60 THE QUEENS COURIER • MEMORIAL DAY • MAY 21, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com Poster KIDS for success Photo by Victor G. Mimoni Art students at Marie Curie Middle School (MS158) in Bayside are getting real-world experience in meeting deadlines, and have something to show for it – lots of success. For years, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade’s annual Art & Essay Contest has been dominated by Grade 8 artists from the school, located on Oceania Street in Bayside. Teacher Mario Asaro explained that the kids choose from several projects, including MS158 art teacher Mario Asaro works with one of his Grade 8 students who have to pitch their projects and meet a deadline – just like in the outside world. the parade contest. “I run this like an agency. Before I give them their poster materials, they have to submit sketches for preliminary approval,” teacher Mario Asaro explained. They have four weeks to complete their projects. Asaro is vice president of the New York City Art Teachers Association, part of the teachers union, and credits Principal Marie Nappi for backing his success in the face of strong headwinds. It seems that the highly successful program doesn’t fi t with State rules concerning art instruction because it allows students who like art to concentrate on art. “I get a very low rating from the State because of it, despite our success,” Nappi admitted. It seems that the school regularly places fi rst in Queens for student admission to the city’s nine specialized high schools, including Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Tech and Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. Nappi promised to continue the successful strategy as long as she can.
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