Valentine's Day Dance Catered by Award-Winning Charles Sally Charles Catering

 As if our annual Valentines Day dance didn’t bring enough delights, we have one more to add to this year’s event: Charles Sally Charles Catering will be donating some of their legendary food!  Dinner will be served, and PS 39 will benefit 100% from the sales. Suh-weet!

The dance takes place on Friday, February 7^th at Camp Friendship (mark your calendars with a little heart).

On the menu: savory tarts, pasta salads and greens for adults.  Specifically for picky little eaters, PS39 mom Annie Gallo will be making her amazing Mac and Cheese if we say please. 

The catering connection is local: Co-owner Sally Krause is a PS 39 alum herself, and great aunt to Samantha and Alexa Goldfarb (yep, Jo’s kids). She’s also a soon-to-be grandma to a future 39er, due in March.

Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz recognized Sally’s catering company with the prestigious Brooklyn Bridge Award, being that the company has been the exclusive caterer to The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens since the 1980s (have you ever eaten at the Terrace Café at the Gardens? That belongs to Charles Sally Charles!).

Sadly, Sally kept the business going strong while her husband and partner, Charles, fought a long-term battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Charles Sally Charles Catering received a Zagat rating of 25. All restaurant fanatics know that this is pretty awesome.

At PS 39 last year, Sally spoke at our Grandparents/VIP Day (see the photos). She shared her experiences of growing up in Brooklyn (which included listening to the radio coverage of the Brooklyn Dodgers playing the final game of The World Series in class, with her teacher!).  

Be sure to send your love to Sally at our upcoming Valentines Day dance (and at the Botanical Gardens), and check out her website here.

http://www.palmhouse.com/

Fitness Fridays Score Big

The early bird not only catches the worm, but catches the ball.  Our very first Fitness Friday took place on 1/17/14 (this week featuring a friendly but fierce volleyball workout, with other activities to come). First serve was at a nice-and-early 7:30, and Camp Friendship sure was getting everyone’s blood pumping.

Councilman Brad Lander, Colorado Rockies pitcher Adam Ottavino,  PS 39 teacher Eve Ottavino

PS 39’s Wellness Council believes in the benefits of moderate exercise before school, which contributes to the young brain’s ability to focus and process information (many studies show a relationship between morning exercise and brain power). That goes for moms and dads as well as kids.

Our own PE teacher, Ms. Deedrick

Also, Fitness Fridays are in response to our budget’s lack of physical education funding (our kids only get part-time gym class). As part of our steadfast commitment to fitness, we received a grant from the Department of Education for this ten-week mini-Olympics.

Principal De Paz, Assemblyman Jim Brennan, students

If over 100 families attending weren’t awesome enough, our event also had a special guest:  Colorado Rockies pitcher Adam Ottavino, who happens to be a Park Slope native and PS 39 alum, as well as the son of 
PS 39 4^th grade teacher Ms. Eve Ottavino. 

The media was on hand as well: thanks to BK News12 and DNAinfo for their interest in the story. This is a slam-dunk for our Lisa Hoffman, PTA leader of PS 39’s Wellness Council and for our awesome principal, Anita De Paz. As well, big thanks go to NY State Assemblyman Jim Brennan and City Councilman Brad Lander for their support and willingness to jump in and play volleyball with our families.


Be there for the remaining Fitness Fridays at Camp Friendship, 339 8^th Street (between 5^th and 6^th Streets).  Please remember to RSVP each week so we can manage attendance and make the events worthwhile for all who come out bright and early to participate!

As Nike says, “Just do it!”

by Ron Sklar, reporter at large

Matt Zoller Seitz Pens The Wes Anderson Collection

Want a good book recommendation for this weekend’s Barnes & Nobles book fair?  How about a work by one of our own? 

Author Matt Zoller Seitz, dad to 4th grader James Seitz, wrote an amazing new book, The Wes Anderson Collection. 
This gorgeous scrapbook drills down to the magic artistry of filmmaker Wes Anderson, director of such acclaimed flicks as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, and more. 

The book includes previously unpublished photos, artwork, original essays and interviews that capture the spirit of all things “Andersonian.” Adding to the spirit of creative genius, the introduction is written by bestselling author Michael Chabon (The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay). 

You can read some of Matt’s awesome writing for New York magazine here.  In the meantime, see you at the fair! 

By Ronald Sklar

Spooktacular Pictures are Up!

Sean Ross, father of Hannah (5th) and Joaquim (2nd) took (and set up, and ran, and equipped)  the photographs at the Spooktacular.

It's not an exaggeration to say they are fantastic, phenomenal, and all other superlatives.

You can see them here, and download what you want to print or have. 

http://seanross.smugmug.com/Spooktakular39/

password is ps39

Below, just a tiny sampling:

PS 39 parent coordinator Karen Herskowitz is your new best friend!

As parent coordinator for the school, Karen acts as a one-woman helpdesk. If parents have a question, need or concern, Karen can give answers (or find the person who can give the answers).

In addition, Karen oversees all the communication vehicles for the school, including the website copy, the all-important Wednesday bulletin, the school emails and even the bulletin boards posted outside!

Karen is often in demand for the following: questions about lunches and PTA events, pre-K and kindergarten registration and admissions, middle school transitions, getting in contact with teachers, and school tours.

Need help navigating the bureaucratic public school system in general? Karen to the rescue.

In addition, Karen can help you with scheduling parent pickups, communicating to your teacher when your child is sick, and even getting homework sent home. 

A PS 39 parent herself, Karen is a former fifth-grade teacher with a masters degree in curriculum and instruction. It’s a great place for her to be while her girls attend the school, and she’s in a great place for you if you have a PS 39-related question.

Contact Karen at kherskowitz@ps39.org.

Spooktacular is this weekend!!

Come out and play!  This year's event promises all the thrills you've come to expect from a premier PS 39 party, and then some.  Raffle baskets, dancing, eating, costume contests, photo booths and some wickedly good secret additions! Fun for the whole family.  Saturday, October 26, at John Jay, 5:30-8:30pm

Ulla Berg’s Anthropology Homework

PS 39 mom Ulla Berg at last has a bit more time to help Ms. Taylor as a classroom mom, now that she’s on a brief sabbatical from teaching at Rutgers University. 

Ulla’s subject is anthropology and Latino Studies, and her area of specialty is migration from South America to the United States (her book from a major university press is happening too!).  

The Danish native says that the main focus of her research and teaching is the social inequities that come with immigration. The most important (and heart wrenching) of these issues is the need for migrants to stay relevant to their families and children back home while working as nannies to other people’s kids here in the States. 

Ulla says the majority of her students are children of migrant parents or themselves immigrants who were brought to the US as children. They have a quest to learn their family history and fulfill their parents’ wishes of a college education and hopefully a better life in the US. 

Thanks, Ulla, for helping so many deserving people, including our kids in class!

by Ron Sklar, PS 39 Reporter-at-large