4 APRIL 26, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Holden pushing for new Ridgewood school gyms
Autism Awareness
Day at Atlas Park
The Glendale-based foundation
Play4Autism is closing out
Autism Awareness Month
with a big event at the Shops at
Atlas Park to continue spreading
awareness and acceptance of those
on the spectrum.
On Saturday, April 28, Autism
Awareness Action Day will take
place from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and will
feature a live DJ, games, face-painting,
interactive sports stations,
arts and crafts, Autism information
booths and much more. Greg
Vasicek, founder of Play4Autism,
expressed his gratitude for everyone
involved in making this event
possible.
“We are excited to have partnered
up with the Shops at Atlas
Park to further spread awareness
about Autism and our Kidz into
Action Programs, and would like to
thank the vendors, volunteers and
everyone who attends in advance
for their support in helping us
make this a memorable day for all,”
Vasicek said.
The event will also include a
lightsaber demonstration from the
Empire Saber Guild, a kickboxing
and martial arts demonstration
from Hooked, an autograph session
from a professional athlete and
a discussion with Assemblyman
Angelo Santabarbara about his ongoing
legislative eff orts to enhance
the quality of life for New Yorkers
living with autism.
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@R_KELLEY6
Inside P.S. 71 in Ridgewood, where a
dance and cheerleading program
was built from the ground up and
spread throughout all the schools in
the district, team practices require a
unique strategy.
Once the last lunch period of the
day is over, the custodial team begins
clearing out the cafeteria. They remove
the tables, apply padding to the
columns and drag a fl oor mat into the
room. Practice takes place here aft er
school because P.S. 71 does not have a
gymnasium.
When Councilman Robert Holden
recently completed one of his fi rst
political missions by visiting every
school in Council District 30 to assess
their needs, he saw this lack of a gym
as a real opportunity to make a diff erence,
he said.
“What they were able to do without
a gym was amazing,” Holden said.
“Imagine what they could do with one.”
Along with P.S. 71, Holden also found
that P.S. 68 and P.S. 91 in Ridgewood do
not have gymnasiums, and he plans to
fi ght to get gyms built in all of them, he
said. Holden got the ball rolling by penning
a letter to the School Construction
Authority (SCA) asking them to assess
all three schools to determine the feasibility
of building gyms as quickly as
possible.
So far, P.S. 71 is on the fast track to
being the fi rst of the schools to get a
gym, and Holden said Mayor Bill de
Blasio “promised” that it was going to
get done.
Besides the cafeteria, the school also
uses a large classroom with lines taped
on the fl oor for physical education
classes, and it has an outdoor space
with half of a basketball court, a mini
soccer pitch and two straight track
lanes to be used when the weather
permits. The school also coordinates
with I.S. 93 and Grover Cleveland High
School to use their facilities.
According to Principal Indiana Soto,
the classroom used as the mock gym
could be easily converted into a small
gym by removing a partition wall
between it and another classroom and
installing wood fl oors and other gym
features. Building gyms at P.S. 68 and
P.S. 91, on the other hand, is going to
require more creative work from the
SCA, Holden said.
With the cheerleading program as
evidence, the lack of a gym has never
held P.S. 71 back in large part because
Soto puts it on herself to improvise and
become innovative, and “never will my
kids compromise,” she said. She added
that the Greater Ridgewood Youth
Council (GRYC), which partnered with
the school to form the cheerleading
program and host the Owl NYC Cheerleading
Competition, will also greatly
benefi t from having a newly built gym
to use for its aft er-school programs.
“If 71 had a gym that would be really
nice. They’re like orphans right now
because they have to use I.S. 93 and
company,” said Bob Monahan, president
of the GRYC. “If they get a gym
we’ll utilize it in a massive way for
multiple activities, it enhances every
aspect of all programs we have.”
For Holden, visiting the schools has
been his favorite part of being a Council
member so far, he said. Soto added
that she could tell the councilman and
former educator was passionate about
his commitment to education.
“We know he’s going to follow
through, and he’ll say it to the kids
himself,” Soto said.
Holden plans to ask for additional
funding from the borough president’s
offi ce and the Council speaker to go
along with the mayor’s contribution,
he said. If all goes according to plan,
construction could begin at P.S. 71 by
the summer of 2018.
Image via Pixabay
Ridgewood Property Owners & Civic Association
General Membership Meeng
Thursday, May 3rd at 7:00 pm
Ridgewood Presbyterian Church
59-14 70 Avenue
between Forest Ave and 60th Street
Meet with
Assembly woman Cathy Nolan and
State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo
For further discussions on the state of our State
Catered sandwiches & salads by Frank’s Deli (Maspeth)
and Anniversary Cake
Courtesy of Anna and Paul Prigorec
RPOCA members
link