In true holiday spirit, students from four New York City Schools performed songs and poems for principals and administrators from their schools at a tribute to held at Fordham’s Graduate School of Education on Dec. 17.
Among the participating partner schools were P.S. 4 Duke Ellington School in Washington Heights, P.S. 129 John H. Finley School in Morningside Heights, the Brooklyn Latin School in Bushwick, and Theater Arts Production Company High School in Fordham Heights in the Bronx.
All four schools are part of the GSE’s Center for Educational Partnerships, which works with New York City schools in to apply cutting-edge research in the service of K-12 teachers, administrators, students, and parents. The student performances ranged from a choral rendition of the preamble to the United States Constitution to declamations of the works of Nietzsche and Pablo Neruda.
Students from P.S. 129 contributed to the holiday ambiance with a vocal ensemble of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause;” and a trumpet ensemble of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Theater Arts Production Company students likewise did their part for the holiday spirit, lending their voices to “Siyahamba,” a South African freedom song, and “Winter Wonderland.”
In a special tribute to principals—especially in lieu of the recent shooting in Newton, Conn.—New York State Regent Kathleen Cashen, Ed.D, GSE ’78, ’83, GSE clinical professor of education, said she has always thought of principals as administrators who “save lives.”
“I salute you, I praise you, I thank you. You are in the most significant profession, and we can’t do without you,” she said.
Anita Vazquez Batisti, Ph.D., associate dean for partnerships, applauded the students’ excellence and creativity.
“There’s not a progress report, quality review or network grading that could measure what we saw today,” she said. “Bravo.”
