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John H. Glenn High School

Zach Berger. Photo courtesy of Dinah Berger

By Rita J. Egan

Friends are rallying around an Elwood-John H. Glenn High School student to raise money for his medical treatment.

In July, doctors diagnosed high school senior Zach Berger with Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive pediatric cancer. As soon as they heard the news, his mother’s friends, Carolyn O’Brien and Courtney Presti, along with Berger’s friend and O’Brien’s son Joseph Pontieri, set up a GoFundMe page to raise $50,000 to help offset medical costs and ease financial strains.

Berger’s mother, Dinah, said his family, which includes his dad David and older sister Katrina, was surprised and touched when they heard about the GoFundMe campaign. 

Photo courtesy of Dinah Berger

In addition to donations, Berger’s friends and their families have been showing their support in various ways. His mother said a friend’s father who owns a diner has regularly brought them food since he heard the news.

“We have a saying, ‘Elwood Strong,’ and they’ve really proven it,” Dinah Berger said, adding she couldn’t thank the community enough.

The fundraising campaign organizers are using the hashtag #elwoodstrong as well as #zachattack, which O’Brien said has been used when Berger is wrestling.

“It was fitting to this situation — to attack it head on,” O’Brien said.

The family friend said the 17-year-old is always looking to help out.

“He walks in [the house], and if he sees the garbage is full, he just goes and takes the garbage out,” O’Brien said. 

Dinah Berger said her son was in terrible pain one day, and she brought him to Huntington Hospital. Doctors first thought he had kidney stones, but tests found none. A CT scan was ordered after a urine test showed a small amount of blood. When the scan was analyzed, the top part of a tumor could be seen. 

An MRI taken at an outpatient facility confirmed the tumor, and the mother took her son to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. It was there the family received hope from Berger’s oncologist Dr. Leonard Wexler, even though Dinah Berger said it has been difficult.

Zach Berger. Photo courtesy of Dinah Berger

Due to Zach Berger’s treatments, the incoming senior will be unable to attend school when it begins in September, according to his mother. In addition to being an honor student, he has been a member of the high school football and wrestling teams. Earlier this year, he placed in the county championships for wrestling.

“We all have our moments, but he’s been trying to be really brave,” Dinah Berger said. “It’s a lot for a 17-year-old to know they’re going to be hit with this.”

His mother, who is divorced from Berger’s father and works part time at two small companies, will take time off from work as her son will need to be taken back and forth to the city for chemotherapy and doctor appointments at MSK. In addition to chemotherapy, his treatment will possibly include surgery and radiation.

“One of the oncologists said this is a full-time job,” she said.

Dinah Berger said there is a possibility that a room will open up at the Ronald McDonald House where they can stay, and eventually the goal is for her son to receive treatment at Sloan’s Commack location.

The mother said the family recently received good news when a PET scan showed that the tumor had not metastasized.

“It’s the happiest news I have had in my life,” she said. “The whole thing is horrible and a nightmare, at least that gave me some hope.”

As of Aug. 1, 205 donations — totaling $16,000 of the $50,000 goal — have been collected. O’Brien said she’s not surprised.

“He’s one of those kids that everyone likes,” she said. “If you were going to support or donate to any family, this would be the family to donate to.”

For more information or to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/hsf9ja-zachattack.

Dilapidated auditorium seating in Elwood Middle School, will be repaired as a result of the passage of a capital bond proposition. File photo by Kevin Redding

The Elwood school district opened its doors to residents last week for a night of building tours in anticipation of the Nov. 28 bond referendum vote to spend $38.2 million on infrastructure repairs and upgrades.

School administrators guided parents through the district’s four buildings Nov. 8 — Harley Avenue Primary School, James H. Boyd Intermediate School, Elwood Middle School and John H. Glenn High School — to provide firsthand glimpses of the proposed numerous critical repairs and renovations within each school. The projects are addressed in two propositions community members will be able to vote on Nov. 28.

The tours were considered effective by the small — yet invested — group of parents who walked through each school.

“You can tell me all you want that there are cracked tiles but seeing it actually brings it to life and makes you see the real needs here,” said Michael Ryan, whose daughter is a graduate of the district. “We have a responsibility to make sure students have an environment that’s conducive to education.”

Marianne Craven, an Elwood resident for 40 years, thought it was a good idea for the school to host the tour.

“We’ve had all sorts of bond issues over the years, but I think this is the first time we’ve ever had a tour,” Craven said. “Those that didn’t come lost the visual. A picture is not worth a thousand words, and actually seeing it makes all the difference.”

A damaged ceiling tile resulting from a roof leak in Elwood Middle School, that would be repaired or renovated if Proposition 1 is approved by residents Nov. 28. Photo by Kevin Redding

The first proposition of the bond totals $34.5 million and will cover major projects like the installation of new roofs on each school which currently leak and cause flooding whenever heavy rain occurs.

In observing the leaky ceilings throughout the middle and high school, Jill Mancini, a former district clerk at Elwood, said, “I moved here in 1975 and the roofs have been leaking since then. All of them.”

Also included under Proposition 1 are repairs to cracked sidewalks and curbing and the refurbishment of auditorium spaces and cafeterias, which need air conditioning as well as furniture replacements. In the middle and high school, the consumer science labs would be upgraded, along with the art rooms, locker rooms and a guidance suite.

“We need to bring them up to 21st century learning environments,” said Superintendent Kenneth Bossert, who led the tour of the middle school. “Some folks who visit our facilities feel like they’ve stepped back in time when they enter [some] classrooms and it’s just not the right environment to teach our students the new skill sets they need to be successful.”

Karen Tyll, the mother of an Elwood seventh-grader, said seeing all the infrastructure problems was eye opening.

“They haven’t done enough throughout the years to maintain the schools and replace the things that are required replacements,” Tyll said, pointing out the importance of stable roofs. “We’re reaching a point where everything is sort of coming to a head, and we need to make the schools better in terms of health and safety for the kids.”

Although she said it’s unfortunate the district needs such an expensive bond, Tyll hopes it will be worthwhile in the end.

“Some of the items are unnecessary because they’re more wants rather than needs,” said one mother on the tour who asked not to be named. “A roof is definitely needed, but the new guidance suite is a want. Our taxes are going to go up and they should’ve separated some of these.”

The superintendent said he felt the Nov. 8 tours were productive in helping residents understand the scope of the proposed bond. 

“It’s difficult to get a true sense of the needs of the facilities solely from the use of pictures and videos,” Bossert said. “I believe residents left with a greater understanding of the priorities the district has brought forward.”

Elwood Middle School will get a new roof with the passage of Proposition 1 by voters. File photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

Elwood school district officials will put a total of $38 million in capital bond projects before residents for approval this November.

Elwood’s board of education voted unanimously Sept. 28  to put forth two propositions for a vote next month. Proposition 1 includes $34.5 million for health and safety improvements across the district. A $3.65 million Proposition 2 would go toward enhancement of the athletic fields.

“Over the course of the next two months, I look forward to as much community participation as possible,” Superintendent Kenneth Bossert said. “We want to provide as much information as possible to residents so that they can make an informed decision at the polls on Nov. 28.”

The first proposition focuses on major projects in each of the four school buildings — Harley Avenue Elementary, Boyd Intermediate School, Elwood Middle School and John H. Glenn High School — including replacing the roofs to fix existing leaks and flooding issues, fixing sidewalk and pavement cracks, renovating cafeterias and auditoriums and including air conditioning in some spaces.

The second, if passed, would allow for enhancements to the district’s athletic facilities including a concession stand for the high school fields with an outdoor bathroom, a synthetic turf field, sidewalks to make the fields compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a new press box and a scoreboard for the varsity baseball field.

The major issue of debate at the Sept. 28 board meeting came down to prioritizing items on the district’s list of alternative projects. The list is a compilation of recommended building renovations and upgrades that may be possible to complete if Proposition 1 is approved by voters, and there are additional funds remaining after the outlined construction is completed.

“The alternative list are all projects that were removed from Proposition 1 in order to bring it down to a level where taxpayers could be comfortable with [the tax increase],” Bossert said.

The district’s original building repair survey had recommended approximately $60 million in needed construction and safety upgrades to the buildings.

Some of the alternative projects the district will put forth to the state which aren’t included in either proposition include a new districtwide satellite clock system for $105,000; a backup generator for the computer systems at $125,000; air conditioning for office areas at $710,000; replacement of heating and ventilation units for $110,000; wall paneling at $170,000; locker room renovations for $625,000 and landscaping a playground for $40,000.

“I would like to see some things that the students will be impacted by moved up to the top of the list,” trustee Heather Mammolito said. “In an ideal world, I’d like to see locker room renovations bumped up and some others, like wall panelling, lower on the list.”

Mammolito’s comments were echoed and supported by other members of the board, who reached an agreement to re-evaluate it before posting it for district residents.

The superintendent stressed that the alternative projects list is highly flexible and “not set in stone”, as the renovations would only be possible if there are surplus funds and, which ones move forward would be dependent on how much of the bond is left.

“Often as is the case with construction, there are unanticipated costs,” Bossert said. “We may have to add projects to our list.”

The alternative projects list must be compiled as it has to be approved by voters and sent to the state, according to Bossert, so that if there are funds leftover after major projects are completed the district would have authorization to do work on these projects.

School officials have plans to host walk-through tours at each of the school buildings prior to the November vote so residents can evaluate first-hand the proposed projects. The dates have yet to be announced.

The Nov. 28 vote will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m at the district’s administrative offices. This a change from the district’s traditional 2 to 10 p.m. polling hours, approved by the school board, in order to offer more hours for working taxpayers to vote and more aligned with general election polling hours.