THREE TIME BLACKBOARD AWARD WINNING PROGRAM
As seen in West Side Spirit and East Side Our Town Magazine 2002 and 2004 Arts In Action located at PS 87 was on the Honor Roll for the Arts as one of the top ten visual arts programs in NYC from surveys done at public, parochial and private schools.
In September, 2002, “The ‘unique’ Arts in Action program taught by parent (and community) volunteers offers students incredibly sophisticated instruction and the kids respond with amazing work.”
In April, 2004 the Blackboard Awards Honor Roll for Teachers cited Angela Tripi-Weiss.
"Angela Tripi-Weiss has made a huge difference in many lives this year and for many years in the past. Our Arts in Action trainer-teacher, she trains parent volunteers to teach art in the classroom, and her program has made PS 87 into an environment where children are challenged and encouraged to explore creative expression."
In September, 2004 the Blackboard Awards surveyed independent, public and parochial schools.
“The Arts in Action program run by Angela Tripi-Weiss deserves an audible applause. Ms. Tripi-Weiss is a tour de force.”
Cited in How to Give Your Child an Excellent Public School Education
By Susan Mansell (1999)
“PS 87 in New York City has had a parent-run, volunteer, art-instruction program for more than ten years. Angela Tripi-Weiss, creator and director of Arts-in-Action, says that she and other parents originally hatched the idea when funding for the art teacher at the school was eliminated. Since its inception, this program has grown to fifty-two parent volunteers. Volunteers do not need to be professional artists in order to participate.”
Since the year this book was published the program has grown to 93 volunteers servicing over 900 students in all thirty-six classrooms of the school.
 ARTS IN ACTION as cited in the New York Times
March 13, 2005
In the early 1980's, P.S. 87, tucked behind the Museum of Natural History, had only 350 students, and had been almost abandoned by neighborhood families. Parents reclaimed the school through sweat equity, building a school playground with their own hands, stocking supply cabinets and, in recent years, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars a year through the Parents Association. The school now has nearly 1,000 students and is one of the most sought-after public schools in the city.
For 18 years, parents have also volunteered to teach art twice a month to every child in the school. More than 90 parents participate in the volunteer program, called Arts in Action, and many of them - at least half, they say - are professional artists, who have gone to fine arts school, shown in galleries and made a living from their art.
It is, parents say, one of the most popular ways to volunteer in a school where volunteering is a way of life.
The volunteers are parents like Steven Quint, a graphic artist, who loves the program so much that he teaches in classes that don't include his children.
There are even ex-parents like Richard Barr, who still goes back, two years after his youngest child graduated, to drop off Chinese food containers to hold art supplies.
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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