Yonkers NY - Support the lower Hudson’s river-based non-profit Beczak Environmental Education Center at Sunset on the Hudson, their third annual fundraiser, on Friday, September 24 at 6:00 PM. It’s an evening of live jazz with Mark Morganelli and the Jazz Forum All-Stars and delicious food, beer and wine from local restaurants on Beczak’s riverfront lawn—with great views of the Hudson River and the Palisades cliffs. Sunset on the Hudson tickets are $50 in advance, $75 at the door. Buy them online at Beczak.org, by mail to Beczak, 35 Alexander Street, Yonkers, NY, 10701, or over the phone at (914) 377-1900 x 14. “Beczak is proud to be Yonkers Public Schools’ Hudson River resource.” “Beczak Environmental Education Center is proud to be Yonkers Public Schools’ Hudson River resource,” says Vicky Garufi, Beczak’s Director of Education and Outreach. “Hundreds of Yonkers students touch and learn about the Hudson River’s plants and animals at our center each year, but it goes far beyond that. Through on-going collaborations with teachers and administrators we become an off-site classroom that students return to again and again throughout their schooling.” A long-time partnership grows In more recent years, under the leadership of Fern Eisgrub, Executive Director, Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Yonkers Public Schools partner with Beczak Environmental Education Center to provide in-depth river themed classes to select elementary, middle and high schools ranging from year-long daytime programs and after school environmental clubs to student internships and Learn & Serve programs. “Beczak has a clear understanding of how inquiry-centered learning increases children’s language, math and science skills as well as their problem solving and creative thinking abilities,” says Eisgrub. Yonkers-based curriculum developed by Yonkers Public Schools and Beczak staff Sunset on the Hudson honors win-win partnershipSunset On The Hudson Fundraiser At Beczak
The honoree of the evening is Yonkers Pubic Schools and their unique partnership with Beczak Environmental Education Center, an initiative that provides hands-on science and environmental mentoring to hundreds of Yonkers students each year. Receiving the award for Yonkers Public Schools will be District Superintendent of Schools Bernard P. Pierorazio.
Beczak Environmental Education Center has worked with Yonkers Public Schools as a class-trip destination since its earliest days, over twenty years ago. Class trips to Beczak remain a favorite for both teachers and students, and have grown to encompass district-sponsored “STEMtastic,” a summer program that supports science, math, engineering, and technology initiatives, as well as students coming to Beczak individually for volunteer hours, internships, and help with senior science projects.
The most far-reaching collaboration between Beczak Environmental Education Center and Yonkers Public Schools is in the works right now—The Three Rivers of Yonkers, an interdisciplinary curriculum that teaches social studies, science, math and literature through the lens of the Saw Mill River, the Bronx River and the Hudson River. Funded by a grant secured by Beczak, The Three Rivers of Yonkers uses Yonkers teachers as consultants and their classes as a testing ground.
“Even in this pressing economic times, Yonkers Public Schools’ creative partnerships continue to support environmental education,” says Beczak’s Executive Director Clifford Schneider. “That is what we are honoring at this year’s Sunset on the Hudson.”
Comments