Robots invade the Bronx!

Posted on June 25, 2012 by AliciaJ

Thanks to Variety‘s incredible support, Change for Kids’ partnership with the Bronx Museum of Art provides a unique opportunity for P.S. 73 second, third and fourth graders – a chance to discover the value of art through curated exploration of various themes and mediums. Students work in small groups to examine, analyze, and eventually create their own artwork during weekly 90-minute visits to the museum. Rather than study these themes purely academically, the children gain hands-on experience interacting with and producing art, enabling them to place their own work within a larger context. The eight-week program culminates with a student art exhibit at both the museum and P.S. 73, where parents, sponsors, school and community members celebrate the kids’ incredible work.

At this year’s opening reception on Tuesday, June 5^th, the museum walls were lined with everything from crayon-colored family portraits to models of local landmarks to large scale robots made from recycled cardboard boxes. Each masterpiece singularly integrated the different artistic concepts and mediums discussed throughout the residency. During the event, the students presented their artwork to doting parents and fellow classmates; sharing their creative process, the trials and tribulations of group work and the significance of the art they created. By incorporating elements of their own neighborhood into their projects (including a remarkable model of “Mets” Stadium – “The Yankees have a stadium named after them! Why shouldn’t the Mets?”), the kids were able to establish a personal connection with their work – pouring a bit of themselves into each piece. With parents looking proudly over their child’s work, and the students equipped with newly discovered artistic knowledge as evidenced by the phenomenal body of work, the residency was nothing short of a tremendous success.

Face painting, All-you-can-eat hot dogs, and a Justin Bieber dance off? Sign us up!

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Sarah Stevens

Last Saturday 25 fifth grade students from P.S. 73 loaded a bus in the Bronx and landed 35 minutes later at the Variety Boys and Girls Club in Long Island City. As a reward for their hard work and excellent participation all semester in our Bronx Museum of Art and Story Pirates programs, these students were treated to a fun-filled day hosted entirely by our amazing friends at the Variety Children’s Charity.* Every year Variety throws an all day bash for all of the organizations who they work with throughout the city to celebrate the holidays, and this year we were incredibly proud and honored to join in the festivities.
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Another Bronx Reflection: Local Artist Carol Sun Visits P.S. 73

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Kristin Black

A P.S. 73 student shows off his art journal. Photo Credit: Charles W. Bell, III

“All students need to have success and recognition for their success if they are to develop a life-long love for learning.” —Carol Sun, Bronx artist and teacher

The day after Bowl for Kids, our Junior Council Co-Chair, Andrew Maxwell, rolled up the Bronx to observe a couple of very special lessons in Mrs. Cooper-Fall’s and Mr. Han’s third-grade classes. “Keep in mind,” he says, “this was a Friday afternoon following lunch, so you can imagine that the energy level amongst these kids was…pretty high.”

On the agenda for the day was a visit and drawing lesson by Bronx artist and teacher Carol Sun. “They have been looking at her art in the Bronx Museum,” explains Aurelio Del Muro, the museum’s Teaching Artist. Their lessons with Mr. Del Muro included not only observing and sketching Ms. Sun’s work, but also writing creative dialogues between this drawing and that. Mr. Del Muro also prepared students with a lesson on public art in their own neighborhood. By the time Ms. Sun appeared in their Friday classes, students already knew her as the famous artist responsible for “A Bronx Reflection,” the set of stained glass panels hanging in the 167^th street subway station—just a few blocks north and east of P.S. 73.
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Bronx Museum Performances

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Kristin Black

The Bronx Museum has been a good friend to CFK for almost two years now, but they really outdid themselves last week when they hosted the third- and fourth-graders from P.S. 73 for a celebration of U.S. Civil Rights history.

The challenge for educators of all stripes—whether they’re in the classroom everyday, or working in museum outreach, or simply providing programming support—is to make enrichment opportunities relevant for today’s students. And the particular challenge last Thursday was to make more than 150 years of history come alive for a group of 9- and 10-year-olds. The timing for the program couldn’t have been more perfect. The museum is currently hosting a major exhibition of photographs from the Civil Rights era, and it was with the iconic images of Birmingham and Selma and Dr. King marching in 1965, that our students offered their own tributes to the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement.

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Community Spotlight: Liz Grover

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Kristin Black

Summer intern Liz Grover reflects on the lessons of history and the CFK mission

During my first week at Change for Kids I sat in on a meeting with Principal Mirvil of P.S. 73, and he spoke about what CFK has brought to the school. He repeated the word exposure, because essentially this is what Change for Kids has brought to his students in the South Bronx. It is important for the “youngsters,” as Mr. Mirvil calls them, to know that there is much more to life than what they are exposed to at home.

Students on stage reading their own reflections

“Now the school is the community,” says Mr. Mirvil, and Change for Kids has made that possible. The school partners with the Bronx Museum only a few blocks away—a great resource for the kids within their own neighborhood. The museum is currently holding an exhibition on Civil Rights, and on Thursday, June 16th, each class went on stage to recite poetry, perform a skit or read their own personal poems and reflections.