City’s First Lady Declares Children’s Hospital School ‘Cool’

There is something cool about the teachers and students at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside and New York’s First Lady knows it.
Donna Hanover stopped in to Queens last week to honor P.S. 23Q, the little-known school that makes a big difference in the lives of the children treated at St. Mary’s. She presented a "Cool School" clock, tee shirts for students, and a $2,500 check as part of the privately funded Cool School Awards recognizing public school achievements.
In a private interview with The Queens Courier, Hanover said she had a "lovely time in Bayside" and applauded the "efforts by the school Board and the medical facility to make sure the children stay up with their classmates in their studies."
She was pleased by the "intimacy . . . the caring relationships" between teachers and students" and was "impressed by the children that walked with me . . . their enthusiasm about their teachers."
Joseph Zacherman is principal of several hospital based schools including the four-classroom P.S. 23Q, Hanover explained, and his attention to learning details in Bayside has been exemplary.
The school rooms are designed to adjust for a student’s size and for their limitations due to medical treatment.
P.S. 23Q was nominated for the Cool School award by one of its teachers, Sabina Parks, and the teachers and students will vote on what to use the funds for, Hanover said.
Among the other Queens school recently honored as "Cool" have been Martin Van Buren High School, the International High School, Elizabeth Blackwell Junior High School 210, and P.S. 76 in Long Island City.
Any teacher wishing to nominate their own school should send a letter telling makes their school cool and how the school would use the award money to Donna Hanover, Gracie Mansion, 88 St. East End Ave., New York, New York 10128, Attn: Cool School Awards.