Professor Lucy Caulkins; her schoolhas been a model site for the Teachers CollegeReading and Writing Project for many years. Atearful moment was shared at the podium by aSCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS (SVA) IN NYC:LEADER AND INNOVATORcontinued on page 18GODDARD COLLEGE RECEIVES $500,000 GIFT;DONATION HONORS CLO PITKINGoddard College has received a $500,000 gift, the largest single alumni donation in the College’shistory. The donor wishes to remain anonymous.The gift is being given in honor of Clo Pitkin, class of 1953, in recognition of the historical significanceof Goddard College and the legacy of the Pitkin family. Ms. Pitkin is the daughter-in-law ofGoddard College’s founder and first President Royce “Tim” Pitkin, and is a current member of theboard of trustees. “I am honored and extremely pleased that Goddard is receiving this kind of strongsupport,” said Ms. Pitkin.“The donor has requested that the funds be allocated to meet short and long term needs of theCollege,” said Daryl Campbell, Dean of Finance and Institutional Advancement, “including theCollege’s annual fund, unrestricted endowment, and facilities.” President Mark Schulman noted,“this gift is a statement of Goddard College’s significance to higher education and the importance ofthe Pitkin family to the institution.” Goddard is a liberal arts college long dedicated to progressiveeducation, and the first to offer innovative delivery models for adults. The College now enrolls 540students in bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.Goddard College is a leader in low-residency education. Students from all over the United Statescome to the Goddard campus in Plainfield, Vermont to attend eight-day residencies and create plansfor individualized learning experiences. When students return home, they remain in contact with theirrespective faculty advisor and work independently to complete a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts orMaster of Fine Arts degree. More information can be found at www.goddard.edu or 1-800-906-8312.#9How best to educate children has become one of the most debated issues of our time. As newprograms and learning methods strive for acceptance and test results become the barometer for success,teachers face new challenges establishing a classroom environment that encourages creativeand imaginative thinking. The importance of art in the curriculum has never been greater. The artclassroom is a place where children are given the opportunity to explore and develop their personaldreams and goals and to think independently.The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) provides a“hands-on” learning environment where student teachers can research and explore educationalissues and topics as well as develop their own ideas and continue with their own artwork. The thesisproject enables MAT students to explore topics of personal importance through literature review andconducting “action-based research” in real life classroom settings. The process of completing a thesisprovides them with the framework for future inquiry and professional accomplishment.Community involvement is a vital component of a well-rounded teacher’s education. The curriculumrequirements include student teaching in diverse New York City public school sites, and experiencein SVA’s community-based children’s programs. These programs include a class held at a shelterfor homeless mothers with young children, as well as Saturday and summer Art for Kids programs.MAT students can also choose to participate in the Art Education Department’s collaborative projectsEducation UpdateJune 2004 IssueP.O. #: 13572for children with such organizations as CityArts Inc.We believe that to teach art, you should first be an artist who can use the power of art to open theminds, as well as the eyes, of the young to new experiences and individual fulfillment. One person—agifted and caring teacher—can still make a difference in a young person’s life. Our Masters programis for artists who want to become teachers and make that difference.School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the educationof artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working2-1/4 x 1-3/4in the arts and art-related fields. Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees are offered in Advertising & GraphicDesign; Computer Art; Film, Video & Animation; Fine Arts; Illustration & Cartooning; Interior Design;and Photography. Master of Fine Arts degrees are offered in Art Criticism & Writing; Computer Art;Design; Fine Arts, Illustration as Visual Essay; and Photography, Video and Related Media. A Masterof Professional Studies is offered in Art Therapy and a Master of Arts in Teaching. SVA also offersover 300 continuing education classes per semester, in all disciplines. To find out more visit www.sva.edu or 212.592.2000.COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY DIRECTORY 1 2 ➂ ➃ Wed., Feb. 22, 6 p.m.➄STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORKFifth and Sixth Floors325 Hudson Street(corner of Vandam)New York CityEducation Update - college directory2/7/062.375" x 1.75"T H E B A N K S T R E E T A P P R O A C HLearnCome to Goddard as you how are. to beLeave the way you want a great to be.teacher.1-800-468-4888www.goddard.eduBank Street Graduate School610 West Open 112th House St, NY, May NY 10025 14th- Plainfield, VTwww.bankstreet.edu 212.875.4698I Am Interested In Applying❑ Freshman❑ Day❑ H.S. Student❑ Teacher❑ Transfer❑ EveningAs My Status❑ CollegeStudentPlease mail to:College Directory - Education Update17 Lexington Ave., Box A1207New York, NY 10010 MAIL THIS COUPONPlease Include your phone numberFEBRUARY 2006 Name:__________________________________________________________Address:_______________________________________________________Please circle catalogs you wish to receive:1 2 3 4 5City:_________________________________State:___Zip:_______________Phone (incl. area code): ____________________________________________________

10 SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FEBRUARY 2006JOIN A REVOLUTION&imaginationin education innovationprofessional developmentNEW YORK’SINAUGURALCELEBRATIONOFTEACHINGANDLEARNINGTMCelebrity Speakers• A Town Hall meeting on educational policy, moderated byTOM BROKAW• Actor RICHARD DREYFUSS “On Democracy”• Forum on Global Education hosted by GWEN IFILL ofPBS’s Washington Week• FRANK McCOURT, best-selling author of Teacher Man,discusses his own urban teaching experiencesProfessional DevelopmentCelebration ’06 is an all-discipline professional developmentconference for K–12 educators. Distinguished speakers fromGEOFFREY CANADA to CATHY SEELEY to PEDRO NOGUERAwill cover a diverse range of topics from Adolescent Literacy toThe Missing Ingredient in Education Today.In-the-classroom sessionsDozens of intimate workshop presentations will give teachersexciting new and practical ideas to take back to their classrooms.plus...Performances by Dancing Classrooms and the young stars ofthe 2005 documentary, Mad Hot Ballroom, plus RafeEsquith’s fifth-grade Hobart Shakespeareans as seen onPBS. Trade show and exhibit hall open to allregistrants.and don’t miss...The Schools We Want, The Schools We NeedA conference-within-a-conference. Topics range from high school reform to differentiated instructionto school culture and more. For building and district administrators, teacher leaders, BOCES andprofessional association staff, school board members, PTA/PTO leaders, and state-level policy makers.AN ESSENTIAL SUMMIT FOR LEADERS IN EDUCATION!March 24–25, 2006Pier 94— The UnConvention CenterNew York CityTMregister today at thirteencelebration.orgIn partnership with NJN and CPTVCelebration ’06 presented in partnership with Eastern Suffolk, Nassau,Western Suffolk, Putnam/Northern Westchester, Rockland, andSouthern Westchester BOCES.Founding Sponsor is JPMorgan Chase.Premier Sponsors are The Prudential Foundationand the United Federation of Teachers.Major Sponsors are Pearson Education,McGraw-Hill Education, New York State UnitedTeachers, and Kumon Math and Reading Centers.Presenting Sponsors are Borders and Scholastic.is a proud Media Sponsor ofCelebration of Teaching and Learning,as are Edutopia, New York Post, NJEA,Parent Guide, WRC Media, andTri-State public radio stations WBGO,WFUV, WNYC, and WSHU.

FEBRUARY 2006 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ SPECIAL EDUCATION13Stuttererscontinued from page 12800-992-9392, e-mail info@stutteringhelp.org,or write the Stuttering Foundation for a copy at3100 Walnut Grove Road, Suite 603, Memphis,TN 38111-0749.Facts and Myths About Stuttering:• More than 3 million Americans stutter.• People who stutter are as intelligent and welladjustedas those who don’t stutter.• Stuttering is not the result of emotional conflictor fearfulness.• Don’t assume that people who stutter areprone to be nervous, anxious, fearful, or shy.Stutterers have same full range of personalitytraits as non-stutterers.• People who stutter often have excellent communicationsskills. Many are very often qualifiedfor and interested in positions requiring them todeal with members of the public on a daily basis.• Stuttering varies widely in different peopleand varies in the same person over different timesand places. Like all of us, they often have “good”and “bad” days with their speech.• For those who stutter, a job interview is perhapsthe single most difficult speaking situationthey will ever encounter and is not indicative ofhow they would speak on the job.#DIFFERENT ROADS TO LEARNINGDifferent Roads to Learning has been helping children with autism learn and grow since 1995. When achild is diagnosed with a developmental disability, it is often an overwhelming experience, filled withconflicting information and confusion. There is an inherent need for parents to find resources that willhelp their child learn and grow to their fullest potential. As a complete resource of books, puzzles, andsoftware, Different Roads to Learning has spent a decade providing the necessary tools to help children onthe autism spectrum gain critical academic, social and daily living skills.When Different Roads to Learning founder Julie Azuma’s daughter, Miranda, was diagnosed withAutism, she sought out every possible resource that catered to her unique learning abilities. She cameup with nearly nothing. Resources were scattered, and the few that existed were extremely difficult tolocate. Different Roads to Learning was founded soon after, with the mission of providing affordable andappropriate educational materials for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The goal was to providenot only a comprehensive resource of hard to find teaching tools, but a caring and supportive environmentthat understood the needs of the autism community.A decade ago, autism was relatively rare in that it affected 1 out of 10,000 children. There was also verylittle available in terms of intervention and educational materials that specifically addressed the learningneeds of the population. Today, the number of children affected is a startling 1 out of every 166.Because of the dire need to help these children, the catalog that began with 30 products now boastsover 300 items, which reach more than 30,000 people worldwide.The entire product line is based on Applied Behavior Analysis, a form of one-on-one teaching that hasproven to be effective in helping autistic children gain skills. A child diagnosed with autism today nowhas the opportunity to learn and grow into a mainstream classroom. Children are improving everydayboth academically and socially, as parents, teachers and therapists strive to help them realize their potentialat school, at home and in the community. The child diagnosed with autism is in a very different placetoday, with hope and promise in their future.The goal at Different Roads to Learning is to continue to provide quality, innovative learning materialsand to reach out to as many families in the autism community possible.#Our Teacher Flex® mortgage can make it happen.As a teacher, you help children achieve their dreams every day. So Bank ofAmerica would like to help you achieve yours. With our Teacher Flex mortgageprogram,* it’s easier to afford a home of your own. There’s little or no downpayment required. No income restrictions. Flexible credit guidelines. And amortgage specialist to guide you — every step of the way. It’s all part of how webring Higher Standards to the people who serve the neighborhood.Being a kid isn’t always fun and games.Steven L. AuerbachRetail Account Executive516.559.8154: Office347.613.3360: Cell60 Hempstead Hemptsead AvenueWest Hempstead, N.Y. 11552*Including full-time educators or employees at the elementary, secondary, or college/university education level, including administrators, librarians,counselors, administrative support and custodial staff. Part time teachers are also eligible. *Credit is subject to approval. Programs, rates, terms andconditions are subject to change without notice. The Teacher Flex® mortgage program is available nationwide and in the District of Columbia for purchaseor refinance transactions on conforming loan amounts (higher loan amounts in California and select counties in Seattle, Washington). Other restrictionsmay apply. Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender © 2004 Bank of America Corporation 36USC220506For most kids going back to school means geting a new notebook and supplies. For parentsof kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder it can be a time of worry and concern.More than 4 million children in the United States are affected by ADHD. Treatment canhelp these children learn skills to get school work done, get along with other kids, andeven help parents be more effective at being a parent. If your child has problems withinattention, impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity that get in the way of his daily life, call theNYU Child Study Center today to find out how your child can be helped.NYU Child Study CenterGIVING CHILDREN BACK THEIR CHILDHOODWWW.ABOUTOURKIDS.ORG - (212) 263-6622

14EDUCATION UPDATE | FEBRUARY 2006COMMEMORATING BLMURDERED BUT STILL ALIVE: CHANEY, GOODMAN, SCHWERNERFORTY-TWO YEARS LATER FAMILY MEMBERS SPEAK OUTBy EMILY SHERWOOD, Ph.D.June 21, 1964. Neshoba County, Mississippi.It is a story that has festered like an ugly woundin the civil rights annals of this country, one ofthe unimaginable atrocities that spread like aplague during Freedom Summer 1964. As partof a massive black voter registration campaignin Mississippi led by CORE (Congress of RacialEquality), three civil rights workers—blackMississippian James Earl Chaney (21) and whiteNew Yorkers Andrew Goodman(20) and Michael(Mickey) Schwerner(24)—were on their way backto the CORE office after investigating the firebombingof a black church (one of 37 churchesand 30 black homes that had been torched byangry white mobs that summer.) Deputy sheriffCecil Price arrested the three young men onspeeding charges and held them in the Neshobajail. They were released later that evening, onlyto be ambushed and shot to death on a desertedroad by Ku Klux Klansmen who had been tippedoff to their whereabouts. Their bodies were discovered44 days later, buried in a shallow earthendam, after a massive FBI search.October 21, 1967. Based on the testimony ofKlansman James Jordon, seven men (includingJordon and Sheriff Price) were found guilty ofconspiring to deprive Chaney, Goodman, andSchwerner of their civil rights. They were sentencedto prison terms ranging from three to tenyears but none served more than six.June 21, 2005. On the fortyfirstanniversary of the crime,80 year old Edgar Ray Killen,a Ku Klux Klan member andpart-time preacher, was foundguilty of three counts of manslaughterand sentenced to 60years in prison, the maximumterm possible, for orchestratingthe deaths of the threecivil rights workers.Family members of JamesEarl Chaney (brother Ben), Andrew Goodman(mother Carolyn and brother David), and MichaelSchwerner (widow Rita Schwerner Bender andbrother Stephen) spoke to Education Updateabout their views on the civil rights battles wagedin the South in the sixties and whether the idealsfor which their loved ones fought and died havebeen realized in America today.How did the murders of James Earl Chaney,Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwernerchange the consciousness of this nation?Rita Schwerner Bender: It is important toremember that many people were killed andmost were not noticed. These three murders, inisolation, were clearly painful to the families. Butone of the terrible things that doesn’t get talkedabout very much is that, while they were lookingfor [Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner], therewere two young men found in the MississippiRiver, and there was the partial body of what wasAndrew Goodman, JamesEarl Chaney & MichaelSchwernerCompiled By LIZA YOUNGRosa Parks—international icon of the civilrights movement—a seamstress at the time sheunwaveringly refused to give up her seat to awhite passenger, spun the threads of the beginningof the modern civil rights movement, accordingto many historians.Parks’ courageous actions on that first day ofDecember 1955 spurred the formation of theMontgomery Improvement Association, led byDr. Martin Luther King Jr., which called for aboycott of the *city-owned bus company. Theattention of the world was held as the boycott(l-r) James Hood, Mississippi State Attorney General; RitaSchwerner Bender; Marc Duncan, Noshoba County DistrictAttorney; Carolyn Goodman; David Goodmandetermined to be a fourteen year old boy whowas never identified…and they were black, thesethree people, yet nobody ever paid any attentionto them. It was the efforts of many people overa period of many years that brought about somechange. It was the lynchings that went on overmany years, it was the fire hoses in Birmingham,it was the church bombings…It was the march inSelma. It was all the people who stood in voterregistration lines and were beaten for it and losttheir jobs. It was the sharecroppers who werekicked off the land. So you see, it was all thesethings that raised the consciousness of the country,at least for a while.David Goodman: What gotpeople to care was that peoplewho were white got killed. Thepowerful media was focused onwhite America who didn’t givea damn. [This incident] shockedthe rest of the country into realizingthat whites can kill whites.I was shocked that it had to happenthis way for people to care.(Goodman was 17 years oldwhen his brother died.)Stephen Schwerner: The most important thingto get across is that if two of the three peoplehadn’t been white, we wouldn’t be having thisconversation.What do you think of the Edgar Ray Killenverdict? Has justice been served?David Goodman: The issue was not EdgarRay Killen. He was just a poor schlemiel whohad a gun and organized those poor unfortunatesouls. They knew not what they were doing….They weren’t responsible. They just pulled thetrigger. They were puppets of the legislature andthe governor.Rita Schwerner Bender: We need to understandthat this was governmental misconduct. Thesewere not just a bunch of rogue thugs. It’s easyto say, ‘This was the Klan.’ The Klan was lawenforcement in the state of Mississippi. The Klanwas getting its information from the SovereigntyCommission, which was a branch of the Stateprogressed and ultimately the Supreme Courtruled racial segregation on public transportationas illegal.The philosophy of Parks’ mother, LeonaMcCauley—a teacher— as well as her earlyeducation played an instrumental role in thechild’s activities. The theme of self-worth wasunderscored by McCauley as well as at theMontgomery Industrial School for girls, whereParks was enrolled at the age of 11.Her passion for education and involvement inhuman rights activities dated back to early adulthood.She was a student at Teachers College forGovernment, whichhad informants whoadvised people when[Chaney, Goodman andSchwerner] would becoming to the church.The SovereigntyCommission had paidagents and informantsand they did horriblethings. They askedbankers to call in loansfrom people who triedto register to vote. Theycontacted landownerswho would then kicksharecroppers off theland. Without there being truth, there can’t be reconciliation.The day after the jury verdict in theKillen case came in, the Governor of Mississippisaid, ‘Now we can have closure.’ We haven’thad opening yet! Yes, it’s troublesome that onlyone person was indicted, but I don’t see that asbeing as important to the national consciousnessas opening up the extent of misconductwhich caused all of theseterrible things to happen, not justthese three murders.Ben Chaney: I think the trialwas a farce. Even though…Killenwas definitely guilty, there areother people who are just as guilty,only they’re rich and powerful,and the State Attorney General hasnot moved against those individuals…Killenwas a scapegoat.Stephen Schwerner: I’m convincedthat there were connections between theFBI and state law enforcement and that state lawenforcement was essentially sanctioning terroragainst the civil rights workers and black peoplein general. I think it’s important that those connectionscome out. So if I had my druthers,that would be more important for me than otherpeople being tried.Have things gotten a lot better since 1964?David Goodman: LBJ used this case to passthe 1965 Voting Rights Act [outlawing the useof literacy tests and poll taxes for voter registration.]But the case was still politically unpopularin Mississippi. In 1989, Mississippi Secretaryof State Dick Molpus apologized to the threefamilies [of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner]publicly. But he then lost [in a race for governorin 1995] to a Republican [Kirk Fordice] who said,‘Never apologize.’ Society at large didn’t wantto hear it.Stephen Schwerner: It’s a mixed bag. Thereare more African Americans in the MississippiState Legislature today than in any other state inthe United States. In 1963, when the Birmingham[Alabama] demonstrations were going on, ifyou had said that 20 years later, the mayor ofBirmingham would be black, they would haveput you in a mental hospital…and if you hadsaid that 40 years later, the chief of police, who’sholding down Bull Connors’ old job, would bea black woman, they would have put you in thefar reaches of the mental ward! But at the sametime, there are more segregated classrooms in theUnited States today than there were when Brownv. Board of Education ended that in 1954. The differencebetween the mean wage of white peopleand the mean wage of black people is now greaterthan it was twenty years ago. So there have beenreal advances and real setbacks since then.Ben Chaney: There are still a lot of youngblack people who don’t understand the system orhow the system operates and the sacrifices thatwere made so they can enjoy and be includedin the system. So our focus has been to educateand empower young people. We’re going to doanother freedom ride this summer. It reveals historyto young people and lets them participate inthat history. [In June 2004, Chaney led a caravanof buses on “Freedom Summer 2004 Ride forJustice,” conducting a vigorous voter registrationdrive targeting youngadults aged 18-30 and educatingthem about the civilrights struggle.]How should schools beeducating their studentsabout the civil rightsmovement?Carolyn Goodman:Children should be encouragedto be active partici-Carolyn and DavidGoodmanpants in life. [Studentsshould be learning] thatwhich gives them an opportunity to open doors.Stephen Schwerner: What I would like to seetaught is an appreciation for the thousands ofpeople, most of them black (but not exclusively),most of them women (but not exclusively),whom nobody will ever know, who risked life,limb, jobs, family, houses, and property for thecivil rights movement. Most of these people areanonymous. We are so involved in the “greatman” theory of history, for the lack of a betterterm. Much as I admire Martin Luther King andother great leaders, if you teach that it takes agreat person to lead a movement, then that tellseveryone else, ‘Well, you’re not great, so youdon’t have to do anything.’Rita Schwerner Bender: Don’t teach civilrights history as something that’s over and donewith. There’s a connection between what we livewith now and the inevitable legacy of poverty,of Jim Crow, of slavery. History is important toteach because it’s a continuum, but there’s nopoint talking about the past unless you understandthat it’s how we got where we are.Are there any lessons you’ve taken away fromthe tragedies of the sixties on a personal level?Ben Chaney: Never give up.WE STAND IN TRIBUTE TO ROSA PARKSsecondary education in Alabama and involved inthe local chapter of the NAACP together with herhusband, Raymond Parks, where they struggledto improve the condition of African Americansin the south.Parks’ past heroic actions on the Montgomerybus led to personal hardship; she faced manyemployment difficulties ultimately continuingher work as a seamstress, and in 1965, she washired as secretary to U.S. Representative JohnConyers in Detroit, Michigan, where she workedup to her retirement in 1988.Parks’ legacy lives on today through the creationof the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institutefor Self-Development, founded in 1987 by Parksin honor of her husband, who passed away in1977. The foundation holds annual programs forteens entitled “Pathways to Freedom,” whereyouth have the opportunity to learn the history ofthe civil rights movement.The nation mourned the passing of Parks thispast October, and homage was paid to her, placingher casket in the United States capitol rotunda, anhonor generally bestowed upon Presidents.Her actions leave an indelible print of all that ismoral, dignified and valiant.#

ACK HISTORY MONTHFEBRUARY 2006 | EDUCATION UPDATE15DR. MAYME CLAYTON:40 YEARS OF COLLECTINGAFRICAN AMERICAN WORKSBy LIZA YOUNGIn an interview with Avery Clayton on February2 in Los Angeles, it was clear he had found hismission as part art educator (which he was in thepublic schools of Pasadena), part preservationist,part historian and part his mother’s son as stewardof the largest collection on the West Coast ofAfrican American works in literature, music, andmovies as well as photographs, manuscripts, andmemorabilia.After 40 years of collectingduring her tenure aslibrarian at USC and thenat UCLA, Dr. Clayton’scollection will at long lastfind its well-deserved restingplace at the Mayme A.Clayton Library in CulverCity, California (partof Los Angeles), whichwill be a research basedlibrary and cultural center.This dream has cometo fruition aided by threegenerations of Claytons,including Avery who isthe Executive Directorof Western States BlackResearch and EducationalCenter (WSBREC), whichmaintains the Mayme A. Clayton Collection ofAfrican Americana as well as the cross-universitycooperation of Pepperdine, UCLA and USC.USC will work on digitizing the collection.Dr. Mayme A. Clayton, the daughter of pioneersin Van Buren, Arkansas, was proud of her fatherbeing the only black business owner of a generalstore, dealing successfully with both black andwhite communities. Her parents instilled in theyoung Mayme, a love of culture as well as a senseof adventure. After graduating from LincolnUniversity in Nebraska in 1945, Mayme decidednot to return home but go instead to New Yorkwhere she met her husband, married and movedto Los Angeles. During the 60s, UCLA askedher to develop a library for the Black StudiesDepartment, and she became keenly aware thatthe attainment of out-of-print materials was notvalued by the administration. The mission of preservingout-of-print African-American materialsfused with her unwavering and passionate interestin preserving black culture.Avery recalled how “the collection came totake over the house,” and had to be expandedto the garage and eventually to storage areas inCulver City and Los Angeles. In over 40 years,Dr. Clayton’s collection grew to 20,000 rare andout-of-print books—a compilation which includesthe only known signed copy of the first publishedbook to be authored by an African Americanwriter, Phillis Wheatley, in 1773. The book,described by Avery as the “star of the collection,”is entitled Poems On Various Subjects, ReligiousAnd Moral. The collection also includes 9,500sound recordings; 75,000 photographs whichdate back to the mid-1800s; and the largest blackfilm collection in the world dating back to 1916,including works by Oscar Micheaux, the mostprolific black film maker ofall time, who was responsiblefor the first Black film—TheExile, 1931.The strong family continuumfor the Claytons is evident: “Iwas born to my mother to carryon her work,” says Avery, whoalso credits his father for fosteringhis dream of being anartist. A graduate of UCLAand an artist of reknown,Avery holds credentials whichmake him a prime candidatefor facilitating the creation ofthe Mayme A. Clayton Library& Cultural Center. This willbe an institute for showcasingblack culture through the treasuredcollection and Avery’sartistic vision. His brothers,Lloyd and Renee, also take an active role in theprocess, preserving the music and sports collections,respectively. The Cultural Center will soonbe open to the public.When asked what some of the challenges werefor himself and for his mother, Avery indicatedthat it was not easy to get people within theirown community to embrace the importance ofpreserving culture, which is “the measure of apeople.” In his quest to reach out to many communities,Avery has partnered with the SkirballInstitute in a Jewish-Black Film Festival andis partnering with the Huntington Library inPasadena for a major Harlem Renaissance exhibitin 2008 preceded by an exhibit running fromFebruary 16 to April 2006.In speaking of his mother, Avery indicated Dr.Clayton was “ahead of her time. We are only 42years under protection of the law; most of ourexistence during that time was based on survival.Now it’s time for people to embrace this andunderstand this, and they do.”His advice to youth is to live up to the giftsyou’ve been given and “Be the best person youcan be at any given moment.” That’s a motto thatthe Claytons continually live up to. Look forwardto learning more about the incredible Mayme A.Clayton Collection in Avery’s upcoming book:Mayme Clayton’s America. #POEMS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS,RELIGOUS AND MORAL‘Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land,Taught my beknighted soul to understandThat there’s a God, that there’s a Savior too:Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.Some view our sable race with scornful eye,“Their color is a diabolic dye.”Remember Christians; Negroes, black as Cain,May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.—Phillis Wheatley, 1773First published black poet in USARTIST YINKA SHONIBARE:REFLECTIONS ON THEJOURNEYS OF OUR ANCESTORSYinka Shonibare: Works from the PermanentCollection is the fourth installation in the Nancyand Edwin Marks Gallery exhibition seriesdevoted to showcasing Copper-Hewitt, NationalDesign Museum’s permanent collection of250,000 objects spanning twenty-three centuries.For this exhibition, prominent Nigerian-Britishartist Yinka Shonibare MBE focuses his attentionon the Museum’s diverse collection of travelrelatedobjects from Europe, Asia, and Americaranging from the sixteenth century through thetwentieth centuries.Shonibare has created specifically for thisinstallation two life-size sculptures of theMuseum’s founding sisters, Sarah and EleanorHewitt, wearing late Victorian-style costumesfashioned from his signature contemporarypseudo-African batik textiles. The playful, visuallyarresting a theme the artist has continuallyaddressed throughout his career. The figures ofthe Hewitt sisters are placed on stilts, symbolizing,according to Shonibare, how the sisters“stand tall over their contemporaries in terms oftheir taste and adventurous spirit.” Shonibare’sEducation Update (EU): Howdid you choose your career?Geoffrey Canada (GC):Growing up in the South Bronx,I knew very early—at the age of11—that I wanted to help childrenin the inner cities, to combineeducation with social services.EU: What was a turning pointin your career?GC: A major turning point inmy life was going to high schoolin Wyandanch, Long Island,instead of Morris High School inThe Bronx in New York City. Idon’t know if I would have gottenthe education in The Bronx, or if Iwould have grown or developed as I did.EU: What achievements are you proudestof?GC: My proudest achievement is creatingthe Harlem Children’s Zone Project, where wenow have a “conveyor belt of care,” for kids.We start with them literally before they areborn—by offering parenting workshops at TheBaby College—and continue to work with themthrough college.EU: What were the challenges you faced andhow did you overcome them?GC: The two biggest challenges were povertysculptures are displayed alongside objects fromCooper-Hewitt’s Product Design and DecorativeArts, Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design, andWall Coverings departments, as well as from therare-book collection in the Museum’s NationalDesign Library.Shonibare is a self-described “postcolonialhybrid.” Born in London and raised in Nigeria,he often explores the historical integration ofdisparate cultures in his sculpture, photography,and, most recently, film. Through his ironic andhighly imaginative combinations, Shonibare, afinalist for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2004,examines cultural stereotypes of class, race,gender, and identity. Transportation represents“fantasy fulfillment,” says Shonibare, addingthat, fundamentally, “travel is something peopledo to improve themselves.” The artist hopes thatMuseum visitors, upon viewing this exhibition,will reflect on their own personal and travel historiesand the journeys of their ancestors.#Reprinted with permission of Smithsonian’sCooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.AN INTERVIEW WITHGEOFFREY CANADAand violence. I overcame themthrough a combination of meetinga few individuals who tookan interest in me and made mefeel like I was special—and luck.I was lucky enough to not bearound when my friends decidedto do something that might havelanded me in jail. Getting a greateducation—at Bowdoin Collegeand Harvard University—alsowas instrumental in helping meovercome my challenges.EU: Who were your mentors?GC: When I was a boy, a youngman named Mike taught me howto survive on the streets of New York City.As a professional, John Shlien—a professor atHarvard—was a great guiding light for me. Inmy later career, Marian Wright Edelman helpedme immeasurably.EU: What is your advice to young peopletoday?GC: Get a college education. The employmentpicture in this country is growing more and morecomplicated due to the exporting of jobs aroundthe world. Given the increasing global competitionfor jobs, a college degree is a minimumrequirement.

16 COLLEGES & GRADUATE SCHOOLS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FEBRUARY 2006PREPARING FOR THE COLLEGEINTERVIEW: AN INSIDER’S VIEWBy KEITH BERMAN, M.Ed., M.S.Ed.THE COLLEGE INTERVIEW DOES “NOTREALLY COUNT”A great misconception among the collegeboundis that the college interview is not animportant part of selective college admissions. Infact, I heard the phrase “this doesn’t really countanyway” during one of the hundreds of collegeinterviews I have given at Harvard and Yale.In actuality, admissions offices create sophisticatedscoring rubrics for interviews. They generallymeasure the same two things: personality(how engaging you are) and intellectual ability(how well you can explain your ideas). Whilethere is nothing in particular that can earn or loseyou points, the following sections on preparation,presentation, and pointers will help you expressyourself to admissions officers effectively.PREPARATIONHave an answer to the prompt, “tell me a littlebit about yourself”Also consider related “little bits” about your“family,” “town,” “school,” and “favorite activity/subject.”You are going to be asked aboutwho you are, what you do and like. It is veryuncomfortable when I hear back, “I don’t reallydo that much,” or “I’m not sure I have a favorite,”and this hurts both scores. If you have a‘tie’ between two or three activities, say so, andchoose on to talk about.Do some research: know why you are there,and have questions readyKate Timlin of the Georgetown AdmissionsOffice says “you can best prepare for an interviewby asking yourself why do I want to dohere? If you have no reason to give, that reflectson who you are.” There are really no greatanswers to the question “why do you want to goto Yale,” but there are bad answers. Among myleast favorite answers are “my mom wants me togo,” “it is a good school,” and “because it is soold.” Prepare 5-10 minutes of questions that gobeyond information on the website.PRESENTATIONNo self-deprecation, even if it is in jestIt is very tough to appreciate a student whospeaks negatively of themselves. It instead createsan uncomfortable distance between you andthe interviewer (e.g. “I really stink at hockey,but I am on the team anyway”). If you spendthe entire time talking about your flaws theAdmissions Officer will have nothing else towrite about you.Sit up straight, make eye contact, and dressnicelyWhen a student enters the interview with aCoke in hand, untied sneakers, and a baseballcap, it is, on occasion, an attempt to make aniconoclastic statement about who they are. Iwould recommend using what you say to reflectyour opinions and personality.POINTERSNo lying: do not guess what we want to hearThere is nothing worse than having someonesay that they love to write for the school newspaper,only to find out one question later that theyhaven’t written a single article for it, or that theylove history, but don’t know the Axis from theAllies. The most common bad answer is sayingthat “student government” is your favorite activity,but not being able to give a single example ofsomething meaningful your student governmentdoes (“y’know, the prom and stuff”).Generally, avoid talking about the followingpeople:Your favorite teacher – Statements like “I likeHistory best because I like Mr. Johnson; if hetaught woodshop, I would like that class bestinstead” reflect that you do not critically thinkabout your academic lifeYour boyfriend/girlfriend – when someone asksabout you, and you talk about your significantother, it often sounds as if what you do with him/her defines who you are. This is not an uncomfortablething to colleges, who want to knowwhat you have to offer.Substantiate your opinions wellAn interview is often made or broken basedon how you defend an idea. Informing theinterviewer that you like a particular politicianbecause “he is always on TV” may be honest, butit is not a well-reasoned position. Conversely,explaining that you like to study Ancient Greekbecause “it is a different way of thinking – thelogic in the syntax, the variety of semantic meaningsfor each form, and the lack of prescribedword order” is more compelling.Keith Berman, M.Ed., M.S.Ed., is the Presidentof Options for College (www.optionsforcollege.com), an independent college counseling service,and a doctoral candidate at Harvard GraduateSchool of Education.MOVIE REVIEWSLIKE TO EXPLORE SPACE?SEE ROVING MARSPhoto by: JPL/NASA/Caltech Renderings by Maas Digital (c) Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, All Rights ReservedBy JAN AARONHey, student science geeks, Roving Mars, thenew IMAX presentation, will put you in themood to dream about your future jobs. Writtenand directed by George Butler (Pumping Ironand Shackelton’s Antarctic Adventure), RovingMars is the latest IMAX spectacular from WaltDisney Pictures.Propelled by a bouncy score by Philip Glass,the film is based on Steve Squyres’s report onNASA’s successful 2003 landing of two Marsrovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and shows thepainstaking preparations that went into it.Not too thrillingly, the documentary starts withanxious looking scientists and engineers staringintently at their computer monitors. It getsmore exciting when it shows the testing sessionsthat included overcoming many obstacles likeparachutes that repeatedly malfunctioned. Theresults of the rovers’ journey, which took morethan seven months, were better than envisioned:They sent back amazing images proving thatthere was once water on Mars, a reliable indicatorof signs of life.Fascinating panoramic planet images have beenassembled and enhanced from pictures taken bytiny cameras placed on the rovers. These redplanet pictures are some of the documentary’sbest moments, especially when projected on a 10-story high screen. They are augmented by clevercomputer animation showing the rovers’ travelsand surface of the planet, an artifice so seamless,it will no doubt be over the head of some youngerviewers.While there’s no disputing the great scientifictriumph of the mission the film depicts, RovingMars also is compelling big-screen entertainmentwith undeniable education value! (G; documentary,40 minutes)For all kinds of helpful information in a teacher’sguide, go to: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/rovingmars/#Breaking the Color Barrierin Sports: Glory RoadBy JAN AARONIf you were a contestant on “Jeopardy,”and you chose the “Sports” category, youmight get this question? What schoolwon the NCAA championship in 1966?The answer? The Texas Western Miners,(now University of Texas at El Paso),with an all black lineup against the allwhiteUniversity of Kentucky Wildcats.The game also made social history.Glory Road, a Jerry Bruckheimer film,is the appealing story of how the winningteam’s coach, Don Haskins (played withintensity by Josh Lucas) broke an unspokenbarrier, changed college basketball,and perhaps influenced the desegregationmovement in this country.Haskins wasn’t into social engineering,he knew that black players, already playingat major colleges up North, could help him wingames against all white Southern conferences.Plus he had no budget to lure top flight whiteplayers, so he traveled North and offered scholarshipsto black city kids in New York, Indiana andelsewhere, bringing them wide eyed to the openspaces of Texas.Directed by James Gartner, in a fine featuredebut, and written by Christopher Clevelandand Bettina Gilois, the script makes it seem as ifHaskins’ big win took place in his first season,when actually it was his sixth. It also includeslovely moments, like a mother pleading for herson to play. Mainly, it’s the story of how a downat-theheels girls’ basketball coach, Haskins,gets an out-of-the blue offer to coach at TexasWestern, and goes on from there to change theworld beyond.The actors do a fine job of capturing eachplayer’s personality that contributes to his skillon the court. Derek Luke stars as standout guardBobby Joe Hill and Haskins’ biggest challenge,as the coach must make him a disciplined player,without inhibiting his skills. Damaine Radcliffe,as Willie “Scoops” Cager, must overcome aheart ailment to get back into the game. AustinNichols, as Jerry Armstrong, a white player, mustuse humor to adjust his social attitudes. The filmdepicts the racial indignities the team sufferedon the road. It also treats them as college kidsout for fun.All the game footage is well shot and edited,the cinematography by John Toon and JeffreyKimball is excellent, and the music and sets perfectlyevoke the 60’s. During the closing credits,the players reminisce about the big contest.# (PG;109 minutes.)#

18 COLLEGES & GRADUATE SCHOOLS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FEBRUARY 2006Deanʼs Columncontinued from page 8applied the biblical analysis technique (still usedtoday) called gematria, where the Hebrew lettersare given their appropriate numerical valuesaccording to their sequence in the Hebrew alphabet,to the two spellings of the word for “linemeasure” and found the following.= ה 6, and = ז 100, = ק are: The letter values5. Therefore, the spelling for “line measure” in 1Kings 7:23 is = 100 = 5 + 6 + קזה 111, while in106. = 100 = 6 + קז 2 Chronicles 4:2 the spellingHe then took the ratio of these two values:111 = 1.0472 (to four decimal places),106which he considered the necessary correctionfactor, for when it is multiplied by 3, which isbelieved to be the value of π stated in the Bible,one gets 3.1416, which is π correct to four decimalplaces! “Wow!!!” is a usual reaction. Suchaccuracy is quite astonishing for ancient times.To support this notion, have students take stringto measure the circumference and diameter ofseveral circular objects and find their quotient.They will most likely not get near this four-placeaccuracy. Moreover, to really push the pointof the high degree of accuracy of four decimalplaces, chances are if you took the average of allthe students’ π measurements, you still probablywouldn’t get to four-place accuracy.You may find other such examples in MathWonders: To Inspire Teachers and Students,by Alfred S. Posamentier (ASCD, 2003) see:www.ascd.org. or Math Charmers: TantalizingCalendar of EventsTidbits for the Mind. By Alfred S. Posamentier(Prometheus Books, 2003) see: www.prometheusbooks.com.If you wish to learn more about π, see:π: A Biography of the world’s Most MysteriousNumber, By Alfred S. Posamentier (PrometheusBooks, 2004) see: www.prometheusbooks.com.Dr. Alfred S. Posamentier is Dean of the Schoolof Education at City College of NY, author ofover 40 books on math, and member of the NYSStandards Committee on Math.Phi Delta Kappacontinued from page 9parent who named Ms. Ciccone as a sensitive andcaring human being who helped save her son.Loretta Caputo was named Inclusion Principalof the Year at PS 134, Manhattan while Dr.Cathy Rikhye, Director of Inclusive Educationfor District 75 was named Educator of the Year.Hundreds of teachers, supervisors, family membersand parents gathered to pay homage to thesewomen of courage, sensitivity and vision for theircontributions to the lives of challenged children.Officers of Phi Delta Kappa giving awards andpaying tribute were Joe DiLeo, President and assistantprofessor of music education at Five TownsCollege in Dix Hills, New York; Joan Washington,Principal of PS 811 in Queens and vice-presidentof membership, Dr. Pola Rosen, vice president ofpublic relations and Dr. Stephen Levy, vice-presidentof programs and retired New York City principal.Dr. Levy was presented an award for manyyears of service and dedication to Phi Delta Kappa,converting a sentimental moment into one of merrimentby accepting in his “cafeteria voice.”#NY BIRD CLUB EVENTSSaturday, February 11th1 - 4 pm242 E. 53 St, New York, NYnext to Quest Bookstore(between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)Nature’s The Real MacawVideo PresentationNATURE takes you to the deepest enclaves ofthe Amazon for a first-hand look at macaws.Everyone loves macaws. Playful, intelligent,beautiful, they are the stars of parrot parksand zoos, and the cherished pets of devotedowners around the world. All of which makesthem prime targets for poachers, who can makeenormous profits from illegal sales of the birds.Thousands are smuggled from the wild eachyear, and many die in the process.In the forests of South America, several speciesof macaw are severely endangered. But there ishope on the horizon. Dr. Charlie Munn, a wealthyAmerican who is also a leading ornithologist andworld expert onN parrots, has begun a campaignto promote eco-tourism as a means of saving thebirds. Employing former poachers as conservationists,and providing locals with the means tostart and maintain a trade in tourism instead ofsmuggling, he’s betting that instead of buyingbirds, their fans will pay to see them in the wild.NATURE’s THE REAL MACAW offers birdlovers the rare opportunity to enjoy these beautifulbirds in their natural habitats rather than in petstores and cages.Frank G. Robertson, Parrot FancierSpeaking Presentation - Feather DestructiveBehaviorFood foraging and physical activity to preventFeather Destructive Behavior in companion parrots.FINCHES & CANARIES WORKSHOPSponsored by the NY Companion Bird ClubInfo: 212.987.8299; nybirdclub@yahoo.comAdmission: Free for MembersPublic: $5.00Please visit www.manhattanbirdclub.com forevents.February 2006ConferencesNational Assn. of Laboratory Schools,March 29-31, 2006Wed. Mar 29: Breakfast with Jeffrey Sachs, general sessions,lunch, sessions continue.Thurs. Mar 30:NYC School Visits, Sessions, SpeakerJudith Heumann.Friday Mar. 31: Breakfast with Howard Gardner, Sessionsmorning and afternoonSessions are held at Columbia University, Bank StreetCollege or the Museum of the City of NYWelcome dinners & New member breakfasts are includedFor more information: aweisman@bankstreet.eduEntertainmentTHREE HOT SHOWS- Tarzan- Beauty & The Beast- The Lion KingCALL: 212-703-1040 or 800-439-9000FAX: 212-703-1085disneyonbroadwaygroups@disneyonline.comwww.disneyonbroadway.com/groupsEventsNEW LEADERS FOR NEW SCHOOLS30 W. 26th Street, Second Floor, New York, NY 10010Phone: (646) 792-1066, Web: www.nlns.orgBecome an urban school principal.Join the movement to ensure that every child achievesacademic excellence and reaches their full potential. Tolearn more about how you can apply to become a 2006New Leader, attend one of our upcoming information sessions!You can RSVP for an information session throughour website www.nlns.orgSARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGEPhone: (914) 395-2219E-Mail: judiths@sarahlawrence.eduSPRING READING SERIES AT SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGESarah Lawrence’s Spring Reading Series, runningfrom February through April, presents several prominentauthors of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Hosted by theCollege’s Graduate Writing Program the readings, whichare free and open to the public, will be held in the DonnelleyFilm Theatre and Lecture Hall in the Heimbold VisualArts Center and begin at 6:30 p.m. For additional information,please call 914-395-2412.Wednesday, February 9: Jane KramerKramer is the European correspondent for The New Yorkerand writes the “Letter from Europe.” She is also the authorof nine books, including The Politics of Memory, a collectionof her writing from Germany in the years since the Wallfell, and, most recently, Lone Patriot, published in 2002.Her books and her journalism have received awards,including a National Book Award, a National MagazineAward, and an Emmy Award for Documentary.Wednesday, February 15: C.K. WilliamsWilliams is the author of numerous books of poetry, includingThe Singing, The Vigil, A Dream of Mind, Repair,which won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize, and Flesh and Blood,which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Amonghis many awards and honors are an American Academyof Arts and Letters Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, andthe Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award.Wednesday, February 22: Antonya NelsonNelson is the author of a number of short story collections,including In the Land of Men, Family Terrorists, and TheExpendables, winner of the Flannery O’Connor Awardfor her collection titled Female Trouble. Nelson has beenawarded a Guggenheim fellowship, a National Endowmentfor the Arts grant, a Rea Award for the Short Story,and was named by The New Yorker as one of the “twentyyoung fiction writers for the new millennium.” Her latestoffering, Some Fun, is a collection of stories forthcomingin March 2006.THE STUDIO MUSEUM OF HARLEM144 West 125th Street, New York, NY 10027Tel: 212-864-4500, Fax: 212-864-4800Web: www.StudioMuseum.orgUpcoming public programs at The Studio Museumof Harlem. For more information or to attend, pleasecontact Savala Nolan, Public Relations Coordinator,at 212-864-4500 ext. 255ADULT PROGRAMS & TOURS FOR SENIORS!Are you an elder? Do you like meeting and having conversationswith new people? Well… then it’s time to get outand socialize! Spend a Saturday afternoon at SMH duringthese exclusive tours that explore our current exhibitions.SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2PMSATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2PMSeats are available and light refreshments will be served.Programs for Seniors are FREE. Space/seating is availableon a first-come, first-served basis. Pre-registrationis required. Please call 212/864-4500 x264 to reserve aspace.HOOFERS’ HOUSEIn honor of this important aspect of tap dancing inHarlem’s history, SMH now serves as a new homefor hoofers. Tap dancers—elders and young peoplealike— are invited to take the floor at these quarterly jamsessions, accompanied by live music!FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 7PMFRIDAY, MARCH 10, 7PMYOUTH PROGRAMSThe Studio Museum in Harlem is dedicated to creatinga safe environment for youth to express themselvescreatively. The Museum hosts FREE programs for highschool students outside of the school environment.These programs offer students the opportunity to meetand converse with prominent visual artists, express theirideas through discussion, facilitate tours and hands-onworkshops and develop important communication andcritical thinking skills. Pre-registration is required. Call 212864-4500 x264 with questions or to register for any of thefollowing programs.YOUTH POETS! ARTISTS! DJS!Come out to The Studio and vibe in this special one-daycipher that will surely blow your mind. Work with establishedvisual artists, spoken word performers, DJs andyour peers to create a body of work that captures yourvoices and concerns about today’s world. This incredibleday will be recorded in a zine made by you and featuredthat night at the WIM Open Mic.WORDS-IN-MOTION: ONE-DAY CIPHERSATURDAY, MARCH 11, 10AM – 3PMWORDS-IN-MOTION: OPEN MICSATURDAY, MARCH 11, 6:30pmThis program is FREE and for HS Students Only!To register for more information, call 212 864-4500 x264WIM: ON THE ROAD AGAIN!After a successful off-site session of Words-in-Motionwe are taking the program on tour! If you are interestedin hosting Words-in-Motion at your school or communitybased organization, call 212 864-4500 x220.PROGRAMS FOR EDUCATORSThe Studio Museum in Harlem acknowledges teachers asprofessionals at the center of education, whose significantcontributions have the most profound effect on the livesand learning of students. The array of programs designedfor educators reflects the Museum’s commitment toreaching beyond the traditional classroom and museumvisit by responding to the increasing demand for qualityarts education from an interdisciplinary perspective.TEACHING & LEARNING WORKSHOPS FOR K-12EDUCATORS: SAY WHAT?: MAKING SENSE OF CON-TEMPORARY ART PART III: PERFORMANCE ARTTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 74:30-7:30 PMThis is the final installment of our three-part seriesexploring the benefits and challenges of working withand exploring contemporary art. This session will tracethe history of performance art in America, and the rolethat this genre continues to play in the contemporaryart world.Participants will work with various artists and educatorsto identify how performance can be used as a teachingtool in the classroom. Teachers will partner with otherattendees to create their own theme or age-based performancepieces. Select teams will be invited back to TheStudio Museum to perform them during specific Family orYouth programs!All participants involved in the Museum’s programs foreducators are provided with free Educator Passes, whichenable the participants to return to the Museum to previewexhibitions and prepare class ideas and curriculumfree of charge.This program is FREE! Space is limited and available ona first-come, first served basis. Registration is required;for more information call 212.864.4500 x264.FAMILY PROGRAMSThe Studio Museum in Harlem acknowledges the needfor families to spend time together. Nurturing bonds betweenparents and their children through art, the Museumoffers programs and activities that allow families to sharein the creative process. Bring the family and exploreour exciting exhibition. Become an artist in a hands-onworkshop and create works of art with your kids!Family programs are designed for families with children4-10 years old. These programs are FREE. PRE-REG-ISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Call 212.864.4500 x264 toregister.FAMILY FUN @ THE STUDIO!Parents, bring the family as we explore our excitingexhibitions. Become an artist in a hands-on workshopand create works of art with your kids!Dress Up, Dress Down!, Saturday, February 4, 10AM-12PM, Exploring the Frequency exhibition!Activity: Costume Making, How do you turn clothing intoart? Join a tour of the Frequency exhibition and take alook at artist Nick Cave’s Soundsuits and see how it’sdone! Bring an old item of clothing from home to add toyour costume creation!Books + Authors Kids!Saturday, March 4, 10:00am-12:00noonCelebrate the last Family Fun program of the Winter season.We know it’s cold outside, but put on your coat andjoin us for a fun-filled party where we’ll celebrate booksand reading with story time, performances, on-going artmakingworkshops, and music! Be there as we unveil ourseason-long quilting project! Featured artist TBD.Open HousesTHE COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE29 Castle PlaceNew Rochelle, New York 10805Join us for an open house at CNR’s Graduate School tolearn about Master’s Degrees and Certificates in:* Art & Communication Studies (Art Education, ArtTherapy, Studio Art, and Communication Studies)* Human Services (Career Development, Guidanceand Counseling, Gerontology, and Community-SchoolPsychology)* Education (Early Childhood Education, ChildhoodEducation, Gifted and Talented Education, SpecialEducation, Literacy Education, Educational Leadership,and Multilingual/Multicultural Education TESOL).DARROW SCHOOL110 Darrow Road, New Lebanon, NYSean Fagan, Director of Admission518-794-6008; www.darrowschool.orgOpen HousesFebruary 4April 29Call 518-794-6006 to RSVPEMPIRE STATE COLLEGESTATE UNIVERSITY OF NY325 Hudson Street, 5th Floor(corner of Vandam), NYThe Career in Teaching You’ve Always WantedInformation Sessions:Wed. Feb. 22, 6 pmFor more information: www.esc.edu/MATinfo orCall 800-468-6372 Ext 2230LANDMARK COLLEGEPutney, VermontPhone: (802) 387-6718Web: www.landmark.eduWinter 2005 Open HousesSaturday, February 18th9am - 2pmTOURO COLLEGENEW YORK SCHOOL OFCAREER AND APPLIED STUDIES1870-86 Stillwell AvenueBrooklyn, NY 11223Phone: 718-265-6534 x1015Fax: 718-265-0614Every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 am - 7:00 pmSundays 11:00 am - 5:00 pm.at 27-33 West 23rd StreetNew York, NY 10010212-463-0400 ext.500UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDAPensicola, FloridaPhone:800-263-1074Web: www.uwf.eduOpen House SaturdayFebruary 18, 2006March 11, 2006April 22, 2006ProgramsTHE COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE GRADUATESCHOOLOffers Three Fall Programs for ChildrenRegistration for the fall semester is now underway at TheCollege of New Rochelle’s Graduate School EducationCenter for the: 1) “Can Do” Program for elementaryschool age children; 2) After School Reading Program;and 3) Speech and Language Evaluation and Therapy forstudents in preschool to 8th grade.The “Can Do” Program, open to elementary schoolagechildren, is one-on-one and is conducted bygraduate students in special education, guidance,or school psychology, under the supervision of theGraduate School faculty. This program includesthorough educational testing with simultaneous tutoringin reading, math, social studies, and science. Theemphasis is on building learning strategies. Interviewsand a final conference are conducted to discuss testfindings and progress.The After School Reading Program is one-on-one andis conducted by graduate students in literacy education,under the supervision of the Graduate School faculty.This program offers assessment and tutoring of readingand writing problems.The Speech and Language Evaluation and TherapyProgram is provided by graduate students in speech andlanguage pathology in a one-on-one setting, under thesupervision of the Graduate School faculty. The focusis on vocabulary, phonics, understanding and followingdirections, comprehension of oral and written information,and formulating grammatically correct sentences.Programs include interviews with parents and a finalconference to discuss test findings and progress.The per child fee ranges from $100-$200; financialaid is available. Space is limited for both programs.For further information or to register, call MarjorieScholnick, Director of the Education Center, at (914)654-5333 or contact Barbra Nitzberg (914) 654-5285.WorkshopsGROUP FOR ADHDLenore Ruben LMSW. CHT. EMDROrly Calderon, Psy D. NYS Lic. PsychologistCathy Wein, PhD, NYS, Lic. Psychologist250 West 57th Street #723New York, NY 10107Phone: 212-586-2135Now Forming --- call to reserve spaceParents Discussion Group For parents of ADHD and/orLearning Disabled childrenTopics: Myths and realities about ADHD and LearningDisabilities. Deciphering what these terms mean clinically,educationally, and legally in plain language. Methods ofcoping for parents, family and child. Active techniquesto prevent home from becoming a battleground. How toadvocate for your child. Exploration and sharing of strategiesthat help and of pitfalls to avoid.10 weekly sessions$40. per person per session$60. per couple per sessionThere is a 10% discount for prepayment of series.

FEBRUARY 2006 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ MUSIC, ART & DANCE19CARNEGIE HALL ANNOUNCES 2006-7 MUSICAL OFFERINGS:COLLABORATION, INNOVATION, AND ACCESS ARE THEMESBy EMILY SHERWOOD, Ph.D.Quoting former President Teddy Roosevelt,Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic directorClive Gillinson announced at a standingroom only press conference recently that, inplanning the venerable institution’s 2006-7musical season, “we kept our eyes on thestars and our feet on the ground.” CarnegieHall will continue to build on its longstandingcommitment to “imaginative, strategic,and rigorous” programming, but, according toMr. Gillinson, who began his Carnegie Halldirectorship in July 2005 following a 35 yearcareer with the London Symphony Orchestrawhere he began as a cellist and ended as itsManaging Director, “we must also play anactive role in the future of music.”The diversity in Carnegie Hall’s 2006-7programming is evident in a dazzling mixof genres, from the Vienna PhilharmonicOrchestra to the Mongolian Buryat Band,from the Boston Symphony Orchestra toLadysmith Black Mambazo. But there’ll be plentyof old favorites for the traditionalists. In a seriesof eight Perpectives concerts, the Emerson StringQuartet will survey the complete Beethovenstring quartets and their central presence in thequartet literature. Covering a span of more than200 years, the concerts will also feature worksby Mendelssohn, Schubert, Ives, Bartok, andShostakovich.“Equally important to Carnegie Hall is extending[our] tradition to the next generation, whichincludes ten young composers in their 20’s and30’s, most of whom you will not yet know,”stated Mr. Gillinson. To wit, composer OsvaldoGolijov and soprano Dawn Upshaw will mentoreight young composers who will write new worksfor voice and chamber ensemble. The worldpremiere concerts will take place in the WeillRecital Hall.In a collaboration with the Brooklyn AcademyClive Gillinsonof Music and Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall willpresent a month long, citywide tribute to contemporarycomposer Steve Reich on the occasionof his 70th birthday. Titled “Steve Reich at 70”,the festival will showcase the diverse musicalsources that inspired Reich, including African,electronic, medieval and Indian music, with aconcert in Isaac Stern Auditorium to include thenew Daniel Variations (a musical memorial tothe late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl)and Different Trains (a haunting portrayal of thetrains that transported so many to their deaths inthe Holocaust).A new partnership with City Center, which willfeature shared music, dance, and drama programmingto reap the benefits of an expanded audience,will kick off in the 2008-9 season.When asked what his individual stamp onCarnegie Hall had been to date, Mr. Gillinsonmodestly declined to do so, emphasizing insteadthe team effort of the hall’s top managers. KeySAM ASH MUSIC STORESA CHAIN STORE THAT HAS RETAINEDITS FOUNDER’S POLICIES.Back in 1924, a young married couple decidedto open a music store. Actually, it was Rose Ash’sidea. Husband Sam was a violinist and bandleader.He also taught the violin and had learned torepair them. His day job had been as a fabric cutterin a dress factory. Rose was a bookkeeper in ahome for the aged. She felt that running a storewould give them more stability. Soon they founda young widow in their own Brownsville sectionof Brooklyn, NY, who wanted to sell her store.She would let them pay it out. For the $400 downpayment the couple pawned Rose’s engagementring. Later she got it back.Sam continued to present his band at dances andweddings. They lived in a small apartment behindthe store and started a family. Son Jerry was bornin 1925, and Paul in 1929. The “Great Depression”hit in 1929, and most people and businesses wentthrough hard times. They barely survived. Roseoften remembered the day a customer came in tohave his violin bow re-haired. She made him waitwhile Sam did the job. She took the 75¢ paymentdirectly to the grocery store.Sam’s honesty, friendliness and hard work,built a reputation second to none. He added tothe inventory and selection as he could. Thingspicked up a little. Daughter Marcia was born in1935. Sam bought a car and started to deliversheet music to piano teachers. The store’s locationwas difficult to reach by public transportation,and few people owned a car. They movedthe store to a better location in the early 1940’s.World War II was on and Jerry was serving withthe Army in Europe. Paul worked in the storeafter school.After the war, Jerry took an interest in themusical instruments that started to re-appear. Healso cultivated school business. Soon his bride,Bernice, joined the team.Sam died in 1956. Three years later, the boysmoved the store to a larger corner store. In1959, they opened a store on Long Island andthen another.Fast forward to 2005. There are 45 Sam Ashstores in 14 states, a mail order/catalog division,and a manufacturing company.While Jerry, Paul and Bernice are still active,the company is mostly run by David, Richard andSam, the three sons of Jerry & Bernice.The firm has been at the forefront of new productdevelopment. First with synthesizers, electronicpianos, disc jockey gear, packaged soundsystems and more. They sell many thousandsof guitars, but they still offer the wind and stringinstruments, drums, and sheet music that Samstarted with. And Sam’s integrity is the rock thecompany is built on. #to their collective vision is making the concertsaccessible to audiences who can’t afford thesteep ticket prices at Carnegie Hall. Currentefforts include deeply discounted subscriptionseries for young adults in their twenties, a limitednumber of $10 tickets for students andseniors for most performances, free tickets forunderserved groups, free neighborhood concerts,and affordably priced family concerts. Studentdemand alone has grown 200 percent since lastyear. “This is our future,” added Mr. Gillinson.Similarly, the hall sends performing artists intothe city’s schools, although Mr. Gillinson admittedthat the program is not as robust as it mightbe. As for podcasting, the ultimate technologicaltool for accessibility to the masses, Mr. Gillinsonnoted that “it’s being developed….we’ve madea commitment to it and explored ideas, but it’s aways away.”In summarizing his goals for the upcoming season,Mr. Gillinson repeatedly stressed that he andhis management team are encouraging audiencesto travel from their comfort zone and take morerisks in their musical appreciation. “Lookingahead, we will continue to build on [our] historicstrengths as we seek to develop ever more creativeand compelling musical journeys for ouraudiences,” he concluded.#

200620RAISING AWARENESS TO REDUCE BULLYING IN SUMMER CAMPSBy JOEL D. HABER, Ph.D.Think back to your elementary/grade schoolyears, and ask yourself if you can recall the topthree favorite memories of your childhood. Theyprobably involve something loving, connecting,or good to eat. Now, do the same for the leastfavorite memories, and for many of us, there’s apainful memory of bullying that we may recall.Many of us can’t remember what we had forlunch last week, but can remember in exquisitedetail the memory of a bully—and the hurt andsuffering we experienced. In the past, bullyingwas assumed to be a rite of passage and somethingthat “you just had to go through” as part ofgrowing up. Although the bullying may have happenedon the way to and from school or duringrecess, no one really talked about it—let alonedid anything about it. Those of us involved withsummer camp thought that camp was an escapeand refuge from the school bully.The most important thing to realize is that thefirst step toward making your camp a bully-freeenvironment is “awareness.” No more living indenial of the problem, but rather committed tokeeping an open mind and a clear perspective ofyour environment—a comprehensive view thatgives you proper influence and management ofwhat is happening in camp.Bullying BehaviorWherever children gather to study and/or play,the potential for hurtful behavior by childrenagainst one another is possible. Studies in schoolsreveal that approximately 11 percent of childrenare bullied repeatedly and that 13 percent frequentlybully others. Repeated hurtful behavioragainst a child can result in damage to their physicaland emotional development. This damage isnot limited to the victim though: the bully as wellas the onlookers who do not intervene may alsosuffer both short and long-term consequences.Bullying 101: What Is It?Bullying is any intentional, hurtful act, committedby one or more campers against another.It can also be committed by counselors againstother counselors or campers. In fact it can happenwhen anyone in power or seeking power intentionallyhurts another person. It is not fighting(between equals) or rough play. Fighting betweenequals is really an escalation of conflict. Roughplay is normal between kids, but has a safety netbuilt in. If one kid says stop—it’s over.Types of Bullying Behavior Seen in CampBullying behavior is divided into three types:Physical, Relational, and Verbal. These behaviorsare further divided into mild, moderate, andsevere, which can help define the extent of theproblem and determine if a certain type of bullyingbehavior is escalating. Bullying behavior usuallyhas an escalating pattern—it generally startsout mildly to give the bullying child a chance toobserve a victim’s reaction. This can escalate inseverity if the victim does not send a signal toFILL EVERY SPACE IN YOUR CAMP!Maximize your revenue byadvertising in Education Update.Parents and Teacherslove and read this newspaper.Call 212-477-5600 Fax 212-477-5893www.EducationUpdate.comthe bully that this behavior is unacceptable. Forexample, bullying that begins as a physical typecan escalate in severity with more physical bullyingor move into other forms, like exclusion andverbal harassment.PhysicalPhysical bullying is the type of bullying mosteasily observed and most commonly thoughtof when we talk about bullying. This includespunching, hitting, shoving, hair pulling, excessivetickling, cutting in line, rat-tailing, defacingpersonal property, or stealing one’s belongings.It’s observed in the camp environment in manyforms—a child’s stuffed animal is stolen ordestroyed, a child is knocked down in front ofothers, a chair is pulled out from a child beforehe or she sits down, a child is physically bruisedover and over again. It also includes crossingover into one’s personal space when a child istold not to. This can make a camper very uncomfortableand intimidated.VerbalVerbal bullying involves hurtful name-calling,mocking, teasing, gossiping, intimidation, orthreatening to embarrass a child. Verbal bullyingis harder to observe unless you are within earshotof it. The hurtful unwarranted nickname, commentsabout clothes, or being told that you areunpopular can all be meant to undermine a child’sself-worth. Verbal bullying has to be includedas bullying behavior because of its insidiousnature. How vulnerable is a child when a painfulcomment like “nobody in this bunk likes you” isexpressed to an unsuspecting camper?Types of Bullying We Don’t SeeThere is evidence of a high prevalence ofcounselors who bully campers and/or each other.A counselor who bullies is a particularly difficultproblem, because children are dependant on thestaff person for safety. This type of counselorbehavior may set a model that allows campers totest out their own bullying behavior—and createsan escalation of bullying in their campers becauseit is seen as an acceptable form of behavior. It isalso a problem if a child is dependant on his orher counselor and feels afraid to report aggressivebehavior to the counselor’s superior.I have also witnessed a camper or group ofcampers bully counselors. When children feel agreater level of power over an adult, it createsa significant problem in the bunk. Staff may bereluctant to report this for fear of their own jobloss and embarrassment in front of their peers—as well as feeling a decrease in personal statusamong their peers.The Bullies and the VictimsThe BulliesToday’s bullies are not necessarily the bigschool yard brutes who have low self-esteemand are looking to improve their feelings ofinadequacy by bullying. A camp bully may bepopular, seek social status, be smart, well-connected,and even well liked. Some may looklike “mean girls” and some may not. They aremore comfortable with aggression and use thisto earn social rewards by making others uncomfortableand hurting them. Usually these skillsoutweigh any empathic side. They are masters atdenial—and blame. The problem is that many ofthese kids look and feel like “leaders.” Leadersmay be hard to differentiate from a bully becausethey may have the same qualities—except theylack empathy and a willingness to look at theirown personal responsibility for their behavior.One way to remember this when looking at yourcampers or staff—leaders are inclusive and bulliestend to be exclusive.The VictimsVictims on the other hand, are kids who are“vulnerable” in some way and feel less sociallyconnected. A camper who is alone, less sociallyassertive, passive, meek, or quiet may be an easytarget. Bullies test out their power until they finda target that won’t fight back—or won’t getthe social support they need from others aroundthem. When bullies see they can brutalize someone,they seek the support of others to blamethe victim for their “deserved” attack. There arealways reasons that bullies find to hurt others,even though no one deserves to get bullied.The “Observers”Remember the statistics cited earlier about thenumber of kids involved as bullies and victims.In any bullying situation, there are approximately80 percent of kids or more who may observebullying but may do nothing to stop it. Whenvictims see that observers do not step in andhelp them, or counselors do not intercede, thevictims feel worse. The observers try to justifytheir own unhelpful behavior. They themselvesbegin to “blame” the victim for the bullying theyreceive. This cycle makes the victim feel evenmore bullied.CharacteristicsBoys vs. GirlsBoys are generally seen as more physicallystrong, so we believe that boys use physicalforms of aggression more than any other type.Not so. Boys tease and use relational forms ofaggression in summer camp more than they dophysical forms of aggression. Although “roughcontinued on page 21DUNNABECK at KILDONAN06/23/06 - 08/04/06Founded in 1955 by Diana Hanbury KingACCREDITEDSCHOOL, SUMMER &TRAINING PROGRAMAcademy ofOrton-GillinghamPractitionersand EducatorsIncorporated Under New YorkState Education Law• Oldest summer camp program in the country for students with dyslexia.• Daily one-to-one Orton-Gillingham Instruction• Traditional camp activities including horsback riding, waterskiing, and art electives.425 Morse Hill Road • Amenia, NY 12501 • 845-373-8111845-373-8111 • Fax: 845-373-9793 • www.kildonan.org • www.dunnabeck.org

21Education Update’sFebruary2006 EditionBullyingcontinued from page 20and tumble” play is common in boys, they havebecome sophisticated in their ways to hurt verballyand exclude other kids. These forms of aggressioncan leave scars for boys who emotionally donot know how to handle these feelings.Girls are much more comfortable with “indirect”forms of communication and use verbalteasing and exclusion more than double their useof physical forms of aggression. Gossiping andexclusion are the two most common forms of bullyingfor girls—and it has almost become a “universallanguage” for them. The problem in campsoccurs when counselors model this behavior, socampers feel justified in their behavior.Younger vs. OlderBullying generally moves from physical formsto verbal and relational forms as children hitteenage years. As physical forms of bullyingdecrease by high school, the verbal and relationalforms can still maintain themselves. This is whywe must work to create camp environments inwhich this behavior is not allowed. Camp has tobe a place that is different for children and allowsthem to thrive socially without the emotionaland/or physical safety fears of bullying.School Bullying vs. Camp BullyingSchool bullying occurs in the cafeteria, atrecess, in the hallway, or in bathrooms—anywherethat supervision is lean. Bullying in theclassroom happens less frequently because theclassroom is a structured place and the power(teacher) is close by. School environments generallyhave much less supervision for their childrenoutside the classroom.The camp environment is generally morerelaxed than a school environment. Bullyingoccurs during free time, in the shower when kidsare vulnerable, or at night when counselors maybe outside the bunk. The more subtle forms ofbullying, like teasing and exclusion, can happenwhen groups of kids are away from their counselorsor have less supervision. It can also happenaround a counselor—if that staff person seesnothing wrong with this behavior and is complicitin it. One of the best markers for finding vulnerableand potentially victimized children is towatch your bunks and observe those camperswho don’t have someone to walk with, or find thecamper who is always late to leave the bunk anddoesn’t feel part of the bunk community.The KeyThe key to all of this is that kids come to campto broaden their social network, improve theirskills, and feel good about themselves. For up totwo months in a summer, children need a place tofeel safe with supervision that is willing to step inand provide opportunities for them to thrive.Camp has to be a place where physical andemotional safety is paramount—to ensure thatchildren have the opportunities to grow. Withoutthis, camps do not separate themselves from otherinstitutions. You can make a difference by beingvery proactive about bullying reduction and prevention.Begin with awareness, and you’ve takenthe first step toward action.#Joel D. Haber, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologistand founder of the Respect U program. Hehas held positions at University of Alabama,Birmingham Medical School, White PlainsHospital Center and New York Medical Collegeand has authored numerous articles and ledconference sessions on topics including bullying,building resilience in children and positive parenting.For more information about the RespectU program, visit www.ACAcamps.org/bullying .Originally published in the 2006 January/February issue of Camping Magazine.INCARNATION CAMPFounded in 1886, Incarnation Camp offers both overnight and day camping to boys and girlsages 7-15. Incarnation Camp is located in Ivoryton, Connecticut on 700 wooded acres, which surrounda mile-long private lake. Camp alum and New York Times columnist David Brooks callsIncarnation “The most successful institution I’ve ever been involved with.”In the spirit of the traditional camp experience, Incarnation Camp offers a well-rounded programincluding boating and swimming instruction; ropes course; archery; hiking; drama; land sports; artsand crafts; horseback riding; farm and more. Off-site camping and canoe trips are also offered duringthe summer. Sessions for children ages 7-13 include 2, 4, 6 and 8 week options.Pioneer Village offers two 4-week programs for boys and girls ages 14 and 15. Leadershipand personal responsibility are at the core of this program. Teens take part in Adventure Treks,which include hiking the Appalachian Trail, biking throughout New England and canoeing theConnecticut River. Campers learn to cook on open fires and work in teams as they plan and preparefor these trips.Many parents claim that the strongest element of Incarnation Camp’s program is its team ofcounselors and staff. Members of the staff are carefully chosen on basis of maturity, responsibility,and experience. Training is provided to further develop leadership skills, personal sensitivity and aspecial understanding of children’s needs. The ratio of campers to staff is less that 5 to 1.Parent Quotes from Summer 2005:“This was like finding an emerald in a haystack! I am elated at his experiences.”“Thank you for providing my son with such a wonderful experience. He matured, had fun,gained confidence, learned new things and made new friends.”“She really wants to see the rest of the world as a result of meeting all the counselors from differentplaces.”“I love the wacky camp songs she still sings.”“My daughter loves it there, and it seems her peers and the staff do as well. There is a strong spiritof shared joy and caring that permeates Incarnation Camp…..and that is the best thing!”ACA Accredited . Scholarships and group discounts are available. Please call Nancy NygardPilon (Director) at 860-767-0848 to inquire. www.incarnationcenter.orgMarymount SummerJune 19-July 21 2006CAMPS FOR BOYS AND GIRLSDay Camp - Ages 4-7Features age-appropriate activities, including art, science,sports, swimming and, most of all, fun!Performing Arts Camp - Ages 7-12Children explore the world of dance, music, drama andset and costume design. The camp culminates with a fullmusical production.26thScience and Technology Camp - Ages 8-12Campers discover the world of science through laboratory activities,field trips and technology while taking advantage of Marymount’sstate-of-the-art facilities.Marymount School1026 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028Tel. 212-744-4486 Fax 212-744-0163www.marymount.k12.ny.ussummercamp@marymount.k12.ny.us

22 BOOK REVIEWS ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FEBRUARY 2006BOOKS, POEMS, MOVIES:BLACK HISTORY MONTH & EVERY MONTHThe Passion Of My Times:An Advocateʼs Fifty-Year JourneyIn The Civil Rights MovementReviewed By MERRI ROSENBERGThe Passion Of My Times: An Advocate’s Fifty-Year Journey In The Civil Rights Movementby William L. Taylor.Published by Carroll & Graf, New York, (2004) 251 pp.Although I was barely in elementary schoolduring the Freedom Summer of 1964, I remembersitting in my late parents’ living room in CrownHeights, Brooklyn, listening to several of theirschool teacher friends discuss their plans to registerblack voters in the South during their summervacation. I had little concept of civil rights,or what this effort represented–only that it wassomething very, very serious that had my parentsworried about their friends’ safety.42 years later, those memories came floodingback as I read William L. Taylor’s utterly compellingand engrossing memoir of his involvement asa white, Jewish man from Brooklyn, as an advocatein the civil rights movement. He takes usfrom his early, heady days as part of the NAACPLegal Defense Fund, where Thurgood Marshallwas the chief counsel, to his appointment as generalcounsel and staff director of the United StatesCommission on Civil Rights, to his later workmaintaining civil rights advances as a founder ofthe Center for National Policy Review at CatholicUniversity Law School in Washington. Some ofhis causes have included promoting affirmativeaction policies, helping black school childrenduring the process of desegregation in major educationalsystems, challenging fiscal inequity inpublic school funding, and now teaching, writingand lecturing as an education law adjunct professorat Georgetown University Law School.What my own children consider simply part ofa history lesson in a social studies class, wherethey’ve dutifully read excerpts from Dr. MartinLuther King, Jr.’s speeches, or discussed thepolitical efforts that helped achieve the passageof the 1964 Civil Rights Act, becomes strikinglyvivid in Taylor’s narrative.Taylor’s powerful description of visitingNatchez, Mississippi, where he and a colleaguefrom the Commission on Civil Rights weremenaced by local whites, is a reminder that thepassage of the Civil Rights act was by no meansa certainty, and that the threats to its supporterswere real. He mentions one Justice departmentinvestigator who blockaded the door to his motelroom when he was in Mississippi—and the harrowingexperiences of local black residents, whoshared their stories of being beaten and pistolwhippedby white supremacists, for having hadthe courage to register other blacks to vote. It’schilling, and sobering, and shameful.It’s not surprising that Taylor is outraged andappalled by the recent election irregularities, mostnotably during the 2000 Presidential election inFlorida. As Taylor writes, “Minority voters arestill shortchanged by inferior voting equipmentand ill-staffed polling places...And, of course,real enfranchisement for people of color will notbe fully realized until their economic conditionsand educational opportunities improve.”A graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale LawSchool, Taylor believes in law as an instrument ofjustice that can redress historic wrongs and helpachieve true equality in our society. He writes,“there are many battles still to be fought, butexperience suggests that they are worth fightingand that they can be won.”It’s inspiring that after more than 50 years asan advocate for civil rights, Taylor still has that“fire in the belly,” and is still fighting for liberalcauses, and social justice.#INSIDE THE MELTING POTBy PHYLLIS C. MURRAY“When the nation is made ready by enlightenment,its good fortune will make Black HistoryMonth an anachronism. No culture should by itsspotlight eclipse another, and the reputation ofone cannot flourish at the expense of another. Weare a unified but not yet united civilization.”—Ron IssacsIn 1991, the phenomenon of unearthing 400enslaved Africans from a 17th Century AfricanBurial Ground in lower Manhattan, was thebeginning of a search by many for their Africanancestral past. That road of discovery has hadmany twists and turns. However, the recordsremain. The slavers and historians of that erakept copious notes. And fortunately we havehad access to the incalculable research from theAfrican Burial Ground Project OPEI Updatefounded in 1991 and directed for over a decadeby Dr. Sherrill Wilson.If we take another look at life in colonialNew York and search beyond the Dutch WestIndia Company’s enticement of free land andfree trade, we will see that the DWI companyprovided another enticement to white settlers:enslaved Africans to labor without compensation.In the East India Company’s charter of Privilegeand Exemption for the patrons the followingis noted: “in that document for the purpose ofencouraging agriculture, the company agreed tofurnish colonists as many blacks as they convenientlycould. These “blacks” were brought fromthe West Indies.The Historic Wyckoff House which is locatedin Brooklyn, NY is an example of colonial lifein early NY. A recent article: “Glimpse the 17thCentury at Historic Wyckoff House,” describes theproperty as one that spanned 40 acres. It was alsoviewed as a property that was a highly successfulworking farm. Wyckoff, its owner, became therichest man in the region. It may also be noted that:“Slaveholdings in New York were second only toits counterpart in Charlotte, North Carolina.”The Native Americans and Africans helpedmake the Dutch wealthy land barons as theyfarmed large areas, working fruit orchards andattending the livestock for food. Flax was grownfor linen thread and sheep provided wool forclothing. A visit to Philipsburg Manor UpperMills today in North Tarrytown will provideadditional insight into the lifestyle of the Dutchgentry of this period. This site was manned byenslaved Africans as the Philipses reaped thereward from this free African labor.Bland Taylor writes: “in 1698, 15 percent ofKings County population were slaves. KingsCounty by the 18th Century became the heaviestslave holding county in New York State.Although 1/5 of New York State black populationwere free by the end of the 18th Century only 3percent (46) free blacks resided in Kings County,the smallest number in the state.AT CANAAN’S EDGE: AMERICAIN THE KING YEARS 1965-68Reviewed BY MERRI ROSENBERGAt Canaan’s Edge: America In The King Years1965-68by Taylor BranchSimon & Schuster, New York ( 2006): 1039 pp.Perhaps only a trilogy as monumental as TaylorBranch’s three-volume history of America duringthe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., years coulddo justice to that equally monumental epoch.Branch, the best-selling author and Pulitzer-prizewinner who has written “Parting the Waters” and“Pillar of Fire”, which deal with King’s journeyfrom 1954 through 1965, completes his saga inthis final volume.Following Dr. King’s martyrdom and subsequenticonic status in our culture, popularmythology portrayed the civil rights struggleas an historic inevitability, with its participantsliterally marching on the same page, shoulderto shoulder.Yet as Branch describes in this compelling,densely detailed and energetically written accountof those watershed final years of Dr. King’s life,the outcome was hardly pre-determined. Thecivil rights leader had to contend with nearly asmany internal battles as with external enemies.There were those who considered him to begrandstanding, who resented his platform of nonviolence,who felt unappreciated or discounted asthe relentless pace of events seemed to take on alife of its own.Even as some members of SNCC ( StudentNonviolent Coordinating Committee) challengedDr. King’s decisions, seeing him as a “hit and runcelebrity”, Dr. King had to deal with PresidentLyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover. The marchin Selma across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, withthe subsequent national horror evoked by televisedimages of bullying state troopers wieldingclubs, tear gas spray guns and canisters on themarchers, was “ a turning point,” writes Branch.“The tide of confidence in equal citizenship hadswelled over decades to confront segregation aswell as the Nazis, and would roll forward still, butan opposing tide of resentment and disbelief roseto challenge the overall direction of Americanpolitics, contesting the language of freedom.”As late as 1820, only 55 percent of KingsCounty blacks and a minuscule 18 percent inRichmond County were free. Blacks older than 45years remained slaves in 1820, because masterswere unwilling to accept responsibility for theirmaintenance otherwise. Slavery in the UnitedStates existed in the North as well as the South.What is unique about Scarsdale is the heroiceffort of New York Governor Daniel Tompkins, aresident of Scarsdale, as he made a recommendationto the Legislature in 1817 to abolish Slaveryby 1827. We can also witness the courage of theQuakers who manumitted their enslaved Africansby 1782 and even required themselves to traintheir former slaves to earn a living and to find aplace to live. And we can witness the beneficenceof Quakers who were active in the UndergroundRailroad hiding slaves in barns and secret cupboardson Mamaroneck Road.Racism today is merely a remnant of Slavery’spast revisited in the present. Today, we have twoseparate chronicles of history: one white and oneblack. Yet, the two belong together.Understanding our true past will enable one tounderstand the present. However, the care of thefuture is in our hands.After the first bloody march at Selma, Dr.King’s decision during the second march notto continue on to Montgomery—“With but aninstant to decide whether this was a trap or amiraculous parting of the Red Sea”—providedyet another contentious flashpoint, with somemovement leaders eager to maintain momentum.Nor was the civil rights movement the onlyissue convulsing America, as Branch pointsout. The escalating war in Vietnam distractedand derailed President Johnson, and formed yetanother point of fissure in a country that, at times,seemed to be literally coming apart at the seams.In Montgomery, Dr. King’s remarks, those thathadn’t been prepared in advance, remain powerful:“How long will justice be crucified andtruth buried? I come to say to you this afternoon,however difficult the moment, however frustratingthe hour, it will not be long. Because truthcrushed to earth will rise again. How long? Notlong! Because no lie can live forever. How long?Not long! Because you shall reap what you sow.How long?”. Thanks to Branch’s skillful descriptionof that scene, painted in all its immediacyand rhythms, the reader feels as if he were witnessingit as an actual participant.Dr. King’s expansion of the civil rights movementto encompass poverty issues in the North,and his protests against the Vietnam War, allcontribute to the increasing demands made uponhim as a national leader, demands that physicallyand emotionally exhausted him.By the time Dr. King reaches his fateful rendezvousin Memphis, the reader has seen Dr. King’sdespair and depression as urban riots supplant hismessage of non-violence. His final speech to theMemphis sanitation workers is heartbreakinglyprescient: “Because I have been to the mountaintop...Like anybody I would like to live a longlife—longevity has its place...I just want to doGod’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up themountain. And I’ve looked over. And I have seenthe promised land. And I may not get there withyou, but I want you to know, tonight, that we as apeople will get to the promised land.”Branch’s great achievement is that King’s wordsaffect the reader just as powerfully as they did hislisteners, and make one mourn as though it wereApril 1968 the loss of that extraordinary man.#Yes, Ron Issacs, “When the nation is madeready by enlightenment, its good fortune willmake Black History Month an anachronism.”#Phyllis C. Murray is an educator, author andUFT Chapter Leader.

FEBRUARY 2006 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ BOOK REVIEWS23BOOKS, POEMS, MOVIES:REFLECT, LOVE, CRY, REMEMBER FOREVERHarper Lee, Gregarious for a DayBy GINIA BELLAFANTEOf all the functions at the president’s mansionof the University of Alabama here, nonehas acquired the mystique surrounding a modestannual luncheon attended by high school studentsfrom around the state.They come with cameras dangling on theirwrists and dressed, respectfully, as if they wereabout to issue an insurance policy or anchor thenews. An awards ceremony for an essay conteston the subject of ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’’ theoccasion attracts no actor, politician or musicfigure. Instead, it draws someone to whomAlabamians collectively attach far more obsession:the author of the book itself, Harper Lee,who lives in the small town of Monroeville, Ala.,one of the most reclusive writers in the history ofAmerican letters.With more than 10,000,000 copies sold since itfirst appeared in 1960, ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’exists as one of the best-selling novels of alltime. For decades, Ms. Lee has remained fiercelymindful of her privacy, politely but resolutelyrefusing to talk to the press and making onlyrare public appearances, in which she alwaysdeclines to speak. She has maintained her resolvedespite renewed attention in the wake of the film‘‘Capote,’’ in which Ms. Lee is portrayed as themoral conscience of her childhood friend TrumanCapote; the coming ‘‘Infamous,’’ another Capotemovie in which Sandra Bullock plays Ms. Lee;and a biography of Ms. Lee scheduled for May.But since the essay contest, sponsored by theHonors College at the University of Alabama,got going five years ago, Ms. Lee, who is 79,has attended the ceremony faithfully, meetingwith the 50 or so winners from most of thestate’s school districts and graciously posingfor pictures with the parents and teachers whoaccompany them.‘‘What these people have done for me iswonderful,’’ Ms. Lee, who agreed to speak to areporter about the event, said during the luncheonon Friday. She was referring specifically to thetwo people who had conceived the contest inher honor, Thomas N. Carruthers, a prominentBirmingham lawyer, and Cathy Randall, a formeradministrator at the university.Ms. Lee said she was struck by the perspectiveyoung people bring to the book. ‘‘Theyalways see new things in it,’’ she added. ‘‘Andthe way they relate it to their lives now is reallyquite incredible.’’The students write with longing for the kind ofunmanaged childhood experienced by Jem andScout Finch in the rural 1930’s Alabama of Ms.Lee’s rendering. Some tell of the racial tensionsthey witness in their school cafeterias, others ofthe regional prejudices they experience at thehands of Northern peers who assume anyonefrom Alabama must drive a pickup truck or livein a mobile home. In an essay a few years ago onegirl likened the trial of the book’s Tom Robinson,a black man unjustly accused of raping a whitegirl, to the 1999 murder of Billy Jack Gaither, ayoung man living in Sylacauga, killed becausehe was gay.The recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, ‘‘ToKill a Mockingbird’’ remains the only book Ms.Lee has written. It is difficult to overestimatethe sustained power of the novel or the reverencewith which Ms. Lee is treated here: it is notuncommon to find live staged versions of thestory, hear of someone who has devoted his lifeto playing Atticus Finch in road shows, or meetchildren named Scout or ones named after theauthor herself.At a book signing after the ceremony onFriday afternoon, a little girl in a velvet dressapproached Ms. Lee with a hardback copy of ‘‘ToKill a Mockingbird,’’ announcing that her namewas Harper. ‘‘Well, that’s my name, too,’’ Ms.Lee said. The girl’s mother, LaDonnah Roberts,said she had decided to make her daughter Ms.Lee’s namesake after her mother-in-law gave hera copy of the book during her pregnancy. Anothergirl, Catherine Briscoe, 15, one of the essay contestwinners, had read the novel six times. Shetrembled and held her hand to her heart as shespoke of its author: ‘‘It was breathtaking to meetthe most important person in my life.’’Sometimes Ms. Lee will encounter someonewho will claim to know exactly where BooRadley lived. ‘‘I had a girl come up to me here,’’Ms. Lee recalled, referring to an awards ceremonya few years ago, ‘‘and she said, ‘Boo Radleylives across the street from my grandparents.’ ‘‘‘‘Well, I didn’t know what to say to that,’’ shesaid, laughing.Ms. Lee lives with her 94-year-old sister, Alice,a lawyer who still practices, and keeps an apartmentin New York. She is not a judge in the essaycontest, nor does she make any formal statementat the ceremony. Her one stipulation for the contestwas that children who were home-schooledbe eligible to compete.The story of Ms. Lee’s involvement with thecontest begins five years ago with her inductionto the Alabama Academy of Honor, a society thatpays homage to influential people born or livingin the state. In 2001, as the academy was castingabout to include more women, Mr. Carruthers,chairman of the academy, called Ms. Randall tosee whom the group might have overlooked, hesaid. When Mr. Carruthers went back to the committeeand recommended that they approach Ms.Lee, the other members decreed that he could trybut that surely, because of her outsized reputationfor shyness, she would have no part of sucha group.Mr. Carruthers was not deterred. ‘‘I had avested interest in this whole thing,’’ he joked,‘‘because I wanted to prove them all wrong.’’He approached Ms. Lee about the possibilityof a nomination. ‘‘I couldn’t promise that shewould win,’’ he said. To everyone’s surprise, Ms.Lee accepted the nomination. She was elected tothe academy in 2001, one year after Rosa Parksand one year before Condoleezza Rice. Fearingthat too much pomp and fuss might scare heroff, Mr. Carruthers asked academy members notto bring fawning grandchildren to the inductionceremony. Many brought them anyway, withbooks to sign, all of which Ms. Lee cheerfullyautographed. Mr. Carruthers and Ms. Randalldevised the essay contest to commemorate herentry into the academy.Ms. Lee is quick-witted and gregarious. At theceremony she greeted a server at the mansionwhom she remembered from luncheons past. ‘‘Iwent back to my friends and I told everyone thatI’d met you,’’ the young woman said. ‘‘Nobodybelieved me. I said, ‘Oh, yeah, I did, and she isthe nicest, sweetest lady.’’ Ms. Lee looked at herwith amused suspicion and started to laugh.During lunch she reminisced about her oldfriend Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplayfor the acclaimed 1962 film of ‘‘To Kill aMockingbird,’’ starring Gregory Peck. Ms. Leespent three weeks on the set, she said, and tookoff when she realized everything would be finewithout her.‘‘I think it is one of the best translations ofa book to film ever made,’’ she said. Ms. Leeattended Peck’s memorial service in Californiathree years ago. About her friend Mr. Foote, whois 89, she said, ‘‘He’s become quite amazinglooking in old age, like God, but clean-shaven.’’When Mr. Carruthers approached and askedwhy he hadn’t received a letter from her in soREVISITING THE DEEP SOUTH IN“TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”By MERRI ROSENBERGFrom our vantage point in 2006, it’s sometimeseasy to forget exactly how pervasive andpernicious racism was at earlier, more shamefulmoments in our history.The 1962 movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird”–based on Harper Lee’s novel, set in a smallAlabama town in the 1930s– hauntingly evokesthat time and place, indelibly capturing innuanced images and restrained dialogue the cruelbanalities of racism .As Atticus Finch, a decent and honorable whiteSoutherner who undertakes the doomed responsibilityof defending an equally decent and honorableblack farmer, Tom Robinson, who is falselyaccused of raping a white woman, Gregory Peckoffers a heart-breaking performance of someonewho will do the right thing no matter what thepersonal cost to himself and his family.Never mind that there is no evidence, no realcase against Robinson. All that matters, in thecommunity and in the court room, is that animpenetrable barrier between the races allegedlyhas been breached.The film contrasts the dignity of many of thetown’s black residents, whether they are ministers,domestics or laborers, with the distastefullong—the two have become good friends—sheanswered that she would get to him ‘‘once I finishoff all the letters I have to write.’’ Since therelease of ‘‘Capote,’’ much of her time has beenspent writing demurrals to reporters seekinginterviews about her life. Someone suggestedshe come up with a form-letter response tosuch requests.What it would say, she joked, ‘‘is hell, no.’’#Copyright © 2006 by The New York Times Co. Reprintedwith permission.behavior of the “white trash” elements, whoseprecarious superiority to the blacks among whomthey live and work depends on the persistence ofinstitutional and cultural racism.Played out against the tragedy of TomRobinson’s fate is the story of Atticus’s twomotherless children, Jem and Scout ( “JeanLouise”), who, in their innocence, don’t understandthe injustices they witness and whosequestioning of their elders’ assumptions throws insharp relief many of the degradations of the JimCrow system. In one harrowing scene, Atticushas gone to the local jail to protect Robinson froma mob bent on administering their own brutaljustice. Watching the scene unfold as Atticus,glasses perched atop his nose, calmly continuesto read even as a restless crowd gathers, with thearrival of his children whose conversations withsome of their neighbors ultimately disperses themob, is almost unbearably dramatic.This is one of those classic movies that fullydeserves the accolades, attention and awards ithas received through the years. Its very specificity,rooted in the time and mores of the 1930sDeep South, is exactly what makes its messageso universal.#From The Souls of Black Folk,1903, W.E.B. DuBoisStrange to relate! For this is certain, no securecivilization can be built in the South with theNegro as an ignorant, turbulent proletariat.Suppose we seek to remedy this by making themlaborers and nothing more: they are not fools,they have tasted of the Tree of Life, and they willnot cease to think, will not cease attempting toread the riddle of the world. By taking away theirbest equipped teachers and leaders, by slammingthe door of opportunity in the faces of their bolderand brighter minds, will you make them satisfiedwith their lot? Or will you not rather transfertheir leading from the hands of men taught tothink to the hands of untrained demagogues? Weought not to forget that despite the pressure ofpoverty, and despite the active discouragementand even ridicule of friends, the demand forhigher training steadily increases among Negroyouth: there were, in the years from 1895-1900,nearly 100 graduates. From Southern Negro collegesthere were, in the same three periods, 143,413, and over 500 graduates. Here, then, is theplain thirst for training; by refusing to give thisTalented Tenth the key to knowledge, can anysane man imagine that they will lightly lay asidetheir yearning and contentedly become hewers ofwood and drawers of water?HARRIET BEECHER STOWE:UNCLE TOM’S CABIN, 1852Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) is bestknown today as the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin,which helped galvanize the abolitionist causeand contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold over 10,000 copies in thefirst week and was a best seller of its day. Afterthe publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowebecame an internationally acclaimed celebrityand an extremely popular author. In addition tonovels, poetry and essays, she wrote non-fictionbooks on a wide range of subjects includinghomemaking and the raising of children, andreligion.Cincinnati was just across the river fromKentucky, a slave state. It was in Cincinnatithat Harriet first became aware of the horrors ofslavery. Cincinnati was one of the largest citiesin the country, twice the size of Hartford at thattime. When Harriet and Calvin learned that theirservant, Zillah, was actually a runaway slave,Calvin and Henry Ward drove her to the nextstation on the Underground Railroad. One night,Harriet’s friend, Mr. Rankin, saw a young womanrun across the river over the ice with a baby in herarms. This story moved Harriet deeply and wouldlater become one of the most famous scenes inUncle Tom’s Cabin.#Send in your suggestions for readings forchildren, teens, college sudents, adults.Fax: 212-477-5893email: ednews1@aol.com

24 CHILDREN’S CORNER ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FEBRUARY 2006FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT’S SEATGetting AlongBy DR. CAROLE G.HANKIN WITHRANDI T. SACHSIf your children are doingwell academically in school,it’s great.Another part of school is the social component.If your child has a conflict with his or herclassmates, it may be necessary for you to intervene.Once you have a clear picture of what ishappening, call the teacher and ask if he or shehas observed the situation you are concernedabout. Don’t wait too long to see if the situationresolves itself on its own, particularly if youfeel your child is being mistreated or picked onby another child or group of children. If yourchild’s teacher is unable to turn things around,it may be necessary to take your concerns toanother professional.There is a universal need for character educationin our schools. We need to teach our childrenthat they must treat one another with respect anddignity and show no tolerance for behavior thatthreatens or harms others. Your school shouldhave a proactive campaign to teach and modelappropriate behavior for all students.In Syosset, we have a strong character educationprogram in all of our schools, from elementarythrough the high school. We talk with ourstudents about how their behavior affects others.In our Peer Educators program we train highschool students to meet with third grade classesand discuss conflicts that can arise between studentsand how they should best be handled. Theyuse role playing and games to get the messageacross to the younger children. A program thatbegan in the high school and has been adaptedby the elementary and middle schools is SyossetPRIDE. It stands for Patience, Respect, Integrity,Dignity, and Empathy, and serves as a guide forstudents to model their own behavior.We also have a Peer Mediation program in ourschools, in which children are trained to mediatedisputes between classmates and help themcome to a peaceful solution. Our Peer Mediatorslearn how to listen to both sides of a disagreementand validate the feelings of each individual.By empowering our students in this way we aregiving them the tools they need to resolve conflicts,and helping them understand that peaceful,thoughtful solutions to problems are beneficialto everyone.As parents, we need to listen carefully to whatour children say.Assure your children that they will have yourhelp. When parents and administrators stand firmand give clear instructions on acceptable conduct,we can help our children to get along at schooland in the world.#FEB. EVENTS AT CHILDREN’SMUSEUM: ANDY WARHOLOn February 20, 2006 artist James Warhola,nephew of the great 20 th century painter AndyWarhol, will be conducting a special readingfrom his childhood memoir, Uncle Andy’s atthe Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM).Uncle Andy’s, a book inspired by childhoodmemories of a particular visit to see his uncle in1962, is a Winner of the International ReadingAssociation’s Best Children’s Non-Fiction Bookof 2004 award. Readings will be held at 3 pmand 4 pm in the Creativity Lab and will be agreat opportunity for both parents and childrento hear a unique perspective on Andy Warhol.This special reading and other Warhol activitiesare aligned with The Art of Andy Warhol, a newexhibition featuring the iconic work of this worldrenowned artist, sponsored at CMOM throughMay 28, 2006 by Fuji Photo Film, U.S.A., Inc.Author Series: James Warhola ReadingMonday, February 20 3 and 4pmAges 5 and older in the Creativity LabJames Warhola, Andy Warhol’s nephew andauthor and illustrator of Uncle Andy’s will readfrom his reminiscent book about his childhoodvisits to see his famous uncle, Andy Warhol. Thisis a remarkable opportunity for both parents andchildren to hear a unique perspective on AndyWarhol, one of the most important major 20 thcentury American artists.“It was an important year for my uncle as anartist,” Warhola has said of the inspiration forUncle Andy. “Our surprise visit created a quirkysituation with many great visual memories.” Likehis uncle, James Warhola attended Carnegie-Mellon University, receiving a BFA in Design in1977. Upon graduation, he moved to New YorkCity to begin work as a graphic designer, but soonchanged his focus to book illustration, studying atthe prestigious Art Student’s League.In 1980 James began to work as a paperbackcover artist, and over the next 15 years, heattained a highly respected reputation in thefield, creating over 300 covers for the sciencefiction and fantasy genre. His work has beenshown extensively at The Museum of AmericanIllustration, as well as several other museumsthroughout the country. He has also held theodd distinction of contributing regularly to MADMagazine, adding a unique and humorous edgeto his work. Other current books Warhola hasillustrated include: If Dogs Were Dinosaurs, TheWheels on the Racecar, and Bubba the CowboyPrince, all published by Scholastic.February recess is almost here and the Children’sMuseum of Manhattan (CMOM) is open every dayfrom February 20 - 26! From international danceperformances such as Ballet Fiesta MexicanaYbarra and The Seventh Principle to story telling,pop art and triptych painting, CMOM offersa variety of interactive programs and performancesfor everyone, along with its current interactiveexhibitions: Dora the Explorer, Alice’sWonderland: A Most Curious Adventure, and TheArt of Andy Warhol. CMOM is open extendedhours for mid-winter recess to keep every child’sbrain humming during vacation. Open Monday,February 20 – Friday, February 24 from 10:00am– 5:00pm and Saturday, February 25 and Sunday,February 26 from 9:00am to 5:00pm.Programming throughout the month of Februaryincludes:Heroes Among UsSaturday & Sunday, February 4 & 5 at11am, 12, 2, 3 & 4pmLearn about Jacob Lawrence, an artist whogrew up in Harlem, through the stories his paintingstell. Paint your own triptych (three paneledpainting) based on the heroes in your own life.Performance: El Louie ShowSaturday, February 4 1:30 & 3pmJoin musician and music educator, Louie, foran interactive, bilingual family concert.The Key to Me: A “Curious” Book ofWonderSaturday, February 11 11am, 12, 2, 3 &4pmAlice in Wonderland was forever asking, “Whoam I?” Create a storybook with facts and picturesall about you. Bind your book with a colorful ribbonand a one-of–a kind key.“Curious” ValentineSunday, February 12 11am, 12, 2, 3 & 4pmMake a curious valentine that, like Alice inWonderland, shrinks and grows. Decorate it withsparkles and surprises for the one you love!Limited space/seating; first come, firstserved). www.cmom.org or call 212.721.1223. #WILL THE REAL BIG BIRD& OSCAR STAND UP?Sesame Streetʼs Caroll Spinney, Alter Ego Of Big Bird And Oscar, ToReceive National Television Academyʼs Lifetime Achievement AwardThe National Academy of Television Arts &Sciences recently announced that Caroll Spinney,the puppeteer who plays the roles of Big Birdand Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, will bethe recipient of this year’s Lifetime AchievementAward at the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy ®Awards. Spinney was chosen for his work entertainingand educating children for nearly fourdecades, since the series debut in 1969.Spinney, a puppeteer since the age of eight,turned an eight-foot, two-inch tall bird and a crabbytrash can dwelling grouch into world-renownedcultural icons. His characters have been seenon more than 4,000 episodes, as well as SesameStreet television specials that have taken Spinneyto China, Japan, Australia, France, Germany,Canada, and the United Kingdom. Spinney starredin the feature film Follow That Bird and has performedon a number of other shows, including TheWest Wing and Hollywood Squares. His work hasgarnered him four Emmy Awards. Spinney’s book,The Wisdom of Big Bird chronicles his experiencesportraying the famous characters.“Caroll Spinney has distinguished himself inentertaining and inspiring generations of childrenworldwide in his dual roles as the sweet and compassionateBig Bird and the distinctively differentOscar the Grouch,” said Peter Price, President,National Television Academy. “The Academyis proud to honor the man who has dedicated hiscareer to creating and sustaining for four decadestwo of the most-loved and respected children’stelevision characters.”“I am elated and amazed to receive this honorfrom those who are committed to the best of whattelevision and media have to offer, for doing whatI’ve always wanted to do,” said Spinney.Spinney will accept the award during the33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremonyon Friday, April 28, (8:00-11:00 PM, ET)broadcast live on ABC from the Kodak Theatrein Los Angeles. This will mark the first timethe Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcastfrom Hollywood in the 33-year history of theAwards ceremonies.#THE STUDIO MUSEUM OF HARLEMby Sandra Jackson-DumontThe early 1990s witnessed the release of the classic hip-hop record aptly entitled Edutainment, byKRS-One and Boogie Down Productions (BDP). Arguably the last great album by one of hip hop’searliest socially conscious rappers, Edutainment was nothing short of what the title inferred— educationand entertainment combined as a strategy to meet the public where they were intellectually, politicallyand socially. To some, I might be dating myself by referencing the term edutainment. To others, it maysound like another sorry effort to coin a word. But to those of us in the field of education, museumsand/or community organizing, this reference resonates because it has been the source of much dialogueat museum and education conferences around the world. Over the last decade, many museums havetaken steps to become increasingly more audience-centered spaces, giving rise to interactive publicprograms ranging from attention-grabbing family activities like Family Fun @ the Studio, complete withappearances by familiar cartoon characters, to social parties like SMH’s own Uptown Fridays! Music,cocktails, culture, which was designed as a point of entry for young professionals and new museum goers.Seminars, including contemporary Issues in Context, at The Studio Museum often meld popular cultureand traditional art history in an effort to contemporize subjects while simultaneously nurturing a newcultural consumer. When comparing the complexion of today’s museum with the role historically carvedout for this kind of institution, some questions beg for answers. Have museums been reduced to programmaticentertainment? What would museums look like in the absence of “edutainment”? While thefields of community and k-12 education seem to have embraced this approach to learning, museums thatexperiment with new ways to make content relevant and meaningful have often been heavily criticizedand even accused of dumbing down. And as a result, the state of museums in the 21st century is wroughtwith contradiction. The territorialized exclusionary practices on which museums have traditionally beenbuilt is in direct conflict with modern technology and, in most cases, the contemporary patron. Slowlyand progressively, this sturdy historic framework is withering in the glare of a flourishing model that isat once unexpectedly interesting and surprisingly relevant. Many museums are embracing a new modelthat focuses on redefining the museum as a hybrid space where history and the contemporary can setup camp alongside theory and practice. By functioning as a “site for the dynamic exchange of ideas,”1various constituencies are able to intersect with and within the museum to make the space more than aholding facility for objects. All things considered, if “edutainment” translates into an engaging, vital andexciting environment, then employing this pedagogy is well worth the criticism!#Sandra Jackson-Dumont is the Director of Education & Public Programs, The Studio Museum in Harlem.DISNEY GIVES SCHOOLS FIRST-CLASS TREATMENTWhen you let your students discover the wonder and joy of Disney on Broadway, we’ll make theexperience unforgettable! This school year give your students a day to remember by taking advantageof Disney’s educational program, which provides schools with special rates for groups of 15 ormore for Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Tarzan.In addition, because we know you want to provide the necessary adult supervision, Disney giveseducators one free ticket for every 15 purchased at both shows. Flexible policies allow teachers topay in full 2–3 months before the performance. Disney invites schools to dedicate an entire day tothe theater and to enhance the group’s experience by taking a historical tour of the New AmsterdamTheater the morning prior to the performance. Built in 1903, the New Amsterdam has long been thecrown jewel of Broadway’s theaters. After a two-year restoration process that led to the theater’sre-opening in 1997, the theater now hosts Disney’s Tony Award winning musical, The Lion King. TheNew Amsterdam Theater is the perfect venue for events ranging from 15 to 1,800 people. The theaterand its two historic rooms, the Ziegfeld Room and the New Amsterdam Room, can accommodateeverything from a full production to an intimate candlelight dinner. For more information please callAmy Andrews at 212-282-2907.We will help teachers arrive to the theater prepared. For every show, Disney has developed studyguides that help teachers develop projects, discussions and activities. And, for those students whoalways have a question after most Wednesday matinees, members of the cast, orchestra or crew areavailable to appear for special Q & A sessions with students.Students can also enjoy discounts on Disney on Broadway souvenir merchandise, as each memberof your group will receive a merchandise coupon for great savings at the theater. Teachers can alsoarrange special lunch savings at McDonald’s Times Square location, which, seating over 2,000, specializesin school groups customized for any budget. Finally, groups save on Gray Line New York buscharters, as special Disney promotional rates are available.#For more info or to book call 212-703-1040 or 1-800-439-9000, fax 212-703-1085 or emailBVTGgrouptix@disney.com. Or visit www.disneyonbroadway.com.

FEBRUARY 2006 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ RESOURCE & REFERENCE GUIDE*RESOURCEANDREFERENCEGUIDE*25BOOKSBank Street Bookstore112th St. & Broadway ; (212) 678-1654Exceptional selection of books for children, teachersand parents. Knowledgeable staff. Free monthlynewsletter. Open Mon-Thurs 10-8 PM, Fri & Sat 10–6PM, Sun 12–5 PM.Logos Books1575 York Ave. (@84th Street); (212) 517-7292A charming neighborhood bookstore located in Yorkvillefeaturing quality selections of classics, fiction, poetry,philosophy, religion, bibles and children’s books, andgreeting cards, gifts and music. Books can be mailed.Outdoor terrace.USBORNE BOOKS’First Thousand Words!www.ubah.com/a2145 (718) 595-2813Start your children speaking a few words today andhave them fluent in a few languages tomorrow! GetUsborne Books’ First Thousand Words! Available inEnglish, Spanish, French, Arabic, German, Hebrew,Russian, Italian and Japanese. $12.95 each. Order frommy online bookstore for fastest service. www.ubah.com/a2145 or call Gawain Clarke (718) 595-2813. Alsoavailable, over 50+ foreign language learning/teachingtools (from DVD’s to sticker books), 100+ Spanish titles/bilingual readers and 400+ children’s literature books.High Marks In Chemistry1-877-600-7466; www.HighMarksInSchool.comOver 95,000 books sold. HIGH MARKS: REGENTSCHEMISTRY MADE EASY BY SHARON WELCHER(College Teacher, Chairperson and teacher of highschool review courses). This book is your privatetutor-Easy review book for NEW regents (secondedition) with hundreds of questions and solutions, GetHIGH MARKS $10.95. Available at Leading book storesor call (718)271-7466.TRANSITION MATTERS:116 East 16th Street/5th Floor, NY, NY 10003212-677-4650 (phone); 212-254-4070 (fax)www.resourcesnyc.orgFrom School to Independence: A Guide andDirectory of Services for Youth with Disabilities andSpecial Needs in the Metro New York Area. 500 pages,$35.00 + $8 postage and handling ISBN 0-9678365-6-5.Available at local and on-line booksellers or direct fromResources for Children with Special Needs, Inc. 116East 16th Street/5th floor, New York, NY 10003 212-677-4650 (phone), 212 254-4070 (fax) or visit us online atwww.resourcesnyc.orgCAREER COUNSELINGFor Educators, Parents, Students,Admin, & OthersThinking of CHANGING CAREERS or JOB HUNTING?Seek clarity, support, more through all the steps.Contact experienced board-certified Counselor. RoseMary Colorafi, MA: 646-732-3198CAMPSThe Camp Experts & Teen Summers30 East 81 Street Suite 7CNew York, NY 10028Tel: 212-288-7892; Fax: 212-288-1069Web: www.campexperts.com“The Camp Experts & Teen Summers” is a FREEadvisory service for all your children’s summer needs.Serving the NYC area for almost 20 years, JoannePaltrowitz along with Alison Paltrowitz & SusanZimny (special needs division) have done the researchto provide you with appropriate summer choices.Representing over 900 programs this team of EXPERTShas visited and screened programs for your children.Call 212-288-7892 or email THE CAMP EXPERTS at:info@campexperts.com. www.campexperts.comJoanne Paltrowitzjoanne@campexperts.comDUNNABECK at KILDONAN914-373-8111Dunnabeck at Kildonan was established in 1955 byDiana Hanbury King to meet the needs of normal,intelligent boys and girls failing or underachieving intheir academic work because of specific difficultiesin reading, writing, and spelling. Located on a 450-acre campus, it is a spacious rural setting 90 milesnorth of New York City. During the six-week program,all tutoring is done on an individual basis. Eachstudent receives one-hour tutoring daily. In addition,students are trained to study independently and tomake the best possible use of group study periods.Activities include archery, ceramics, woodworking,horseback riding, water skiing, swimming, sailing,hiking, tennis, painting, photography, and camping.For more information, contact the Admissions officeat 914/373-8111 or fax 914/373-2004.COLLEGESFebruary EventsAt SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGEREADINGJane KramerWednesday, February 8Heimbold Visual Arts Center6:30 p.m.FreeJane Kramer is the European correspondent of TheNew Yorker, and writes the “Letter from Europe” forthe magazine. She is also the author of nine books,including The Politics of Memory, a collection of herwriting from Germany in the years since the Wall fell,and, most recently, Lone Patriot, published in 2002.For more information, please call 914-395-2411.LECTUREJoshua Muldavin, “From Rural Transformation toGlobal Integration: The Real Story about China’s Riseto Superpower”Monday, February 13Reisinger Concert HallFreeChina’s rapid growth of the last two and a halfdecades has been built upon a base of environmentaldestruction and social decay. In this process the statehas lost much of its legitimacy with the country’smajority, and is now challenged by direct and indirectforms of resistance. As China’s global integrationaccelerates, this paradox of growth built on decay hascreated a shaky foundation for arguably the world’smost important new superpower. This has importantimplications not only for China but also for the world.For additional information on this lecture, please call914-395-2411.READINGC.K. WilliamsWednesday, February 15, 2006Heimbold Visual Arts Center6:30 pm.FreeWilliams is the author of numerous books of poetry,including The Singing, The Vigil, A Dream of Mind,Repair, which won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize, and Fleshand Blood, which won the National Book CriticsCircle Award. Among his many awards and honors arean American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, aGuggenheim Fellowship, and the Lila Wallace-Reader’sDigest Award. For more information, please call 914-395-2411.CONCERTChester BiscardiSunday, February 19, 2006Reisinger Concert Hall4:00 p.m.A concert showcasing the music of Chester Biscardi,accomplished composer and Director of SarahLawrence’s Music Program. Music for piano, viola andvoice with Toby Appel, viola, Judith Bettina, soprano,James Goldsworthy, piano, and Marc Peloquin, piano.Tickets are $10 for regular admission, $8 for individuals55 and over or students with current ID. For additionalinformation, please call 914-395-2411.LECTUREChester BiscardiTuesday, February 21, 2006Reisinger Concert Hall1:30 p.m.FreeChester Biscardi will lead a joint concert and lecturewith time for an open dialogue with the audienceregarding the musical compositions included in hispresentation and performance. For more information,please call 914-395-2411.READINGAntonya NelsonWednesday, February 22Heimbold Visual Arts Center6:30 p.m.FreeAntonya Nelson is the author of three novels: Livingto Tell [2000], Nobody’s Girl [1998] and Talking in Bed[1996]. Also the author of four collections of shortstories and recipient of the Flannery O’Connor Awardfor Short Fiction, Nelson was recently named by TheNew Yorker as one of the “twenty young fiction writersfor the new millennium.” For additional informationon Nelson’s reading, please call 914-395-2411.CONTINUING EDUCATIONJASA: Jewish Association ForServices For The Aged132 West 31st Street, 15th Floor, NYC(212) 273-5304Sundays at JASA, Continuing Education for Adults60 and Over at Council Senior Center. Call 212-273-5304 for catalog and information about courses.DANCE PROGRAMSNew Dance Group Arts Center254 West 47th St., NYC, NY 10036(212) 719-2733; www.ndg.orgMusical Theater Program for kids/young adults. Danceclasses in all disciplines. Teaching/rehearsal spaceavailable. Located between Broadway and 8th Avenue.HOME SCHOOLINGScienceSchoolHouse1-888-666-6362Home Schooling Parents! Do you need scienceresources that meet the New York state curriculumstandards? The content in the ScienceSchoolHouseDiscover!Science library has been recognized by someof the largest and most progressive states as meeting100% of their required learning outcomes for specificscience courses in grades 6-12. All of our CDs featureinteractive multimedia tutorials, two fully narrated textlevels, beautiful photographs and illustrations, scoresof interactive exercises, half-hour video documentaries(plus lots of short video clips), quizzes, test banks—andour revolutionary new 3D Virtual Lab. Approved forpurchase by the New York City Department of Education.For more information on our titles in astronomy, geology,oceans, weather, life science and the environment, visitour website at scienceschoolhouse.com or call us at 1-888-666-6362 TODAY!MED & HEALTH SERVICESNYU Child Study Center550 First Avenue, NYC; (212) 263-6622The NYU Child Study Center, a comprehensive treatmentand research center for children’s psychologicalhealth at NYU Medical Center, now offers specializedservices for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder,anxiety-related problems, consultations for learningdisabilities and giftedness, and seminars on parentingand child development. Call for more information.Advanced Degrees in Medicine,Science, and the Health Professionsat New York Medical College Valhalla,NY; (914) 594-4000; www.nymc.eduSCHOOLSDARROW SCHOOL518-794-6000Darrow School an independent, co-ed, boardingand day school in New Lebanon, New York, offers acomprehensive college-preparatory curriculum witha range of courses in writing and literature, history,languages, mathematics, sciences, and the arts. Thebeautiful mountainside campus is located on the siteof the historic Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village. For moreinformation call (518) 794-6000.THE HARLEM SCHOOL OF THE ARTS645 St. Nicholas Ave., NYC(212) 926-4100 ext. 304Learning continues after school at The Harlem Schoolof the Arts, an after school conservatory where the artseducate, stimulate and motivate your child. Music, dance,theater, visual arts and much, much, much more!!Math TutoringHigh School & Junior High2 Sample Hours, No ChargeArithmetic Advanced Calculus212.228.1642917.297.2389SCHOOL RECRUITMENTNew Leaders for New SchoolsBecome an Urban School PrincipalNew Leaders for New Schools is a national non-profitorganization with one clear mission: promoting highacademic achievement for every child by attracting,preparing, and supporting the next generation ofoutstanding leaders for our nation’s urban publicschools. This year we are seeking over 100 highlymotivated individuals nationwide to become NewLeaders Principals in Baltimore, California’s Bay Area,Chicago, Memphis, New York City, and Washington, D.C.Successful applicants have a record of success in leadingadults, K-12 teaching experience, a relentless-drive tolead an excellent urban school and most importantly anunyielding belief in the potential of all childrento achieve academically at high levels. The NewLeaders for New Schools’ Final deadline is March 1,2006. All applications must be submitted on-line atwww.nlns.org. If you have any questions please emailus at newyorkinfo@nlns.org or call 646-792-1066.SCHOOL PROFESSIONALSFor All Your Substitute Needswww.SchoolProfessionals.cominfo@schoolprofessionals.com 212-916-0825Finally, a one-stop service whose sole focus is recruiting,interviewing and providing qualified substitutes forelementary, middle and high schools. One quick call tous means not having to interview and hire on your own,eliminating the worry and work of finding last minutereplacements, “doubling-up,” or even canceling classes.Our proprietary roster of pre-screened candidates enablesus to quickly find a professional precisely matched to yourschool’s requirements, saving you the time and expenseof scrambling to meet last-minute needs. And, with 24/7coverage, you can request staff at any time - even at nightor on weekends. 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MetroBEATFEBRUARY 2006 EDUCATION continued on page UPDATE 29 • 26The Flavor of the MonthBy CSA PRESIDENTJILL LEVY(This column is excerptedfrom Jill Levy’s speech tothe union membership at theCSA Conference at the NewYork Hilton. The complete speech can be read atwww.csa-nyc.org.)Each year, you attend this Conference to demonstrateyour genuine and unswerving loyaltyto the education of children – a dedication thattranscends politics, reorganizations, budget crises,and the latest sexy “flavor of the month” ineducation reform.This month’s flavor is Charter Schools andit is no mere whim that Joel Klein and MayorBloomberg strongly support charter schools andwant to control them. Mr. Klein has repeatedlysaid privately to me, and publicly that he believesthat charter schools are “the answer.” The answerto what?Are charter schools the answer to responding toparents, being collaborative, bringing the “public”back into public education?Or are they simply the precursors to vouchers?Are they the precursors to privatization? (By theway, the new buzz word for privatizing educationis “entrepreneurialism.” So, if you’re not entrepreneurial,you can’t be a good leader. Well forgetit. We know where that’s going.)Here’s another question: Is this quest for charterschools a way to get rid of professionalunions—the unions that they don’t want to dealwith; the unions that they do not respect; theunions that, in fact, speak for their members?Their fondest desire is to do with you what theywill – move you, fire you, intimidate you, harassyou. Read the November 30 Education Week toCityʼs Schools CutAchievement Gap? Not YetBy LIZ KRUEGER,NYS SENATORWhile reading the newspaperlast month, a headlinecaught my eye: “City’s Schools Cut Racial Gap inTest Scores.” I was pleased to learn that accordingto a new national study, the achievementgap between African American and Hispanicstudents and their white peers is narrowing inNew York City schools more so than in any ofthe other 10 urban school districts represented inthe analysis.The study showed that the difference betweenthe average scores of New York’s AfricanAmerican and white students decreased by 10points, while among white and Hispanic students,the gap reduced by 7 points. Moreover, NewYork was the leading district in reading scoresfor fourth and eighth grade students who areeligible for the free and reduced lunch program,a gauge of socioeconomic disadvantage. Goodnews, right? Well, before you or I let these statisticsconvince us that adequate progress is beingmade towards closing the achievement gap, let’sreview the facts about the actual NYC graduationrates of African American and Hispanic studentsversus their white counterparts.Just two days before I read the above articlelauding the New York City school system forits progress towards eliminating racial disparities,the following headline appeared in thesame newspaper, “Few Minorities Get Best HighSchool Diplomas.”The article grimly reminded us that after 4years of high school, only one out of ten AfricanAmerican and Hispanic students will receive afind out Joel Klein’s views about union contractsand “entrepreneurialism”.Joel Klein said: “In a system that is producingresults that we as a nation find somewherebetween awful and deplorable, we need to thinkseriously about an environment that’s going tofoster entrepreneurialism so that we have innovationin the system.” How dare he say that? Yes,we have issues. Yes, we need to do better in somecases, but, deplorable?Joel Klein’s embrace of an entrepreneurial systemwould have us working in a school systemthat bends to the whims of private funders andtheir ideas about what education is. Tweed andits cadre of young MBAs creates new, untestedpolicies and reorganizations and calls them“reforms.” This house of cards, funded by outsideinterests, will come tumbling down when, guesswhat, all these private philanthropists move on tothe next flavor of the month for them.And who gets left to pick up the pieces?We do! When this new experiment fails,who will be blamed? We will, the schooladministrators and supervisors—the first toget blamed when things go wrong and the lastto get a contract.Well, Mr. Klein may still think that the reorganizationis “a work in progress” or that you’re“on the right track”, or “moving in the right direction,”but he needs to know that you, every oneof you, supervisors, administrators, teachers, parents,paraprofessionals, school aides, all of you,you are the people who struggle to keep ahead ofthat train that’s on the “right track” and its everchangingrules and mandates. You are the peoplethat Joel Klein should be applauding today.#Jill Levy is the President of the Council ofSchool Supervisors and Administrators.Regents diploma. As a point of comparison, aRegents diploma is granted to more than one inthree white and Asian students. So, as much asI would like to take comfort in knowing that insome grades, racial discrepancies in test scoresare becoming less apparent, in the end, our schoolsystem has not only failed, but it has managedto create a serious predicament for civil rightsas a whole. More than half a century after theBrown v. Board of Education decision, our city’sschools are not upholding the right of every childto obtain an equal education.We must support all students, especially thosewho are struggling, by affording them greaterflexibility with their education. Giving studentswho already feel disenfranchised by the schoolsystem a battery of tests for which they are notadequately prepared is futile and sets them upfor failure. We need to give them something new,we owe them something better! To this end, Isuggest that the City and State work together todevelop additional alternative methods for assistingstudents and measuring success. Consortium,performance based schools, co-op/vocationalprograms and specialized high schools have allshown promise. We must also focus our efforts onnew initiatives and programs for the 10th grade,the “problem age,” when too many studentsespecially in schools with large African Americanand Hispanic populations—seem to give up anddrop out.As our school system has followed the trendof emphasizing high-stakes testing rather thanpreparation for college and/or employment, thosewho do not test well are left outside of this “onesize-fits-all”model. Quality vocational programsMayor Bloomberg GivesBlueprint For NYC Stability& Growth“We stand at a special moment for our city.Over the past four years, we’ve overcome somemonumental challenges—and we only did so bycoming together. Now, we can push New York onto even greater heights, if we stay united. Andrecently, in my State of the City address, I laidout a blueprint for how we can do it.“To create the jobs our city needs, we’re goingto continue investing in a diversity of industries—includingtourism, film and TV production,and bioscience. This year, work will starton an extraordinary range of projects in all fiveboroughs—from the Atlantic Yards to the JavitsConvention Center—creating jobs, revitalizingour waterfront, and invigorating our communities.We’ll also push Silverstein Properties andthe Port Authority to renegotiate their lease so wecan accelerate construction at the World TradeCenter site and build the retail stores that thearea needs. That’s crucial to Lower Manhattan’srebirth as the world’s financial capital and as athriving residential community.“Our blueprint for the future also includesbold initiatives in housing, health, and fightingpoverty. We’ll move forward on our $7.5 billionplan to build or preserve 165,000 units ofaffordable housing, much of it for middle-classfamilies. We’ll launch an effort to ensure everyschool student has health insurance, and bolsterour campaigns against two of the city’s biggestkillers—diabetes and HIV/AIDS. And, TimeWarner CEO Dick Parsons and Geoffrey Canada,President and CEO of The Harlem Children’sZone, will lead a public-private taskforce toattack chronic poverty and unemployment, startingin Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant inhave a proven record showing that there aredifferent ways to succeed in school and careeropportunities. Consortium schools, which utilizeperformance-based assessments, boast a drop-outrate that is half of New York City public schools.With 71 percent of the students being of colorand 61 percent qualifying for free lunch, theirstudents are graduating and moving on to collegeat rates higher than the City as a whole.Small high schools have also demonstratedsuccess in graduating more students. The JuliaRichmond Education Complex (JREC) on East67th Street in my district is one example of aschool that, once a large, failing high schoolBrooklyn and Melrose in the Bronx.“Education is another important element inour blueprint: This year we will create morenew schools and programs that give high schoolstudents additional routes to graduation, employment,and post-secondary education. We willwork to lift the State cap on charter schools. ThisSeptember, we also will open Brooklyn Latin, thefirst of seven new academically selective schools.And at the same time, we will partner with NYUand CUNY to launch an ambitious new trainingcurriculum for aspiring teachers.“To strengthen our government’s integrity, Ihave proposed a ban on all gifts from lobbyists.We’ll also seek to end the practice of ‘pay-toplay’that corrupts the legislative process. Andwe’ll strengthen our government’s long-termfiscal health by working with City labor andlegislative leaders to achieve innovative pensionmodifications and health care savings.“But the foundation of our blueprint for thefuture is improving public safety. Over the comingyear, we will make the nation’s safest big cityeven safer by expanding the use of DNA to solvecrimes and mounting a bold campaign againstour most urgent threat: illegal guns. Our strategyincludes launching lawsuits against irresponsiblegun dealers and urging the State Legislature bothto stiffen penalties for gun criminals and createa database to track these offenders once they’rereleased from prison.“No doubt, these all represent tough challenges,but if we continue forward in a non-partisanway—putting our common interests first—thereis no limit to how much we can achieve.#graduating a mere third of its students, has beentransformed into six successful small schools. Ofthe students in JREC’s four high schools, morethan 90 percent graduate and the vast majority ofthem go to college.I know that closing the achievement gap willrequire substantial investment of dollars andideas. While progress is being made in the lowergrades, graduation rates are an urgent problemwhich requires that we also pay extra specialattention to our high schools. Through deliberatework, we can correct this crisis so that you and Imight one day read the headline, “City’s SchoolsCut Racial Gap”—and believe it.#Space Foundation Now AcceptingApplications for Teacher Liaison ProgramApplications are due to the Space Foundationby Feb. 24, 2006. Space Foundation TeacherLiaisons serve as an active link between theSpace Foundation, NASA, and their school andschool district.All kindergarten through 12th grade educators,or other professionals or informal educators whohave a desire to integrate space education intotheir classrooms are eligible to apply.Teacher Liaisons receive specialized trainingand instruction at Space Foundation and NASAworkshops with optional graduate-level credit;exclusive science, technology, engineering, andmath (STEM) professional development experienceswith optional continuing education credit;and attend special space-oriented student programscreated just for Teacher Liaisons and theirclasses.Teacher Liaisons are recognized during the22nd National Space Symposium, and receivefree registration to the symposium, held April 3-6, 2006, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.They also gain free admission to the LockheedMartin Exhibit Center, showcasing the latestin space technology and applications, at theNational Space Symposium.Applications are available to download onlineat www.SpaceFoundation.org/education or bycontacting Jonathan Ogg, Director of Education,at (719) 576-8000. Selected teachers will be notifiedin March.#For more info, visit www.SpaceFoundation.org.

New York City • FEBRUARY 2006FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS• 27Eighty Percent Of Country EarnedMediocre Or Near-Failing GradesIn First-Ever ʻReport Cardʼ OnState Of Emergency MedicineThe state of emergency care in Americareceived low marks in a report released by anobjective panel of emergency medical experts.The first-ever National Report Card on the Stateof Emergency Medicine finds an emergency caresystem characterized by overcrowding, decliningaccess to care, soaring liability costs and apoor capacity to deal with public health or terroristdisasters.The nation’s emergency medical care systemreceived an overall grade of C-, which representsthe average of grades for all 50 statesand the District of Columbia. A task force ofexperts assembled by the American College ofEmergency Physicians used a range of availabledata to develop 50 measures for grading eachstate on a scale of A through F for its support infour areas: Access to Emergency Care, Qualityand Patient Safety, Public Health and InjuryPrevention, and Medical Liability Environment.“Americans assume they will receive lifesavingemergency care when and where theyneed it, but increasingly this isn’t the case,”said Frederick C. Blum, MD, FACEP, presidentof ACEP. “Our report found the nation’s supportfor emergency medical care is mediocreor worse. Most Americans would not acceptmediocre treatment or mediocre medicines; theyalso should not accept mediocre support of anemergency medical system that they expect tobe of the highest quality when their lives hang inthe balance. In a nation that has prided itself onproviding the highest-quality medical care in theworld, anything less than an A is unacceptable.”While no state received an overall A grade,California ranked first in the nation, followedby Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Districtof Columbia, all earning the highest overall Bgrades. The report found that half the states wereproviding below-average support for their emergencymedical systems, earning poor or nearfailinggrades. Arkansas, Idaho and Utah hadthe weakest support, receiving the worst overallgrade of D.The Report Card provides local, state and federalofficials with information to identify theirstates’ strengths and areas for improvement, whileallowing them to make comparisons and learnfrom other states. The task force analyzed datafrom sources including the American MedicalAssociation, the American Nurses Association,the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and theU.S. Department of Health and Human Services,among others. A task force of emergency physiciansapplied the grades by considering 50measurements that were common to all states.A “curved” grading system was used—applyinggrades by comparing each state with the highestranked state in each category.“This report is a serious wake-up call to thenation,” said Angela Gardner, MD, FACEP, apracticing emergency physician in Texas andchair of ACEP’s Report Card Task Force. “Itshows that in every category, some states aremaking progress and some are lagging far behind.If the emergency medical system gets a C- onan average day, how can it ever be expectedto provide expert, efficient care during a naturaldisaster or terrorist attack? Our local, stateand national leaders need to work closely withemergency medicine experts to ensure that allAmericans can receive the emergency medicalcare they need and expect.”Specific findings from the Report Cardinclude:Access to Emergency CareSeven states led the nation, earning “A” gradesin the category—Connecticut, the District ofColumbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio,Pennsylvania and Rhode Island—with no statereceiving a failing grade. The category lookedat the availability of emergency care resources,as well as certain kinds of state health spending,including public funding of health insurance,which makes more resources available toeveryone.Nine states received D grades: Alabama,Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, NewMexico, Texas, and Utah.Quality of Care and Patient SafetyEight states led the nation, earning “A” gradesin this category—Connecticut, Delaware,District of Columbia, Georgia, Iowa, New Jersey,Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Three statesreceived “F” grades—Kansas, Nevada and SouthDakota—and 17 others earning “D” grades.This category looked at state support for trainingemergency physicians and EMS personnelas well as patient access to ambulances and 911services.Public Health and Injury PreventionFive states led the nation, earning “A”grades in this category—California, Maryland,Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York. Fortyonestates earned a “C” or lower in support forhealth and safety programs, with two states, withMontana and South Dakota earning “F” grades.This category focused on lessening the need foremergency care due to traumatic injury or preventableillnesses. It looked at indicators, such aswhether the state had seat belt and helmet laws,domestic violence programs, as well as stateimmunization rates and the number of mothersreceiving prenatal care.Medical Liability EnvironmentFour states led the nation, earning “A” grades inSales People Needed at Education UpdateExcellent Commission • Great Working Environment • Central LocationEmail us ednews1@aol.comFax us at 212-477-5893ADVICE FOR CHILDREN FROMBOSTON CHILDREN’S HOSPITALSince we’re in the midst of flu and cold season,I wanted to alert you to a helpful resource on therecently re-launched Children’s Hospital BostonWeb site—the “My Child Has” search feature,which offers an encyclopedic database of informationon childhood illnesses and conditions,tips on preventive care, as well as explanations oftreatments, procedures, and diagnostic tests, withlinks from each entry to the appropriate clinicaldepartments and programs within the hospital.Entries assist parents and caregivers—no matterwhere they live—in understanding suchcomplex conditions as anorexia nervosa, hypoplasticleft heart syndrome, spina bifida, shortbowel syndrome, and brain tumors, as wellas many others. Information on more commonailments and preventive measures is alsoincluded—from the common cold to influenza,splinters to burns, animal bites and scratches toacne, allergies and avoiding asthma triggers toinfant nutrition, grief and bereavement to stuttering,growth rates to how to tell the differencebetween a minor problem vs. a true emergency,and much, much more.http://www.childrenshospital.org/mychildhas.Additional resources are available on Children’sHospital Boston’s Web site at http://www.childrenshospital.org.One of the more popular featuresis “Arthur’s Guide to Children’s HospitalBoston,” available in both Spanish and English.This guide was created to answer questionschildren may have about going to the hospitaland to help prepare the entire family for the visit.Designed to look and read like a school reportby Arthur and his friends, the guide describeshospital experiences in simple terms, and coversin detail three types of visits: doctor’s visits, preoperativevisits, and hospital stays. Another frequentlyvisited area is the “Experience Journal”where young patients and their families haveshared their personal medical experiences. Parentscan also request an appointment online. The siteincludes general information about the hospital,as well as a rich variety of resources about eachdepartment and specialty.#this category—California, Montana, Nevada, andTexas. Twelve states received failing grades fortheir medical liability environments—Arkansas,Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maryland,New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania,Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia andWyoming—30 others had near failing grades.This category assessed increases in state medicalliability rates as well as reform initiatives.Problems with a state’s medical liability climatecan lead to physician shortages, delays in patientcare and increased patient transfers.Although the Report Card found a generalcorrelation between the overall wealth of a stateand better grades, it also found that some of thenation’s historically poorest states earned betterthan-averagegrades—South Carolina and WestVirginia—demonstrating their commitment tohigh-quality emergency care. They also discoveredthat states with lower population densitiesgenerally faced greater deficits in emergencycare.“As emergency physicians providing care tomillions of Americans each year, my colleaguesand I knew the environment for consistently providingquality, timely emergency care was eroding,but even we weren’t prepared for how direthe situation is in some states,” said Dr. Blum.“The important thing to remember is that in virtuallyevery category we considered, at least onestate is doing an excellent job. These models canbe analyzed and adapted to improve emergencycare for everyone, regardless of what state onelives in.”ACEP officials say they will continue to measurestate efforts and improvements in emergencycare over time, using this report as an initialbenchmark.#The American College of Emergency Physicians(ACEP) is the national medical specialty societyrepresenting emergency medicine with more than23,000 members. ACEP is committed to improvingthe quality of emergency care through continuingeducation, research, and public education.Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has53 chapters representing each state, as well asPuerto Rico and the District of Columbia, and aGovernment Services Chapter representing emergencyphysicians employed by military branchesand other government agencies.UNION SETTLEMENT HOME CARE SERVICES, INC.CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARYUnion Settlement Home Care Services, located at 174 East 104th Street, New York, NY celebratedits 25th Anniversary Year celebration with a community Open House series. “All too often peoplefacing an illness don’t know where to turn for comfort and support, “said Cheryl Patterson-Artis,ACBSW, MRE, MST, Director of Operations, for Union Settlement Home Care Services. “Throughthis celebration, our goal is to diminish the fears that make people reluctant to talk about homecareand let them know about the supportive, compassionate and pain-relieving services that we provide”,stated Ms. Patterson-Artis.Union Settlement Home Care Services, Inc. licensed by the NYS Dept. of Health, has providedmore than 25 years of quality service to elderly and disabled persons throughout NYC andWestchester County. As a nonprofit organization, their mission is to support the families and clientswith professional competence, respect, reliability and compassion. Basic health care is providedfrom two to 24 hours a day, by a staff totaling more than 350 home health aides, personal care aidesand registered nurses. Home Care Workers assist with daily activities, including cooking, cleaningand shopping. Currently, Union Settlement Home Care serves approximately 300 clients in four ofthe boroughs with five contractors.Union Settlement Home Care Service, Inc is a member of Home Care Council of New York City,Inc., helping shape NYC’s policies for professional standards in the healthcare industry. They arealso part of the Union Settlement Association, which celebrated their 110th year Anniversary in 2005,serving the East Harlem community and New York City at large, since 1895. Union Settlement hasbeen a trusted force in New York City. Today, the agency serves more than 13, 000 people each yearwith effective programs in education, health, childcare, senior care, adult literacy, job training, nutrition,recreation, cultural activities, counseling and economic development.#

EDUCATION UPDATE ■ FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS ■ FEBRUARY 2006GIVE YOUR GROUPS THE THEATRICALArrivesonBroadwayMarch24EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME!Richard Rodgers Theatre • 46th St. & Broadway Lunt-Fontanne Theatre • 46th St. & BroadwayNew Amsterdam Theatre42nd St. & Broadway800-439-9000or 212-703-1040www.disneyonbroadway.comSpecial Group Rates for 15 or more• No deposit & flexible payment policies• FREE Group Leader ticket availableCertain restrictions apply. Offer not available for all performances. Discount tickets subject to availability. Not all seats are discounted. Blackout dates may apply.Minimum purchase required for group leader ticket. Ask your group sales representative for complete details.