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.#
