Posts Tagged ‘Education’

22nd January
2010
written by Annie Stone
Gregg Breinberg

Gregg Breinberg

      Teacher Gregg Breinberg is  The Whiz Kid behind the Whiz Kids otherwise known as the PS22 Choir.  Made up of 4th and 5th graders from PS22 on Staten Island, they’ve  performed at Madison Square Garden, sung for movie stars and politicians and melted hearts  all over the world.
      But for their fearless leader –  what’s most important is helping students find the heart and soul of a song — and of themselves.
      In an interview with OpenEducation.Net, Breinberg told writer Thomas Hanson the key to their successful collaboration is having High Hopes, Great Expectations and Kindness. And it doesn’t hurt to be a Bit of A Clown yourself. ‘Kindness and patience are #1 with me,” Breinberg said in the interview. “I also think it’s important to be willing to try things, step outside your comfort zone, embarrass yourself, make mistakes — because you can never forget that’s basically what you’re asking from all of your students at some point or another.
     The kids have taught him as well, Breinberg said.
    As Joey, one of the kids in the choir told MSNBC:   ‘Mr. B, he’s a handful — he teaches us but we teach him — he’s not just a regular teacher — he is un-ordinary.’   Check out the  whole interview with the ‘Un-Ordinary’ Breinberg  and his Extraordinary work with the PS22 Choir
here    

21st June
2009
written by Annie Stone
     They’ve performed with Stevie Nicks at Madison Square Garden, recorded back-up for Passion Pit and sung for Nancy Pelosi in Washington. But now, the famed kid’s choir from PS-22, an elementary school in Staten Island, is singing for its life.
     The school’s principal, Melissa Donath, told New York Post that severe budget cuts may force them to cut the program next year. “My goal is to keep the program intact but some things are out of my control,” she said in a story published in the paper on Sunday. “There are budgetary losses and all the schools are feeling it,” she said.
     The choir, made up of 65 fourth and fifth graders, is led by their indefatigable music teacher Gregg Breinberg since 2000. He started it to help the kids find an artistic and emotional outlet at a school where many of the students struggle with financial difficulties.
     Arts programs are always the first to get cut,” Breinberg told the New York Post. “The students need this emotional outlet,” he said.