Update

I visited as a firefighter...

This week I visited classrooms wearing another one of my hats…literally. I visited as a firefighter, I’m proud to be a volunteer firefighter, and now is an important time to remind our community about safety. We won’t see most of our students for months over the summer so I wanted to remind them of things like asking their families to check their smoke detectors, and how to safely exit their buildings. We had some fun too! The Pre-K put their lion masks on and showed my how they ROAR!
#community #safety #firesafety #firefighters #schoolleadership #bronxStrong #students

Update - 05/29/2023

Teacher Appreciation

There is a Japanese proverb that says, “Better than a thousand days of diligent study, is one day with a great teacher”

I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best teachers in New York City and as a principal, I appreciate my teachers and staff every single day. We’ve all had a teacher that impacted our lives in such ways we could never forget them. If you’re still connected with that teacher let them know how much you appreciated them. As a college professor, I always have my college students that are future teachers reflect on what made their favorite teacher so special. I remind them that 20 years from now a former student could be reflecting about them. For me, I’m remembering my high school art teacher, Mr. Samuel Sheller. He was encouraging, believed in me, treated everyone with respect, taught us through his battle with cancer with honesty, grace, and bravery. His dedication and passion for teaching is what inspired me to begin my journey in education.

Teaching is powerful. It’s impactful and yes, I’m biased, but it’s one of the most important and amazing professions there is. Teachers everywhere, and especially those I’ve had the privilege to work with, you’re appreciated!
#teaching #teacher #education #respect #BronxStrong #teacherappreciation

Update - 05/10/2023

Literacy Academy Collective

It's official! The pilot at PS 161 was a success and students with dyslexia and language-based reading challenges in the South Bronx will have a school dedicated to serving them and providing reading instruction in the way they need to be successful. Congrats to the Literacy Academy Collective, Ilia Edwards, the future principal Bethany Poolman, the teaching team, and most important of all the students and families. Access to reading is one of the most important social justice issues! #access #teaching #school #students #dyslexia #literacyforall #literacy #BronxStrong

Learn more here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/literacy-academy-collective_with-22-votes-the-nyc-pep-voted-to-open-activity-7054657619839307776-SC65?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Update - 04/28/2023

School Event

We had a great time welcoming our families into the building today. We had clothing and book donations and informational tables from Kids Rise, FACE, Literacy Partners, BRAVE and our PTA. The highlights though were the students. Our GEMS (My Sister’s Keeper) group were the guides and our drone cadet students gave intros to kids that were interested (which was all of them) We definitely have a future teacher in the group, he just doesn’t know it yet.

Update - 04/05/2023

My office

One of my 2nd graders had been asking to see my office for a week or two, I had to keep telling her, “why do you want to see my office?” or “Sometime when we have time” I wasn’t sure why she wanted to see it, but this time in the lunch room when she asked I just said, “let’s go right now”. She lit up. We checked out my office and talked about what principals do. I asked her if her experience lived up to what she thought it would be, she said it was “a lot more awesome”. It’s the little things. #futureprincipal #leadership

Update - 03/27/2023

Social Emotional Learning

Let's talk about something serious, our feelings. I didn't grow up talking about my feelings very much... It's an area I'm still trying to improve on. Now more than ever, we need to understand ourselves and our feelings to be successful, to be good friends, and to grow. One of our second graders is explaining the Mood Meter, which is one tool that we are beginning to use again to help give words to our feelings. We're going to stop, check in on ourselves and our mood, and try to figure out why are feeling that way. Hope you're all feeling great today!

#socialemotionallearning #SEL #School #studentsuccess #BronxStrong #PS161 #D7

Update - 01/26/2023

Girls On The Run 5K

What an awesome Girls On The Run 5K this morning! My daughter and I ran in support of our PS 161 girls and everyone involved did an great job! Kudos to the event organizers and our PS 161 coaches & running buddies. Huge shout out to our head coach & organizer Olivia Leone! Girls on the Run is an impactful organization, if you don’t know, check it out, https://lnkd.in/ecG_GTsD
#event #girlsontherun #girlpower #bronxstrong #ps161

Update - 12/14/2022

Fall Festival

This November we held a fall festival and gave away a thousand items of clothing and around 600 books to families in our school community. We quickly realized this needs to be a monthly event, so today we held our second family event with our Winter Fest. We gave away books, clothes, family support information, had crafts and were even visited by Santa and Mrs. Claus! I can’t say enough about the wonderful staff and PS 161 community. Thanks to all that supported! Jillian Blough #PTA #familyengagement #D7 #school #community #ps161x

Update - 12/14/2022

Stem Education

Check out our 3rd-grade designers and 3D engineers! Rudy Diaz, you are truly inspiring and engaging our learners at PS 161. They were tasked with designing a useable object, they learned the 3D design and printing process, worked together and engineered their ideas into reality. This is PS 161 learning. Wait until you see what's next...... #engineers #learning #designers #PS161 #StemEducation #BronxStrong #Innovation #teaching #stemeducationforkids #WeAretheLions
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Update - 11/23/2022