News Archive

A sunny day never swept the clouds away on this chilly Tuesday, but Sonia Manzano, better known as "Maria" from the long-running PBS children's show "Sesame Street", was able to brighten the mood inside Bay Ridge Prep as she visited the Lower School on May 11.

Visiting with the Kindergarten and first grade classes, Manzano did a quick song and dance routine with the students followed by readings of her two children's books, "No Dogs Allowed!" and "A Box Full of Kittens".

Reading from her second book, which is partly based on her growing up in the Bronx, Manzano told her young audience - also made up of some teachers, parents and Middle School students - that "before there was a Jennifer Lopez on the 'the 6' [subway line] or a 'Jenny from the block', there was Maria from the Bronx."

Recognizing the differences in technology present today compared to when she was a child, Manzano showed an illustration of a TV set in her book and pointed to the antenna to see if any of the children would recognize those old bunny ear devices.  A few did but, as one student pointed out, "only because my mom showed me a picture of it."

"Maria Figueroa", Manzano's character, has been a fixture on PBS's "Sesame Street" since showing up on the series in 1971 as a Puerto Rican teenager who took a job at the Sesame Street Library.  "Maria" eventually went on to work at the Fix-It Shop, where she met Luis, the character she married in 1988 and had a daughter with in 1989.

Manzano was nominated twice for an Emmy Award as Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series and has received 15 Emmy Awards as part of the writing staff of "Sesame Street".  She has also received awards from the Association of Hispanic Arts, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington DC, The National Hispanic Media Coalition and The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families. Some of her other honors include receiving the Hispanic Heritage Award for Education in 2003, and the "Groundbreaking Latina Lifetime Achievement" award from the National Association of Latina Leaders in 2005. She received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from University of Notre Dame in 2005. In 2004, she was inducted into the Bronx Hall of Fame.

Founded in 1998, Bay Ridge Preparatory School is an independent K-12 college preparatory school offering a strong academic program in a socially mature and positive learning environment. Interact with Bay Ridge Prep online at facebook.com/bayridgeprep and twitter.com/bayridgeprep.