Image

Four 1st-grade teachers at PS/IS 192 in Borough Park opened their hearts and their wallets to create a moving Mother’s Day party for their 94 students and the superhero woman in each of their lives. “Thank goodness for Costco!” says 19-year veteran Diana Mejia-Linares, who spent more than $100 on everything from elephant-ear pastries to flowers to tablecloths for the May 6 fete. “The children were ecstatic to see their mom or aunty or grandmother enter the room. I had 64 people stuffed into my tiny classroom.” In his or her Sunday best, each child greeted the A-list adult and escorted her into the dolled-up 1st-grade classrooms. One little boy wore a white tuxedo for the occasion. The children watched as the women oohed and aahed over giant photos of their own faces with their superhero designation decorating the borders. One child considers his mom the super hero of “fast cooking” for her rapid dinner prep. A little girl swears that her mama’s superpower is “hearing,” because she misses nothing. In their sweet falsettos, the children serenaded the visitors with “You Are My Sunshine.” Nine-year veteran Melinda Ramirez came up with the Muffins with Mommies morning event. Her 1st-grade colleagues — along with Mejia-Linares, there are Kelly Chianetta and Jamie DiPaola — were all in. The students at the Brooklyn school are wildly diverse, including Russian, Hispanic, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. What they share is poverty. “They don’t have the means to buy their moms a special gift,” says Ramirez. “So we set out a nice spread for them to honor their moms.” For the few children who had no special person show up, beloved teachers and the assistant principal offered themselves as surrogates. “To see the children’s expressions of joy during the celebration meant so much to me and my colleagues,” says Ramirez. “They are so sweet and young. They deserve nothing but good things.” With all that happiness in the classrooms, the children must have wondered why in the world the silly adults were so teary-eyed.