CLUSTER SPECIALISTS

Ms. Angelica Cassimiro | Physical Education, Grades K — 5

I wholeheartedly believe in the power of the mind body connection. A healthy body fosters a healthy mind. Teaching what I am passionate about is a big gift to me and that is what I share with our students. We will learn fitness concepts, movement skills, muscle groups, nutrition, mindfulness activities and responsible behavior. We engage in a variety of activities and small sided games to put skill into dynamic practice. We focus on practice over results. We prioritize enjoyment of moving our bodies.

Through mindfulness activities like yoga and Brain Power Wellness, all students learn:

• Responsible behavior - awareness of space, safe handling of equipment.

• Value of Physical Activity

For Grades K - 2: Movement skills & Concepts: Balance, jumping, landing. Catching/Throwing, Kicking, passing, receiving, dodging, locomotor skills, non-locomotor, coordination

For Grades 3 - 5: Skill-related fitness concepts such as agility, reaction time, coordination, balance, speed, power.

Mr. David Chung | Dance, Grades 3K + PRe-K + K

I’ve been a dancer and dance therapist for over 20 years. I’ve also trained and taught yoga, gymnastics, and taekwondo. I’m self-taught in house and street dance. Some general themes of my teaching practice are justice, activism, connecting to nature, neighborhoods, body positivity, mindfulness, and inclusion. At PS20, I am co-sustainability coordinator, and I also help with Rainbow Club for our lgbt+ community, as well as hosting the annual PS20 Talent Show in the Spring.

With lower grades, I focus on creative movement, rhythm, developing style, and social dance.

With upper grades, I include a little choreography and history, and start to teach a little technique, such as ballet and hip hop. My philosophy of dance education applies broadly to all techniques.

In September and October, all grades learn Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance, and perform a dance mob at Halloween. Every year, I also include 10-week units of yoga, gymnastics, and martial arts. I try to sprinkle in singing, stories, and yoga  practices in every class.

MR. Lonnie Hampton | Music, Grades K — 5

I am the instrumental music teacher at PS20 servicing grades K through 5. Music is once per week with an emphasis on learning to play the following band instruments: clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, bass, or drums. All classes will work on rhythm, reading notated music (1st-5th) and music theory.

Kindergarteners begin their musical journey with percussion instruments, recorder, and the trumpet. They work solely on reading rhythms rather than actual notes during their first year.

1st-5th grade will work on learning to play and read all notated music on their chosen instrument.

I am a seasoned educator and lifelong advocate for the environment. I see grades K-5 once a week in the Hydroponics Lab, and during that time students will be Farmer Scientists, learning a variety of topics such as hydroponics and the environment, aquaponics (fish!), germination, plant life cycles. You can look forward to your student(s) proudly bringing home vegetables that they grew themselves throughout the school year. Additionally, using the Amplify Science curriculum as a resource, students will engage in grade specific topics and investigations.

When I'm not at school you can find me hanging out with my 2 kids, playing with our dog, or going for runs throughout our beautiful city.

Mr. Andrew Ortner | French, grades 3k — Grade 2

Bonjour! My name is Andrew Ortner or simply Mr. O. I grew up in the city, but lived in France during the summers in my childhood and later studied in the South of France in high school and college. I love to scuba dive, ride my bike, practice yoga, play the drums, and admire my two cats, Cosmo and Poly.

I teach French as a second language for 3K through 2nd grades. My classes engage students in French learning through music, art, and science. This year I will introduce the wonders of the undersea world in the French language through Jacques Cousteau and his works as well as sharing videos of my own diving experiences. We will learn about the delicate environments and how to protect our waters and earth. In doing so, we will practice new vocabulary as well as verbs and adjectives. My 1st and 2nd graders will have a focus on producing oral (dialogues and questions) French especially. We will also explore writing and reading in French.

Mme. JULIE LAUTARD | French, Grades 3 — 5

Bonjour! Je suis Madame Lautard.  I am Julia Lautard, one of the two French as a second language teachers. One of the many things I love about P.S 20 is that every child gets the opportunity to learn a second language (or for some, a third or even a fourth).

In learning another language children have the opportunity to learn to learn, that is, to develop unique cognitive skills that they will then transfer, often without realizing it, to other academic areas. It requires them to be patient, observant, to ask themselves questions, to compare (with English, Spanish, Italian etc...), to find meaning based on context clues, to learn to hear and produce new sounds (which requires a real "brain gymnastic"). These are skills that transform the way a child approaches academic learning, the same way music helps students with mathematics (according to research).

Learning another language also invites students to take risks, that is, to be immersed in the process, the wonder that is learning, and to care more about it than landing on the perfect outcome. This does wonders for their sense of self, and it nurtures their love of learning, their innate curiosity. We do this through a lot of trials and errors, and I gradually (as the year goes by) spend more time in each class on listening and speaking skills.