Manhattan Family
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PremierSeptember Issue 2012 MANHATTAN FREE Family Where Every Child Matters Back-to- school activities Healthier food for city kids Obesity, children and cholesterol Check out our calendar, inside and online at NYParenting.com MANHATTAN Family September 2012 FEATURES 6 Wellness in the Schools How these two parents turned ‘yucky’ into ‘yummy’ for 20,000 city school kids BY TAMMY SCILEPPI 10 Head of the class Helping your child excel — at every age and developmental stage from kindergarten through high school BY SANDRA GORDON 12 Finding the right shoes Putting your best foot forward when shopping for your child BY KIKI BOCCI 32 Singing the world The Young People’s Chorus visits China — and discovers much more BY LAURA J. VAROSCAK 34 Raising your kids to be politically savvy 30 How to engage your children with the world around them BY DENISE YEARIAN 36 A cooler lunch How to pack a school lunch that stays a safe temperature BY KIKI BOCCI 38 Don’t miss your child’s back- to-school physical A primer so you and your child know exactly what to expect BY JAMIE LOBER 39 Simple rules of backpack safety 39 BY JAY HUNT COLUMNS CALENDAR 8 Healthy Living 22 September events BY DANIELLE SULLIVAN 30 Dear Dr. Karyn SPECIAL SECTIONS BY DR. KARYN GORDON 14 Fall Activity Guide 40 Good Sense Eating 16 Education Directory BY ChRIstINE M. PALUMBO, RD 41 The Marketplace 34 42 New & Noteworthy 41 Party Planners BY LISA J. CURTIS Cover photography by Rebekah Mae Photography • www.rebekahmaephotography.com, 702-217-8817, [email protected] September 2012 • MANHATTAN FamILY 3 Letter from the publisher Launching in Manhattan t has been our privi- My daughter was born promote because it’s strong, vital and blasts and make use of our excellent lege to produce par- in Mt. Sinai Hospital and expansive. We are here to grow and calendar both in print and online. I ent guides in the that afternoon started to help you, our readers, find support Now the kids are back in school. other four boroughs a new life for me as it and options as you make the impor- The summer has come to an official since 1999. We began in does for every parent. tant decisions for your children. end and a new semester/chapter has Brooklyn and gradually This city, in particular, Our staff/our team are parents begun. Here too, we are beginning a have added on another offers both challenges too, with children of varying ages, new chapter, Manhattan Family. I like borough and another and opportunities that but all understanding and recogniz- the sound of it and hope you do too. borough until right now, no other metropolitan ing the particular challenges of rais- We hope you will enjoy the articles, September 2012, we have area can mirror, and we ing our children in these city com- columns and the look and feel of launched our magazine hope very much that munities. We enjoy our work and what we work hard to make relevant here in Manhattan. I am so happy and our magazine will be liked and that it enjoy parenting and the pleasure and interesting. so proud, although many people have will be welcomed into the mix. of watching our children at every It’s a real pleasure to be here! commented on the unusual pattern We have wonderful columnists and stage of their developing lives. The Thanks for reading! because most things start here and writers and we will present as many miracle of this never eludes us. We go outward. In our case we did it in of them as our page count will allow. are continually breathless as we ob- our own unique way. We are here to create relationships serve the growth and live through I have lived all over Manhattan with the many wonderful services, the stages, some of which are more island and have long wanted to bring educators, and professionals from pleasant and easier than others. our editorial content to the engaged uptown to downtown, east to west, We hope you will enjoy reading parent community committed to rais- doing positive things for children and our magazine and that you will also Susan Weiss-Voskidis, ing their families in this vibrant, cre- families throughout our communi- log onto our engaging website, www. Publisher/Excutive Editor ative and intense dynamic. ties. FAMILY — that‘s the word we NYParenting.com. Sign up for our e- [email protected] STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION PUBLISHER / EXECUTIVE EDITOR: ADVERTISING: WEB OR PRINT ADDRESS Susan Weiss (718) 260-4554 New York Parenting Media/CNG PUBLISHER / BUSINESS MANAGER: [email protected] or 1 Metrotech Center North Clifford Luster [email protected] 10th Floor SALES MANAGER / ADVERTISING: Brooklyn, NY 11201 Sharon Noble CIRCULATION OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE: (718) 260-8336 www.NYParenting.com Tina Felicetti [email protected] SALES REPS: Dina Duncan, Lori Falco, EDITORIAL Sharon Leverett (718) 260-4554 ART DIRECTOR: Leah Mitch [email protected] PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: On Man Tse LAYOUT MANAGER: Yvonne Farley The acceptance of advertising by New York Join the conversation on Facebook. WEB DESIGNER: Sylvan Migdal Parenting Media does not constitute an endorse- New York Parenting Media has been recognized GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Arthur Arutyunov, ment of the products, services or information for editorial and design excellence by PPA. Charlotte Carter, Mauro Deluca, Earl Ferrer being advertised. We do not knowingly present any products or services that are fraudu lent or New York Parenting Media is published monthly misleading in nature. by New York Parenting Media/CNG. Subscription rate is $35 annually. Reproduction of New York MANAGING EDITOR: Vince DiMiceli Editorial inquiries, calendar information, adver- Parenting Media in whole or part without writ- ASSISTANT EDITOR: Courtney Donahue tising rates and schedules and subscription re- ten permission from the publisher is prohibited. quests may be addressed to New York Parenting All rights reserved. Copyright©2012 Readership: COPY EDITOR: Lisa J. Curtis th Media, One Metrotech Center North, 10 Floor, 220,000. 2012 circulation audits by CAC & CVC. CALENDAR EDITORS: Joanna Del Buono, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201. Danielle Sullivan New York Parenting Media can also be reached CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: by calling (718) 250-4554, emailing family@ Risa Doherty, Allison Plitt, Candi Sparks, cnglocal.com or by visiting our website, Laura Varoscak, Mary Carroll Wininger NYParenting.com. 4 MANHATTAN FamILY • September 2012 September 2012 • MANHATTAN FamILY 5 HEALTHY EATING needy schools. And another orga- nization, Partnering with Sporti- meNY, also partners with Wellness in the Schools in order to bring tennis to five schools on the Upper East Side. Wellness in Outlook for fall and beyond In a recent speech, Mayor Bloomberg noted that after de- cades of increases there was a surprising 5.5 percent drop in the amount of obese children in public the Schools school. This translates into roughly 6,500 fewer overweight kids. Eas- BY TAMMY SCILEPPI Working with other parents, pub- ton and Telepan have been ac- How these Nutrition in other lic school officials, and the Depart- knowledged as an inspirational otham summer is fading schools ment of Education’s food service, force by the White House and First two parents into autumn, which means What does the lunch the two parents bravely moved for- Lady Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move G thoughts of going back to menu look like at the Obama ward with their health plan. to Schools initiative, and recently turned ‘yucky’ school loom for New York City’s girls’ private school, Sidwell spread their wellness-gospel on the one million-plus public school Friends? What it does Cooking Channel’s Game Changers kids. But this fall, some of these Kids there enjoy organic Wellness in the Schools has part- segment. into ‘yummy’ lucky students have a reason to spinach, roasted local vege- nered with top culinary schools And although Easton says that be excited because they will be table melts, and organic black in the city, which sends its gradu- “there’s a lot of excitement and for 20,000 city participating in the Wellness in bean nachos. ates to school kitchens to dem- growth” in store for Wellness in the the Schools program, which is de- onstrate how U.S. Department of Schools, not every public school will school kids signed to teach school cooks how Agriculture-allotted and budgeted be affected by this positive change. to plan and create tasty meals pre- tor in the city’s school system, food can easily be transformed into Despite the fact that Bloomberg pared from scratch. she couldn’t help but notice many appealing, wholesome fare. This mentioned in his speech that an The program — which has re- students’ poor eating habits. She includes vegetarian chili, which, overwhelming majority of parents ceived a big thumbs up from par- knew all too well how it adversely when cooked in volume, can feed think their children are fit and at ents who have written in to praise affected their ability to learn and an army of hungry kindergarten a healthy weight, he also said that its efforts — has managed to trans- perform in the classroom. through 12th graders. “the facts tell a different story.” form outdated menus full of boring, Easton’s friend, world-class chef, The program also offers a quar- Parents and educators who are energy-sucking grub into delight- and four-star restaurant owner Bill terly plan called Cook for Kids that still frustrated by unhealthy food fully nutritious cafe-style cuisine Telepan joined Wellness in the offers students hands-on classes, options in their children’s cafete- in more than 40 school cafeterias Schools as its volunteer executive where they learn how to whip up rias can bring change to their own in Manhattan, the Bronx, South chef in 2008.