State Winner: Region 12- Northeastern Region, Rensselaer Park Elementary PTA

Region Winners:

  • Region 4, Central Hudson- Lakewood Elementary School PTA 
    • Region 5, Suffolk- Flower Hill PTA 05-103; Flower Hill School
    • Region 7, Genesee Valley- Brockport Central PTSA
    • Region 10, Nassau- Stanley D. Saltzman East Memorial PTA
    • Region 15, Southeastern- Van Buren Elementary School PTA
    • Region 19, Western- Cattaraugus-Little Valley PTA

Please see a brief statement below from the Programs Team about this year’s state-level winning PARP program:

“It was a tough review process (with 7 excellent PARP programs to evaluate), but in the end, Rensselaer Park Elementary PTA from Region 12, Northeastern region, was selected as the state winner! Their program was titled “RPES’s Adirondack Reading Adventure”. They had many goals, but the program’s main goal was to learn about the Adirondacks and our state while incorporating social studies, which enabled students to see the cross-curricular connection. Their other goals were to increase the number of total minutes read as a building by 15% from the previous school year, to inspire a lifelong love of reading, and for teachers, administration, and PTA members to work together to create a successful program.

Each hallway in their building was assigned a different region of the Adirondacks to transform for the month of PARP. Students researched and discussed different attractions and events within their region.  The school's most traveled hallway, the area of the office and cafeteria, represented the Adirondacks Welcome Center and the 46 High Peaks. The main office was decorated to look just like the Welcome Center and even included an "I Love NY" sign in the front. They hosted their annual Literacy Night, “A Knight in the Adirondacks.”
They also had PARParazzi, Spirit Days, and Adirondack Artwork because they wanted to expand their PARP program across content areas to include art. Students created artwork centered in nature and the Adirondacks. This artwork was displayed throughout the building during the program. 
Their results reflected all of their hard work. The reading goal was 119,035 minutes, but they exceeded their goal with a reading total of 209,311 minutes! Their full program will be posted to the NYS PTA website."

A heartfelt congratulations to this year’s PARP Award winners!