​Of all the programs we have initiated since we got to Borough Hall, one of our favorites is our annual meeting with BSAC, which is an acronym for Borough Student Advisory Council.

A small number of students designated by each high school came to Borough Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 26, and one at a time make their case for us to expend capital dollars (taxpayer money that can only be spent on items or projects that are long-term or permanent, like new libraries, or air conditioning systems, or athletic fields) on the needs of their respective schools.

These kids do their schools proud each and every year, using slide or video presentations to make the case that we should direct public funds to correct or improve conditions in their respective buildings or campuses.

This experience allows these young men and women to learn valuable lessons in interacting with others on a level above the ordinary, lessons that will serve them well throughout their academic and employment careers.

While some asks are a bit too expensive for us, we can help with most of them – and every school that made a presentation got all or a good portion of what they were asking for.
If this group of kids is at all representative of what our high schools are producing, we are very lucky indeed. The future of Staten Island will be in good hands.

Here's a list of schools that participated: Curtis High School, Tottenvile High School, Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School, College of Staten Island High School for International Studies, the Eagle Academy for Young Men of Staten Island, the Lois & Richard Nicotra Early College Charter School, New Dorp High School, Staten Island Technical High School, Ralph R. Mckee High School, Susan Wagner High School and the Michael J. Petrides School.

Borough President James Oddo and District Attorney Michael E. McMahon will host the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Breakfast on Monday, March 30th at 9am at the Hilton Garden Inn. The ceremony, which continues the thirteen-year commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the conflict, will honor those who served in the U.S. Armed Forced during the Vietnam War era. The breakfast will begin at 9am, with the ceremony to start at 10am.
 
At the fourth annual breakfast, Veterans will be given a symbol of appreciation by BP Oddo and DA McMahon. In addition, there will be a POW/MIA recognition ceremony.
 
Staten Island residents who were active members of the military during the period from 1955 to 1975 are eligible to attend the breakfast. Veterans may be asked to provide their DD-214 as proof of service.
 
“I am extremely thankful to all those who have dedicated their lives in service to protecting this country, and for that DA McMahon and I are happy to continue this ceremony. We hope this welcome home breakfast recognizes our Veterans who served bravely in the Vietnam War for their heroism, sacrifice and service to our country. Our veterans have made our freedom and way of life possible, and for this we continue to thank them,” said Borough President Jim Oddo.
 
“I am thrilled to once again partner with Borough President Oddo to give Staten Island’s Vietnam veterans the proper and long-overdue “Welcome Home” that they deserve for their service during that terrible conflict. These brave men and women continue to leave an indelible impact on our beloved borough, and this Breakfast has quickly become a meaningful tradition that fills the Borough President and me with pride and admiration for each and every one of them. I look forward to joining my friends once again this year for what will surely be a memorable morning,” said District Attorney Michael E. McMahon.
 
Veterans wishing to attend the ceremony must RSVP to Diane Marciuliano at (718) 816-2246 or DMarciuliano@statenislandusa.com by March 20th. When responding, please provide your name, phone number, branch of service and years of service.

On Thursday, Feb. 13, we visited PS 31 to kick off our annual Readers Are Leaders Program.

Readers Are Leaders challenges fourth-graders in Staten Island’s public, parochial and private schools to read a minimum of six books at grade level or above during a five-week period and submit a report on their favorite book. Each school chooses one "Exceptional Reader" to receive an award in May. As a partner program, we are challenging first-graders with Readers Are Leaders Jr.
 
The students participating this year will become members of an exclusive club: Since the inception of Readers are Leaders 24 years ago, more than 115,000 Staten Island students have read 690,000 books – that equals 26 BILLION words.
 
“I want to reiterate why we are taking up this challenge,” said PS 31 Principal Daniel Singleton to his wide-eyed students during an assembly in the New Brighton school’s auditorium. “Reading is very important. Your teachers talk about it all the time. It’s something that we need to use. It’s a way of communication. So, we as the adults want to give you opportunities to practice a skill that’s going to be a lifelong skill for all of you.”
 
At the assembly, Magician Mike Lane wowed the students – and us, too: He made a ketchup bottle disappear and turned a pitcher of orange juice back into an orange. Another special guest joined us: Scooter the Holy Cow, the mascot of the Staten Island Yankees. He accepted a challenge of his own: A dance-off with Principal Singleton. Dancing to “I Gotta Feeling,” Scooter clearly had the better moves.
 
Thanks to our sponsors: Barnes & Noble, the Staten Island Yankees, Magician Mike Lane and Staten Island CTV.
 
We hope this challenge inspires a lifelong love of reading and learning for all of Staten Island’s students!

​Borough President Oddo is pleased to announce his partnership with Sundog Theatre and the family of local artist Christopher Dillon Micha to offer scholarships to a Sundog Musical Theatre Acting class in memory of Christopher. The scholarship is instituted to honor Christopher, an artist who admired the creative minds of children and loved music. This is a family-based scholarship fund instituted by Christopher’s mother, his father, his step father and his siblings.
 
The scholarship will offer access to the spring 2020 session of Musical Theatre Kids, where the children will be rehearsing and performing “Rock of Ages.” The classes will take place at Monsignor Farrell High School, beginning February 22nd, with a final performance to be held on May 30th at the Staten Island Zoo Auditorium. The program and scholarships are open to boys and girls, ages 9 through 17, who otherwise would not be able to afford the $250 class. For a scholarship application, contact Sundog Theatre at info@sundogtheatre.org. Deadline for submission of the scholarship application is February 14th.
 
If you cannot make the deadline, please still apply! Your student’s application will be considered for summer and/or fall classes.

“This program allows young people to be active, engage their imaginations, and learn life-long skills and abilities to help them grow. I am grateful to be able to support a fitting tribute to Staten Islander Christopher Micha and offer this opportunity to children who otherwise would not be able to participate in the Sundog musical theatre program,” noted Borough President Oddo.
 
"Supporting young people in reaching their artistic potential is a heartwarming and satisfying way to honor Christopher and his passion for music and the arts," said Karen O'Donnell Tennenbaum, mother of Christopher Micha.
 
Housed at the Staten Island Zoo, Sundog’s Musical Theatre Kids classes provide children an opportunity to collaborate with other young people of diverse ages and backgrounds, expanding their imaginations, and learning how to perform. Sundog Theatre has been presenting original, contemporary, and thought provoking theatre for 18 years. The arts company is unique on Staten Island in that it presents in-school arts programming rooted in theatre, visual arts, dance, and music.
 
“Getting up and speaking in front of people has been documented to be the number one adult fear. If children do this at a young age, they have an easier time talking to people and expressing themselves throughout life,” explains Sundog’s Executive Director, Susan Fenley. “Most of these kids find a second family in theatre. They love participating and in addition to learning career and life skills, they are having fun.”
 
Christopher Dillon Micha:
 
Born August 10, 1975, Christopher was an active “theatre kid” in Island Community theatre. He appeared in many productions with Staten Island Civic Theatre and SeaView Playwright’s Children’s Theatre. He had a clear beautiful voice and played the role of Winthrop in Civic Theatre’s “The Music Man” when he was 10 years old.
 
After playing trombone in elementary school, he went on in his teenage years to learn guitar, he then taught himself to play drums, harmonica, ukelele, and in his late thirties set out to learn to play piano. Always interested in producing sound, he graduated from the Institute of Audio Research in NYC in August 2005.
 
A songwriter/arranger, guitarist, and lead vocalist with the bands Das Phrogge and Zero Charisma, he also performed solo as The Hero Pup. His CDs with Das Phrogge and Zero Charisma met with some moderate success in the alternative rock world.
 
As a talented graphic designer and artist, Christopher worked as a designer at Staten Island Borough Hall, the Staten Island Advance and Barking Dogs Art and Design. He had his own freelance design business known as Sleeping Cat Productions and designed and produced print graphics for clients which included campaign themes, logos, brochures and direct mailing pieces. Christopher was the designer of school newspapers for several elementary schools on the Island through the Sundog Theatre arts in education programs.
 
Christopher belonged to the American Society of composers and Publishers (ASCAP), the American Engineering Society, and was the founder of Sleeping Cat Pro Design and Audio. He continued his connection with local community theatre by designing and running sound for productions at SeaView Playwright’s Theatre and The Little Victory Theatre.
 
The perfect marriage of his skills occurred when he was chosen by a committee of the United Nations Organization (UNESCO) to submit an interactive music piece to the “Why Love/Why Now Art Exhibition at the opening of the Barcelona Forum. It included an original musical composition, package design and artistic concept, and a trip to Barcelona to oversee installation.
 
He loved to see the work of young people and was a great supporter of the Arts. Christopher Dillon Micha would be happy and grateful to think that he played a small part in helping young people find joy through theatre.

On Tuesday, February 4th, Borough President James S. Oddo presented the 2019 Patrick F. Daly award to two exemplary teachers in his honor: John DiMartino, coach and administrator at Port Richmond High School, and Renee Mazza, Assistant Principal at PS 23 The Richmondtown School.

The Patrick F. Daly Award was established shortly after Mr. Daly’s death to honor his legacy of service to the community, a steadfast commitment to his students, and his leadership. This award goes to two educators who exemplify the values of the fallen principal, who was gunned down 27 years ago in Red Hook, Brooklyn while searching for a student who had left the school building. The award was revived in 2017 by BP Oddo in honor of the 25th anniversary of Mr. Patrick Daly’s death.

“Every problem that exists in society, every challenge that we have, is made better and can be fixed through education when good people step forward and say ‘this is where I’m supposed to be and I’m going to do everything in my power to help these young people,'” noted Borough President Oddo at the ceremony. “Our real top priority at Borough Hall, and what we are known, for is education, because we know educators like these two, and like Patrick Daly, can change lives.”

The evening included an invocation from Father Squire, Pastor at Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Churhc, as well as a reflection from David Pascarella, Patrick Daly’s nephew, and Pat Daly, Patrick Daly’s son, who spoke on this award and the importance of appreciating people while they are still with us. Before the presentation of the awards, Port Richmond High School Principal Andrew Greenfield spoke on John DiMartino’s dedications to his students and PS 23 Principal Paul Proscia spoke on Renee Mazza’s friendly approach to caring for the PS 23 community.

Former honorees, Wilson Mohr, John Fodera, and Ingrid Ebanks, were in attendance to celebrate the honorees John DiMartino and Renee Mazza.

The award ceremony was followed by a reception with light fare in the main hall of the building provided by the Port Richmond High School Culinary Arts program as well as music performed by Port Richmond High School musicians.

Congratulations to two very deserving educators and thank you for the work you do!

John DiMartino
After graduating Long Island University on a full baseball scholarship with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education, John DiMartino played two years of Minor League Baseball for the Ohio Valley Redcoats before beginning his teaching career in 1996 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, at Dewey Middle School, MS 136. John spent a year at MS 136 before accepting a teaching and coaching position at New Dorp High School. Mr. DiMartino served as the Junior Varsity Baseball Coach and Girls’ Junior Varsity Basketball Coach for two and a half years until the spring of 1999 when he began working at Port Richmond High School, his home for the last 20 years. During his tenure at PRHS, John has coached various sports, including the Boys’ Varsity Bowling Team, taught as a Health and Physical Education Teacher, in addition to being a vital member of the Deans’ Office, overseeing Morning Entry where he looks forward to greeting each Raider every day. Throughout his 24-year career, John has dedicated his time to helping at-risk teens and their families to improve their lives. He has made it his life’s mission to provide resources, opportunities and support to a diverse body of adolescents and young adults. John has received numerous awards from principals, administrators, staff, students and parents at Port Richmond for his outstanding dedication and willingness to go above and beyond in any situation. John and his wife, Christine, have three children: John Jr., Lauren and Nicky. John loves nothing more than cheering for John Jr. while he pitches at Pace University, Lauren while on the basketball court for St. Joseph Hill, and Nicky while he’s on the baseball field for Farrell High School.

Renee Mazza
Renee Mazza, referred to as a “selfless and trusted friend to the entire PS 23 School Community,” has served as Assistant Principal to The Richmondtown School for the last 16 years. A graduate of the College of Staten Island with an Undergraduate Degree in Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Special Education, and Supervisory Certification, Renee began her teaching career in Brooklyn at PS 192, where she taught as an elementary school teacher for eight years, then as a Literary Coach for two years before her move to PS 23. Each morning at PS 23, Ms. Mazza can be seen opening breakfast items for students, talking to them, and getting to know each and every student. Parents often come to her for advice on how they can help their child learn better. As a result of Renee Mazza’s servant style of leadership, PS 23 has earned many prestigious honors, which include becoming and being recertified as a nationally recognized Leader In Me Lighthouse School with Academic Distinction, being honored as a NYS Reward School, and being recognized as a NYC DOE Respect For All School. In 2019, Renee pioneered PS 23’s Philanthropic Classroom project, where each Pre K-5 class partnered with charitable organizations to help those in need. This project has helped students learn empathy, compassion, kindness, and has enabled students to build relationships with neighboring organizations. She is the proud mother of two children, Gianluca and Maggee Mazza.