Girls in the science program will participate in fun activities like building mechanical objects, such as this Lego excavator.

Twenty-four lucky PS 9 girls in grades 2-5 have been getting their science on after school on Fridays. Thanks to a grant from the Lego Children’s Fund, Ms. Codrington, our science specialist, and Ms. Taylor, a third-grade teacher, have launched an 8-week program meant to get girls excited about science. Students get to build mechanical objects, participate in forensic explorations and nature hunts, do virtual dissections and conduct experiments that will introduce them to different fields of scientific study.

This is what a scientist looks like: Astronaut and chemical engineer Mae C. Jemison

The program, which started April 27, culminates in a sleepover at the New York Hall of Science. This fun afterschool activity has a serious objective, which is to help increase the percentage of women who end up going into the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (called STEM for short). STEM jobs are typically high-paying and they’re crucial to our nation’s success. Girls are now earning more high-school credits and getting better grades in math and science than boys, overall, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Education report. But women are still seriously underrepresented in the STEM fields. “Why So Few?” is the question and the title of a fascinating 2010 report by the American Association of University Women. The report’s recommendations include:

• confronting the stereotype that girls are not as good at science and math
• encouraging girls to see science and math as paths to a STEM career
• increasing the visibility of female science/math role models
• encouraging girls to get interested in science at an early age, and
• making it clear that skills like spatial awareness are not just innate but can be developed through practice.

Experiment stations at the New York Hall of Science

Thanks to Lego, Ms. Codrington and Ms. Taylor, a group of PS 9 girls will be doing all of that—while having a great time. All girls in grades 2-5 had the opportunity to sign up for a chance to be in the program, and 24 students were chosen by lottery. Check back for photos of the girls and their science projects. Thanks to Ivana Espinet and the grant-writing committee for helping to create this opportunity!

This is a really fun event that benefits the school. PS9 receives a portion of all book sales—last year we raised $2,200 for the school—and had more than 200 beautiful books that our teachers requested in their wish-lists donated to our classrooms.

Fun activities planned for the kiddos include:

11:30 am – Bookmark and Bracelet Making Craft Activity
1:00 pm – Hear our teachers read their favorite stories
2:00 pm – Hear Ms Lopez’s “Busy Bees Sing Books”
2:30 pm – Story reading from wonderful local author Kate Feiffer
3:30 pm – Story time with Principal D’Avilar
4:00 pm – More favorite stories with our PS 9 teachers
5:00 pm – Kids’ Pajama Party! Bring the kids in their PJs for face-painting, temporary tattoos, and milk & cookies

If you’re unable to attend the event, you can visit BN.com/bookfairs between 4/28/12 and 05/03/12 and support us online by entering Bookfair ID 10699262 at checkout.

Scholars looking at books in our state-of the art, professionally staffed library.

If your child has qualified for a district Gifted & Talented program, come check out our popular program at PS 9. Our Open House starts at 9 am this Friday, April 20. Please sign up here. We have G&T classes K-5, with awesome teachers and a focus on creative, independent thinking; academic enrichment and real books, not workbooks. As with our other teachers, the G&T teachers at PS 9 are involved in continual professional development—they are lifelong learners. And as with our other students, our goal is to nurture the physical and emotional well-being of our G&T students, in addition to encouraging intellectual growth and academic excellence.

PS 9's 2011-2012 kindergarten G&T class performs a Latin dance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new playground.

At PS 9 we believe every child is gifted, so while the G&T classes move at an accelerated rate, all students are given opportunities for enrichment (as well as acceleration if needed), and all students mix with students from other classes—G&T, general ed and special ed—during our Friday enrichment program. This academically challenging yet non-elitist approach is part of our celebration of diversity, our focus on meeting individual student needs, and our emphasis on building a strong, welcoming community here at PS 9.

Photos by Stephanie Keith

You’ll find handmade treasures ranging from stationery to clothing to jewelry (and so much in between), along with delicious treats from local eateries.

A Carnival for Kids!
Amazing activities are available for the kids while you shop. We have a full day’s jam-packed schedule with crafts, soccer clinics, music performances and lectures from a Brooklyn-based Monstrologist. $5 will grant entry into all our supervised kids’ activities.  A schedule of the kids’ events is available here. 

A Fundraiser for Arts Programs
Proceeds from the craft fair support PS 9’s arts programs, including art, dance and workshops with such groups as LAVA (acrobatics), Studio in a School, and the Guggenheim Museum.  So you’ll not only be taking home some truly great stuff while your kids have fun, you’ll be leaving behind support for a new generation of young crafters and performers. Last years’s fair raised nearly $7,000 for the school. See you there!

Raffle Tickets
To buy raffle tickets, which support PS 9 and give you a shot at some amazing prizes from our vendors, go to http://prospectheightscraftfair.com/raffle.html (you can also view some of the prizes!) No need to be present to win, so if you can’t make the fair, this is one way to support the event and possibly get some of the goodies!

Surveying the wares at last spring's craft fair. Photo by Stephanie Keith.Fun

Pyeng Threadgill, mom of PS 9 2nd-grader Luna

Tucked into a Prospect Heights duplex apartment right off Grand Army Plaza, there’s a little supper club where you can hear world-class musicians perform while eating homemade food, drinking wine and getting to know your neighbors. Call the babysitter? No need to do that, actually—childcare is included in the price of the evening. While you get your jazz, funk, rock and soul on, your kid(s) will be having a pizza/movie party right down the hall.  Best of all, your ticket ($65 per couple, $35 for individuals; includes dinner and wine) supports the PS 9 PTO, helping to pay for the school’s arts programs. Win/win/win.

PS 9 parents Jen and Stephan with guitarist Jamie Fox

This is the second year of this concert series launched in the spring of 2010 by PS 9 parents and professional musicians Jen Chapin and Stephan Crump (mom and dad to Maceo, first grade). Jen is a singer-songwriter hailed as an “uncommon wit” by Entertainment Weekly and “soulfully poetic” by NPR. PS 9-ers are more likely know her as the movie-night food lady who usually has her 2-year-old strapped to her back. Stephan, aka “Maceo’s dad,” is a Grammy-nominated bassist whose work has been called “mind-blowing.”

And it is surely mind-blowing to hear this kind of musical talent in a Prospect Heights living room while your kid eats pizza down the hall. Jen and Stephan perform together with guitarist Jamie Fox as the Jen Chapin Trio, and every house concert also features a special guest who is also a PS 9 parent and a professional musician, performing original music. Turns out there are quite a number of PS 9 parent/musicians to choose from. “Part of the reward of hosting these concerts is witnessing the sense of wonder in the attendees as they discover the artistry in their midst,” Jen says.

PS 9 parent and singer-songwriter Candice Anitra

The most recent house concert, which took place on February 11 and had a Valentine’s Day theme, featured special guest and PS 9 parent Pyeng Threadgill (pictured above), mom to second-grader Luna. While Jen dubs her music “Urban Folk Soul,” Pyeng describes hers as “Indie Jazz Afro Groove.” Past performers have included  Sean Hickey, Candice Anitra, John Caban and Brother Hijinx, and Jeremiah Lockwood of Sway Machinery—all of whom have had kids at PS 9.

So far the concerts have raised more than $3,000 for the school’s arts programming—the February 11 concert alone netted $1,090. The babysitters get paid and any band member who isn’t a PS 9 parent is offered payment, but the rest of the goods and services are donated, so most of the ticket price goes to the school. Jen and Stephan provide the grownup food (her vegetarian chili is becoming a community legend), and Brooklyn Pizza Factory delivers free pizzas for the kids. Fermented Grapes has donated wine and desserts have been provided by a few talented PS 9 parent/bakers.

The money the house concerts raise for the school is great, but the evenings are also a wonderful way to build community, Jen says, and people get excited about pitching in. “A lot of parents show up with a six-pack or a bottle, evening finery and big smiles!”

The next house concert will take place Saturday, June 16 and will feature singer-songwriter Andy Friedman, dad of Walker, first grade, and Orin, pre-K. Friedman’s songs—”hard-tack country,” according to the New Yorker—have been compared to Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. According to the Village Voice,
“[Friedman] nails the ambivalent impulses confounding the hearts of hard-drinking, Haggard-spinning, middle-aged urban family men everywhere.”

The evening will start with 6 pm kid drop off. They’ll go to a nearby apartment in the same building for pizza, games and movie. Grownups will gather in Jen and Stephan’s apartment and have a vegetarian dinner and drinks before Jen Chapin Trio starts the music around 7 pm. After a short break for dessert, Andy Friedman will perform. The evening will wrap up around 9 pm. Tickets are $65 per couple, $35 individual and are available now at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/241127

Team PS 9 at the PTO 5K in April, 2011

Join “Team PS 9″ in Prospect Park on April 29, when hundreds of parents, teachers, and students from 24 Brooklyn public schools will race, walk, stroll, and toddle for approximately 3.1 miles in support of their local PTA/PTOs. Raising money is as easy as it is fun: Ask family and friends, neighbors and colleagues to sponsor you in support of Brooklyn’s public schools.

School groups with 20 participants or more will share the proceeds from the event. Last year, PS 9 received $396.94 from the event and this year we hope to double it! Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 fundraisers.

Registration fee is $15 for an individual and $25 for a family.* The fee is waived for any individual or family who raises $50 through sponsors. Register at nycruns.com

*Contact nicolefederici@gmail.com about a reduced rate entrance fee.

We’re aiming for 100 percent participation this year, so we have a shot at reclaiming our “A”. Please do your part by filling out and returning your survey, and urging your fellow parents to do the same. If you complete your survey online (must be done by MIDNIGHT Thursday, April 5), please send an email to Parent Coordinator Charmaine Derrell-Jacob letting her know that you did so: cderrell@schools.nyc.com

Surveys are due on or before Thursday, April 5.

The PTO is planning its own internal survey for early next year. In the meantime, complaints and constructive criticism can always be sent directly to Principal D’Avilar, Parent Coordinator Charmaine Derrell-Jacob, or to the PTO at ptops9@gmail.com.

Come to a Zumba dance party this Saturday, March 31, 9:30-10:30 am. at PS 9! Shake your tail feathers, work up a sweat and support a great cause. The $5 class fee benefits the school. Taught by Zumba instructor and PS 9 mom Lynda Smith Harris (pictured at right). Adults only; community members welcome. Bring your friends to this super-fun fundraiser! Zumba is an easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired dance-fitness workout, with a party vibe.  If you haven’t ever tried a Zumba class you should definitely check it out!