Photo caption: Westhampton Beach Middle School students are doing their part to help animals injured in Australia’s devastating fires by sewing fleece crate blankets and crocheting bird and small animal nests. All of the items will be delivered to Australia through the Animal Rescue Collective Craft Guild.   

Photo courtesy of the Westhampton Beach Union Free School District

At the East Islip School District’s Jan. 16 Board of Education meeting, John F. Kennedy Elementary School third grader Ava McKiernan was honored by Superintendent John Dolan for her charity work in helping sick children. During the holiday season, McKiernan made and sold 41 wreaths, raising $812 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

DSC_0022: At the East Islip School District’s Jan. 16 Board of Education meeting, John F. Kennedy Elementary School third grader Ava McKiernan was honored making and selling 41 wreaths, raising $812 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Photos courtesy of East Islip School District

Congratulations to Garden City High School students Adam Hadjipateras and Timmy O’Hanlon who were recently honored with the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, a nationwide youth volunteer recognition award sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. 

Adam is honored as the co-founder of the not-for-profit company Midas https://the-midas-t.myshopify.com/. He and his partner Liliana Papachristos created clothing and apparel which was sold at different festivals to raise funds for charity. This included supporting the Henry Viscardi School for children with disabilities and The Home Project, a nonprofit organization set up to address the needs of refugee children who arrive in Greece. 

Timmy is honored for organizing basketball fundraisers, including the Challenger League Basketball tournament which brings players of all abilities together on the court for fun, spirited action. In conjunction with this, he also organized bake sales and raffles to support the Long Island chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Timmy was inspired to raise funds for the organization in memory of Garden City High School graduate Bobby Menges, who lost his battle with cancer in 2017.

As local honorees Adam and Timmy are now in the running to be named Prudential Spirit of Community Honorees for New York State. Prudential will announce New York State’s top youth volunteers of the year on Feb. 4. 

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents America’s largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer service. Since 1995, the program has honored more than 130,000 youth volunteers at the local, state and national levels. 

Photo caption: Garden City High School Principal Kevin Steingruebner congratulates students Adam Hadjipateras (left) and Timmy O’Hanlon, winners of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award. 

Photo courtesy of the Garden City School District

On Jan. 15, students at Pulaski Street Elementary School in the Riverhead Central School District paid tribute to Shoreham-Wading River Boy Scout Andrew McMorris by wearing red to school. McMorris was tragically killed last year by a drunk driver. 

The Andrew’s Day memorial was led by several Pulaski Street students who were all Boy Scouts with McMorris. Among them was fifth grader Liam Sherman, who brought the idea to his teacher, Stacy Hubbard.  

In planning for the memorial, Sherman wrote a speech about his friend’s hopes, dreams and accomplishments, which he read to his peers over the school’s PA system on Jan. 13.

Sherman, along with his classmates, also made red ribbons for all students in the school to wear and placed red ribbons in and around the school in memory of McMorris. 

The school plans to continue to honor McMorris’ memory by donating to the Andrew Rocks fund, which raises money for causes in Andrew’s name. Funding will be provided through the school’s Tuesday Positive Shirt Day initiative, in which staff and students offer donations in exchange for wearing shirts with positive messages. 

Photo caption: Students from Riverhead’s Pulaski Street Elementary School honored the memory of Shoreham-Wading River Boy Scout Andrew McMorris on Jan. 15. 

Photo courtesy of the Riverhead Central School District