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Photo caption: Honoring those who have sacrificed their lives for the country, Forest Avenue Elementary School in the West Babylon School held a Memorial Day ceremony on the school’s lawn on May 24. Forest Avenue Principal Gayle Manchisi welcomed the students to the ceremony, and members of the student council spoke about the importance of honoring the military on Memorial Day. Surrounded by American flags, the students placed wreaths outdoors in remembrance. Forest Avenue student Tyler Sullo was honored for his community service efforts with a certificate presented by the American Legion. The chorus closed out the ceremony with “This Land Is Your Land.”

 

Photos courtesy of West Babylon School District

To mark May as Mental Health Awareness Month, Southampton High School held several schoolwide events designed by the Mental Health Team to bring awareness to various mental health conditions. 

As part of the month, the team held a Mental Health Awareness and Seminar Day, which was inaugurated after student surveys revealed that student stress and anxiety resulted from finding time to complete projects, preparing for upcoming exams and allowing extra time to work with teachers. 

During the seminar, students were given a structured yet self-driven period of time to make choices on where they needed to catch up on learning or if they wanted to participate in mental health-related sessions. 

The day also featured a special Humanitarian Award assembly and guest speaker, Holocaust survivor Judith Sleed. Following lunch, students participated in or watched the 2023 Color Run, for which students and staff, dressed in white, ran a course as volunteers threw colored chalk representing various mental health conditions. 

 

Photo courtesy of the Southampton Union Free School District

Students at Clear Stream Avenue School in Valley Stream District 30 led the charge in collecting food for those in need as part of a districtwide effort.

Student representatives on the Global Leaders of Tomorrow Council have been working together to tackle zero hunger in their community. Their efforts have had a great start as members of the council at Clear Stream solicited the help of their classmates to collect food for the hungry. Cartier Burke, the sixth grade representative at Clear Stream, spearheaded the effort. They sent out flyers to encourage participation and visited classrooms to collect donations, including nonperishable foods. Once everything collected was sorted, the items were sent to the House of Hope food pantry in Valley Stream. 

 

Photo captions: 

1. From left, Cartier Burke, Athena Karantoni-Lewis, Ava Lam and Aysha Dar lead Clear Stream Avenue School in collecting food donations.
2. Cartier Burke, who spearheaded the effort, helped sort the many donations which were sent to the House of Hope food pantry in Valley Stream.

 

Photos courtesy of Valley Stream District 30

 Deer Park High School senior Emily Franciscovich recently earned her Girl Scouts Gold Award by spearheading the construction of a memorial garden at the school. The dedication ceremony was attended by Legislator Tom Donnelly, Superintendent James Cummings, Principal Charles Cobb, Associate Principal Dina Pannone, Board of Education President Donna Marie Elliott and board trustee Jerry D. Jean-Pierre.

The memorial garden honors those who have passed with ties to the Deer Park

School District, including two of Franciscovich’s classmates who died last year: Christine Nguyen and Kaitlyn Zanello. The project took almost a year to complete. At the end of last summer, Franciscovich started brainstorming and building a team to work with to bring her vision to life, consisting of school administration, Parent Faculty Club and the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

“The community that is Deer Park is one that I am proud to be a part of for many reasons,” Franciscovich said. “We all come together no matter what the circumstance, and that is one thing Deer Park knows how to do well. I knew Kaitlyn from being in the same graduating class and seeing her throughout our years in the district. My freshman year, I played tennis with Christine and saw her almost every day during our season. I wanted to specifically honor these two girls because I was lucky enough to know them during my time here at the high school, and that is something I will forever be grateful for. The meaning behind this project is to create a positive space to carry on their legacy.”

Franciscovich has been a Girl Scout for 13 years. Only 5.4% of Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award, making it a major achievement. Earlier this school year, Franciscovich – captain of the Deer Park High School tennis team and founder of volunteer group Girls That Give Back – won the News 12 Scholar Athlete Award, earning her a $1,000 college scholarship from Bethpage Federal Credit Union, and a Distinguished Youth Award gold medal from the Suffolk County Legislature. 

 

IMG_0683: Deer Park High School senior Emily Franciscovich recently earned her Girl Scouts Gold Award by spearheading the construction of a memorial garden at the school.

 

Photos courtesy of Deer Park School District

Sylvan Avenue Elementary School students in the Bayport-Blue Point School District gathered in the school plaza on May 19 for the school’s annual Walk for a Smile event. Run by speech and language pathologist Laurie Katz, the walk was held to recognize May as Better Speech and Hearing Month and has raised thousands of dollars over the past 12 years. Having initially raised $5,203 and with three corporate matches, the school raised in total $15,609 to support families of children with cleft care needs, making cleft lip and palate surgeries possible for 60 individuals. 

Before Principal Alane Dugan blew the horn to start the walk, she told the students they should be proud of themselves for raising money for this cause and helping others in need. Wearing Smile Train shirts and decorated T-shirts with smiley faces, the students then joined the faculty in walking laps around the parking lot.   

 

Photo caption: Back left, Sylvan Avenue Elementary School speech and language pathologist Laurie Katz and students matched money raised for the Walk for a Smile event for a total of $15,609 and making surgery available to 60 individuals.

 

Photo courtesy of the Bayport-Blue Point School District