Sheepshead Bay
Following in the word-steps of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., Jared Rios, a junior at St. Edmund Preparatory High School, talked down the competition in the American Legion Oratorical Contest and won first place. The battle of who could deliver the best speech ever was held on Feb. 4 in Elmont, N.Y.
The linguistics tourney requires students to write and deliver an original eight- to 10-minute speech on an aspect of the U.S. Constitution with a focus on the duties of American citizens. In addition, contestants need to be prepared to speak about one of four Amendments to the Constitution.
Jared has been working diligently with his coach Peggy McEvoy, English teacher St. Edmund, speechifying night and day to get ready. And it has paid off big time, because Jared took first place in both the County and District rounds.
Jared will be going to Albany on March 11, where he will again take to the stage and compete for the $6,000 scholarship and a chance to go to the National Round, which will be held in Indianapolis in April.
Standing O says, “Good luck and keep on speechifying.”
St. Edmund Preparatory High School [2474 Ocean Ave. at Avenue T in Sheepshead Bay, (718) 743–6100].
Park Slope
Save the date
Get your bell-bottoms ready and dust off the disco ball for the fourth annual InspireCorps Disco benefit on March 10 at Camp Friendship, 339 Eighth St. in Park Slope, from 7:30 to 10:30 pm.
The blinged, epic event supports the efforts to build students at PS 81 in Bedford-Stuyvesant an arts program.
Steph Thompson, founder and executive director of Inspire Corps, explained she was inspired to “stay and help,” because of Ms. McKee.
“When I walked in the door of PS 81 in Bed-Stuy for the first time, she barely looked up as she pulled the clipboard with the sign-in sheet toward her,” she said. “ ‘Who’re you with?’ and began to guess at which of the city’s many non-profits my good self might be volunteering from for the day.”
“ ‘What good was a revolving door of do-gooders to a school rife with turbulence daily?’ I thought. I knew in that moment I had to stay and help.”
InspireCorps is an educational resource to connect New York City artists with school children. One artist, one time, can change a life.
Thompson said, “There is so much joy and focus and engagement in PS 81, so much creativity and positivity and caring.”
So join in, stay, help, and boogie down with Steph Thompson.
Tickets are $75 and can be purchased at the door or by visiting www.inspi
InspireCorps [420 12th St. in Park Slope, (917) 974–6166].
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Welcome
The birds are chirping, the flowers are in bloom, and it’s almost springtime. Get ready to welcome My Gym Park Slope, a new children’s fitness center where kids enjoy fun-filled activities and stay fit as a fiddle. The gym combines innovative physical early learning programs with state-of-the-art facilities to empower children, ages 6 weeks through 10 years, and features pre-gymnastics, games, music, rides, sports, puppet shows, and more. Classes run 50 minutes for the younger ages and one hour for older children.
Evan Wacht, owner of My Gym said, “I’m very excited to bring all of these great programs and the message of health and fitness to families in the Brooklyn area. I am looking forward to the grand opening this spring and welcome families to come play and be active, meet the staff, check out the facilities, and explore all of the various age-appropriate programs offered.”
For the date of the opening, check the website.
My Gym Park Slope [367 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope, (718) 788–2200; www.MyGym.com/
