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Mount Sinai educators duel it out on the court

by Bill Landon - March 12, 2023

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It was the 21st edition of the coveted “Battle of the Educators,” where the Mount Sinai School District faculty squared off in an annual basketball game pitting the high school teachers against their middle and elementary school colleagues on Friday, March 3, at the Mount Sinai High School.

Funds raised from gate admission, food and snacks and apparel sales supported the Mount Sinai Booster Club, with the proceeds going towards athletic scholarships awarded in June.

The game took place in front of a near-capacity crowd, with attendance approaching pre-pandemic levels.

— Photos by Bill Landon

Unwinding with therapy dogs at Middle Country Central School District

by Press Release - March 6, 2023

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New Lane Elementary students enjoy therapy dog program

New Lane Love on a Leash — New Lane Elementary students enjoy a visit from Love on a Leash therapy dogs and their owners. Photo courtesy MCCSD

Middle Country Central School District’s New Lane Elementary School students recently had the opportunity to learn about and benefit from the Love on a Leash therapy dog program during a visit to the school by several of the organization’s therapy dogs and their owners.

“We know that school can be stressful for some students, they can get overwhelmed due to various factors, so we wanted to provide a healthy outlet for our students to release their stress and wind down,” said Phyllis L. Saltz, principal of New Lane Elementary School. “Our students find comfort and a way to de-stress around these specially trained dogs. The sessions also allow our students to learn new social skills while interacting with the therapy pets.”

Love on a Leash is a not-for-profit organization that provides a platform to encourage volunteers to engage in a meaningful and productive therapy dog program. The organization’s mission is “to bring comfort, happiness, and healing to more people nationwide by increasing public awareness of pet therapy.” The organization provides its volunteers with an accessible certification process that qualifies them to provide pet therapy in their community as part of a qualified therapy team.

For more information about the Middle Country School District and the latest District news, visit www.mccsd.net.

Port Jeff Library’s Lego Robotics team advances to LIC

by Press Release - March 3, 2023

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PJFLRoboticsLeague — Top row, from left to right: Coach Venus Chavez, Nate Hart, Connor Blistany, Sophia Villagracia, Anna Polyansky, Teen Mentor Kai Kubik, Teen Mentor Jacob Huwer. Bottom row: Gideon Cesare, Brian Hyrycz, Scott Disbrow, Coach Khan DeRenzo and Teen Mentor Yushan Pan. Not pictured due to illness: Kenan Caliskan. Photo courtesy Sal Filosa

The Port Jefferson Library’s Lego Robotics team advanced to the Long Island Championship round of the SBPLI FIRST Robotics League, which will take place on Sunday, March 5, at Hicksville High School.

The team came in fifth place and won an award for their robot design at the qualifiers held at Huntington High School on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Librarians Khan DeRenzo and Venus Chavez have coached the team with help from teen mentors Jacob Huwer, Kai Kubik and Yushan Pan.

From Iraq to Comsewogue: Three girls from three schools reunite with father

by TBR Staff - February 25, 2023

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taliah copyvienna copymia copy — Photos courtesy Andrew Harris

By Kylie Schlosser

Three military daughters at three different Comsewogue schools were surprised by the early return of their father, Staff Sgt. William Flaherty, directly from Iraq.

Flaherty first stopped at Comsewogue High School to visit his oldest daughter, Taliah. High school principal, Mike Mosca, called her to his office. Her face immediately changed from a worried look to elation upon seeing her father.

“Staff Sergeant Flaherty is a longtime member of our Comsewogue family and a former CHS graduate,” Mosca said. “We were thrilled when he reached out to us with this request.”

Next, Flaherty went to Norwood Avenue Elementary School to see his daughter, Vienna, where he walked inside the cafeteria and greeted the excited kindergarten students. Finally, he was off to Boyle Road Elementary School to see his third daughter, Mia, and then down the hall to the universal pre-kindergarten class where his wife works.

“We have a deep respect for the military and family here in our community,” Superintendent of Schools Jennifer Quinn said. “It was a great day for all and not a dry eye in any of the three schools he visited.”

Kylie Schlosser is a sophomore at Comsewogue High School.

Three Village board signals openness to ChatGPT, diversifies school calendar

by Mallie Jane Kim - February 23, 2023

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Sarah-Sajjad — Sarah Sajjad, right, in a family photo with her husband and children, was on hand for the Feb. 15 meeting with three of her children so they could witness the addition of Muslim holidays to the school calendar. Photo from Sarah Sajjad

By Mallie Kim

Artificial Intelligence could one day have a place in Three Village schools, according to Deidre Rubenstrunk, the district’s executive director of technology and data protection officer.

“If I were to submit that for an AP course, it wouldn’t get me much credit.”

— Mikaeel Zohair,

“Perhaps somewhere in the next five years, how to use AI could be part of our standards,” she told the school board at the Feb. 15 meeting. “Corporate America is going crazy over this right now, and we are going to have to prepare our students to use this as a tool.”

The comments came during time the board set aside to discuss ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence tool that has dominated headlines over the past few months. In January, the New York City Department of Education banned the technology from school internet networks and devices out of concerns students may use the bot to complete homework, since it can generate content based on user prompts.

But according to Rubenstrunk, Three Village would address that issue differently. “The only way that you promote academic integrity among students is not with Turnitin or originality reports in Google, but actually educating them in what integrity is and making it tangible for them,” she said, adding that is something she and other district staff are already working on.

Board members chimed in to support Rubenstrunk’s approach, emphasizing the importance of a “do not panic” attitude about emerging technologies.

Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon compared ChatGPT and other AI technologies to the graphing calculator, which some schools initially saw as a threat in the classroom.

“We have to look at the technology as a tool,” he said. “We need to train staff and students on proper use of this.”

Student representative to the board, Ward Melville High School senior Mikaeel Zohair, said he was not impressed with the ChatGPT bot’s output when he played around with it using essay prompts.

“If I were to submit that for an AP course, it wouldn’t get me much credit,” he said, adding the content could maybe pass for a middle school level. “Honestly, I don’t see a practical use for it but it’s fun.”

Board member Shaorui Li said she was recently exploring the limitations of ChatGPT with some high school students, and they found it could be a helpful tool in the fight against procrastination.

“You have the machine generate something you look at and [think], ‘Oh, I can do better,’” she said, adding that hopefully it would jump-start a student’s own work.

Also on the agenda at the board meeting was next year’s April 10 addition to the 2023-24 calendar of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the Ramadan month of fasting. Scanlon said there will be a break in state Regents exams on June 17, 2024, to allow Muslim students to celebrate Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice.

District parent Sarah Sajjad brought three of her elementary-aged children to the board meeting to witness the calendar change announcement.

“I wanted them to actually come and see, have an experience that they do get recognized,” Sajjad said after the meeting. She works as a special education aide in the district.

“Now everybody will be off, so we’ll welcome everybody to have fun and have a party with us.”

— Sarah Sajjad

Sajjad said she is thankful for the change because her kids have wondered why the school marks Christian and Jewish holidays with a day off, but not Muslim holidays. Plus, she added, it’s a great way for people of all religions to come together. Sajjad said her family enjoys taking part in her neighbors’ Christmas parties, but she hasn’t been able to reciprocate.

“Now everybody will be off, so we’ll welcome everybody to have fun and have a party with us,” she said. “We can actually celebrate with everybody in the community.”

The district must maintain a minimum of 900 instructional hours for elementary students and 990 for secondary, and days off vary year to year depending on which holidays fall on weekends — as does Rosh Hashanah in 2023. The district has posted the approved 2023-24 calendar on its website.

Smithtown Central School District set to hire armed guards

by Rita J. Egan - February 22, 2023

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smithtown-schools-administration-building2-shapirow — File photo by Rachel Shapiro

Smithtown Central School District recently made the decision to enhance security in its schools, which includes two high schools, three middle and seven elementary schools.

A decision to hire armed guards was announced in a Feb. 15 letter signed by Superintendent Mark Secaur and the Board of Education trustees.

“The safety and security of the students, faculty, staff and community members of the Smithtown Central School District has been, and will continue to be, a top priority,” the letter read.

It was stated that over time the district’s “security enhancements related to staffing, infrastructure, training, and operational protocols have evolved and improved.” The decision was made to “better protect the members of this school community.”

The letter said national news reports are reminders that “schools have occasionally been viewed as ‘soft’ targets and the scene of senseless tragedies caused by ‘active shooters.’”

“With this in mind and with a heavy heart,” the letter continued, “our district has made the decision to bolster our security detail by adding armed guards to the exterior perimeter of each of our schools to strengthen our ability to respond during a crisis, as well as to deter those who may seek to do harm.”

The superintendent and trustees said the security enhancement will improve response time in the case of an emergency in and around its buildings.

The district is in the early stages of the process, currently identifying security firms which will have to be vetted and approved by the Board of Education.

“The guards will be required to undergo multiple training sessions per year and will need to re-qualify through periodic performance based assessments to ensure they will perform at an optimal level if ever called upon,” the letter emphasized.

In addition, armed guards will work with the Suffolk County Police Department.

While the armed guards will be stationed throughout the school district, officials cannot “comment on specific details such as guard deployments, locations and working hours as it may compromise their safety and effectiveness.”

The superintendent and board members said in the letter that the guards will not be posted inside the buildings.

“This decision has not come lightly, but we believe that this is a necessary step to improve our approach to the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and community members,” the letter concluded.

According to the district’s 2023-24 General Fund Budget Overview, $850,000 has been allocated for the proposal.

When TBR reached out to the district to ask if school officials could elaborate, a media spokesperson said, “The district is not providing any comments outside of the community letter.”

The Kings Park school district, which also is located within the Town of Smithtown, has permitted certain security guards employed in the district to be armed while on duty since 2018, according to Superintendent Tim Eagen. The district did not hire an outside armed security firm, and all of the security guards are retired law enforcement officers who carry law-enforcement issued firearms.

In a discussion thread about armed guards in the Smithtown school district on the Facebook group Smithtown Moms, there was overwhelming support of the proposal. While a few mothers said there have been instances that guards haven’t been a deterrent in past incidents in the country, many felt the decision was long overdue.

Members of the Facebook group Suffolk Progressives have been less supportive of the move and one member has started a Change.org petition, Remove Armed Guards from Smithtown Schools, with 110 signatures as at Feb. 22. Petition signers and Suffolk Progressives wrote that more needs to be done to fund mental health programs and ban the sale of assault weapons.

The Smithtown school district will hold its next board meeting March 14 at 7 p.m.

Port Jefferson first graders learn about communities

by Press Release - February 20, 2023

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PJ - Port Jefferson Students Learn All About Communities — Edna Louise Spear Elementary School head custodian Paul Scalcione visited first graders. Photo courtesy PJSD

First graders in Laura Kelly’s and Paige Lohmann’s class at Edna Louise Spear Elementary School have been learning all about communities in their social studies unit.

Students were exposed to different texts and activities to help build on the concepts of community roles and responsibilities. They were introduced to maps and discussed important places that make up their community.

Part of the unit included first graders interviewing community members in and around the school. Students could ask questions of the classroom visitors to help foster their learning through direct interaction.

Visitors included music teacher and local firefighter Christian Neubert, school nurse Joan Tucci, building head custodian Paul Scalcione and Superintendent of Schools Jessica Schmettan. They learned how each member contributes to their community and the role that each plays.

“It was an excellent learning experience for them,” Lohmann said.

Port Jeff students spread love through the community

by Press Release - February 19, 2023

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PJ - Love Shared by Port Jefferson’s Buddy Program — Buddy Program students at Edna Louise Spear Elementary School. Photo courtesy PJSD

Edna Louise Spear Elementary School students not only think about others in their local community, but they often do something about it.

Students in Christine Bokina and Kristi Krieg’s fifth grade class and Maureen Zajac’s second grade class teamed up to bring some smiles to the faces of local children through the school’s Buddy Program, creating an initiative of kindness, sharing and love for others.

Parents and guardians received notice of the need for the hundreds of treat bags and small plush toys and sent their second and fifth graders to school with the items.

In a quick turnaround that highlighted their teamwork, the cross-grade-level collaborators created Valentine’s Day cards for the Port Jefferson-based donation center Give Kids Hope’s Project Valentine.

The cards will be presented to children assisted by the organization. The Buddies took another step forward, putting together candy-filled treat bags for children in the shelter.

Perspective: Comsewogue business students get real-world experience at Topgolf

by TBR Staff - February 19, 2023

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Comsewogue High School’s business students outside Topgolf in Holtsville. Photo courtesy Andrew Harris

By Anthony Rovello

Coming in as a teacher from another school district, I had heard great things about Comsewogue’s commitment to project-based learning for the students. Combined with my own experience in the workforce, I know how important it is for our business students to get actual hands-on learning in a fast-paced and successful business.

Comsewogue High School’s business students have taken such an approach to learning in different careers and fields for the past several years. Recently, our high school’s business students had the opportunity to visit Long Island’s recently opened Topgolf, a sports entertainment company located in Holtsville.

Topgolf is a rapidly expanding company that our students were excited to learn about. They had the chance to learn about its day-to-day operations as well as what it takes to operate a business.

Students left with some new ideas about how businesses operate, specifically in strategic planning, day-to-day operations, leadership and management. It was impressive for our students to learn how Topgolf started in 2000 and grew to become a multinational sports entertainment company.

Most importantly, students got the opportunity to see, meet and talk to the folks at Topgolf for real-world advice and experiences.

Along with fellow Comsewogue business teachers Anthony Ketterer, Rami Joudeh, Aanchal Katyal and Trevor Ozimkowski, we expect to make a huge impact on our students and community now and have bigger things planned for the future.

“Our goal is to give our students real-world experience in a variety of different careers and fields,” high school principal Michael Mosca said. “Our students have recently worked closely with our local Chick-fil-A, real estate agencies, banks and Topgolf. These partnerships, in addition to our intro to teaching students working with Clinton Avenue Elementary School teachers, are just the beginning.”

Anthony Rovello is a business teacher at Comsewogue High School.

Trevor Green: Rocky Point’s promising two-sport athlete

by Rich Acritelli - February 18, 2023

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Rocky Point ninth grader Trevor Green is a dual-threat swimmer and cross-country runner, and is among the promising athletes on the North Shore. On Saturday, Feb. 11, Green competed at Stony Brook University for the Suffolk County swimming championships.

His swim training regimen is a daunting, year-long commitment. He spends many hours daily in the pool.

The disciplined Green understands that achievement is earned through the accumulation of consistent effort. Always armed with a can-do attitude, he placed among the elite swimmers in Saturday’s county competition.

This season, Green has attained state qualifying times for the 500-meter freestyle, 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. The counties would be no different, with Green placing near the top in the butterfly and backstroke events. During his races, the athlete had a strong show of support from his parents, grandparents, sister and friends.

As Green prepares for the state swimming championships in Utica, he treads upon familiar ground.

In November, Green qualified as an individual for Rocky Point’s cross country team. At Sunken Meadow during the Section XI state qualifier, Green placed seventh overall and ran a 5K of 17 minutes, 41 seconds. A week later, he ran just outside Utica at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Senior High School for the state championships. One of the youngest runners in that meet, Green ran in borrowed spikes on a saturated course but placed a creditable 17th.

Competing against the very best runners and swimmers of New York state, Green has proven himself a force. He looks optimistically toward the future, continually seeking ways to improve his times.

Green continues his pursuit of perfection in two of the most strenuous and physically taxing sports in athletics, representing his school and community well.

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