Panther Press
Empathy and Engagement
Happy Thanksgiving
As we move into the holiday season, I want to thank you and acknowledge you for your absolute dedication to our students. This is not an easy job- honestly, it is often frustrating and overwhelming. Regardless of the stress, the love you show our kids is unmistakable and remarkable. Even on days that I want to crawl under my desk in a fetal position, I feel absolutely blessed to work where we do- during busing, classwork, seminar, specials, learning labs, community-based work-our student are smiling, engaged, and HAPPY. I genuinely think it's because they know they have adults around who will cheerlead and support them unconditionally. Never doubt that you do great and important things. I am thankful to call you colleagues. I wish you all a restful break surrounded by people you love.
To do before you leave
- turn off all electronics
- make sure windows are closed
- turn off any power strips you use in the room
- turn off your lights
- make sure students have their devices to take home
Friendsgiving
Please use this form to let our Ellery Friendsgiving team know what you plan to bring on Tuesday, November 21st.
Offsites, please feel free to join us at Ellery.
McKinney will host a celebration at their site as well- please reach out to Ms. Thelem with inquiries.
We especially need:
Turkey
Chicken
Potatoes (Mashed, Roasted, Etc)
Macaroni & Cheese
Vegetables
PA Family Celebration
This past Saturday, out Parent Association hosted a Thanksgiving celebration- 15 families joined us for food, music, dancing, and a turkey giveaway. The best part? Our partership with Brooklyn North and Reverend LeBron allowed us to donate BOXES of ready made meals to everyone that attended.
A big shout out to Ms. Martell, Ms. Duran, Mr. Horosky, Ms. Gladys and Mr. Soto for volunteering, and to Ms. Pascual and Ms. McCoy for working to secure our donations!
Medgar Train the Trainer
From Mr. Tomlinson:
We are proud to have Angel and Jason as a part of a pilot program at Medgar Evers called the Train the Trainer program. Students are tasked with creating mock business plans and learning from business executives in Brooklyn. This banner is in front of the college.
OPWDD and Structured Teaching
From Heather Lifland:
On 11/17/23 we had a visit from 3 OPWDD executives. They joined the Structured Teaching PLC. A case study was presented, and every single teacher had a creative, potentially effective solution to the concerns. Rachael Hayes took then on a tour, and they decided that they would like to partner with us to help solve difficult transition cases. I want to thank Structured Teaching, the speech department for jumping into action to help with the tour, all the labs we visited, and Ms. Gomez for letting us attend your PLC. They walked away with an understanding of the dedication it often takes to plan for students with autism. Their experience here will help make programming better. That was the goal!
The Week in Pictures
Shout Outs
A huge shout out to our crisis teams at Ellery and McKinney. They work incredibly hard every day to make sure our students are safe, secure, and most importantly, heard.
Mr. Slater
Mr. Vines
Mr. Morales
Mr. Horosky
Ms. Hamilton
Mr. Calloway
Book of the Week
Dilla Time, a book by NYU professor Dan Charnas, highlights the goundbreaking work of this late Detroit-based DJ. Working in almost complete anonymity until his untimely death at age 32, Dilla designed an entirely unique musical time feel, one that has influenced almost every rap and hip hop record made since the early 90's. Charnas breaks down the work that drove him to create, and Dilla's legacy, including the rise of house and techno.
Song of the Week
New Blue Sun is the first Andre 3000 record in over 17 years. The iconic former member of Outkast dropped his highly anticipated album on November 17th, and it is...an instrumental record featuring flutes, woodwinds, and keyboards. Working closely with a group of collaborators, the record was almost entirely improvised. And it is absolutely brilliant. Atmospheric, calming, creative, vibrant- the songs have an otherworldly feel and flow- perfect music to surround yourself with on a Sunday as you write Panther Press, or any other time for that matter. And check out the title of the song below. Andre answers everyone who wanted him to rap.