School Notebook: Students collect toys for holidays
Students in the Italian and Spanish Clubs at Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills collected toys, school supplies and clothing for donation to Operation Christmas Child, a project of the humanitarian aid organization Samaritan's Purse. Credit: Mary Kate Obrycki and Peter Rudilosso
Long Island students are helping their peers have a happy holiday season.
Toy collections in schools have yielded thousands of playthings — ranging from board games to stuffed animals — in an effort to make the holidays a little bit brighter for the area’s families in need of cheer.
One effort saw the Half Hollow Hills School District in Dix Hills collect more than 1,000 toys for children with cancer through the Amityville-based nonprofit Kids Need More. Half Hollow Hills High School West’s Italian and Spanish clubs also collected 62 boxes of toys, clothes and school supplies for Operation Christmas Child, which is a project of the humanitarian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse.
“In our clubs we believe that it is important to bring awareness to the hardships faced by people in other countries as well as in our own community,” said Mary Kate Obrycki, a Spanish teacher at the school. “We hope to build a life-long love of giving back and help the students become well-rounded young adults while benefiting important causes.“
In Plainedge, the district collected more than 300 toys through drives held at its three elementary schools: Eastplain, Charles E. Schwarting and John H. West. The toys were distributed to local families as well as the John Theissen Children’s Foundation and Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
Wantagh students on the district’s varsity and junior varsity cheerleading teams filled approximately 100 shoe boxes with an assortment of toys and essential items as part of Operation Christmas Child.
In Hewlett, fifth-graders at the elementary school created 100 toys on a 3D printer for Toys for Tots, a program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Southampton High School students from the Shinnecock Nation teach prekindergartners at Southampton Elementary School about the tradition of Nunnowa, a tribal thanksgiving celebrated a week before the national Thanksgiving Day. Credit: Southampton School District
“It took several weeks, but we reached our goal,” said Kristina Gallagher, a STEM teacher at the school; STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
ELMONT
Mindfulness room
Dutch Broadway Elementary School has launched a mindfulness room and sensory hallway as part of the district’s social-emotional learning initiative.
Four Freeport High School seniors were among 100 metropolitan-area students to participate the “Girl Powered” VEX robotics workshop at Google’s headquarters in Manhattan. From left, Assistant Principal Maribel Maia, students Yuleydy Cortorreal, Kimberly Rosa, Vanessa Marroquin and Alexandra Rodriguez, and the school’s Robotics Club adviser, Kevin Harrison. Credit: Freeport School District
The mindfulness room is used for activities ranging from yoga to playtime with kinetic sand, and it features amenities including bean bags, weighted blankets and textured pillows. Classes will have a designated time in the room once a month.
The sensory hallway consists of stickers on the floor that prompt pupils to participate in different physical activities, including hopscotch, wall pushups and toe-to-heel walking. The activities are intended to “give students a break from seated learning and lessen excess energy,” school officials said.
NORTH BABYLON
New principal
Stephanie Hasandras has been named principal of Robert Moses Middle School.
In Hicksville, students and staff at Fork Lane Elementary School attend a BMX stunt show performed by The Freestyle Connection that incorporated messages about character education and healthy living choices. Credit: Hicksville School District
Hasandras, who replaced John Ruggero, was most recently the school’s assistant principal as well as co-principal of the district’s RISE alternative high school.
She previously worked as an
assistant principal at the Henry Street School for International Studies in Manhattan.
“Words can never express how truly humbled and excited I am to serve . . . every member of our learning community,” Hasandras said.
NASSAU COUNTY
$56G in grants for BOCES
In North Babylon, fourth-graders at Belmont Elementary School explore Native American artifacts during a program called Journey into American Indian Territories. Credit: North Babylon School District
Nassau BOCES educators were recently awarded 20 grants totaling more than $56,000 through the Nassau BOCES Educational Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting initiatives beyond the scope of the agency’s budget.
The grants will be used to fund additional programming as well as to purchase equipment, classroom materials and educational technology for several BOCES schools.
“Grant-funded teaching innovation is just one way the agency fulfills its goal to ensure student success,” said Nassau BOCES District Superintendent Robert R. Dillon.
SUFFOLK COUNTY
Light show winners
Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. High School students Veronica Walkin, left, Sophie Cohen, Jenna Schetty and Madison Brass had their research about mosquito species on Long Island published in the database of the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Biotechnology Information. Credit: Cold Spring Harbor School District
Five designs submitted by individuals and teams of Girl Scouts were winners of a light show display contest coordinated by the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. The contest selected five designs to be turned into custom light displays appearing in the organization’s holiday light show at Smith Point County Park in Shirley, which runs through Dec. 30.
The winners and their schools were: Olivia Davis, Nicolette Diemer, Mia Jones, Kristin Tveter and Amanda Woods, Bayport-Blue Point High School; Kinsley Gumowski, William Rall Elementary School in Lindenhurst; Ella Schlick, Wading River School; Kayla Nagy, Tackan Elementary School in Nesconset; and Layla Koleda; William Floyd Elementary School in Shirley.
This year’s contest received more than 80 hand-drawn submissions.
ISLANDWIDE
Environmental grant winners
Sixteen high schoolers have been named winners of 2022-23 Mini-Research Grant Awards from the South Asian American Women’s Alliance. The award, valued at $200, is intended to offset the cost of materials and computer software expenses pertaining to a new research project in the environmental field.
The winners and their high schools were: Daniyal Khambati, Ankur
Raghavan, Riya Saha and Diya Sheth, Bethpage; Anthony DuBois, Commack; Michael Santos, Copiague; Julian Delarosa, Freeport; Joanne Lee, Shaan Merchant and Justin Tao, Great Neck South; Evalia Koumpourlis, Roslyn; Jacqueline Quinn, Sacred Heart
Academy in Hempstead; Audrey Ren, Paul D. Schreiber, Port Washington; Hannah Ren, Smithtown West; and Madalynn Bernstein and Alexandra Mancusi, St. Anthony’s, South Huntington.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
'I haven't stopped crying' Over the past year, Newsday has followed a pair of migrant families as they navigate new surroundings and an immigration system that has been overwhelmed. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.
'I haven't stopped crying' Over the past year, Newsday has followed a pair of migrant families as they navigate new surroundings and an immigration system that has been overwhelmed. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.
