Home 2016 March

Monthly Archives: March 2016

Movie series sparks memories for those living with dementia

by Giselle Barkley - March 18, 2016

0 1766

Making-Memories_2016_02_RajTawneyw — Residents living with dementia and their care partners watch a clip from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at a past Making Memories at the Movies event. Photo from Raj Tawney

Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre is taking residents with dementia down memory lane with its innovative and unique program series titled Making Memories at the Movies.

The community-based event, which social worker Marcy Rhodes established last year and which returns on Monday, March 21, targets people living with dementia as well as their care partners. While the event helps these residents socialize with others, it has also helped many of them remember parts of their past.

“The idea is to invite people with dementia and their care partners into a creative environment where they have an opportunity to relate to the arts, and to engage in conversation and be inspired by the art,” said Rhodes.

Rhodes screens clips of six to eight iconic old movies or television shows that attendees may have seen during their youth. With winter winding down and spring on the way, the theme of next Monday’s program is Springtime. The event will feature clips of films like “Singin’ in the Rain.” Rhodes also mentioned “Easter Parade” as a film option before she finalized clips for the upcoming show.

She hesitated to disclose the names of all the clips as participants try to identify the film or TV show. Many of these clips include musical numbers as music helps people connect with one another, Rhodes said.

“People really get into it. They laugh, they talk, they share memories,” said the CAC’s director of publicity, Raj Tawney. “It’s just a really wonderful experience to watch.”

The Cinema Arts Centre is just one of a few places in the Town of Huntington that offers this program. While the Whaling Museum and Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor started offering a similar program in December of last year, the Heckscher Museum of Art established its program three years ago. Rhodes said word of the program spread among close-knit organizations like the CAC and museums.

Although Rhodes started the CAC’s Making Memories program, the concept of the program originated in Boston and has become an international effort that has extended from The Museum of Modern Art in New York City to the Louvre in Paris and Art Institute in Australia.

Marcy Rhodes speaks to event attendees at a past Making Memories at the Movies event at the Cinema Arts Centre. Photo from Raj Tawney

“It’s a social opportunity for people [with dementia] and their care partners to engage in an activity that is typical,” Rhodes said.

According to Tawney, many of these residents living with dementia rarely leave their homes, which further affects their mental health.

“Their minds can deteriorate if they go unsocialized,” Tawney said. “So when they come here, they get to see movies, they get to have a conversation with each other. It’s a very interactive program.”

Community members with dementia and their care partners can register for Making Memories at the Movies on March 21 at 11 a.m. at the Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington, by calling 631-423-7611. Admission is $5 per person. Popcorn and beverages will be served.

Residents who can’t make Monday’s program will have another chance to challenge their memories on May 23 and July 25 at 11 a.m.

Corgis and border collie take on new job at park

by TBR Staff - March 18, 2016

0 210

Geese-Patrol-and-ownersw — Heritage Park’s new geese patrol, from left, Willie, Nova and Lily, along with their owners, will help keep geese from eating grass and leaving behind droppings on the grounds of the Mount Sinai park. Photo by Fred Drewes

By Fred Drewes

Willy, Lily and Nova are new volunteers at Heritage Park. Willie and Nova, both corgis, and Lily, a border collie, have been recruited to form a “geese patrol.” According to a joint document by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “the use of trained dogs to chase geese is among the most effective techniques available today” to prevent the annoyance of Canada geese.

Janet Smith, Regan and Chris Erhorn and Kerry and Lynn Hogan-Capobianco are the proud owners of these dogs that have volunteered to herd the geese away from the Mount Sinai park.

Willy, a Pembroke Welsh corgi, is 10 years old and was abandoned before being rescued by Smith. Nova, a tri-color Pembroke, is 1 year old and was adopted from a breeder in Pennsylvania. Lily is 12 years old and was adopted at the North Shore Animal League. The dogs are friendly, loyal and have strong herding instincts. As part of the geese patrol, the three will be on call. Staff and volunteers of the Heritage Trust will call on the dogs when geese appear so that they can chase the birds from the park to prevent them from dirtying up the area.

Commissioner Ed Morris of the Brookhaven Department of Parks and Recreation gave the animals permission to “work” at Heritage Park and said he is thankful for the owners’ volunteer efforts. The parks department has also purchased silhouettes of dogs to display in the park. The combination will discourage the grazing of geese and reduce what the geese leave behind.

The population of resident Canada geese has increased and become an annoyance in parks, on golf courses and landscaped areas of condos and co-ops. Lush grass provides gourmet grazing. Unfortunately, these geese eat up to three pounds of grass per day and leave a trail of feces behind. It is estimated that each goose can produce from 1 to 1.5 pounds of droppings per day, according to the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. The ball fields, paths and play knoll of Heritage Park have been littered with geese droppings, and research has shown that droppings contain a variety of pathogens capable of infecting humans. Although there is no clear evidence the droppings are transmitting diseases or are a threat to public health, the main concern is the mess left behind.

No one relishes walking on a path or playing on a field full of feces. This aesthetic problem is what the geese patrol will try to solve. If the geese are chased enough, they will learn to avoid swooping into the park, leaving visitors able to enjoy the open space and paths without tip-toeing through goose poop.

If you see Willy, Nova or Lily working in the park, the dogs are not there to play or exercise, but thank them for their efforts. Heritage Trust, the park and the town parks department are working together to make “The Wedge” one of the most popular parks in Brookhaven.

Fred Drewes is a founding member of Mount Sinai’s Heritage Trust and spends much of his time volunteering to help beautify Heritage Park.

Harborfields high school teacher goes beyond the classroom

by Victoria Espinoza - March 18, 2016

0 290

DaSilva-Global-Justicew — Michelle DaSilva stands on stage with members of the Global Justice Club during one of their concert fundraisers. Photo from Michelle DaSilva

For one teacher at Harborfields High School, ensuring her students receive a proper education doesn’t stop at academics.

Michelle DaSilva has been teaching world history at the high school for years, but in 2009 she started a new venture, as advisor to the Global Justice Club.

“This club is meant to let kids know what is going on in other parts of the world,” DaSilva said in a phone interview. She said there are about 70 to 80 kids involved in the club.

The first fundraiser the club organized was to collect baby supplies after Hurricane Sandy devastated the people of Haiti in 2005.

“I had just had a baby and I kept thinking about all the woman in that developing country who didn’t have diapers, or formula,” she said. The club found a local organization that worked with an orphanage in Haiti, where the members were able to donate the $1,500 in items they received.

Since then, DaSilva said the club has gotten bigger and bigger.

In 2010, the club organized the first global justice concert, which has become the main event the group works on during the year. DaSilva described the concert as an event “fully run by the students,” that has helped the club raise more than $10,000 since it started. Members of the club hold auditions, promote the show, organize the raffle and host it, according to the teacher.

Two years into the event, DaSilva said she met Lucy Sumner, a former Harborfields teacher who traveled back to her hometown of Sierra Leone. She runs a non-profit called Magic Penny, which provides financial support for educational, economic and agricultural programs within her country.

“Now all the money goes directly to her,” DaSilva said. “She’s an amazing woman, and what’s nice is that I know exactly where the money is going. When I put it in her hands, it’s being used for the right thing.”

Global Justice has raised enough money for Magic Penny to fund the building of a school, scholarships for students, teacher training programs, and more.

Currently, DaSilva said they are raising money to help create a middle school, since the first school they raised money for only teaches children up to fifth grade.

“These students are now having to go into the city for middle school, where there is a lot of exploitation and unsafe circumstances, and their families cannot afford to travel with them,” DaSilva said.

Aside from the annual concert, the Global Justice club also organizes and participates in many other fundraisers throughout the year, including a 24-hour famine where students are sponsored…; food drives; and education campaigns — one of which was a refugee project, where members of the club turned different hallways into parts of the world where there are large refugee problems.

“We want to be thinking globally,” DaSilva said of the club, “and acting locally.”

Irish coffee: From Ireland to San Francisco

by Bob Lipinski - March 18, 2016

0 275

Irish-Coffee-w — After a hearty St. Patrick’s Day meal, serve Irish Coffee, strong coffee sweetened with a hint of sugar and Irish whiskey then topped with freshly whipped cream, with dessert. Stock photo

By Bob Lipinski

What would March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, be without a couple of whiskey-laced Irish coffees?

“The mistress of the house should always be certain that the coffee be excellent; the master that his liquors be of the first quality.” — Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1755–1826, French politician and writer

Like many other drinks whose origins are clouded in mystery, Joe Sheridan (1909–1962) introduced Irish coffee in 1942. He was the head chef of a catering company at the Flying Boat terminal located at Foynes Field (now Shannon Airport) in Limerick from 1938 to 1945. Joe wanted to provide passengers a suitable drink after hours of cold planes and bumpy flights. Flight attendants would ease the pain by adding a shot of whiskey to hot coffee. The whiskey became Irish when the flights arrived or departed from Shannon Airport in Ireland.

Irish coffee

Ingredients: 1 teaspoon brown sugar; 1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey; 3 to 4 ounces strong coffee (not espresso); heaping tablespoon of whipped heavy cream

Directions: To make an Irish coffee, first fill a 6-ounce stemmed glass with very hot water to preheat and then empty. Place the brown sugar into the bottom of the glass and then add the Irish whiskey. Put a spoon into the glass and then pour in the hot coffee and fill three quarters and stir. The purpose of the spoon is to absorb the heat so the glass does not break. Then stir gently and add a heaping tablespoon of freshly whipped heavy cream, not one of the dairy creamers or premixed cream from an aerosol can. Serve without stirring.

Irish Coffee Story — Buena Vista Hotel in San Francisco, CA

The Buena Vista Hotel in San Francisco (or the BV as locals call it) is the birthplace of Irish coffee in America and continues to be frequented by tourists and locals, all enjoying their Irish coffee. According to its website…

“The historic venture started on the night of November 10, in 1952, Jack Koeppler, then-owner of the Buena Vista, challenged international travel-writer Stanton Delaplane to help re-create a highly touted ‘Irish Coffee’ served at Shannon Airport in Ireland.

Intrigued, Stan accepted Jack’s invitation, and the pair began to experiment immediately. Throughout the night, the two of them stirred and sipped judiciously and eventually acknowledged two recurring problems. The taste was ‘not quite right’ and the cream would not float. Stan’s hopes sank like the cream, but Jack was undaunted. The restaurateur pursued the elusive elixir with religious fervor, even making a pilgrimage overseas to Shannon Airport.”

In the 50 years since it was introduced, the Buena Vista has served more than 30 million Irish coffees! On a good day, the Buena Vista serves about 2,000 Irish coffees. It is the largest single consumer of Irish whiskey in the United States. The Buena Vista and its coffee has been a trivia question on “Jeopardy!”

Bob Lipinski, a local author, has written 10 books, including “101: Everything You Need to Know About Vodka, Gin, Rum & Tequila” and “Italian Wine & Cheese Made Simple” (available on Amazon.com). He conducts training seminars on wine, spirits and food and is available for speaking engagements. He can be reached at www.boblipinski.com or boblipinski2009[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Establishing perennial vegetable beds

by Ellen Barcel - March 18, 2016

0 254

Egyptian-Walking-Onion-sets-growing-greens-of-their-ownw — Egyptian walking onions. Stock photo

By Ellen Barcel

When growing fruit in the garden, we generally think of shrubs (blueberries, raspberries etc.) and trees (apple, peach, pears etc.), rarely annuals. But, when it comes to veggies, it’s sort of the opposite — we think of annuals (tomatoes, corn, green beans, radishes, lettuce etc.), which need to be replanted every year.

But, there are veggies that are perennials, veggies where you establish a bed of them and they return year after year. I’ve said it before, I really like the “plant once and enjoy for many years” form of gardening. First, some things to be aware of when establishing certain veggies in beds:

• Select a sunny site with well-drained soil.

• Many perennial veggies produce poorly or not at all in the first year since they’re just becoming established. So, think of perennial veggies as a multiyear project. Once established this year, some will produce for 20, 30 or more years.

• Amend the soil with compost and test it to make sure it is the proper pH and has enough nutrients to support the crops you want to grow.

• Remember to water, fertilize and weed throughout the growing season, even after you’ve harvested, or you’ll have a poor crop the next year.

• There are ways to make the veggie bed look attractive: Make it a raised bed with stones around it, for example, and plant some attractive flowers around the bed as well. Make sure the flowers don’t shade out the vegetable crop.

• If you are setting up a bed for several varieties of plants, make sure that they all have similar requirements.

• Mulch helps to keep weeds out of these beds and helps to keep moisture in the soil.

Some perennial veggies to consider for your garden include:

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a spring vegetable, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. There are a number of varieties, including white. Plant the asparagus crowns in early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked. They do particularly well in a raised bed. Gardener’s Supply Company notes that “it’s critical to eradicate all the weeds and grasses from the planting area — even if this requires a full year of advance preparation.” As I said above, growing perennial vegetables is a multiyear commitment. Harvest in spring and early summer. Once this time frame has passed, allow the plants to continue growing. They will produce lacy foliage that can be four or more feet all. The better care you take of the plants at this time, the more prolific they will be next year. Cut back in fall and wait till next spring for a healthy crop.

Egyptian walking onions (Allium proliferum) are cold hardy. Sometimes called winter onions, tree onions or perennial onions they produce bulblets at the end of the stalk where flowers would normally form, not underground. When the stalk bends over and touches the ground, the bulblets will take root, establishing a new plant, hence the name walking onions — they seem to walk across the ground. They come out in early spring, sometimes even through the snow. Once you harvest a plant it will not grow back, but since each plant can produce so many bulblets on many stalks, as long as you don’t harvest all of every plant, you’ll have plenty for the future. They grow in zones 3 to 9 (Long Island is 7). These perennial onions can be found in a number of catalogs. Go to www.egyptianwalkingonions.com for further information.

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) is in the same family as mustard, broccoli and cabbage. The roots are used as a spice, particularly for red meat, chicken and fish. It does well in hardiness zones 2 through 9. In the fall, the roots are dug up, some kept for consumption and one main root replanted for next year’s crop. Alternately, only dig up some of your plants. The Horseradish Council (www.horseradish.org) has many recipes for using this delicious but hot spice.

Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) is botanically a veggie, although it’s used as a fruit, particularly with strawberries, in sweet pies and jams. It’s planted in a similar way to asparagus. Prep the soil, removing all grasses and weeds and plant the crowns in early spring. Don’t expect much of a crop the first year. When harvesting, leave at least some stalks on each plant so it will thrive for the next year. While the plants will produce enormous leaves, remember, it is the red stalks that are edible, not the toxic leaves. A high nitrogen fertilizer is recommended when the ground has just thawed. The rhizomes of rhubarb plants can be divided every three to four years when the plants are dormant.

There are other perennial vegetables, including artichokes and Jerusalem artichokes. And yes, strawberries (which are a fruit) are established in beds as well.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. Send your gardening questions and/or comments to [email protected]. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

Early Christian Avenue play looks back

by TBR Staff - March 18, 2016

0 199

baseball-CB-3X5w — A baseball game at Chicken Hill field. Photo from Beverly Tyler

By Beverly C. Tyler

“Seek out the spot where the Setalcott Indians first camped. They called it ‘land at the mouth of the creek.’ You’ll know when you come to it because you’ll be standing on Holy Ground. From there it’s an easy step to Christian Avenue.” — Glenda Dickerson

The first lines of the play about the Christian Avenue community, produced in 1988 at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, took us back to a time before recorded history in Setauket, a time when Indian family groups occupied all of Long Island.

These natives left no monuments to be remembered by, no changes that would permanently alter the landscape. As a result, we know very little about their lives. The archaeological remains discovered at the places where they worked, lived and died provide only scant clues.

When the English settlers first came to the “land at the mouth of the creek,” they brought with them their knowledge of how to change the land to make it conform to their patterns of life. They dammed the stream and built a gristmill. They built permanent homes, erected walls and fences, cleared the trees and planted grains, and they buried their dead with permanent stone markers. The early settlers also dealt in another kind of property; they bought and sold Black slaves.

The first recorded notation of slavery in the three villages is listed in the Town records of 1674. “Richard Floyd, of Setakett, sold the … Negro, named Antony, to John Hurd, of Stratford.” It is also recorded that Floyd had purchased Antony two years earlier from Robert Hudson of Rye.

This story of the arrival of black slaves into the Setauket community was detailed in June of 1988 for theatergoers who took a bus tour to the Christian Avenue Community as part of an evening that culminated with the exhibit and play “Eel Catching in Setauket.”

The bus tour took the “eel catchers” — theatergoers — to the Bethel A.M.E. Church on Christian Avenue, where they were given a short message about the church and the community and led in a song and a word of prayer. A tour of the Laurel Hill Cemetery was followed by a fellowship meal served by members of the Christian Avenue community in the Irving Hart Post American Legion Hall.

The “eel catchers’” bus ride back to the Fine Arts Center of the State University at Stony Brook included a tour of some of the locations in Setauket that are part of the oral history and folklore of the Christian Avenue community. Much of the oral history was preserved in the May 1988 Journal of the Three Village Historical Society, which was given to each “eel catcher.” In one oral-history interview, Violet Rebecca (Sells) Thompson brought the Christian Avenue community full circle to the first settlers on Long Island. “ … I went to school in Setauket Union School up on the hill — Education Hill. There were a lot of nationalities. I think we were the only Indians in there … we were the only Americans in the class. … The rest of the kids were Irish … Polish … Lithuanians, all from Europe.”

The play “Eel Catching in Setauket” was in the Fine Arts Center. The exhibits and photographs of the Christian Avenue community were placed all through the theater room and the “eel catchers” wandered through the exhibit viewing the artifacts of the community residents.

The play was a series of vignettes based on the collected materials, performed by eight actors and actresses under the direction of Glenda Dickerson. It took place in the center of the exhibit-theater and around the various exhibits while the “eel catchers” watched and listened to the drama unfold all around them.

The Three Village Historical Society exhibit, “Eel Catching in Setauket” and “A Living Library-The African-American, Christian Avenue Community,” was displayed in Brookhaven Town Hall during the month of February.

Dead body found at Port Jefferson area beach

by Elana Glowatz - March 18, 2016

0 389

Plane-Crash-diverw — Divers with the Suffolk County Police Department pursue the aircraft as the missing person search continues. Photo from Margo Arceri

Story last updated on 3.22.16, at 11:20 a.m.

By Elana Glowatz

A dead body found on a beach near Port Jefferson Harbor is not the man who went missing following a plane’s crash-landing at the end of February.

The Suffolk County Police Department said Thursday that Homicide Unit detectives are investigating the man’s death, but it appears he drowned. Authorities identified him as 28-year-old Marlon Lewis, who is homeless.

A Port Jefferson Village code enforcement officer found the body at about 1:45 p.m., police said, at which point police officers responded to the scene at the beach.

Code Chief Wally Tomaszewski said in a phone interview that the code bureau’s Sgt. Steve Grau spotted Lewis’ body in the water near the Centennial Park beach from his position on the village’s dock, in front of the Village Center. The sergeant originally thought the victim was a woman because he was in a dress, according to the chief.

Tomaszewski said the code officers have seen Lewis around the village for the last five years or so, usually uptown in the morning, and he would get food at a soup kitchen in the downtown area on Mondays.

According to police, the Suffolk County medical examiner’s office will perform an autopsy.

Lewis’ body washed up almost four weeks after a small plane, carrying four people, crash-landed in Setauket Harbor near Poquott.

The Piper PA-28 had taken off from Fitchburg, Mass., and was headed for Republic Airport in Farmingdale on Feb. 20 when it experienced engine trouble and the student pilot, 25-year-old Bronx resident Austricio Ramirez, handed the controls over to his instructor.

The National Transportation Safety Board released a report two weeks later that said the aircraft, flying at about 2,000 feet, had low amounts of fuel and had been operating for about five hours since last having its tank filled. The engine eventually lost power and the instructor, 36-year-old Queens resident Nelson Gomez, tried to head for the shoreline, but it was too dark to see it.

That’s when the instructor landed the plane on the water, and told his passengers to take a life vest and exit the plane. However, according to the NTSB report, they were not wearing the vests when they got out of the plane, which floated for about five minutes before sinking nose-first.

Emergency personnel rescued Ramirez, Gomez and a third man, Wady Perez, a 25-year-old from Queens. But the fourth passenger, 23-year-old Queens man Gerson Salmon-Negron, is still missing.

Mount Sinai kids learn compassion through community service

by Desirée Keegan - March 18, 2016

0 300

Mount-Sinai-Community-Service-and-Outreach-Club-2016w — The Mount Sinai MIddle School Community Service and Outreach Club lends a helping hand by becoming actively engaged in the community for local and national charities and organizations. Photo from Lindsey Ferraro

Raising thousands of dollars for North Shore-based and national organizations and bringing smiles to those in need of cheer is no small feat. But fifth- through eighth-graders at Mount Sinai Middle School are making a habit of it.

Lindsey Ferraro, a co-advisor for the school’s Community Outreach and Service clubs for the last three years, said students learn compassion and empathy.

“It amazes me more so every year how dedicated our club members and the school community are to bettering the world,” she said. “Our students have gone above and beyond to help out the community.”

The Mount Sinai Community Service and Outreach Club sings holiday carols at a local nursing home. Photo from Lindsey Ferraro

The club adopted a family this past holiday season, created cards for soldiers, visited the Woodhaven nursing home in Port Jefferson Station to sing holiday carols, held a clothing drive for the homeless and raised over $1,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

“You know you’re helping out someone much less fortunate than you, and it feels really good,” eighth-grader Jake Ritchie said. “It feels really good to know that I make a statement and take a stand in my community to help out.”

Ritchie, who has been a member of the club since he was in fifth grade, said the club is also collecting books for a Stony Brook book drive and helping Girl Scouts receive a bronze award. He said even his classmates lend a hand.

“They have been helping out,” he said, “We make speeches in front of our classes to encourage kids to help out. It’s a lot of fun.”

Mount Sinai Middle School Principal Peter Pramataris said he also sees students outside the club donating to the club’s causes.

“It’s always great to see the school building come together as a whole,” he said. “I reside in the district, too, and whenever there’s a family with some hardship, a loss or a health issue, the community always steps up to help each other. It’s a testament to the families we have in our community and the value system that they have from home and that we reinforce at the school. These students take their own time, and they do it unselfishly. I’m proud to be their principal.”

The club has also raised more than $2,000 in two weeks for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients fund, with a week of fundraising left to go. Next, the school will be working on its Light It up Blue campaign, where members of the club will sell puzzle pieces in light of Autism Awareness Month for Autism Speaks.

The Mount Sinai Community Service and Outreach Club wraps presents raised for and donated to local families. Photo from Lindsey Ferraro

Nicole Kotarski, who has been a co-adviser for five years, said the club fosters independence and creativity.

“We’ve had several students bring us ideas if they like a particular organization, and we tell them to figure out how to make it happen,” she said, adding that she asks students to organize contact information, ideas for fundraisers and how to make the school aware of them. “The goal of our club is to make a difference in others’ lives. These students are definitely the most driven students. They’re the ones that make the effort to become actively engaged in the community.”

Ferraro and Kotarski agreed that the students are doing an amazing job, and they’re proud of the student’s hard work and effort.

“They really do care and they’re learning — they’re not in it for anything else,” Ferraro said. “They do such a good job raising awareness throughout the school … and really making, especially the people around the holidays, feel loved and cared for.”

That’s what makes being a part of the club so special for fifth-grader Matthew Stancampiano.

“I like doing this because it helps me help the less fortunate people in our community,” he said. “We can accomplish bigger things in a group. It makes me feel happy that I am able to help other people.”

Scandinavian Fair honors heritage

by Heidi Sutton - March 17, 2016

0 1363

1 of 7

Children and their parents flocked to the St. James Lutheran Church in St. James last Sunday afternoon for a Scandinavian Children’s Heritage Fair.

Representing Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and Finland, the event was hosted by the Sons of Norway. Children took part in a Little Vikings tour by playing Uff Da Bingo while learning Norwegian words, weaving Danish heart baskets out of felt and decorating shields and swords. They also took part in Norwegian rosemåling (decorative painting), rock painting and troll making.

Guests were also able to sample delicious traditional desserts including Lefse, Norwegian Krumkaker cookies, heart waffles, sandkaker and Swedish coffee bread. The event also offered many types of Scandinavian-themed souvenirs for sale.

Harborfields promotes high school principal

by Alex Petroski - March 17, 2016

0 513

Harborfields-high-school-w — Harborfields High School. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Harborfields High School Principal Rory Manning was unanimously approved for a promotion by the board of education Wednesday.

He will be taking over as the assistant superintendent for administration and human resources. Francesco Ianni currently holds the position, though he has been tabbed to take over as district superintendent as of January 2017, when the current superintendent, Diana Todaro, retires.

“Dr. Manning, I have to say has performed a truly exceptional job in his position of high school principal,” Todaro said Wednesday at a board of education meeting at Oldfield Middle School. “When we began to seek a candidate for the position of assistant superintendent for administration and human resources we immediately, without hesitation, considered Dr. Manning for this position. Following several interviews and discussions our decision was confirmed, and it was clearly evident to us that he was the best candidate for this position and there was no need for us to conduct the so-called ‘nationwide search.’”

Manning has been the high school principal at Harborfields since 2012. Prior to that he spent time at Sachem High School East as both a principal and assistant principal from 2006 through 2012. He received a doctorate in education, educational administration and supervision from St. John’s University in 2011.

“I’d like to apologize to the board, because today when the proposition to hire Dr. Manning as our assistant superintendent comes up, I’m breaking protocol and saying a resounding ‘yay,’” student representative to the board of education Trevor Jones said, prior to the unanimous vote to approve Manning. “I know my vote doesn’t count, but that’s a fantastic man sitting over there.”

Jones’ address concluded with a standing ovation, and a hug from Manning.

Harborfields High School Principal Rory Manning smiles. File photo — Harborfields High School Principal Rory Manning. File photo

Manning was praised by Jones, Todaro and members of the community for initiatives relating to educational technology that he has been a part of while at Harborfields.

“It absolutely blew me away,” Manning said about the kind words shared about his new position in the district, and the work that he’s done so far. “Trevor Jones and our students, they’re just outstanding and Trevor really speaks from his heart. It really shows. Our students, my students, inspire me to be better everyday. That’s what keeps us going on the hard days, keeps us motivated on the good days. It’s just special working with these kids and their parents, the teachers, the superintendent, the board; it’s just a pleasure to work with everybody here. They call us the Harborfields family, and it really feels that way.”

Harborfields High School received a 2016 National Blue Ribbon award nomination, a distinction given to outstanding public and non-public schools by the National Blue Ribbon Schools program with the U.S. Department of Education. Winners will be selected in September, according to a release on the district website.

“Whenever Dr. Manning talks about the fact that we’ve been nominated as a Blue Ribbon school, he always talks about the students and our teachers who do amazing work,” Jones said. “He never gives himself credit. He deserves some.”

Prev 1...789...20 Next

Page 8 of 20