around the uft
W.O.W.!
Nov 15, 2007 12:21 PM
Leadership team’s bookmobile dream becomes reality
The big state-of-the-art bookmobile at PS 23 in Queens was a vision that the School Leadership Team turned into reality. Portraits of kids painted on the bus were drawn from photographs of students. The models — and their fellow students, parents, teachers and community leaders — turned out for a big celebration at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
With a stroke of collaborative genius, the wobbly old book carts that passed for a library at PS 23 in Queens were recently transformed into a huge, new, fabulously decorated bookmobile bringing 4,000 volumes and the joy of reading to all students at the school’s eight sites.
“We just couldn’t believe it when we saw that new bus, just as we had designed it, arrive from North Carolina and pull into the lot — to think that it was once just an idea!” said Tavia Trusch, acting interim assistant principal.
How did an idea turn into a state-of-the-art rolling library decorated with paintings of a fantasy land, a castle, bridge and portraits of PS 23 kids?
The concept for Wonder on Wheels was born at a School Leadership Team meeting two years ago. Bemoaning the fact that they had no school library, teachers, parents and administrators sat down to remedy that sad fact. The group came up with the idea for writing a grant for a bookmobile, and teacher Della Doherty, with help from colleagues, put pen to paper.
“We sent out the grant to various politicians, and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall responded. We sat down with her, exchanged ideas and a few weeks later we heard back that she was going to fund it,” Trusch said. “It was kind of go-forth-and-promote-literacy.”
The little crew with big dreams received no small sum. With $349,000 to spend, they worked with Department of Education Library Services to select books to be organized by the Dewey Decimal System and that would suit the needs of kids with varying abilities and disabilities, from tykes to teenagers. They made room in the budget for computers with Internet access and a wide-screen television.
Thrilled to be aboard the 4,000-volume bookmobile are (from left) paraprofessional Lorraine Kuehnle, teacher Scott LoPresti and librarian Mariann Giordano.
Working with the DOE and the Office of Mental Health, they met requirements for the project, such as regulations about where the vehicle could be parked.
They designed the unit, complete with a wheelchair lift. With the help of a graphic artist, Trusch sketched out the illustrations for the bookmobile’s exterior. A professional photographer took snaps of students, which would later become portraits painted on the bus.
“We wanted the children to see themselves and kids just like them on the bookmobile,” Trusch said.
Wonder on Wheels, aka WOW among the school community, arrived like the dream come true it truly was at the Queens Children’s Center in Bellerose, ready for its debut. On Sept. 26 it was the star of the show at a ribbon-cutting ceremony as kids, teachers, politicians, community leaders and parents climbed aboard the book-filled ark.
“The ceremony was fantastic, a real celebration,” Trusch said. Every student was treated to gifts of books and little chocolate buses.
“It’s been incredible — just the smiles on kids’ faces when they take books out for the first time,” said Chapter Leader Sheila Kaplan. “It’s a wonderful accomplishment for our team. This was a real vision, considering no other schools have this kind of bookmobile, and it was a true collaborative effort.”
Wonder on Wheels will make its rounds to every site during the school week and on weekends will be open for business at Queens Children’s Hospital, where many PS 23 students receiving treatment there will share in its delights with in-patient non-public-school kids.
“What started out as an idea for a minivan turned into one for a bigger bookmobile, then into a great big full-sized bus,” Trusch said.
And what’s her advice for leadership teams trying to improve their schools and get needed services for their students?
“Think big!”
