By Barbara Morris
Look out Broadway, here they come!
T.V. has had the Jackson and the Osmond families, but Laurelton has the singers and dancers from P.S. 156. “Kids On Broadway ” — produced by the school's music director, Roberta Herdan, with super support from the administration, teachers, paras, parents, the entire Herdan family and future in-laws, and OF COURSE, the stars or the show, the students themselves — played to an overflow crowd earlier this month. They performed to a most appreciative audience.
Mrs. Herdan added flutophones this year, and she trained third graders to sing rounds of a type usually reserved for those in the sixth grade and up. Incidentally, Mrs. Herdan's two daughters, one or whom is a teacher and the other a lawyer, joined in with the “Broadway Siblings,” singing “Together Wherever We Go.”
While the rest of the family was doing the music thing, the music director’s husband, Jeff Herdan, was busily taking pictures of all the events that were taking place. Talk about support! if you haven’t visited P.S. 156 lately, especially if it was your old school, as it was mine, try to take a tour to see the great posters in the auditorium of the various shows. Look at all the walls, in fact, and you will see neat, creative displays recording important events in the school lives of the kids.
P.S. 156 has been very fortunate to have had very strong, active Parent-Teacher Associations over the years. As students grow up, graduate, and move on, the parents go with them, leaving opportunities for new parents to take a more active part in their child's educational life. It is an opportunity that should not be missed. The principal, Noreen Little, who is always pleasant and cooperative, spoke at the show, welcomed all or us and extended an invitation to parents to join that vital PTA, possibly even as an office holder. What an honor that would be! I can remember how proud I was at P.S. 156 dismissal time, when I could tell my classmates that my mother was among those attending a PTA meeting.
On a personal note, I want to thank Ms. Little, the teachers, the students and the parents who have been cooperative with our “Parks 2001” campaign. Our communities in Queens are, in my opinion, being so over-built that sometimes we feel boxed-in. The streets are all too heavily trafficked for safe play, and some areas are unsafe for other reasons. Safe, clean parks should be a perfect solution, but, as things stand now, our Queens parks are understaffed, with only one person in attendance to guard and clean most of them, including Brookville and Baisley parks. We keep hoping that anyone seeing any kind of crime, including graffiti or other act or vandalism, would note as many details as possible, and notify law enforcement immediately by calling: 1-800-201-PARK or of course, 911. We would all appreciate and applaud your help in that good cause and in resisting the temptation to double or triple park, or to park in school bus stops when picking up children from school or when taking them to school. We all have to try to keep children as safe as possible, because accidents often happen too quickly to prevent. We want this to be a happy, accident-free summer for everyone, little or big people.
On the big people front, I must mention another successful musical event that took place at St., Francis Preparatory School in Bayside on may 11. I have heard a lot about the wonderful attributes of that school from my boss at the Cornucopia Society Food Pantry, 138-10 Brookville Blvd., Rosedale, Fred Kress, The program itself was worthy of praise with a photo or two perfect pink roses on the cover just before Mother’s Day, and every facet of the entertainment was superb. Many of the students are multi-talented and each selection was roundly applauded. It was the Jazz-Ensemble that brought down the house — a fitting way to wind down the school year and have a happy, safe summer.
