the project
The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance is a partnership between three Greenpoint elementary schools that are located in close proximity to McGolrick Park: P.S. 110 The Monitor School, St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, and P.S. 34 The Oliver H. Perry School. Families from these schools will spearhead this collaboration in order to accomplish the following goals in the premiere year of 2012:
1) Through the volunteerism of local students and their families, standards of cleanliness and safety throughout McGolrick Park will be much easier to maintain.
2) Students of the alliance will be offered opportunities to plant their own school trees in three empty tree pits surrounding the park, and to participate in nature-based workshops, contests, and special events inspired by and taking place in McGolrick Park. Through these events, students and families will develop a stronger sense of ownership in the park which will lead participants to protect and maintain the park in a more active, invested manner.
The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance is happy to take in-kind donations for needed materials. For more information or to make an in-kind donation, please contact Holly Fairall 917.280.0776
the steps
Sat. March 17, 11-12 - Grass-seeding and clean-up. Areas of focus = Bare patches on lawns, entrance at Driggs and Russell, Monitor. Craft table between the sprinklers in the playground (crafts = funny face planters and ladybug shamrocks). Also, information table under the pavilion so that people can learn how to volunteer at the park.
Sat March 31, 11:00-1:00 - Street tree stewardship project led by TreesNY. We will try to steward 20 trees (focus on Driggs b/c they need the most help). 3 young trees will be named for each school and flowers will be planted in those beds.
Sat April 28 5:00 - Students of PS 110, PS 34, and St. Stan's will be invited to paint the playground benches in colorful images in the early evening, so that the benches will be dry by the following day. The Schools Alliance will provide 3 gallons of paint, brushes, and clean-up supplies.
Fri May 18 - The Schools Alliance will be working with Town Square for the Children's Concert. We would like to offer attending kids 2 projects if they'd like to participate. 1) Fill McGolrick with flowers - children will draw chalk flowers on the hexagon pavers in the center of the park 2) Classes that rsvp will plant flowers and flower seeds at some of the entrances of the park. (Soil will be prepped beforehand.)
Sat. June 16, 11:30-12:30 - The McGolrick Park Art Show - Students of PS 110, PS 34, and St. Stan's will be invited to submit McGolrick inspried art for cash prizes and recognition. Press will be invited to the event. (Judges = Stephanie Thayer, Councilman Levin, Assemblyman Lentol.) I'd like to begin set-up in the center of the park, assigning a stretch of benches to each school. Students can bring their art between 11:30-12:00, judging will take place 12:00-12:30, and prizes awarded at 12:30.
why we're doing it
Over the past three decades, McGolrick Park has experienced times of thriving beauty and community involvement, and times of disappointing, if not devastating neglect and tragedy[1]. On December 9, 2011 a meeting took place to address the degenerating conditions of the park over the previous six months. The attendees of the meeting included: high-level administration of the Parks Department, 94th police precinct representatives, the offices of Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and Councilman Stephen Levin, the principals of P.S. 110, St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, and P.S. 34, and several private citizens. Specific problems of the park were discussed and some plans were put in place to solve these issues. But due to budgetary cuts to the Parks Department, it became clear that community action and supplementary funding would be necessary to maintain the health and safety of McGolrick Park in 2012. Moreover, it was agreed that if a sense of community ownership in the park was cultivated, current problems such as vandalism would decrease. From these realizations, the idea for The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance was born.
[1] http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8497288
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/heartbreak-at-a-monument-to-humanity/
http://www.greenpointnews.com/news/3813/suicide-in-park-reinforces-need-for-local-shelter
http://www.ny1.com/content/44081/toddler-falls-into-open-storm-drain-in-brooklyn-park
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/14/nyregion/homeless-man-slain.html?scp=8&sq=McGolrick%20Park&st=cse
budget
At this time, The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance is seeking funding or donations for the following: • 3- 20lbs bags of grass seed ($150)Home Depot, Scotts 20lb. Turf Builder EZ Seed, $49.98 Each (NEEDED BY 3/5/12!) • 50 - 40 lbs. bag of top soil ($100)Home Depot, 40lb. Top soil, $1.48 Each (NEEDED BY 3/5/12!) • $200 estimated annual delivery costs of planting supplies • $400 for water, juice, and healthy snacks for volunteers at monthly clean-ups • $350 for June's art show prizes ($50 1st prize, $30 2nd prize, $15 3rd prize for each of the 3 participating schools + cerificate of recognition printing) • $1000 fee for 3 workshops lead by the NY Hall of Science project total = $2200 ioby fee = 176 total to fundraise = $2376 new project total = 1050 new ioby fee = 84 new total = $1134
updates
The McGolrick Park Student Art Show, June 16
Posted 06/20/2012 - 3:56pm
Thanks to your support, the event on Saturday was a great success! Here are some pictures from The McGolrick Park Student Art Show!
Tree Stewardship at McGolrick Park
Posted 04/11/2012 - 3:35pm
Our 3/31/12 tree stewardship project led by TreesNY was rained out, but we rescheduled on 4/7/12. Unfortunately, we lost some planned volunteers because of the date change, but the project still ended as a success. Nelson and Sam from TressNY guided local families through the mulching and planting and educated the children on why we should care for our local trees and how to do so properly. We all had a great time and the kids in particular took great pride in their work. We're so thankful to TreesNY for their time, effort, and donation of supplies and activity books. They are doing great things for the trees of Greenpoint and we're so grateful that The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance had the opportunity to work with them.
If you are interested in supporting TreesNY, they will be hosting a fundraising party on Apr 19, 2012 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM at Collab 304 Hudson Street New York, NY 10013. The $40 ticket includes drinks, hors d'oeurves and a raffle ticket. Bring a friend to take advantage of the 2 ticket discount (2 people for $70)!
Upcoming work days and thanks!!
Posted 03/20/2012 - 11:28am
UPDATE 1
Firstly, I want to offer my sincere thanks for donating to this community project. Because of your generosity we will be able to fund events in McGolrick Park through June 2012. The goals of these events are to:
1) Improve, maintain, and beautify the park through the volunteerism of our community.
2) Offer the students and families of our community volunteering and educational opportunities within the park, as well as fun activities and special events.
3) Offer local families and students a sense of investment and ownership in the park through monthly improvement and engagement projects.
The specifics of the events planned so far are as follows. We hope that you and your families will join us on these dates, and that you will spread the word to your neighbors and friends about this project:
Saturday March 17, 11:00-12:00 (Rain Date – Sunday March 18, 11:00-12:00)
Turn McGolrick Park Green on St. Patrick’s Day!
Help spread new top soil and grass seed, do general clean-up, and bring your kids to the playground for free crafts!
Saturday March 31, 11:00-1:00
Street Tree Stewardship Project led by TreesNY
Help improve the health of the tree beds surrounding McGolrick Park!
Saturday April 28, 8:00-9:00
Playground Bench Painting
Students of PS 110, PS 34, and St. Stan’s will be invited to paint fun and colorful images on the playground benches.
Friday May 18, 10:30
Children’s Concert hosted by Town Square
Enjoy the music provided by Town Square and then join in a collective art project and/or flower planting in the park.
Saturday June 16, 11:00-1:00
The McGolrick Park Art Show
Students of PS 110, PS 34, St. Stan’s, and the Greenpoint Youth Court program will be invited to submit McGolrick inspired art for recognition and cash prizes. Councilman Steve Levin, Assemblyman Jospeh Lentol, and Administrator for North Brooklyn Parks Stephanie Thayer will judge.
UPDATE 2
The March 17 grass-seeding event was a great success. 30 volunteers showed up to improve the lawns of McGolrick Park and kids and parents had a great time doing crafts in the playground!
Thanks and our plans for the spring.
Posted 02/21/2012 - 6:29pm
Thanks to ioby and the incredible generosity of donors, The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance has already raised $934! This is enough to fund the grass-seeding event scheduled for March 17 (more info to come soon) and several other events including a McGolrick-inspired children's art show scheduled for early June. This project is also being considered for several grants, so FINGERS CROSSED, that funding will also come through. I'm so hopeful and excited that through the participation and activism of the community, especially the families and students of our local schools, McGolrick Park will be a beautiful and safe community centerpiece come spring and summer! Also, I have registered the group for The President's Volunteer Service Award whereby volunteers' hours will be logged so that at the end of this year their service will be recognized by the President through a letter and/or official pin.
photos
This is where photos will go once we build flickr integrationdonors
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