PA Donates 150 NY Times Day-After-Election Newspapers to Students, Teachers

Anyone who tried to buy a newspaper around NYC on November 5, the day after Barack Obama's Presidential election victory, knows it was a nearly impossible task. Everyone wanted a piece of history, something to save for themselves and their children, so the local newspapers sold out almost immediately.

Fortunately, the NY Times reprinted the entire November 5 newspaper last weekend and put them on sale outside their building at 41st and Eighth Avenue. MCSM parent leaders Steve Koss and Deirdre Rose took this unique opportunity on Saturday (November 8) to purchase five strapped bundles of 30 newspapers each (a total of 150 copies) of the Times' day-after-the-election newspaper and donate them to MCSM on behalf of the Parents' Association.

The PA Board has expressed its wishes to Principal David Jimenez that the five bundles be allocated as one bundle each to Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12, and one bundle to the teachers and staff. It is our hope that the 30 newspapers in each student grade bundle be made available in some form of random drawing for students who express an interest in commemorating this momentous event in America's history by having and saving a newspaper announcing it.

Con Edison to Present at November 18 PA Meeting

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!

Representatives from Con Edison, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and NYS Department of Health (DOH) will be previewing their site remediation plans at our next regular PA meeting at MCSM on Tuesday, November 18 at 6:00 PM. This is an important chance to hear Con Edison’s (and New York State’s) plans for our school building site, ask questions, address your concerns, and express your opinions on a matter that concerns the health of our children.

Con Edison and DEC will discuss the results of their August, 2008 indoor air quality testing and provide an overview of their anticipated program to address the coal tar contamination beneath our school site. Their presentation is being made in advance of the formal release early next year of their Analysis of Alternatives Report (AAR) which, upon release, will have a thirty-day period for public comment before finalization.

The PA has invited the parents and staff of Isaac Newton Middle School to join us for that evening’s meeting. Representatives of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) will be attending, as will our independent environmental consultants, Lenny Siegel and Peter Strauss. We are also reaching out to local politicians like City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, State Senators Jose Serrano and William Perkins, and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum to invite them or their staff representatives to attend.

Our children’s health and well-being in their school is a serious issue of great concern to us all. We can best demonstrate our concern with a good turnout. If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to contact any of the PA Executive Board members. We hope to see at the PA meeting on November 18.

MCSM Students Lead Greenhouse Re-Opening

Parents!!! If you want to see your kids and teachers at work beyond their classrooms and textbooks, please come to MCSM on Thursday, November 13 at 3:30 pm to see the GRAND RE-OPENING of our school’s greenhouse.

Perhaps you didn’t know that MCSM had a greenhouse! Perhaps you didn’t even know that MCSM has a fourth floor! Well, there is indeed a fourth floor and there has long been a greenhouse that had lain dormant until late last school year. Now’s your chance to find out more about both and celebrate the student-led work of the new Project Greenway at MCSM.

Please join the students and teachers for this exciting event on November 13th and learn more about how our kids are joining the Green Revolution.

Thanksgiving Dinner at MCSM

Hungry for turkey? How about an ethnic food Thanksgiving? How about just a nice, casual pre-Thanksgiving celebration with your sons or daughters and their teachers and school administrators?

On Tuesday, November 25, the Children’s Aid Society will be hosting their Second Annual Thanksgiving Dinner from 4:00 – 6:00 P.M. Parents are welcomed to attend. This is a great chance for a family activity with your child, and one where you can meet and mingle with other parents and MCSM teachers.

Children’s Aid Society asks that you bring a food dish or beverage item if you can, but it is not a requirement for entry. Just show up and join the party!

For more information, please contact Ms. Elizabeth Blanco, CAS Director, at 212-423-9630.

Ashley Farms Fundraiser – A BIG Success

This fall’s fundraiser with the Ashley Farms cheesecake and dessert product line has broken all MCSM records (certainly at least those within recent memory). Thanks to the indefatigable efforts of PA Co-Vice President Deirdre Rose, we’ve passed the $5,000 mark in the gross total of our food orders. That total is more than double our first Ashley Farms product sale last spring!! Thanks to all who participated, and especially to those who reached out to friends, family, and co-workers to sell on behalf of our school.

All orders will be received together in a single delivery from Ashley Farms to MCSM sometime on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 18. Each person’s combined order will be boxed and sealed separately, so they will be easier for you to carry home. You can arrange for pick-up any time after 3:00 on November 18, up to and through the Parents’ Association meeting that evening.

Many, many thanks to all the parents and friends of MCSM who participated, and especially to those who reached out to friends, family, and co-workers to sell on behalf of our school. They will soon be able to enjoy the delicious Ashley Farms products they ordered, and at the same time, the PA will be able to add roughly $2,000 to our bank account, funds that in one way or the other will go back to the school to help our kids.

If you missed out on this fundraiser, we are planning to have a second Ashley Farms sale in the spring, in time for delivery on Tuesday, April 7. So you will have a second chance to order cheesecakes, cookie doughs, apple cakes, pretzels, pizzas, and other frozen food goodies. Let’s shoot to set another school fundraising record in the spring!!

Ashley Farms – “How ‘Bout Them Cheesecakes!”

After last year’s successful and much-praised first time sale of frozen food items from Ashley Farms, the PA is once again sponsoring Ashley Farms product sales this fall and again next spring. Ashley Farms offers a great line of frozen cheesecakes, pizzas, cakes, cookie doughs, and pretzels. Parents who purchased items from Ashley Farms last spring raved about their taste and quality – their cheesecakes, for example, are the equal of those at the Cheesecake Factory but cost significantly less.

All items ordered will arrive frozen at MCSM and will remain frozen for about six hours. They can be refrozen without any loss in quality and can remain frozen for months! All order forms and payments must be turned in to the PA by October 14, the night of our next PA meeting. Checks and money orders should be made out to MCSM PA. The items ordered will then be delivered for our PA meeting on November 18.

If you are unable to make it to the October 14 PA meeting (College Night -- you really don't want to miss it ), our Parent Coordinator, Julia Valentin, has graciously agreed to keep a supply of Ashley Farms' beautiful brochures in her office for anyone, including your child, to pick up and bring home to you.

You can also see the delicious products Ashley Farms has to offer in this sale by clicking on the following text: Ashley Farms Broadway Cafe. Please note that this sale only includes the Ashley Farms items shown on the Broadway Cafe menu. If you would like to order any of these items, please contact Parent Coordinator Julia Valentin (by phone at 347-563-5163, by email at jvalentin2@schools.nyc.gov) or PA Co-Vice President Deirdre Rose at birdrose12000@yahoo.com.

This is a great opportunity to ask family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, your hairdresser, auto mechanic, mail carrier -- anyone and everyone -- to support your child's school by purchasing a product that you won't be embarassed about on the date of delivery! You will be giving them a product they will ask you about in the future, if past fundraisers with this company are any guide. So remember that the holidays are coming up, and that these products freeze and keep very well for an extended period of time. Stock up, and tell others to do the same!

Please do not allow your child to do any door-to-door selling alone, without an adult. We know they seem to be able to take care of themselves, BUT they are still children, and we do not want any of our children put at risk.

This is a great fund raiser for the PA to help benefit our school and our kids. Please participate and sell lots of goodies! You’ll be helping MCSM and enjoying some really great desserts and pizzas, too!

Four Parent Committees Established for 2008/2009

The PA has established four working committees for the 2008/2009 school year:

-- Fund Raising – organizes and conducts fund raising activities and events to earn income that can be used to further PA programs and/or be donated to the school to meet unexpected needs, support new or existing programs or facilities, and enrich the overall learning environment for our children.

-- Membership and Communication – reaches out to MCSM parents to increase their involvement, solicits dues donations, and provides multiple vehicles for communication such as the existing Parent Newsletter and Parents’ Information Center website.

-- School Safety – works with the Principal and school safety personnel to review school safety and security policies, address safety and security-related problems, relay information to parents, and build a working relationship with the local NYPD precinct.

-- Parent Education and Resources – works with the Parent Coordinator and CAS to develop educational programs and purchase educational materials for parents on a wide range of parenting and personal improvement topics.

In addition, parent volunteers will be needed this fall for C-30 committees for Assistant Principal (AP) positions.

Anyone interested in joining any of these committees or participating in an upcoming C-30 (dates to be determined) should contact PA President Steve Koss (mathman180@aol.com), PA Co-Vice President Deirdre Rose (birdrose12000@yahoo.com), or PA Co-Vice President Loisen Harris-Jacobs (loisenj@optonline.net).