News and Events >Press Releases > March - April 2004

 

Poughkeepsie Day School Teacher Featured on the History Channel

March 23, 2004
Contact: Sandra Moore, Director of Communications

Poughkeepsie, NY-Stephen Currie, lower school math specialist at Poughkeepsie Day School and author of more than two-dozen nonfiction children's books, will be one of the featured experts on the History Channel's program, Mothers of Invention, which airs this Saturday, March 27 at 7 pm. The program is part of the channel's celebration of Women's History Month.

Currie, a City of Poughkeepsie resident, has been a teacher at Poughkeepsie Day School since 1982 and currently serves as the lower school math specialist. Prior to his position as math specialist, he was a teacher in a mixed-age first and second-grade classroom at Poughkeepsie Day School for over a decade. In that capacity Currie established an innovative series called Birthday People, which introduced students to a variety of famous--and infamous--individuals and, in the process, guided them through an age-appropriate social and cultural history of the world. Additionally students learned about mathematics, poetry, politics, science and other fields to which the Birthday People were connected.

Among Currie's most recent books is Women Inventors (Greenhaven Press, 2001). The teacher and author was interviewed for the History Channel last fall in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of Williams College.

Founded in 1934, Poughkeepsie Day School enrolls 350 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 from 48 communities in the mid-Hudson Valley. It is distinguished by its interactive and interdisciplinary approach to learning and emphasis on the development of creative and critical thinking skills.

*****

A Night at the Circus Auction Coming to Poughkeepsie Day School

March 1, 2004
CONTACT: Sandra Moore, Director of Communications

Poughkeepsie, NY- An authentic Soup Nazi script signed by Jerry Seinfeld, a five day/four night trip toLisbon, Portugal (including airfare and lodging) and a wine-tasting tour of the Kingston Lighthouse for twenty with the editor of the quarterly review, Ten Nice Wines, are among the dozens of items up for auction at Poughkeepsie Day School's spring benefit, A Night at the Circus Auction on Saturday, March 27. The event includes both silent and live events and a raffle drawing and begins with an auction preview at 5:30 pm in the school's Elizabeth C. Gilkeson Center, 260 Boardman Road, Town of Poughkeepsie.

Numerous area merchants and restaurateurs as well as such organizations as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Garden Conservancy and the Powerhouse Theater, have also donated gift certificates and items. Mary Jane Yurchak, Ed.D., head of Poughkeepsie Day School, says that "the generosity of the PDS and larger community is once again demonstrated in the number and variety of offerings we have received." Susan Strauss, parent co-chair of the event, notes that "there is something for everyone this year, from a NASCAR checkered flag signed by six drivers, including Dale Earnhart Jr. and Matt Kenseth, to the opportunity to participate in a bald eagle watch at Constitution Marsh Sanctuary."

Tickets for the benefit, which includes a buffet dinner and refreshments courtesy of the school's Men Who Cook, are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Absentee auction bids are welcome. Descriptions and photos of auction items are posted at www.poughkeepsieday.org. For tickets, call 845-462-7600, extension 109.

Founded in 1934, Poughkeepsie Day School enrolls 350 students in pre-kindergarten through grad 12 from 48 communities in the mid-Hudson Valley. It is distinguished by its interactive and interdisciplinary approach to learning and emphasis on the development of creative and critical thinking skills.