Day 72- Piast Institute and PS 22 Choir

In honor of my girl Justyna Kowalczyk representing for all of us Polish ladies last year, I made a donation to the Piast Institute.  This is the National Institute for Polish and Polish American Affairs.
Piast Institute is the only independent think tank and research center in North America devoted to Polish and Polish American affairs. It is also one of fifty-six United States Census Bureau Census Information Centers, the only such center with a special focus on a major European ethnic group.

With its staff, boards and international network of fellows, Piast develops conferences, seminars, publications, public programs, lectures, and exhibits that provide accurate, timely and current information about Poland, Poles, and Polish Americans. It also has a special interest in the role of Ethnicity in American Life.

With its resources and its position as a Census Information Center, Piast Institute also acts as a data resource center helping Polish, Polish American and other community groups develop policy papers and historical, cultural, political, economic, social, and demographic studies on a wide variety of topics.

The Piast Institute is also officially certified by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration as a designated assistance site with trained staff to help immigrants with visa, documentation and status issues.

The Institute’s mission and programming also aim to celebrate Polish contributions to American as well as general world culture, and to address and counter inaccurate or defamatory information about Poland, Poles or Polish Americans.

The Institute was founded in 2002 by Dr. Thaddeus Radzilowski, a celebrated historian, writer and academic, and Mrs. Virginia Skrzyniarz, an accomplished executive serving non-profit organizations in various capacities for over twenty years.

Lots of folks with random "z's" thrown into their names?  These are clearly my peeps.

http://www.piastinstitute.org/home.html
******

I'm not sure this really needs an explanation.



I love the Oscars.  I know it's silly, but I do.  I love the fashion and the montages and the emotional speeches and all the little moments.  However, those PS 22 kids topped all of it for me this year!  C'mon, did you watch the video?

It was a perfect example of true beauty amidst the glitz and glamour of Hollywood (which I also love, but I know the difference here).  I have adored watching those kids cover song after song, and it was wonderful to see them have their own Oscar moment tonight.

Thank you, PS 22 Choir, you made my day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some Stories. About Stories.

Image
  One of my greatest passions and joys is matchmaking between people and the books that will get them reading and speak to their souls. Sharing stories, both real and fictional, is transformative. It’s how we connect to one another. It’s how we travel to places we can’t afford. It’s how we learn about people we’ve yet to meet. It’s how we pass on history. It’s how we explore religion. The universe is made up of atoms and molecules, but it is also built on stories. I don’t believe that there are nonreaders; there are just some people who haven’t met the right book yet. I did not invent this idea, but it is a core philosophy I live by in my classroom and in my life on a daily basis. One of my favorite eligible reader stories was a boy who came into my intervention class with low confidence in his skills and in his ability to grow them and put them to work. He told me on the first day that he was not a reader and would never be one, so I might as well not bother. Ah! I love a good cha...
Read more

Day 83- Applesauce

How to become a kid again in three simple steps. Become a teacher.  Spend your break time conversing with students about whether or not Twilight is good reading (it's not, sorry) and explaining how everything they're learning is important (it is) and discussing how Shaun White's private halfpipe is the sweetest thing to ever exist (it might be).    Start taking a lunchbox to work.  Swing it while you walk, embrace it, love it. Pack applesauce in your lunch every day.  An applesauce a day keeps the old age away.  In the initial lunch packing stages of this semester, I always made sure that I had some kind of little sweet treat included to enjoy at the end of lunch.  Over the past few weeks, little applesauce cups have also become a part of the daily routine, and I enjoy this just as much.  I love how it tastes.  I love the little perfectly portioned cup.  I love that eating it makes me feel good and ...
Read more

Day 196- Summery Dinner

Tonight's menu was a good one!  Our weather here has been so nice this week.  We've only been in the mid 80's, and it has actually been cooling down at night.  We have been taking advantage of this by doing some major grilling and enjoying lots of summer foods.  Today's Specials Chipotle Lime Chicken Southwestern Cornbread Salad grilled bananas grilled pineapple We covered all of the food groups in the most delicious and summery of ways (plus, it was pretty healthy too).  If you have never tried grilled bananas, you really should.  They're so good that it's bananas!  Grilled Bananas Recipe 1. Cut off the ends (leaving peel intact). 2. Grill the bananas until the peels turn a darkish brown color and the insides are soft. 3. Gently slice the peel and scoop out the warm gooey goodness. 4. Eat. 5. Sigh with satisfaction. 6. Repeat steps 4-5 many, many times. It's just as easy as that.  The salad was a whole lot more involved, ...
Read more