PS107 Heritage Day Blog

Stand By Me

2009-05-28T09:16:00.001-07:00

Heritage Day

2009-05-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

THANKS to ALL who made last week’s HERITAGE FESTIVAL a smashing success!

Here is a short version of the Slideshow:

Longer Slideshow:

Scotland

2009-05-06T13:37:00.001-07:00

Polish/Germany Heritage!

2009-05-01T09:16:00.001-07:00

Both my parents' families came from parts of Germany that are now Poland. My great-grandfather and grandmother emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in the late 1800s. They left Galicia, which is now Poland, because of political turmoil. Because so many different languages were spoken in Galicia at the time, my grandfather, who was a shoemaker, spoke five languages fluently. He was only a farmer when he lived in Canada, but was often called on by Canadian officials to do translations for them. My other grandmother came to the U.S. in the 1920s when she was only 19 years old. She learned English as a housekeeper for a wealthy family in Minneapolis. When she married my grandfather they moved back to Canada, where he was born and raised. They wanted to move back to the U.S. with their four children (the oldest was my father) in the 1940s, but the U.S. was involved in WWII, and my grandmother, as a German immigrant, was classified as enemy alien, and they had to wait until the war was over before they could move to North Dakota.

Came to AMERICAN in 1620!

2009-05-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

ARRGH, Captain! Peter from 4th grade has an ancestor, Lawrence Peelle, who sailed to Virginia at 19 in the year 1620.

His ship, the Margaret and John, was attacked by Spanish ships on the way to Virginia: From the family history: 'The London Company Records report that the Margaret and John, a ship of 150 tons that was sent in December 1620 with 85 persons had arrived by May 1621. The ship left England under the command of Captain Anthony Chester. It sailed the routine route, which took it through the Lesser Antilles, a series of small islands, in the Caribbean that "being the common trade way both for English and Dutch." At the Island of Guadeloupe, she took on six Frenchman "and then they were in all (including the crew) 103 souls with women and children." On 30 March 1621, they reached the island of Nevis about 100 miles North West of Guadeloupe. Here as they wished to get fresh water, "they fell in with two Spanish Man of Warre ships, pretending to be Hollanders," but as soon these ships had gained a fair position, and after some parley, they took in their Holland flag, advanced the Spanish colors and opened fire on the "small and not very well provided English Shipp. Who parforce was constreyned to enter into this conflict, which continued 5 or 6 houres most desperate." The English finally beat off both Spanish ships, after killing their Captains and making "their skuppers run with blood" [scupper, a hole to drain a ship’s deck] and "colouring the sea in their quarter." The largest Spanish ship was 300 tons with 22 brass cannons; the other, 200 tons having 16 brass cannons. The English ship had eight cast-iron cannons and one small faulcon. The Margaret and John lost eight, slain outright. Accounts of the David vs Goliath battle were written up in various newspapers and books of the time. Lawrence survived the sea battle and made it to Virginia. The 1624 Company census indicates that "Larence Peale" was living in "Elizabeth Cittie," Virginia (now the Hampton Roads area) with a friend and between the two of them, they possessed: "corn - 4 barrels; peas - 2 bushels; fish - 300 ct; houses - 1; arms 2 - pieces; powder - 6 pounds; and lead - 6 pounds."

Winnipeg, CANADA

2009-05-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

Winnipeg is the capital of Manitoba. With around 700,000 people, the city has been a trading center for more than an astonishing 6,000 years. Crowned by the famous Golden Boy, the Legislative Building is considered one of the finest in the country. Near the famous crossroads of Portage and Main is the theater district, which includes the Centennial Concert Hall, just across the street from City Hall.

Italia!

2009-05-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a video about Cefalu, Italy. The description from YouTube:
Dating back to the 5th century BC, the town of Cefalu, like most of Sicily, contains elements of Arab, Norman, Roman and Greek ... all » civilizations. Come with us now and walk the streets of the medieval district, visit stores, restaurants and historic locations

Tartu, Estonia

2009-04-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Marten Nanits, 5-306 is from Tartu Estonia. Here are some videos that help give you some idea of

Here's a video about song as used as protest in Estonia history:

Here's an interesting video about a demonstration that took place over 3 countries (including Estonia):

Other videos about Estonia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08nf7hk4iBo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmHKfZw120w

Gangs of New York--

2009-04-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Samantha and Sabrina van Putten have a dubious past with a famous great great grandfather who was a gangster with the Monk Eastman gang.

"Kid Twist maintained the Eastman Gang's supremacy in the New York underworld. His chief aide was a Coney Island brute named Vach Lewis (nicknamed Cyclone Louie) a former wrestler and sideshow strongman who was famous for twisting iron bars around his arms and neck."

Read more about their sordid genealogy here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Zwerbach

Montenegro

2009-04-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

One of our PS 107 students come from MONTENEGRO. Learn more about Montenegro through these videos:

An overview of Montenegro:

Photos from Montenegro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsRQZwdTkgg&feature=related

and here are some more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJBYE9HJFVo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxA7ELEt7rY&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeYhV0kPKL4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q00RLCwHPqw&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW3yg-IkDK0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEXHVt4nPko&feature=related

Welcome!

2009-04-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the PS 107 Heritage Blog! We'll be posting stories, links and photos from PS 107 students (and families) so that you can better understand how many wonderful places are represented here at PS 107.

First things First-- TAKE THE HERITAGE DAY SURVE Y and tell us where you're from!