Adam Marcus | David Chimoskey | Randolph Noel | Tanisha Ellerbee
Adam Marcus is P.S. 32′s librarian. A New York City Teaching Fellow, Mr. Marcus has been teaching since 2001 and has been at P.S. 32 for nine years. He has taught pre-K, kindergarten, and grades 3, 4 and 5. He holds a master’s in elementary education and is currently enrolled in the School Library & Information Technology Masters Program at Mansfield University.
Mr. Marcus established P.S. 32’s Library Advisory Committee which has raised over $500,000 to transform its library into a media center. He has tripled the size of the print collection since becoming the P.S. 32 librarian in the fall of 2009. The new center will be equipped with Macbooks, iMacs and iPads, and will serve not only P.S. 32’s students, families and staff, but also neighbors of the school. He is currently working on a program to reach out to at-risk infants, toddlers and preschoolers to supply them with rich literacy experiences and free books through our library. The program, titled, “Diapers to Dormitories,” will also provide parents with support with family literacy support.
“All children deserve equitable access to not just information, but to purposeful instruction on how to use the information for knowledge aquisition, the ability to pursue their own aesthetic interests and to be able to create and share their learning and interests in a meaningful way,” said Mr. Marcus. “The library is theirs during their tenure in our school, but the skills that they acquire will stay with them through college and for the rest of their lives. The ability to do inquiry work and learn the skills necessary to have all of their wonderings answered is facilitated through a library media center that is well-equipped technologically, and also maintains a strong collection of books made available in multiple formats. Children will be afforded every opportunity to discover who they are as readers, learners, and members of a literate culture.”
Mr. Marcus is a Brooklyn native living in Prospect Heights with his wife, Maya, and his dog Danny Little Wolf. He plays guitar, does yoga, meditates and plays basketball, which he has also coached at the middle school level.
Mr. Marcus serves on the NYC Department of Education Library Advisory Committee. He recently co-wrote an article published in School Library Monthly and has presented at three NYC School Library Services conferences.
[Back To Top]
David Chimoskey, or “Mr. Dave” as he is known by his students, has been the head visual arts instructor at P.S. 32 for seven years, but he has been making art for as long as he can remember. As a young man Mr. Dave lived and studied art in Nairobi, Kenya. He has also traveled to many other countries to explore approaches to art-making.
“I love art, and I love teaching others the power and importance that art-making holds. There is no better way to bring a group together, to listen, make sense of others and the world around us, and work in a collective spirit,” said Mr. Dave.
Mr. Dave’s teaching aims to foster a sense of community through collaboration, while also encouraging individual expression. He is constantly looking to collaborate with colleagues to integrate and reinforce core curriculum subjects. He views the art room as an environment in which students can explore materials share ideas and differences, and find and develop their own voice.
“When art is honored as an integral part of human development,” said Mr. Dave, “which it is at P.S. 32, it only makes our students stronger and more well rounded individuals.”
Mr. Dave has been a freelance artist and educator for many other organizations including; The Seattle Opera, SeaCamp Marine Biology camp in the Florida Keys, The Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan, and The Earth School in the East Village. He has exhibited his art in Seattle, Chicago, and New York City, and continues to produce his own work. Mr. Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in art (sculpture) from Western Washington University, a master’s degree in Art Therapy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is teacher certified from Parsons School of Design.
[Back To Top]
Randolph Noel has 22 years of teaching experience with the New York City Department of Education and taught for two years for the CUNY system. As an educator he has brought public school children into performance with major artists such as Grammy Award winner Barry Harris, Andrew Frierson and others. The late Abbey Lincoln recorded his previous elementary and middle school (grades 3-8) chorus on the CD “The Devil’s Got Your Tongue,” and subsequently brought those public school children to tour France in 1992.
Mr. Noel has been teaching at P.S. 32 for seven years. Each year under his guidance, his upper grade students participate in the citywide Music Memory Program, which aims to develop a lasting appreciation for fine music in young people through innovative classroom learning and an annual Citywide Finals event. P.S. 32 students are City Champions in 2010 (both categories) and 2011 (5th/6th grade category).
In 2000, Mr. Noel received legislative recognition from the New York State Senate for excellence in education, and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for “outstanding and invaluable service to the community” from the Unites States Congress.
As a professional musician, Mr. Noel’s experiences range from Sam and Dave to the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. His efforts have been recorded on several Abbey Lincoln albums as an arranger. He is featured as a pianist on Al Grey’s “Matzoh and Grits.” Mr. Noel’s work as an arranger is also included in The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Series.
[Back To Top]
Tanisha Ellerbee teaches Science at P.S. 32. She has been teaching for nine years, seven of them at our school.
“I didn’t always love science,” admits Ms. Ellerbee. It wasn’t until junior high school, when she had her first experience with true student-centered, hands-on learning, that she began to love and appreciate the subject. She began to realize that science was about discovery, exploration, developing theories, questioning, and most importantly the sense of accomplishment one feels when finding the answers through experimentation. These are the principles that Ms. Ellerbee tries to instill in her students through her science program.
When Ms. Ellerbee first began teaching, she found that the best way to reach her students was through integrated units of study. “Science is wonderful because it connects so naturally to other subjects.” She tells her students that in order to be good scientists, they must also work to be good mathematicians, because so much of science involves math. To be good observers they must work on their note-taking skills. To be good researchers they must practice their reading skills. To create models and design concepts they must draw on their artistic skills.
Ms. Ellerbee sees her job as a science teacher as an opportunity to motivate her students to share ideas. “The best times in my classroom are when I have two students with opposing theories. They manage to get a team of kids on each of their sides. They can’t wait to create and conduct experiments just to see who’s right.“
Ms. Ellerbee believes science is an essential part of a child’s education, not only for the value in the specific content or units of study, but for the experience students have of discovering that knowledge on their own.
[Back To Top]
For a list of the full P.S. 32 staff, click here.
