Voice your support for NYC Garden's

By one of our great readers: Ian McGrath

Please consider supporting the following petition to voice your support for New York City's community gardens. With 14,000 empty, buildable lots in New York City and only 750 community gardens, Mayor Giuliani plans to auction off over 120 thriving community gardens in May. This is the second auction in which gardens have been targeted. These gardens, many of them decades old, were established with the city's blessing on abandoned and vacant lots that had often been centers of drug and crime activity. New York City's gardens are known across the country. They are studied in our nation's schools. Their disappearance would mark not only a tragedy for the city, but would set a dangerous precedent for other cities across the country whose garden programs are struggling to survive. For more information about New York City community gardens and the efforts to save them, visit http://www.nycgardens.org/



THE INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS MULTI-MEDIA CENTER
Presents Its Annual Conference
Thursday, Feb. 11, from 3:30-6 p.m.
at the Grace Church School, 86 Fourth Avenue

BRINGING THE WORLD TO YOUR CLASSROOM
Video, The Internet and Distance Learning

Featuring a Series of Workshops on the Next Generation of Technology
and Multimedia in Schools

NEW YORK, February 4, 1999 --- The Independent Schools Multi-Media Center (ISMMC) is presenting its annual conference, "Bringing the World to Your Classroom: Video, the Internet and Distance Learning," a series of seven workshops designed for lower through upper school educators and administrators in New York City. Hosted by The Grace Church School, the conference takes place on Thursday, February 11, from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. at 86 Fourth Avenue, New York.

Committed to showcasing the next generation of visual multimedia materials and new technologies for the classroom, the 1999 ISMMC conference will feature a broad range of topics and draw upon the resources of outstanding member faculty, at the forefront of their respective fields.

"ISMMC is pleased to continue to provide its community with a source of practical insights as well as an opportunity to share valuable information at its 1999 annual conference," commented Dianne Baasch, Director of The Independent Schools Multi-Media Center.

Faculty from New York's independent schools and members of the New York City Board of Education will lead the workshops to demonstrate their successful and innovative approaches to multimedia and cutting-edge technology in the classroom. Teleconferencing, distance learning in foreign language, creating standards for student web publishing, and integrating multimedia and the Internet into school curriculum are among the topics to be presented during the one-hour workshops. In addition, a special two-hour workshop, "Successful Partnerships with the NYC School Library System," will be offered by representatives of the New York City Board of Education. (See attached for details on conference agenda).

The Independent Schools Multi-Media Center is a co-operative educational organization dedicated to providing its consortium of independent schools in New York City with the best in visual educational resources and new technologies to support and enhance each school's curriculum. Currently, ISMMC offers a collective resource of more than 6,000 educational programs on film, video, interactive laserdisc and CD-ROM to its 26 member schools.

To register, contact ISMMC at 212-873-0844 or e-mail ismmcdb@interport.net. Registration is free of charge and is open to all members of the independent schools educational community.

For further information contact:
Dianne Baasch, Director, ISMMC, 212-873-0844, E-mail - ismmcdb@interport.net

Meet the ISMMC Board and Operating Council members, conference workshop leaders and share information with colleagues. George Davison, ISMMC Board President, and Dianne Baasch, Director, ISMMC, will give you a brief welcome and update.

Creating Standards For Publishing Student Web Pages, (4-4:55 dining room)
Creators of Marymount's pioneering Student Webwork Committee, Don Buckley, Director of Technology and Greg Fortescue, Technology Integrator of Marymount, examine the critical issues that need to be addressed before students publish their work on the world wide web.

Models for Distance Learning: Practical Lessons for Foreign Language Teachers, (4-4:55 computer lab)
Mary Combal, Head, Foreign Language Department, and Hope Chafiian, Director of Technology and Curriculum, Spence, will demonstrate how the Internet can be used in French language courses as a learning tool for cultural and linguistic enrichment. E-mail strategies and an introduction to I-EARN, the International Education Resource Network, will also be featured.

Innovative Use of Video in the Middle School Curriculum, (4-4:55 classroom)
Browning's Taylor Mali; St. David's Rovena Kilkeary, Joe Kilkeary and Tom Ryan; and St. Luke's Rob Snyder are the featured faculty from these ISMMC member schools in this workshop that will discuss how videos have been successfully integrated into their middle school curriculum. They will present examples of programs which have proven effective.

Successful Partnerships with the NYC School Library System, (4-4:55 and 5-6 library)
Join Phyllis Fisher, Coordinator of On-Line Services and Sandra Kennedy Bright, Assistant Director of School Library Services, of the New York City School Library System, to learn about the vast number of cooperative programs and valuable on-line research products available through the New York City Board of Education. This special one hour session will be repeated.

Teleconferencing: What Is It and Why Do We Do it?, (5-6 dining room)
Akbar Ali, Director of Technology, and John Plenge, computer teacher of the Grace Church School, will present an overview of tele-conferencing as an educational tool. Topics will explore technical requirements as well as how this technology can enhance or hinder learning. The workshop will include an on-line session to a distant site.

Multi-media Materials and Their Integration with the Internet in the High School Curriculum, (5-6 computer lab)
For years, The Kew Forest School has been outstanding in integrating film and more recently video and CD-ROM into its curriculum. Dan Horgan, foreign language teacher and Patty Schust, librarian, team up to reveal their winning strategy. Joining them is Brian Kahn, science teacher of United Nations International School, and a recognized leader in integrating new technology and multimedia into classroom curriculum. On-line lesson plans will be demonstrated. Harrison Howard, history teacher at Fieldston, will also share successful uses of video in his classroom.

Innovative Use of Video in the Lower School Curriculum (5-6 classroom)
Five faculty comprised of librarians and teachers from four ISMMC member schools come together in this workshop to showcase their success stories in utilizing video in the lower school curriculum. Faculty include: Barbara Pearl, first grade teacher, Hewitt; Jane Arnold, kindergarten teacher, The Nightingale Bamford School; Edward Goodall, lower school science teacher, The Town School; Solange Warmund, lower school librarian, United Nations International School; and Virginia Whitelaw, first grade teacher, The United Nations International School.