ICE PTA Executive Board Nominees for 2018-2019

PRESIDENT - staying on
Dianne Darbouze
My name is Dianne Darbouze, and I have an 8th grader at ICE. I am currently serving as co-president this school year and have shadowed our long term president Mrs. Imebet Carter. Upon my arrival to ICE, I have served as a grade rep my first two years. I have always made it a point to be involved at my children’s elementary school. I have served as class parent for several years; I have joined in on all fundraisers and currently sit on the communication committee at PS9. I believe a strong involved parent body always creates an environment for great teachers, great kids and an excellent curriculum

CO-PRESIDENT
Lavita McMath Turner
Lavita McMath Turner, the parent of a 6th grader, believes parent participation is essential to any school’s success. Upon arriving at ICE, she volunteered to be a member of the PTA Presentations Committee, and has regularly attended Executive Committee meetings. Prior to ICE, Lavita was a member of the School Leadership Team (SLT) at PS 139 in Brooklyn for three years. She is now willing to accept the responsibility of co-leading ICE’s PTA. Lavita has nearly 25 years in public policy, government relations and politics in New York City. She is currently the Academic Executive Officer at Guttman Community College/CUNY, where she is responsible for managing the college’s work on equity, diversity and inclusion. She serves on several social justice and civic engagement oriented boards including Border Crossers, Fair Elections Center and The Democracy Commitment

VP / FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
Imebet Blair-Carter
My name is Imebet Blair-Carter, I have a daughter who graduated ICE and just finished up her 1styear of college and a son in 11th grade who is embracing his very different path to the finish line. The mission of ICE “With a commitment to student-centered education, our vision is to provide a nurturing, creative, and challenging academic program that meets the unique needs of all students” is why I came to ICE 8 years ago. It’s why I support those who try to give all students who walk our halls whether for 1yr, 3yrs or 7yrs a life-changing experience in and out of the classroom. More importantly it’s why I help however possible to ensure all students are able to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. As an Advisory Parent, PT Conference Coordinator, Corresponding Secretary, 8th Grade Stepping Up Committee Member, 12th Grade Committee Member, PTA President and now VP/Fundraising Committee I hope I have been a contributing member of Team Polar Bear!

VP / FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE - staying on
Liza Murphy
I enrolled my first child at ICE in 2001 and currently have a 11-grader in the school. I firmly believe in the educational philosophy of ICE. I wish to co-chair the Fundraising Committee because I understand that the goals of the Principal and Vice-Principal can only be achieved if the parent body helps to raise necessary funds. If the efforts of that committee mean that every child gets every possible advantage, I want to be part of that.

VP / GRADE REP LEADER - staying on
Brenda Hill
My name is Brenda Hill and I am currently the grade rep for 12th grade. My son, Nemo, is in 12th grade, and my daughter Lena, is in 9th grade. I have been involved as an Advisory Parent or Grade Rep for the past five years.

VP / PAC - staying on
Kemala Karmen
Kemala Karmen is the parent of ICE students currently in 8th and 11th grades. She founded what would become ICE PAC (ICE Parent Action/Education Advocacy Committee) when her older child was in 6th grade. ICE PAC has successfully coordinated the opt out campaign at ICE; the school has the largest per capita middle school test refusal rate in the city. ICE PAC also keeps parents abreast of other developments in education policy at the local, state, and federal levels and suggests actions that would benefit public schools in general and progressive schools in particular. This past school year, Kemala, along with ICE PAC member Amy Gropp Forbes (a candidate for SLT who possesses amazing insights and organizational skills), put together the panel A Standardized Test is a Poor Substitute for Justice: the Intersection of High-Stakes Standardized Testing & Race in NYC Schools. The event was attended by over 100 parents, educators, and community members from around the city and we received requests for the video from all over the country. Kemala has been a PTA VP for the duration of her time at ICE and is currently serving the first year of her second stint on the School Leadership Team. She welcomes the opportunity to continue serving the community in both roles.

VP / GRANT WRITING COMMITTEE
Highlyann Krasnow
Born and raised in NYC, I attended Stuyvesant HS & Hunter College. I am the mother of two daughters Nyeah Krasnow-Osorio (currently 7th grader at ICE) & Jaelee Krasnow-Osorio (incoming 6th grader at ICE). I am a founding partner of a new development brokerage company MNS, where I am responsible for pre-development planning for rental and condominium developments throughout NYC. In addition in 2014 I opened an interior design company, The Design High. The Design High focuses on the design of residential development buildings throughout NYC with a focus on sustainable products and features. I also am the co-creator of a non for profit photography book titled "Thats a Crazy One" that is a currently offering a grant annually (over the next 5 years) to ICE for arts education.

CO-TREASURER - staying on
Kirsti Craig
mother of 10th grader; finishing 3rd year as co-treasurer. 20 years experience running back office operations for large restaurant group

CO-TREASURER - staying on
Andrea Santamaria
Hi My Name is Andrea Santamaria. I have been with the PTA for now 3 years. I am a Co Treasure with Kirsti. Even thought I only donate a few hrs a week I have gotten so much value from getting to know the staff and parent in school and in event. I hope to be able to serve the school as best as possible in the coming year to help keep all these amazing programs going for year to come for the next group of families.

CO-CORRESPONDING SECRETARY - staying on
Meibell Contreras
My name is Meibell Contreras. I am the mother of Maya Delmont (9th grade) and Diego Delmont (7th grade). I am from Venezuela and I am a computer scientist. Since my oldest started in ICE I have been involved with the ICE PTA, ICE SLT and created the ICE website. I'm in charge of the ICE website, creating and maintaining pages for the different ICE events, grades trips, PTA information, donations, music department, drama department, and the new page in Spanish "Anuncios", where we translate the newsletter to Spanish and update the page in the websute. Besides being Co-Corresponding Secretary I had been the 6th Grade Rep and 603 Advisory Parent when my son was a 6th grader.

CO-CORRESPONDING SECRETARY - staying on
Rachel Pratt
I have two children attending ICE: Genevieve Snyder (6th) and August (Gus) Snyder (8th). Our family lives in Brooklyn and I work at New York Road Runners, overseeing youth and community programs. I served as co-corresponding secretary of the ICE PTA during the 2017-2018 school year and would be happy to serve for another year.

CO-RECORDING SECRETARY - staying on
Astrid Lewis Reedy
My daughter Zane is in 8th grade. I am a graphic designer and live in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. I have enjoyed 2 years serving as Co-Recording Secretary on ICE's PTA Executive Board, and I hope to continue next year. I was very active on the PS 321 PTA for 8 years where my 3 children attended school. There, I served on the Executive Committee for 2 years. Other contributions at 321 included designing the annual poetry magazine, yearbook, as well as flyers and posters as needed; and producing the annual fundraising Staff Concert for 5 years. I currently volunteer at my youngest child's school, PS 154, designing the annual Poetry Journal.

CO-RECORDING SECRETARY
Marinda van Dalen
Marinda  is a native New Yorker, civil rights attorney, and mother of a sixth grade ICE student.

SLT - 2nd term
Meibell Contreras
(see above)

SLT - 2nd term
Kemala Karmen
(see above)

SLT - 2nd term
Liz Dore Napoli
My name is Liz Dore Napoli, mom to a current 6th grader at ICE. I have always believed that being involved in the kids’ school community is critical, because parents not only help shape the school community for our kids, we also role model who we want our children to be. I was on the SLT at ICE this past year, and look forward to my second year in this role. I was also on the PTA Exec Board and the Class Parent Coordinator for 4 years at PS 29 in Brooklyn. I am presently Vice President for Legal Affairs, Labor and Employment Counsel for Northwell Health, Inc., where I am responsible for the development of labor and employment policies and strategy, as well as advice and counsel on day-to-day issues

SLT - 2nd term
Dina Weiss
Dina Weiss is an artist and educator, currently works at Pratt Institute as the Assistant Chair of Fine Arts. She received her BS in Studio Art from NYU and her MFA in sculpture from Parsons: Fashion, Art and Design School. Dina has held many positions in the non-profit arts education and museum education which provided much needed arts to New York City public schools at the Museum of Arts and Design, the New Museum, The Drawing Center, and the Dia Art Foundation. Dina's son Sam is currently in 7th grade

SLT CANDIDATE
Amy Gropp Forbes
I have 3 children at ICE: my sons Owen and Oliver are currently in 9th grade and my daughter Beatrice is in 6th grade. SLT was my first leadership position at my children’s elementary school and I found it interesting and very meaningful to have the opportunity to learn more about the inner workings of the school and to be part of the team working towards achieving the school’s goals. We addressed a wide range of topics including testing, inclusion, diversity, and gender, and brainstormed on how to incorporate all of these themes as well as the Green & Healthy and Respect Initiatives into our classrooms, during recess, and at PTA and school-wide events. In addition to being on the SLT I also served as co-VP of Fundraising and co-chair of the Testing Task Force for 4 years each. In my four years at ICE I have volunteered with the ICE admissions team, ICE PAC and the PTA. This year I partnered with Kemala Karmen to organize the ICE PAC event “A Standardized Test is a Poor Substitute for Justice” which was part of Black Lives Matter in schools week, and I organized the PTA screening of “I Am Not A Racist…Am I?” in May. I am an education activist and one of the founding members of NYC Opt Out, which has given me the opportunity to meet with city and state legislators and collaborate with parents from around the city as we work to minimize the negative impacts of standardized testing and move towards greater equity and opportunities for child centered education for all public school children in NYC. The common thread connecting all the work I have done, both professionally and as a volunteer, is a passion for collaboration and creative problem solving. I would be honored to continue this work as parent representative on the SLT.  

SLT CANDIDATE
KD Diallo
I’m KD Diallo- Artist, Educator, & Performer, Mother of Haiz 7G & Sylla 9G. I’m interested in the SLT position as I function best & believe in direct involvement with teachers, admin, schools & educations to understand needs & creatively reach goals that continue to provide child-centered, integrative, approaches to educating, education, & establishing platforms for access and sustainability. While this is considered “radical” or “progressive” within the systematic educational lens, I believe in serving that impacts on a functional level under or on the radar. I have worked in Early Childhood Education, Integrative Arts through literacy programming, and Movement Arts Program development as a director, developer, and teacher locally in Brooklyn, as well as internationally as an independent contractor.