PCEC Newsletter - September 2015

From the

Parent Council Excecutive Committee

SA families Bensonhurst

September 2015 Newsletter

What’s Inside 1 Opening Letter 2 Be the Change You Wish to See 3 September Holidays

5 Things We Can’t Wait to See

Going Beyond SA-BH

4 Calendar of Upcoming Events at School and Around Town

sa-bh PCEC Polina Bulman President

Madeline Vega Vice President

The PCEC Family Picnic on Aug. 14 brought new and old families together to answer questions and help everyone get off to a good start. Photo courtesy Kathy Sakovich

A whole lot of excitement Welcome to the first issue of the Parent Council Executive Committee’s newsletter! While you might have already settled into a routine, this is a time filled with changes—classmates, expectations, lunch options... Our goal is to help everyone get off to a good start and keep the momentum going.

Mark Your Calendar Parent Council Breakfast for parents and guardians to meet not only the Executive Council but to also meet each other without scholars.

Thursday Sept. 3 at 7:15 a.m. in the 4th Floor gymnasium

Secretary

Rally in Manhattan (not a protest) to show our support for better education. Be ready to dance and have fun!

Wednesday Sept. 30 meet the buses at school at 7:15 a.m.

If you would like to contribute, join us Sept. 3 at 7:15 a.m. to learn more.

Collections for Winter Party and Holiday Gifts will be stretched over two months to ease the surprise and pressure some families felt last year.

Party Collection Oct. 1 - Oct. 31 and Gift Collection Nov. 1 - Nov. 30

Lana Dziouba

Send pictures or calendar events anytime to contribute_sabh@yahoo.com

Be sure to come to the breakfast Sept. 3 so we can answer your questions and share more of our plans for this school year. Or contact us any time at sa-bensonhurst-pcec@googlegroups.com.

Be the Change You Wish to See Every parent is part of the Parent Council but now there are new ways to give and receive help Last year, events such as the Asian Lunar New Year celebration and end-of-year carnival could never have happened without the initiative and participation shown by parents.

In an effort to make SA-BH even better for all our families, the PCEC has begun to create committees to help implement more of your ideas. If you would like to be involved, please email sa-bensonhurst-pcec@ googlegroups.com with your name, phone number, and which committee interests you. We encourage everyone to join!

Kim Perkins, mother of 2nd grader Alexi, helps Ms. Rodriguez set up the art show. photo courtesty Polina Bulman

1. Communication Committee Join this Committee if you’re interested in facilitating and improving communication between the school and our scholars and families.

3. Events Committee This Committee will be in charge of organizing events for the SA Bensonhurst community to help parents meet and celebrate.

2. Curriculum Support Committee This Committee will help parents to better understand SA curriculum (math & literacy) to be able to help scholars at home through educational events, support groups, etc.

4. Community Outreach Committee This Committee will help us go beyond SA-BH. Join this committee if you’re interested in finding and participating in volunteer opportunities outside of school.

5. After School Committee Establishing carpools and creating mini camps will be the focus here.

More committees will be created as needs evolve. Come to the breakfast Sept. 3 to learn more. We thank all of our families for all of the work that you have put in to making our school such a great place. We look forward to making more amazing memories this year!

A quick guide to staff names

First Grade Lead Teacher

VanSickle (van’zhik l) Second Grade Lead Teacherl

Okotieuro (o’ko’te’ur’o) Office Coordinator Bonus Staff is on the “SABH Community” group, not “SABH” group on Facebook.

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e

Vanzl (van’zhl)

September Holidays This month brings more than just the start of a new school year Everywhere you look, it’s school supplies and new clothes (and pre-season football and ads for new TV shows), but this September also brings some important holidays in the Islamic and Jewish faiths. How do you begin to explain a truly religious holiday to children who only know commercialized celebrations? Any holiday is an opportunity to gather and eat special foods, but these particular holidays call for reflection before starting a new year.

Eid Al Adha, the “Festival of the sacrifice,” is the second of two religious holidays celebrated by Muslims worldwide each year. Dalia Mahdi, mother of 1st grader Nabil, explains Eid Al Adha comes at the end of the Hajj, “the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah, which is one of the greatest religious observances in Islam. During the Hajj, Muslims remember and commemorate the trials and triumphs of the Prophet Abraham.” It honors the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his promised son, Ishmael, as an act of submission to God’s command, before God then intervened, through His angel Jibra’il, and informs Abraham that his sacrifice has already been accepted.

“Normally, Muslim families, including mine, attend morning prayer at the mosque wearing their best clothing,” Dalia says. “After prayer you have the sacrifice of an animal, specifically a lamb, which occurs at a slaughterhouse or a farm, depending. Finally, families come together and celebrate with a great feast!”

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is seen as the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve. It is also first of the “Ten Days of Repentance,” which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

“We eat sweet things to have a sweet year,” explains Ronit Ronser-Perry, mother of 2nd graders Aaron and Eliana. “To plan for Rosh Hashana, it’s really a lot of food. Sweets, like different fruit— pomegranates, dates, apples dipped in honey—and fish.”

First grader David Seidenberg’s mom, Silvana, says the shofar blowing is the best part of Rosh Hashana according to their family, followed closely by dinner with family. The instrument, traditionally made from the horn from a Ram, is blown after the Torah reading at a synagogue “to shake out of our spiritual slumber,” according to chabad.org.

“The 10 days are days we ask g.d and people to forgive us for anything we’ve done knowingly and unknowingly,” Ronit says. “If we hurt a person, we need his forgiveness; g.d can’t forgive for a person.”

Sept. 27 marks the beginning of Sukkot, which lasts seven days and nights. “We build a little hut and eat there. Some sleep there,” Ronit says.

The huts, sukkah, symbolize the miraculous “clouds of glory” that shielded Jewish ancestors as they traversed the Sinai Desert for 40 years following the Exodus from Egypt. “The last day is Simcat Torah, on which we celebrate the Torah and start reading from the beginning.”

—Madeline Vega

Tell us something about yourself that was not asked on teacher survey

a n i d e y a l p I nd a b l l o r n rock ’ ’ co. in Mexi

—Mr. Puckett Chess

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things we can’t wait to see this school year Everyday occurances that brought joy to the SA-BH community before

1 2

What Principal Dant wears for spirit days Kindergarteners starting to read independently (because they all will)

3

Amazing bulletin boards (and maybe winning the Network competition this year?)

4 5

Movement Break videos with guest appearances Community Circle

Going Beyond SA-BH Let’s “Go Beyond Z” through volunteering Every month, look to this corner for new ways to improve the community outside our school. This month, however, we’d like to start inside SA-BH. Come to the Parent Council breakfast Sept. 3 at 7:15 a.m. in the 4th Floor gym to learn more about ways you can contribute to our school community. Every type of skill was put to use last year—baking, driving, carrying boxes, cleaning—on top of the fun things, like talking to scholars and decorating bulletin boards. Help us go beyond Z!

September 2015 SA-BH PCEC Newsletter 3

Calendar of Upcoming Events sun 30

mon 31

tues

wed 2

1

thurs

fri 4

3

8 Teacher Training No School

14

15

Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit Caribbean Carnival parade 13

9

7 LABOR DAY No School

10 Feast of San Gennaro begins

16

17

11 Tribute in Light memorial at World Trade Center 18

22

23

Day of Arafat

First Day of Fall

Hajj begins

Yom Kippur begins at sunset

Eid al-Adha begins at sunset

28

29

21

Brooklyn Book Festival 27

12 Circus Amok

@ Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens

19 Kite Festival

Rosh Hashana begins at sunset

20

5 Beach Playdate

Parent Council Breakfast 7:15 a.m.

4th Floor Gym

6

sat

Farmers Market

30

24

25

Visit Library

Visit Library

26 Museum Day Live!

1

2

3

Education Rally in Manhattan

Sukkot begins at sunset

Fun Things to Add to Your Calendar A selection of events in and around Brooklyn to check out with your scholar Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit Sept. 5 - 7 and Sept. 12 - 13 Featuring 120 artists on the sidewalks of University Place from East 13th Street to Waverly Place.

Free. http://www.wsoae.org/

Caribbean Carnival parade Sept. 7 at 10 a.m.

Celebrate Caribbean culture and history with dancers in colorful costumes, reggae & calypso music, Caribbean food, and vendor booths in Brooklyn. Free.

Brooklyn Book Festival Children’s Day Sept. 20 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Have fun with authors, illustrators, and costumed characters, join musical performances and browse a Children’s Marketplace of booksellers at MetroTech Commons. Free.

Beach Playdate at Coney Island Sept. 5 at 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Meet up with classmates and their families for possibly your last chance to dig in the sand this summer.

Bring your outdoor toys and a snack to W 33rd Street and the Boardwalk.

Fly a kite Sept. 19 at 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Bring a kite or buy one at the Kite Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park and watch it soar. http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/ events/kite-festival

18th Ave. Greenmarket Open every Sunday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. now through Nov. 22 between 81st and 82nd Streets Kindergarteners learn about farm-totable later in the school year, but you can start talking about food now.

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