PTA News: Training Workshop, Annual Dinner, Health Awareness Day and More

Interview Committee Training Opportunity: On behalf of the Garden City PTA and assistant superintendent Dr. Fino Celano, I would like to invite you to the Parent Interview Training Workshop. The training is not mandatory to serve on the hiring committee, but it is strongly recommended. The workshop will last about two hours and will be held in the board room at the administration building. The presentation will cover the steps in the hiring process, as well as important interviewing techniques. The date and time of the workshop will be  Thursday, March 15, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. RSVP to Kathy McCormack at mccormackk@gcufsd.net or call 478-1020.

Garden City PTA 2012 NYS Honorary Lifetime Membership Awards at Annual Dinner: This year the Garden City PTA is proud to recognize two people for the NYS PTA Honorary Lifetime Membership Award: Mary Ann Bliss, former assistant principal of Stewart School, and Richard Andersen of the Garden City Recreation Department. They are being recognized for their distinguished service towards the welfare of our children and youth. 

Mrs. Bliss was working as a teacher and administrator in the NYC schools when she came to serve as assistant principal at Locust School in January 2003. She was appointed in September 2005 as assistant principal of Stewart School and she held that position until her retirement this past January 2012. Mrs. Bliss shared her knowledge within different learning components of reading and writing and was an integral part of the staff development program that is still followed today. Her dedication and commitment to the literacy program will have a lasting effect on the students who came under her care during this time. She is held in the highest esteem by the administration and parents alike and is being recognized by the GC PTA for her distinguished service towards the welfare of our children.

Mr. Andersen started with the Garden City Recreation Department in the park system in October 1966 as a part-time attendant and became a full time attendant in May 1986 until his retirement in 2011. Mr. Andersen has been an adored and valued park attendant at Grove for more years than we can count. He was instrumental in the play football program and ran the summer program at Hemlock for many years. Many a child’s summer was filled with wonderful memories due to the fun activities he organized. To this day Mr. Andersen still works part-time at the parks and we are very happy to make him a NYS PTA Lifetime Member in recognition for his work with our community’s children.

A donation in honor of these recipients is being made by the GC PTA to The Twin Projects fund, which is comprised of two scholarship programs sponsored by New State PTA - the Jenkins Memorial Scholarship for Teacher Education and the Teacher Fellowship for Graduate Study in Memory of Richard Gazzola. 

The Jenkins Memorial Scholarship was inaugurated in October 1946. In 1947 the fund was established as a permanent project as a living memorial to the young people who lost their lives in military service during WWII, and was named for one of them - Clifford N. Jenkins, Jr., son of Margaret Jenkins, New York State PTA president, 1944-1947, and National PTA president, 1961-1964. The purpose of the project is to assist outstanding students in preparing for the teaching profession.

The Teacher Fellowship was established by the New York State PTA in 1961 to encourage excellent teachers to stay in the classroom by providing an opportunity for them to improve their teaching skills, update their professional knowledge and expand their professional horizons. In 1992, the Fellowship was named to honor a “Master Teacher,” Richard Gazzola, who served on the New York State PTA board of directors for many years prior to his untimely death in 1991.

GC PTA Sponsors CPR Class and Health Awareness Day: The Health & Safety Committee of the Garden City PTA is excited to sponsor its “Health Awareness Day” on Wednesday, March 14, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Garden City High School. Visit the health tables in the HS gym for more information on the following topics:
    •    Smoke Cessation
    •    Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist
    •    Blood Pressure Station
    •    Asthma, Sleeping Disorder and Pulmonary Information
    •    Breast Health
This program is free, and no registration is necessary.

Also on Wednesday, the PTA is sponsoring an official American Heart Association CPR AED course:
    •    9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
    •    Garden City High School gym
    •    Open to all middle school and high school students
    •    Special GCPTA price of $50 per ticket

This course is the official American Heart Association’s (AHA) “Heartsaver CPR AED Course.” Instructors will teach adult, child and infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) use, relief of adult choking and use of a barrier device.

An American Heart Association Heartsaver Completion Card will be issued upon completion of this course and passing of the skills test. Card is valid for two years. Instructor is affiliated with Winthrop-University Hospital’s Community Training Center.

Registration for the CPR AED course is required and space is limited so register now! Send checks for $50 payable to “Joe Cipolla” c/o Jeanie Verdis P.O. Box 8068 Garden City, NY 11530 by March 13. For more information, call Jeanie at 917-692-1658.

New York Times Bestselling Author of Queenbees and Wannabes to Address Parents: The Garden City PTA, the Garden City Community Coalition and Garden City SEPTA are excited to co-sponsor New York Times bestselling author, Rosalind Wiseman on Wednesday, March 21, in the Garden City High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m. (program begins) – 6:30 p.m. free light dinner in the cafeteria. Dinner and speaker are free but registration is required – please RSVP by March 16 to lisalicari@gardencitypta.org.

Wiseman is the author of a number of bestselling books about tweens and teenagers, including Queen Bees and Wannabes and Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials. Wiseman will speak to all Garden City parents about navigating through everyday trials of cliques, “frenemies,” reputations, gossip, rebellion, bullying, crushes, and relationships.

Parents of boys and girls from K-12 are welcome and encouraged to attend.