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APRIL 2003

Principals For A Day Jump Into The Fray At P.S. 123
by Tom Kertes

Harlem’s P.S. 123 was fortunate in its choice of “Principals For A Day.” They were men and women of action.

City Councilman Bill Perkins got right to the point. “Miss Jenkins, tell me what I can do for your school,” the Deputy Majority Leader said. “Give me some homework.” Caroline Hendra, from Ogilvy Associates, arrived at the school with a new project: the kids are going to create a commercial. And Steve Mills, the President of Sports Team Operations at Madison Square Garden, sent a bilingual New York Liberty Player to visit the school when he heard about some tensions between French and English-speaking students from the Principal.

“It’s my third year as a ‘Principal For A Day’,” said Mills. “I participate because I think it’s an important program. I read too many negative things about education in the media—how difficult things are. I’m happy to see that it’s not always so.”

“I grew up and went to public school in a difficult neighborhood in Roosevelt,” added Mills. “My Dad was a teacher and basketball coach—and my uncle was a principal. So I know first-hand how committed most educators are.”

If it wasn’t for the dynamite Miss Jenkins, running P.S. 123 would be a challenge. “We are still on the “Need Of Improvement” list, but we’re getting closer to reaching standards,” she said. With over 1,000 students, this is the largest school in Harlem. Over 25 percent of the children live in shelters or other temporary housing. Yet the school is clean and inspirational, the walls are dotted with the students’ best work, and the attendance is 93 per cent. “I’m fortunate to haveoutstanding teachers and a truly excellent support staff,” said Jenkins, lovingly shooing some latecomers toward their classroom. “They keep my spirits soaring.”

And so does the changing educational environment under Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein. “In particular, I am very hopeful of the idea of parent liasons,” Jenkins said. “Parent involvement is one of our biggest problems around here. So I think a person fulfilling this function—helping to create a closer bond between the parent and the school— could be extremely helpful in a school such as this one.”

Other creative ideas come from the teachers themselves. Ms. Bien, a first-grade teacher full of youthful enthusiasm, came up with “Harlem Mail Kids” under a Bank Street grant to develop a thematic curriculum. Her class of six year-olds runs a post office, including applying for a job, making post office boxes, and designing and selling stamps. “We went to Landel’s (a local restaurant) with the idea,” Bien said. “And they donated the uniforms (sky blue tee-shirts worn proudly by all in the class, with a “Harlem Mail Kids” logo on it).”

“This teaches us about the Three C-s: communication, cooperation, and community,” tiny Francisco said. The students learned about appreciation as well; they wrote an enormous “Thank you” letter to Landel’s.

“Sure, we could use more funds, more modern computers, a better-equipped state of the art library and many other things,” Ms. Jenkins said. “And we are working on acquiring those things. But, in the meanwhile, we are doing the best we can for these children.” Which appears to be an outstanding job.#

 

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