By Kathianne Boniello
Mix more than a dozen seniors and a hundred elementary school students together for about eight months, throw in a little patriotism and a special banner project, and what results is an educational package worth singing about.
PS 33 in Queens Village was the setting last week for a special ceremony which included the seniors of Services Now for Adult Persons, or SNAP, students from PS 33 and honorees such as Borough President Helen Marshall. The singing was provided in a spirited musical performance given by the school’s fourth- and fifth-grade students. Students from PS 115 in Floral Park also took part in the banner-making project.
Marshall and Edwin Mendez-Santiago, commissioner for the city’s Department of Aging, were on hand last Thursday to receive special banners made by the seniors and students. The group also honored state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) with a banner.
The banners reflected patriotic themes chosen by the seniors and students after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. SNAP center director Elaine Fleischman said the seniors chose words such as patriotism, freedom, courage and love, while the students came up with descriptive phrases about each word, such as “freedom is not free” and “patriotism is pride.”
The seniors and the students then worked on embroidering each phrase, along with a felt hand, onto separate squares and sewed the squares together to make three large banners.
But before the banners were presented the audience was treated to a rousing performance of a song from Gilbert and Sullivan’s light opera, “Pirates of Penzance.” The elaborate, energetic presentation of the fourth-and fifth-grade chorus, under the direction of music teacher Gilda Hoffman, inspired praised from Marshall.
“Coming to see the children perform as they did today, that’s my reward as borough president,” Marshall told the audience as she accepted the banner.
Marshall said her banner would hang “in a very special place at Borough Hall.”
“My two favorite people are children and seniors,” Marshall said. “And here we have them together.”
The borough president said she hoped Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been intent on gaining control of the city’s public school system, had been present at last week’s ceremony.
“I want him to see the children in our public schools and see what they can do,” she said. “Our children are performing extremely well.”
Mendez-Santiago, who told the audience he was accepting the banner on behalf of Bloomberg, said the mayor would probably want to visit PS 33 after seeing the gift.
“Young people have all these myths and stereotypes about older people,” he said. “You’ve worked with our seniors and you understand that getting old is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing.”
SNAP is a senior citizens’ day center housed on the Creedmoor campus in Queens Village that provides services to older people living in the area stretching from Glen Oaks to Bayside and from Queens Village to Douglaston.
Fleischman said student-senior collaborations give children “a new perspective on what a senior can do. They see a vibrant, active group of seniors that can support them unconditionally and cherish them.”
PS 33 Principal Lawrence Cohen said the program benefits both the students and the seniors.
“It gives [the seniors] a chance to realize the wonderful things that take place in the schools,” he said.
For senior Lee Servillo, working with the students was both fun and educational.
“We were surprised,” Servillo said of the student’s patriotic phrases. “The children are fantastic.”
Grace Verdirame said “it was hard to pick out just a few [phrases] to put on the banner.”
One senior touched a chord among the group when she praised SNAP director Fleischman.
“She is so creative, she has a special gift to draw everyone out and she finds something for everyone to do,” senior Marie Pascale said. “She puts her whole heart in.”
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
