By Rebecca Martin
The City of Kingston just might very well be moving in the right direction.
Below is a CP Fact Sheet that came straight from the planners office and describes what’s going in front of the Council Tuesday night. A helpful tool as you prepare to speak during the public comment session – or just to understand what the steering committee is asking the council for as you follow along.
By Rebecca Martin
For years, I have been curious about an old and seemingly abandoned graveyard at the top of a ridge between Wilbur Avenue and South Wall Street. Today, I had the chance to visit the site.
By Rebecca Martin
Well I’ll be. As I was exploring the possibilities of a citywide educational campaign for removing pesticides from playgrounds, schools and municipal properties in the city of Kingston, my friend Alice Andrews pointed out that in April of this year New York State created legislation to ban pesticides from these very places (minus the municipal properties). That means, that it is not legal to spray pesticides on any school athletic fields or school playgrounds now in NY State. The new law will go into effect in 180 days, giving schools a full year to completely faze out all of their pesticides and begin to use organic methods.
Did you know that about 8 in 10 children are diagnosed with something called ‘Sensory Processing Disorder‘? Many in the field believe it is caused by environmental factors that include pesticides.
Let’s keep an eye on this in Kingston. Bring it to your Aldermans attention. Copy the legislation and bring it to your school principal. Let’s make sure what’s on the books is absolutely enforced.
Read the legislation HERE
Visit NY Senator Brian X Foley who sponsored the legislation HERE
Visit HERE for a local company that offers healthy alternatives to pesticides
It’s hard to imagine that anyone could think drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation in NY State for a natural gas source is a good idea. Knowing the real environmental dangers and hazard to our surface water in the Southern Tier and Catskills regions is enough to call the whole thing off.
Congrats to Kingston residents Valeria Gheorghiu and Arthur Zaczkiewicz who were selected to present Kingston’s recent ‘Civic Involvement’ at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, Michigan on Friday, June 25th. A great accomplishment for Kingston!
Read on…
– Rebecca Martin
The South Pine Street Childrens/Community Garden off of Greenkill Avenue in Ward 5 made a large food donation of Turnip Greens to Queens Galley.
Years ago, I had the privilege to work for Ev Mann of the Center for Creative Education. At that time, their headquarters were in Stone Ridge, NY. Coming up from New York City as a musician with a background in Production Management, it was my good fortune to have seen their ad for someone like me to assist the Administrative Director, Mary Farel.
Those couple of years were two of the most fulfilling in my professional life.
Although Ev has had close ties working with the children and schools in the city of Kingston, he moved his operation from Stone Ridge into Midtown back in 2005/2006 where he continues to bring music, culture, dance and drums to the youth and families in our area.
On Friday night (4/30) The Center for Creative Education in partnership with Active Voice and Participant Media bring a FREE screening of the ever important film FOOD INC to UPAC in the city of Kingston. Click on this LINK to see the flyer for this event.
On the ground, we are witnessing alarming numbers in childhood obesity – yet at the same time, 1 in 8 children will go hungry each and every day.
It’s critical that as a community, we work to change our daily habits. In Kingston, every one of our schools (and I believe there are 14) will have some form of garden in them. That’s a huge accomplishment that has taken place in just two years time.
Gardens are the buzz word in Kingston. Let’s continue to nurture them and encourage our children to get growing at home and at school. Take your family and visit a local farm, and pick something fresh off the vine to taste.
There is nothing quite like it.
– Rebecca Martin
Kudos to Valerie Hannum and the The George Washington Montessori School. Of all of the percolating ideas and efforts in the city of Kingston, Hannum and her program to us is in the ‘pinch me’ category. How lucky that she has landed here.
With only approximately 200 public Montessori schools in the US and Canada, to have one in our community and particularly in the heart of Midtown is no small thing. Soon, ours will accommodate grades K-5. Generally, a Montessori eductation is costly making it impossible for most families to pursue. Here, the program is covered by grant money and ultimately, as a public school by our taxes. Imagine that. Paying school tax and actually using the schools.
Of course, we realize that there are some parents who feel the program isn’t suited for their child. But the GW Montessori School is a great option to have. To force a mandated public education on every young mind is not a healthy approach.
A special thanks to Gerard Gretzinger, Robert Pritchard, and all of the GW Supporters who recognized a good thing. Most of all, to the staff and teachers (some who have served the community as educators for decades and who come out of retirement to teach in this new way) that have taken between 1200 – 1800 hours of study to become certified Montessori teachers.
Reach out to Valerie Hannum (845/338-1978) and ask for a tour of the school to see for yourself. Perhaps one day, more of our public schools will have the same approach.
Read about the program in Today’s DAILY FREEMAN.
To get a better sense of the Montessori principals, visit this LINK