Here are some updates:

📍No School on Monday, January 16th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

📑PTA Sponsored Read-A-Thon Poster Contest has been extended to January 17th. Students can work on their poster over the long weekend.

📚Secret Reader is has begun! Look for an email from Mrs. Perez-Fung to sign up for a time on a Friday from January 13th to February 3rd to read a book to your child's class via Zoom.

📑PTA Sponsored Read-A-Thon will begin January 23rd. Look for information to follow.

📢PTA Empower Our Children Donation Drive continues. See the flyer below for more details.

📌Annex families- please do not to use the parking lot. Please do not to walk on church property.

🎇PTA is providing each student with five in class lessons facilitated by the New York Historical Society. Fourth and fifth grade classes had their first sessions this week! Thank you PTA for providing this enrichment program for our students.

📢We will continue to send COVId-19 test kits home. Students will receive four test kits a month. Two kits were sent home this week. Two more will be sent home the week of January 23rd.

We want to thank the PTA for providing all of our students, PreK to fifth grade, two Yoga classes this fall. Our students enjoyed this experience. We could not have done this without you and your support through the PTA Empower Our Children campaign!

We had many entries to Respect for All poster and essay contest. Two winners from P.S. 188Q have been chosen by District 26. They will be celebrated at the February 6th CDEC meeting. We hope you can join us in celebrating Madeline and Nisansi!

Books encourage our children to explore uncharted water and dive into new adventures!

This year's theme for our poster contest is Knowledge is Power!

On a posterboard or any sized paper present the power of knowledge you've gained from reading a book, something you want to remember for all time! Something new or different that you'd like to share with your classmates. Show how a book has taught you fun facts, opened your mind to different ideas, or has given you the power to try something new. What have you learned about dinosaurs, the United States government, Albert Einstein, coding? The choice is yours and the possibilities are endless!

Each entry will be displayed in the hallways of the main building and a winner from each grade category (K- 2nd grade) and (3rd- 5th grade) will be chosen by the PTA by January 20th. The winners will receive items from the PTA School Store!

1. Please write your name, class and grade on the back of your poster.

2. Students can write a short paragraph explaining their artwork should they want to. Not required.

3. Submit your poster to your teacher no later than Tuesday, January 17th, 2023.

Any questions can be sent to jodieps188qpta@gmail.com

Good luck and can't wait to see all of your entries!

The Student Council of P.S. 188 will be conducting its first service project- A “paw”fect way to help our furry friends in need.

Student Council will be selling blue and white silicon bracelets with the saying “P.S. 188 Royals” to raise money to donate to North Shore Animal League. Each bracelet costs $1.00. In addition, we have a limited number of “P.S. 188 ROYALS” and “Dream Believe Achieve” pencils for sale too. The pencils are 2 for $1.00. Annex families, if you would like to purchase a bracelet or pencils, please fill out the tear-off below with your donation and return it to Mrs. Gambeski. Main building, students can visit the Student Council “merch market” outside the Auditorium on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (7:30AM-8AM) to purchase bracelets.

Student Council hopes that all of families will participate so we can help our furry friends

in need. By wearing these bracelets, the student body can show their school spirit while helping animals in need. If you have any questions, please contact me at hgambeski@schools.nyc.gov. Thank you for your support.

The Big Apple Awards (BAA) nomination process for the upcoming cohort of Fellows for the 2023–24 school year is now open through February 28. You and all members of the school community (including families, students, and community-based organizations) are invited to nominate a teacher for the Big Apple Award.

Nominations can be made by submitting the teacher’s name and school to the DOE All Stars website. Note that you do not need a DOE login to nominate a teacher through this portal, as individuals without a DOE login may sign in as a guest). Alternatively, you or your school community members can email the teacher’s name and school name to bigappleteachers@schools.nyc.gov. Principals are encouraged to set up a nomination box in their school office for families to drop names, and by the end of the nomination period, these nominations should be submitted by you or your designee through the website or via email at bigappleteachers@schools.nyc.gov.

Take a look at a few poems that students have written as part of our partnership with Teachers and Writers Collaborative.

Blue

Celina

Blue blue blue blue

It's not blue

It's the sky when it rains

it's the globe of our world

oceans to swim

snow all over the place

fish crying out for help

just like salt

being sad and lonely

Winter snow all over the place

Shirts and coats being worn

Books to read

Blue folders

Blueberries

Flowers that aren't just blue

Oceans are waving

fireworks

everywhere

blue blue blue

The Soccer Game

Kamea

I am nine

And I’m playing a soccer game

Against the boys Kobe and Noah

They’re good and so am I

But Chrissy can’t even kick a ball properly

The ball zooms past us and

Our goal keeper has saved the ball

Yay! We did it!

I’m kicking the ball

The ball goes through Noah’s legs

I kick but

Kobe steals the ball and

Goes past us but

Our goalkeeper makes another spectacular save

Yay! We did it!

The boys see me whispering to Chrissy

I tell her if I hit the ball against

That wall at an angle

We’ll get it into the goal and

She agrees, then we kick

The boys go off course

We score

Yay! We did it!

Me

Alexandra

I want to laugh

Be like an eagle

I would like to be a dragonfruit or a grape

Sleeping like a wolf

Underneath the sand

I will hear the sound of pouring rain

Turn on the tv

I would rather be one

I would like to be funny and weird

Snow harder

I feel like a brussel sprout

• January 16th: No School- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• January 17th: Family DEI Meeting 9:30 a.m. via Zoom; Middle School Workshop #1 via Zoom at 7:00 p.m.
• January 18th: 4th grade NYS Testing Informational Meeting @ 2:20 p.m. via Zoom; Last Day of Wednesday Self-Sustaining afterschool; PTA meeting 7:00 p.m. via Zoom
• January 19th: FDNY visit PreK B8 and PreK B9; Queens North Spelling Bee @ JHS 185
• January 20th: Coffee and Conversations with Mrs. Figueroa and Mrs. Nartowicz; Kindergarten application is due; D26 Parent Workshop @ MS 67Q "Breaking Bad Habits"
• January 22nd: Lunar New Year
• January 23rd: P.S. 188Q vs. P.S. 159Q basketball game--further guidance on spectators; PTA Read-A-Thon begins
• January 25th: NYHS begins for 3rd grade- Picturing Black History
• January 26th: Last day of Thursday Self-Sustaining Afterschool
• January 27th: Student DEI Meeting 7:30 a.m.; P.S. 188Q Winter Chorus Concert in-person with live stream available
• February 1st: Grades 1-5 Book of the Month assembly---wear P.S. 188Q trip shirt
• February 3rd: Safety Meeting via Zoom; PTA Read-A-Thon ends
• February 6th: PreK and Kindergarten Book of the Month assembly---wear your P.S. 188Q trip shirt
• February 7th: 3rd grade class trip to see a performance at Queens College
• February 9th: 1-101 Trip to Cunningham Tennis; CDEC Meeting 7:00 p.m.
  
• February 10th: Middle School Meeting Session #3 @ 9:00 a.m. in-person (proof of vaccination need)
• February 13th: Middle School Meeting Session #3 @ 7:00 p.m. via Zoom
• February 14th: PTA Friendship Bake Sale
• February 15th: 100th Day of School; 5th grade NYS Testing Informational Meeting @ 2:20 p.m. via Zoom; PTA Meeting 7:00 p.m. via Zoom
• February 16th: 1-118 Trip to Cunningham Park; 3rd grade NYS Testing Informational Meeting @9:50 a.m. via Zoom
• February 20th to February 24th: Mid-Winter Recess NO SCHOOL
• February 26th: Return to school
• March 1st: Grades 1-5 Book of the Month assembly---wear P.S. 188Q trip shirt; SLT via Zoom
• March 3rd: Safety Meeting 7:30 a.m. via Zoom
• March 16th: 1-119 Trip to Cunningham Park
• March 23rd: 1-102 Trip to Cunningham Park