School No. 5 wins state PARP Program

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In 2016 Oceanside School No. 5 PTA was announced as winners of the New York State Pick a Reading Partner Program (PARP). While a great achievement in itself, the journey to get that recognition is a story of collaboration, dedication and ingenuity, highlighting the strength of School No. 5’s staff, parents and students.

Generally, PARP is a program that runs at the beginning of every Feb. for two weeks, where guardians and children are encouraged to read together every day for 15 minutes, record what they accomplished and report it to the school. Each school’s PTA is given the freedom to come up with innovative ways to get students and their guardians to participate.

PTA Co-chairs Mary DiGiovanna and Frances Cuomo-Perpero had been working together for four years on the program, each year improving on it and working from last year’s experience. “Each year we want to build upon the program,” said Cuomo-Perpero.

“As the program has gotten older it’s gotten more involved,” said DiGiovanna. “It all depends on how much you want to put into it.” This year they went all out and turned it into a resounding success.

Selecting themes for each year’s program, DiGiovanna and Cuomo-Perpero chose the theme “Rocking, Reading, Rapping...Sharing Stories Through Music” for 2016. The idea behind the theme was to get children to understand that even their favorite songs have stories behind them, which can be read just like any book. “Stories can be told in many forms,” said DiGiovanna. The two incorporated Oceanside Library into the program and had them compile books on music or books written by musicians.

Recognizing the Internet and online videos have become a huge part of children’s lives, the two ingeniously incorporated online and video components into this year’s program. They created a site for guardians and students to easily record their reading data, while also providing a space for children to share music videos they created themselves, harnessing the culture of social media to inspire children to participate.

It all culminated in the highlight of this year’s program, an elaborately produced parody music video based on the Justin Beiber song “What Do You Mean?” entitled “What Do You Read?”

The video was a massive community effort, involving students, parents and teachers both in and out of School No. 5. Oceanside High School’s video production teacher Audrey Miller edited the video and brought along one of her students, Santino Marrone, to help shoot it. “He had gone to School Five so it was great for him to come back and give back to his school,” said Miller. Students, teachers and even the custodians were featured in the video. “They had a ton of fun with it,” recalled Miller.

“I couldn’t be more proud and I couldn’t be more grateful,” said Cuomo-Perpero. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the staff and parents.” Echoing a similar sentiment DiGiovanna emphasized the support they received. “The video would have never been made without great teachers and students,” she said. “It takes a village.”

School No. 5’s principal at the time, Diane Provvido, who was instrumental in bringing the school together for the effort, was proud of the two co-chairs’ work. “I have to say, as a principal it doesn’t get any better,” she remarked. “It’s wonderful to have such incredibly passionate and creative parents to just seed an idea and bring it to life.”