EDUCATION
More than 200 backpacks donated during Queens
Variety Boys & Girls Club’s back-to-school festival
Queens’ Variety Boys & Girls Club hosted a back to school event on Sept. 18 to collect donations of school supplies.
Photo courtesy of Variety Boys & Girls Club
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | OCT. 1 - OCT. 7, 2021 17
BY JENNA BAGCAL
An Oakland Gardens public
school was recently recognized
as one of the best in the
nation, along with 18 other
institutions in New York state.
Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle
School 74 earned a spot on
the 2021 National Blue Ribbon
School list, which recognizes
schools’ overall academic performance
or progress in closing
achievement gaps among
student subgroups.
This year, a total of 325
public and non-public schools
across the nation were named
Blue Ribbon Schools.
The U.S. Department of
Education program began 39
years ago and has given approximately
10,000 awards to
more than 9,000 schools.
Schools are placed in one
of two performance categories
based on all student scores,
subgroup student scores and
graduations rates. The first is
exemplary high-performing
schools, based on state assessments
or nationally normed
tests. The second is exemplary
achievement gap-closing
schools, which are institutions
that have closed achievement
gaps between student groups
and all students.
“This year’s cohort of
honorees demonstrates what
is possible when committed
educators and school leaders
create vibrant, welcoming
and affirming school cultures
where rich teaching and
learning can flourish,” said
U.S. Secretary of Education
Miguel Cardona. “I commend
all our Blue Ribbon honorees
for working to keep students
healthy and safe while meeting
their academic, social,
emotional and mental health
needs.”
Cardona also commended
the Blue Ribbon Schools for
persevering and thriving
when COVID-19 posed a variety
of challenges to learning.
“In the face of unprecedented
circumstances, you
found creative ways to engage,
care for, protect and teach
our children,” Cardona said.
“Blue Ribbon Schools have so
much to offer and can serve as
a model for other schools and
communities so that we can
truly build back better.”
Below is a list of National
Blue Ribbon Schools in New
York state. Schools in New
York City are in bold.
• Briarcliff Manor –
Briarcliff High School
• Bronx – Icahn Charter
School 3
• Brooklyn – P.S. 249
Caton (The)
• Brooklyn – The School
for Future Leaders
• Castleton-on-Hudson –
Green Meadow Elementary
School
• Commack – Commack
High School
• Fayetteville – Fayetteville
Elementary School
• Fonda – Fonda-Fultonville
K-4 School
• Glen Head – North Shore
Senior High School
• Jericho – Jericho Senior
High School
• Lawrence – Rambam
Mesivta High School
• Merrick – Sanford H
Calhoun High School
• Mount Sinai – Robert M.
Grable Jr. Mount Sinai High
School
• Manhattan – P.S. 234
Independence School
• Manhattan – P.S. 290
Manhattan New School
• Manhattan – P.S. 41
Greenwich Village
• Oakland Gardens –
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Middle School 74
• Pleasantville – Pleasantville
High School
BY NATALIE LOWIN
The Variety Boys & Girls Club of
Queens recently held a back-to-school
event for local students and their
families.
The event, held on Sept. 18 in Astoria,
provided over 200 backpacks and
school supplies for students returning
to class.
The backpacks and supplies
were donated by the Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards,
Staples store 841, Executive Digital,
state Senators Michael Gianaris and
Jessica Ramos, Apartment 3R and
PreCog Security.
More generosity came with the donation
of 500 cookies by Chip City, located
on 42-15 Crescent St. Some of the
other vendors present were San Antonio’s
Wood Fired Pizza, Ample Hills
Creamery and Astoria Bookshop.
The event, which was hosted in
sponsorship with TD Bank, Elmhurst
Hospital, Chip City and Heroes Basketball,
featured several games, including
a dunk tank.
Costa Constantinides, CEO of Variety
Boys & Girls Club and former Astoria
city councilman, was all smiles
after being dunked in.
According to their website, the
Variety Boys & Girls Club, created in
1955, was established by a concerned
group of citizens in Astoria and Long
Island City who “banded together in
response to rising gang violence in
their neighborhood.”
For more information about the
Variety Boys & Girls Club, visit
bgcqueens.org.
Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School
Oakland Gardens school earns
2021 National Blue Ribbon award
/QNS.COM
/bgcqueens.org
