Isabella and Benny Win Town Hall Contest

Benny and Isabella (front row, wearing white) pose with other contest winners at the award ceremony on May 10th.

Congratulations to Isabella R. and Benny C. from class 402!  They received an award certificate and $50 from the Town Hall for their Black History Month essays!  Six winners were selected out of hundreds of entries from all over New York City!  Their winning essays will be featured on The Town Hall website, for one year.  Click here to visit the website!

Each year, The Town Hall, a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, presents a series of performances - sponsored by Con Edison - in celebration of Black History for public school children. Every school district in the five boroughs is invited to attend, and seats are filled on a first- come, first-served basis. The Black History Celebration consists of daytime performances, offered free of charge to public school classes in grades three through eight, and their teachers.  Following the concert, they hold a Black History Month Poster and Essay Contest for children who attended the performances. The contest encourages children to think critically about the performance, as well as express themselves through words and pictures.

Special thanks to Benny and Isabella's teacher, Dr. Thomas, for providing the quality teaching that helped to inspire winning essays year after year.  Congratulations!

Celebrating Black History Month

This month, students in grades 3, 4 and 5 were invited to celebrate Black History Month by entering an essay contest!  Three winners will be chosen at our annual Black History Month celebration on February 27th.  Students are asked to research on of three civil rights activists; Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, or Medgar Evers.  In a 5-paragraph essay, students must:

• Give facts about the person
• Explain why he is important
• Compare the problems that he tried to solve with the problems that we're currently having
• On a separate sheet of paper, list the 3-5 sources of information that was used
• Check and correct errors in spelling and grammar

Each paragraph must have at least 8 sentences.  For more information about each of these great African-Americans, students are encouraged to visit the Washington Heights Public Library or click on the links above!  All typed or neatly hand-written essays must be e-mailed to dlennon2@schools.nyc.gov or handed to Ms. Lennon, Dr. Thomas or Mr. Harris before 2pm on Wednesday, February 25th.

Famous Hispanic Americans

Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

The term Hispanic or Latino, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. On the 2010 Census form, people of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin could identify themselves as Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or "another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin." According to the 2010 Census, 50.5 million people or 16% of the population are of Hispanic or Latino origin. This represents a significant increase from the 2000 Census, which registered the Hispanic population at 35.3 million or 13% of the total U.S. population.

For more information, click on the photos of the famous Hispanic Americans below or go to any of the links below to see lists of famous Hispanic Americans!

• Scholastic.com - Latinos in History
• Scholastic.com - Meet Famous Latinos
• Factmonster.com - Notable Hispanic Americans
• PBSKids.com - Maya & Miguel Powerful Hispanics
• Infoplease.com - Notable Hispanic Americans
• Time.com - 25 Most Influential Hispanic in America

Jennifer Lopez, singer and actress (VIDEO)

Alex Rodriguez, baseball player (VIDEO)

Naya Rivera, actress

Oscar De La Hoya (VIDEO)

Ellen Ochoa, astronaut (VIDEO)

Hispanic Heritage Essay Contest - 2014 (VIDEO)

Hispanic Heritage Essay Contest winners Fatima, Sherlyn, Penelope and Adriana hold their certificates.

From mid-September through mid-October, America recognizes the contributions, culture and heritage of Hispanic Americans.  Students in grades 3 and 4 celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with an assembly in the auditorium!  The celebration featured student winners of the Hispanic Heritage Essay contest.  The contest required students to write an essay about their culture.  All participants were given a certificate.  Winners received $5 in cash and five Scholastic books!  Congratulations to the following students who participated in the essay contest:

• Sherlyn G. (401)
• Fatima M. (301)
• Adriana M. (301)
• Penelope B. (301)
• Lisy S. (301)
• Jayrent C. (301)
• Ariana B. (301)

This celebration also featured a vocal performance by Ms. Barnosky's class (402), under the direction of our Music Teacher, Mr. Means!  Take a look at the video below to see the performance!  Congratulations to our talented 3rd and 4th grade students!



IMG 2215 from PS4M on Vimeo.

Contest Winners At PS4!

Congratulations to our most recent award recipients and contest winners!  Each year, with the support PS4 teachers, students enter city-wide writing, poetry, and art contests. 

Social Studies Projects teacher, Ms. Thomas, received good news from The Town Hall Foundation, congratulating her and Justin C (Class 301) for his essay that was chosen as a winning essay in their Black History Month Essay & Poster Contest!  He wrote about music, how it makes him feel and about his favorite musician.  Click here and scroll down to see Justin's winning essay! 

Three students from Ms. Schwartz class (320) traveled to the BMCC Performing Arts Center in Tribeca, with Ms. Lennon, to attend the 2014 NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awards ceremony for participants in the 28th Annual Water Resources Art and Poetry Contest!  675 students (grades 2-12) from New York City and Watershed communities were honored for creating more than 580 original pieces of artwork and poetry that reflect an appreciation for New York’s water resources, waste water treatment systems, and the importance of water conservation.  Marianny A., Daniela R. and Angelica C. received prizes and certificates for their artwork!  Congratulations, girls! 

Justin C. (front-right) is pictured here with other students from PS4 that entered the Town Hall contest.

5th Grader Wins Writing Contest!

The PS4 family is very proud of our very own Adriana H., from class 501.  Adriana’s story “George” was selected as one of the twelve winners of the Peter J. Murray (one of our favorite authors) Spooky Story Writing Contest!  The story will soon be published in a book, along with the eleven other winning stories and a special story written by Mr. Murray.  Recently, this author visited PS4 and spoke to students from 3rd and 4th grade about his famous Mokee Joe character.  "You were all born with the most powerful tool in the world...your imagination", the author said during the assembly.

Author Peter Murray (center) pictured here with PS4 Librarian Ms. Lennon and students.

On Thursday, May 30th, Adriana is invited to attend a spooky lunch with Peter J. Murray.  Adriana and the chaperone from PS4 will be picked up at the school by limousine and transported to the Jekyll & Hyde Club Restaurant in midtown Manhattan.  Adriana will also receive 20 copies of the book for her family and friends and copies of the book for our school.

Congratulations, Adriana!  Special thanks to Judy Parker (Carmel Hill Director), Tommy Parker (Carmel Hill Implementation Specialist), and Ms. Wilson (Adriana's teacher).

Adriana H. with her teacher (Ms. Wilson).

Presidential Inauguration Essay Contest

Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to the winners of the Black History Month Essay Contest! 

• Erika M. - Class 520
• Andy T. - Class 422
• Yasmin R. - Class 501

Students from grades 3-5 were encouraged to write a three to five paragraph essay discussing why it is important to learn about history and giving facts about an African-American that they admire. 

The three winners were given a certificate, a book, a prize pack and a $10 gift certificate.  Winners were announced at the annual Black History Month Celebration, featuring the PS4 Choir with special guests, Voices of Inspiration, on February 16th.  See photos from the event, below.

Special guests, Voices of Inspiration

PS4 Choir

Dominican Heritage Essay Contest

February 27th is Dominican Independence Day!  Students in grades 3-5 are encouraged to enter this essay contest celebrating the achievements of people with Dominican heritage.  Which of these great Dominicans do you most admire?

• Alex Rodriguez - sports
• Oscar de la Renta - fashion
• Junot Diaz - writing
• Milly Quezada - music
• Ydanis Rodriguez - government

Choose one of the leaders above and write an essay, including 3-5 paragraphs (8+ sentences in each).  In your essay, you must:

• Discuss why it is important to learn about your heritage
• Give facts about the famous Dominican you chose
• Explain why you admire him or her
• On a separate sheet of paper, list the sources of information you used (at least 4).
• Check and correct errors in spelling and grammar

For more information about these great Dominicans, you may click on the names above or use websites listed under 'Great Websites for PS4 Kids' located on the left-hand side of this blog.  All typed or neatly hand-written essays must be e-mailed to dlennon2@schools.nyc.gov or handed to Ms. Lennon before 4pm on Friday, March 9th.  Three winners will receive a $10 Gift Certificate to our Scholastic Book Fair!

Black History Month Essay Contest

Students in grades 3-5 are encouraged to enter this essay contest celebrating the achievements of African-Americans.  Which of these prominent great African-Americans do you most admire?

• Rosa Parks
• Duke Ellington
• Michael Jackson
• Muhammad Ali

Choose one of the leaders above and write an essay, including 3-5 paragraphs.  In your essay, you must:

• Discuss why it is important to learn about history
• Give facts about the African-American you chose
• Explain why you admire him or her
• On a separate sheet of paper, list 4-6 sources of information you used
• Check and correct errors in spelling and grammar

Each paragraph must have at least 8 sentences.  For more information about these great African-Americans, you may use websites listed under 'Great Websites for PS4 Kids' located on the left-hand side of this blog.  All typed or neatly hand-written essays must be e-mailed to dlennon2@schools.nyc.gov or handed to Ms. Lennon before 5pm on Tuesday, February 14th.  Three winners will receive a $10 Visa Gift Card at our annual Black History Month Assembly on Thursday, February 16th.