2007-10-18 擔任一日校長 Principal For A Day

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PENCIL spotlight featured Man-Li and principal of PS 29-Jamie Adams.

http://www.pencil.org/index.asp?CID=5&PID=188&NID=109

With spring around the corner, PENCIL partners—both old and new—are bringing their plans to fruition. Here's a look at what some of them are accomplishing.


History™ & the High School of American StudiesOn President's Day, students from the High School of American Studies in the Bronx got a front-row seat for a lesson on George Washington at the New York Historical Society, led by Pulitzer Prize–winning author David McCullough. Mr. McCullough's lecture was aired on a webcast produced by History™ for the Constitutional Project. The school, which is headed by Principal Alessandro Weiss, has been partnered with Dr. Libby O'Connell, Senior Vice President of Corporate Outreach and Chief Historian, History™, for the past five years. After answering students' questions, Mr. McCullough taught students how to use electronic documents on the website Concourse.org in their history studies. The event is just one example of Dr. O'Connell and Principal Weiss' efforts to enhance the school's academic focus, which is a popular objective among PENCIL partners.


United States Small Business Administration & PS 29Man-Li Lin, Business Development Specialist at the United States Small Business Administration, and Principal Jamie Adams of PS 29 in Queens have kicked off their partnership with cultural flair. In keeping with Ms. Lin's Chinese heritage and the school's high population of Chinese-American students, the partners decided to celebrate the Chinese New Year together in February. Ms. Lin performed traditional stories for the entire student body through dance and Tai Chi. Shortly after, Ms. Lin held a workshop at the Poppenhusen Institute for students and parents on origami and ribbon dancing. Ms. Lin and Principal Adams explain that these events are helping students and their families build a sense of cultural pride. Find out how other partners are focusing on parent involvement.


Neuman Catering & Truman High SchoolLong-time PENCIL partner Paul Neuman, President and Founder of the catering company Neuman's, recently organized a full-day field trip with Principal Sana Nasser of the Bronx's Truman High School for students in the culinary arts program. The first stop on the itinerary was the French Culinary Institute, where students participated in a cooking demonstration. They then took tours of Dean & Deluca and Mr. Neuman's own company. Mr. Neuman shared job-searching and resume tips, and introduced them to the Dean of Admissions at the French Culinary Institute. The field trip is part of the partners' broader goal to develop the school's culinary arts program and provide mentors to students. Discover how other partners have provided career awareness opportunities to students.

Merrill Lynch & PS 143First-year partners Kevin McGovern, Director, Global Infrastructure Solutions at Merrill Lynch and Principal Shelia Gorsky of PS 143 in Queens have implemented a financial literacy workshop series for a group of fifth-grade students. The five-session series, which began in January, is based on Merrill Lynch's "Investing Pays Off" curriculum for teaching financial concepts at schools across the country. Topics include budgeting tips, how to open a savings account and setting realistic financial goals. The series has been so popular with students that the partners have helped them form a stock market club, which draws on many of the skills they are learning. Find out what some of Merrill Lynch's other 70-plus partners are collaborating on.
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Feb. 15, 2008 Man-Li performed at PS 29 to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Man-Li and the principal Jamie Adams.

Teachers and students danced "Kong-xi, kong-xi".

Man-Li performed the story of Mulan.

Man-Li taught students Tai Chi.

Man-Li invited a teacher to dance with her.

Man-Li taught Kung-fu dance.

Man-Li talked about the school in Taiwan, and the students were interested in the discipline issues.

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"Principal For A Day" at P.S. 29 College Point on 10-18-2007

Published on World Journal (刊登於世界日報)家園小品 on Dec. 18, 2007

Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning (PENCIL)是一個結合民間企業界幫助紐約市各級公立學校學生更進步的非營利組織，它的目標是要所有的紐約市高、中、小學得到各界財務、技術以及人力資源上的協助。每年最盛大的活動是「」，由各專業人士到學校擔任一日校長，認識學校，揭開一年實際合作的開始。
多年來，當我看到報紙報導一些知名人士擔任一日校長時，便一直希望能有機會參加，今年終於一償宿願。邀請函是在暑假時收到的，徵詢資料中包括了個人專業知識及在一年中可能對學校提供的服務，回覆之後便等待學校的挑選。九月時接到通知，告知將在十月十八日到皇后區大學點公立二十九小學擔任一日校長，並附上該校有關資訊，包括師資、學生、活動及學校特色等。
在期盼中，我終於在當天早上七點抵達該校校門，很驚喜地看到校門口歡迎我的多幅海報。我首先參加老師的早餐會，與他們交換教學心得，提醒他們華裔家庭的特色及文化上的差異，特別強調華裔學生與其他族裔相較之下，比較不會主動發言的習性，希望老師們能多鼓勵及讚美。
　　在老師們回到各班教室之後，校長帶我參觀學校，然後到大禮堂等待三百位高年級學生的集合。學生們在老師的指揮之下一班班地入座，非常安靜，我對美國人的耐心一向非常敬佩，我想從小的訓練才能造就這項文化特性。學校排了四十五分鐘讓我說話，我原以為太長了，沒想到因為提到我自己在台灣教書時，是「必須」要打學生才是好老師的話題，引起他們踴躍地發問，包括「棍子多長」、「打哪個部位」、「打多用力」、「打幾下」……等等，到最後我不得不停止他們問問題。我很高興有許多其他族裔的學生紛紛表示他們的文化中也有此習性，於是討論轉換成美國學校為甚麼不能，幾乎到了欲罷不能的地步。
接下來的活動是在圖書館中念書給二年級及一年級的學生聽。我事先考慮了許多書，但是最後到公共圖書館挑了兩本與家庭有關的書。給二年級念的書是「A Letter from My Little Brother」，給一年級念的書是「Are you my mother？」我發現當天各班老師們都把亞裔學生安排坐在前排，可能是平常沒有受到的特別照顧，也可能他們覺得有位亞裔的一日校長很光榮，所以他們都顯得非常興奮。當我念書的過程中，有一位華裔小女生頻頻舉手發言，幾乎佔用了一半的時間，她的老師一直想中斷她的發言，但我阻止了她的老師。我想這可能是那名小女孩最勇敢的一刻，希望她面對未來的人生時，能永遠記得那一天。
結束圖書館的活動後是午餐會，由各班選出兩位代表與一日校長午餐。第一批是低年級代表，他們都很緊張的樣子，有位西裔的小男生告訴我，他已興奮得兩天睡不著覺。我與正牌校長問他們一些問題，他們很天真無邪地回答著；高年級代表就完全不同了，他們非常有禮貌地與我一一握手，自我介紹之後正襟危坐，並且表示能代表同學來參加餐會覺得無比榮幸。有兩位同學還拿出事先寫好的一些問題問我，頗有大將之風。
餐後與家長會交換意見，決定接下來的第一項活動將是辦講座，教家長們如何創業，這也是我除了教育之外，可以提供的專業知識之一。很快就到了兩點鐘，我結束了校長一日的行程，心頭充滿無限歡愉及計畫的思緒。
我覺得「校長一日」是一項很有意義的活動，很鼓勵華人多投入擔任一日校長的行列，將專業知識與學校結合，讓學生們可以在年少時多瞭解社會的真實廣泛面，對於自己的未來前途有更多的選擇，如果因為一日校長而影響了一個孩子，就更值得了。
2007-12-18