1. Winter 2015 • Arts & Education
CHRONICLE
THE
Bringing
the Arts to
East Harlem
“Weprovidestrong
academicandsocialsupport,
butwealsowanttobringthe
artsbackintoschools.”
SeePage5
KiyAirajeHorace,7thGrade,practicingwithAileyDanceKids

2. 2 Union Settlement Chronicle
AMessage
fromthe
Executive
Director
DearFriendsofUnionSettlement:
ElliotEisner,oneofthenation’sleadingac-
ademicvoicesinsupportofartseducation,
famouslystated: “Theartshelpchildrenlearn
tosaywhatcannotbesaid.Whenchildrenare
invitedtodisclosewhataworkofarthelpsthem
feel,theymustreachintotheirpoeticcapaci-
tiestofindthewordsthatwilldothejob.”
Inthisissue,youwillreadaboutUnionSettle-
ment’scontinuingeffortstoinfusetheartsinto
ourprogramming. Thisincludesnotjustafter-
schooldance,theaterandvisualarts,butalso
ourworkacrossthegenerations,fromthearts
programminginourearlychildhoodeducation
centers,totheartisticactivitiesthatenrichand
enliventhelivesofourseniorcitizens.
UnionSettlementbelievesintheimportanceof
educationalrigor,achievementandexcellence.
Butasallteacherswillattest,thebesteduca-
tionencompassesnotjustwordsandnumbers,
butalsoideas,emotions,values,inspiration,and
waysofthinking. AsEisnersuccinctlyputit:
“Artisliteracyoftheheart.”
AtUnionSettlement,webringaholisticap-
proachtoourwork,focusingonwholeindividu-
als,wholefamiliesandwholecommunities. We
arepassionateaboutthatwork,andcompas-
sionateforthoseweserve. Education,wellness
andcommunitybuildingarethethreepillarsof
ourwork,andartenrichesallthree.
Ihopeyouallhadawonderfulholidayseason,
andwishyouallthebestfor2015.
DavidNocenti
ExecutiveDirector
by the numbers
947gifts were donated to children
in our Early Childhood
Education and Youth programs by
Bryan Cave, Axiom, Finsbury, Mirada,
healthfirst, Mount Sinai, East Harlem
Café, New York Academy of Medicine,
the Federation of Protestant Welfare
Agencies and Fisher Brothers.
Like us on Facebook
facebook.com/unionsettlement
Follow us on Twitter
@unionsettlement

3. Winter 2015 3
307turkeys (with fixings) were
distributed to families in need
during our Thanksgiving Turkey Drive.
Food was generously donated by Axiom,
the Chapin School, Park Avenue Foods,
Driscoll Foods, the YES Network, Art of
Men and UnitedHealthcare.
548hours were contributed
by generous volunteers in
November and December for education
services, meal delivery, gift-wrapping
and holiday events.
Learning
Through Visual
Storytelling
Afterschoolprogramsaregettinganewangle
whenitcomestoteachingEnglishLanguage
Learners(ELL).Thankstoagrantfromthe
BrookeAstorFundforNewYorkCityEdu-
cation,UnionSettlementisintroducingthe
PhotosandMeprogramatfourEastHarlem
elementaryschools,whereELLchildrenare
learningthroughcreativestorytellinginafter-
schoolclubs.
Firstthroughfifthgradestudentsareusingdig-
italcameras,iPadsandothermediatodevelop
theirreading andwritingskills,Englishfluency
andcriticalthinking.Thechildrenarehighly
engagedandexcitedtoexpressthemselves.
ThePhotosandMecurriculum,devel-
opedbyMaria Paula GhisoandPatricia
Martínez-ÁlvarezofTeachersCollege,
encouragescreativityandcriticalthinking
throughprojectssuchasinterviewingparents
ontheirperspectivesof“injustice”andcon-
structingacommunitymapthatletsstudents
showhowtheirfamilyfitsintotheneighbor-
hood.Thisevidence-basedcurriculumad-
dressesthegapbetweenmethodsofliteracy
instructionusedinschoolsandtheexperiences
oflinguisticallyandculturallydiversestudents,
whichbenefitsthe12%ofthestudentsinEast
HarlemwhoareEnglishlanguagelearners.
Fernanda,PS72grade3,workingonherclass’
communitymap.

4. 4 Union Settlement Chronicle
Staff Spotlight:
Luz Lara
Luz LaraisthecoordinatoratCorsiSenior
Center,oneofourfourseniorcenters,planning
activitiesforhundredsofolderadults.“Seniors
wanttoliveindependently,”Luzsaid,notingthat
therearemanybarrierstohealthyaginginclud-
ingalackofawarenessofavailableresources.
Luzbreaksthesebarriersbyconnectingse-
niorstoUnionSettlement’shealthandwellness
classes,socialactivities,transportationand
recreationaltrips,volunteeropportunities,
communitymealsandeducationresources
likecomputerclasses.“Whenpeoplethinkof
seniorcenterstheyimmediatelypicturelonely,
sickseniors,”Luzsaid.“TherealityisthatIsee
seniorsdoingsomanyactivethingsthatthe
worlddoesn’tsee.” Luzworksfulltimewhile
simultaneouslypursuingamastersdegreeat
theSilbermanSchoolofSocialWorkatHunter
College,whichislocatedrighthereinEast
Harlem.
Inadditiontohealthandfitnessclasses,Union
Settlement’sseniorcentersoffermanyop-
portunitiesforseniorstoexpressthemselves
throughthearts,musicanddance. Forexam-
ple,instructorFrank Englehasledanartclass
attheCorsiSeniorCenteronEast116thStreet
foralmostadecade.
“Seniorsdemonstratethatpowerfulartistic
talentmayemergeatalaterage,”saidJane
Richardson,theDeputyDirectorofUnion
Settlement’sseniorservices.“Byexpressing
themselvesinanewwaythatisappreciatedand
valuedtheyovercomestereotypesofagingas
onlyapathofdecline.”Pastprojectsinclude
classesledbyteachingartistsfromTheWhit-
neyMuseumofAmericanArtandEldersShare
theArts. Beadingactivities,picturedatright,
arealwayspopular,andagroupofseniorshave
beguncreatingmuralssuchastheonefoundin
theGaylordWhiteSeniorCenter
Seniors Find
Creative
Freedom in Art
Classes

5. Winter 2015 5
Bringing
the Arts to
East Harlem
The2014-2015schoolyearhasseenahuge
expansionoffreeafterschoolprogramming
formiddleschoolstudentsaspartofMayorde
Blasio’s“School’sOutNYC”initiative.Union
Settlement’smiddleschoolprogramshave
grownfrom120studentsinoneschoollast
year,toabout400studentsinfourschoolsthis
year.
AcentralgoalofUnionSettlement’sexpansion
hasbeentonurturetheartsinunder-resourced
localschools. Wearedoingthisthroughpart-
nershipswithartseducationleadersAlvinAiley
DanceTheater,theShakespeareSocietyand
RoundaboutTheatre.
Andy Rodriguez,ProgramDirectorofUnion
Settlement’safterschoolprogramatEsperanza
PreparatoryAcademyonEast109thStreet,
said,“Weprovidestrongacademicandsocial
support,butwealsowanttobringtheartsback
intoschools.”
StudentsinourafterschoolprograminEspe-
ranzahavebeenreallyexcitedaboutthearts
focusedclubssuchasAileyDanceKidsResi-
dency,RoundaboutTheatreCompany’sAfter
SchoolDramaClubandamediaprojectfocus-
ingonphotographyandvideography. “Thekids
lovetheseextracurriculars,”Andysaid.“They
canmovearound,learn,playandbecreative.”
Seventh-graderKiyAiraje Horacepartic-
ipatesintheAileyDanceafterschoolclub.
“Ondayone,Istumbledalot,butsincethenI
learnedhowtomakeamovethatpeopledon’t
reallyknow,”KiyAirajesaid.“Ibreakdownthe
dancesintostepsthatanyonecanlearn.”Most
studentsstartintheclubwithoutanyprevious
danceexperience,includingsixth-grader
Diosmedis Diaz,whosaid,“I’velearnedhow
toworktogetherinagroupandIactuallylikeit
alot.”
OnEast120th
Street,studentsatJoseph
LanzettaMiddleSchoolarerehearsingscenes
fromRomeoandJuliet. LearningShakespear-
ianlanguageisimportantnowthatitispart
oftheCommonCorecurriculumformiddle
school. Theseafterschoolofferingscreatenew
experiencesandexposuretoartthataddto
theiroveralleducation.

6. 6 Union Settlement Chronicle
December2nd
was#GivingTuesday,aresponse
tothematerialismofBlackFriday,SmallBusi-
nessSaturdayandCyberMonday. Thisyear,
ratherthanaskingfordonations,UnionSet-
tlementstaffwalkedtheEastHarlemstreets,
speakingwithourneighborsabouttheimpor-
tanceofhelpingandgivingtooneanother. To
settheexample,wegaveoutsmallgifts(single
rideMetroCards)whileaskingforpromisesto
“payitforward”throughthreeactsofkindness.
Mostpeopleagreedtodoso,andherearea
fewofthegivingpledgeswecollected:
• “Iwillwritepoetrytohelptoinspirewomento
leavedomesticviolencesituations.”–Annette
• “Portareunacomidaamivecina.”(Iwillbring
amealtomyneighbor.)–Arturo
• “IwillvolunteertogiveoutgiftsatHarlem
Hospital.”–Antonio
Overall,weweremetwithwonderfulenthusi-
asmfromtheEastHarlemcommunity.People
huggedusandweconnectedcommunitymem-
berswithUnionSettlement’sservices.
Onewomansaid,“Ilovethis. Givingtothe
communityiswhatIamallabout.” People
appreciatedthegiftandthemessagebehindit,
andwehaveenrolledseveralnewvolunteers
whocametousthroughthiseffort.
A Twist
on Giving
Tuesday
Ourmessageofgivingwasamplifiedthrough
ExecutiveDirectorDavid Nocenti’sop-ed
intheChronicleofPhilanthropy,whichwas
pickedupbyotherwritinginClevelandand
Richmond,VA,andbyanewsreportonChan-
nel4WNBCNews. Manythankstoourcorpo-
ratepartnerAT&T,whosupportedoursocial
mediacampaign andoureffortstoengage
youngpeopleincommunityservice.

7. Winter 2015 7
Union Settlement
Board of Directors
Reginald E. Harwell, Chair
Eli Gross. Vice Chair
Ruth E. Pachman, Vice Chair
Christopher Quiñones, Treasurer
Elisabeth Schupf Lonsdale. Assistant Treasurer
Maxine L. Rockoff, Ph.D., Secretary
Gina Rusch, Assistant Secretary
Kate Buford
Helen V. Cantwell
David Castelblanco
Susan Chapman
Francesca Curtin
Angelique Diaz
Kalaivani S. Duane
DeNora M. Getachew
Ricardo Granderson
Caren A. Heller, M.D.
Adam Scott Herbst
Françoise LeGoues
James B. Lynch
A. Slade Mills, Jr.
Walter G. Montgomery
Julio Rodriguez
Andrew Schwalm
Robin Sparkman
Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum, Ph.D.
David Thomas, M.D.
Kate B. Townsend
Susan Wiviott
Dawn M. Zappetti
Partner
Spotlight:
AT&T
AT&TisasupporterofUnionSettlementand
hasbeenforfiveyears. Thecompany’sdedica-
tiontocreatingopportunityforyoungpeople
hasledthemtocontributetoourCollege
ReadinessProgramwhichhelpshundredsof
youngpeopleeachyearachievethedream
ofgoingtocollege. Thevastmajorityofthese
studentsarethefirstintheirfamiliestodoso.
“AT&TsharesUnionSettlement’scommitment
tohelpingyoungpeoplegraduatefromhigh
schoolandprepareforsuccessincollegeandin
theircareers. TheCollegeReadinessProgram
ensuresthatstudentscanobtaintheeducation
thatiscriticalfortoday’sworkforce,”said
Marissa Shorenstein,NewYorkState
President,AT&T. “Weareproudtosupportthe
essentialworkthatUnionSettlementdoesto
helpsomanyyoungpeoplereachtheirgoals.”
AT&Tisalsoawonderfulresourceandpartner
toUnionSettlement,andanacknowledged
leaderincreatingasafeandwelcomingwork-
placeforLGBTQemployeesandtheirfamily
members. David Kirby,oftheLEAGUEat
AT&T,spokeaboutLGBTQinclusivityinthe
workplaceataSafeSpaceNetworkCommu-
nityForumheldearlierthisyearatourWash-
ingtonHousesCommunityCenter. Inaddition,
AT&ThasbeenUnionSettlement’spartneron
#GivingTuesdaythepasttwoyears.
“WearesopleasedtohaveAT&T’ssupport
ofourprogramsandtopartnerwiththemon
#GivingTuesday,”saidDavid Nocenti,Exec-
utiveDirector. “ThroughtheseefforsAT&Tis
helpingtobuildthevitalityandsuccessofthe
EastHarlemcommunity.”

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