GNTA News Blog

GNTA Book Drive Delivers the Goods

4/20/2016

A Note from Cindy Pavlic, Chair of GNTA's Internal Organizing Committee:

A HUGE thank you to everyone for making our "Gift of Reading" book drive a great success!! We donated a total of 328 books with 192 books going to COPAY of Great Neck and 136 books going to CLASP Children's Center. A few IOC Committee members got together to deliver the books, and both organizations were thrilled and surprised with the amount of books donated--they were not expecting us to come in with boxes and boxes of books for the children. It was an incredible afternoon and one that I, myself, will not soon forget.

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Please Donate to Our Financial Aid Fund

4/5/2016

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In times of need, the GNTA Financial Aid Fund has been there to help our members recover from theft, fire, and damaging weather. In 2012, the Fund substantially assisted no fewer than 10 members who suffered devastating losses from Hurricane Sandy. The Fund is separate from our dues and relies on non-tax deductible donations from our members. The GNTA Executive Board is asking for your help in replenishing the Fund. Please send your check, made out to the Great Neck Teachers Association Financial Aid Fund, to the Cottage or donate through the PayPal link below. Thanks in advance for your generosity.

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GNTA Voices Support for Lunar New Year Holiday

4/3/2016

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Below is the letter from Sheila Henchy, GNTA President, to the Great Neck Public Schools Board of Education:

On January 11, 2016, the Great Neck Chinese Association petitioned the Board of Education to formally recognize the Lunar New Year by declaring it a school holiday. At its February 25th meeting, the Delegate Assembly of the Great Neck Teachers Association voted unanimously to support this request.

Lunar New Year celebrates traditions dating back thousands of years and is a time to reunite with family. It is celebrated by millions of people worldwide, including a significant percentage of our Great Neck community. This fact alone provides ample reason to consider it a school holiday: our students should not have to choose between school attendance and observance of this important celebration.

There is a broader reason to recognize Lunar New Year, however. The Board of Education’s Statement of Educational Philosophy pledges that “[t]he staff, with the Board’s full cooperation, will strive to make it possible for each child...[to] achieve respect for individuals and their differences and for the relationships that exist on a personal, local, national and international level;....” Our public school community here in Great Neck provides our students with rich opportunities to experience firsthand a wide variety of cultures and customs. Adding Lunar New Year to the school calendar would signal the district’s recognition that this holiday, along with the other school holidays celebrated here, provides an opportunity to enrich ALL of its students, regardless of their cultural background.

We urge you to adopt Lunar New Year as a school holiday.
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At its meeting on March 14, the Board of Education unanimously approved Lunar New Year as an official school holiday beginning in 2017. Read the story in Newsday.

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GNTA Book Drive Delivers the Goods

Please Donate to Our Financial Aid Fund

GNTA Voices Support for Lunar New Year Holiday

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