Sun Shines on 6th Annual Kite Festival

Conditions were near perfect on May 15 as P.S. 132 celebrated its traditional year-end field day at McCarren Park.

This year’s theme was “A Kid Grows in Brooklyn,” and the Manhattan Ave. elementary school hosted a variety of booths with an environmentally sustainable focus. Kids and their families constructed kites from recycled materials, jammed with local bands, and indulged in activities ranging from the traditional (face painting) to the progressive (worm composting).

“The money raised funds after school and enrichment programs, and brings things like yoga instruction and [arts education] into the school,” said parent Paige Knight, who manned a seed planting booth stocked with soil and repurposed milk container pots.

The Kite Festival tradition began in 2005 when P.S. 132 received a Parents As Art Partners Grant from the Center for Arts Education. “The grant was for a workshop on kite making, and afterwards we planned a day for our families to come out with their kites,” said P.S. 132 parent coordinator Yvonne Garguilo. “It was a great success, and the Kite Festival has become our culminating event.”

Back on the field, first grader Bryan Velastague relaxed with his dad after performing with his peers in a rousing musical number led by youth theatre group TADA. “This is my second Kite Day,” the six-year-old told the Greenpoint Gazette before jetting off with his Spider Man kite.

But it wasn’t just P.S. 132 families who got in on the action. Sisters Kristen and Kaitlyn Smith of Saint Stanislaus enjoyed the outdoor activities with their parents in tow.
“This is great – there’s kites, crafts, face painting,” said dad Paul, who brought his family out to the event for the first time. “It’s a beautiful day to be out in the park.”

School officials were pleased report that Kite Festival 2010 raised roughly $7000 for future P.S. 132 programs. “This year we had a good mix of people from the school and others from the community,” said Garguilo. “I think the good weather brought everybody out.”