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Education

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By Judith Burke-Berhannan

New technology influences everything, including your child’s college application process. Websites, social media and streaming videos may be more common than catalogs as sources of information for the college-bound child, but the fundamentals of applying for college remain the same — along with the anxiety and anticipation. So how do you help your children make the most of their college search and selection process?

Talk to your child about his or her interests, strengths and goals early. During sophomore and junior year, keep college in focus by including him or her in conversations with family, friends and associates about their college experiences and take advantage of college planning and guidance resources available through your high school and library.

Help your child compile a checklist of what he or she wants in a college, so that by senior year, they can explain their reasons for applying. Research options by exploring college websites together. For example, the Stony Brook University website features a virtual tour, blogs from current students and tools to help you plan for college costs and scholarship opportunities.

The summer before senior year is an ideal time to tour college campuses and review essay topics and application deadlines. Encourage your child to complete all college applications before Thanksgiving. Remember that application and scholarship deadlines are non-negotiable.

At the same time, establish an email account for your child’s college correspondence. Colleges will correspond with applicants primarily by email, so make sure your child checks the account regularly and responds quickly throughout the application process. Remind them that all college correspondence is professional and their writing style should be formal to reflect how serious they are about applying. Make sure they use proper grammar and etiquette and don’t use any casual shorthand commonly used in text messages and on social media — in other words, no acronyms, abbreviations or emojis!

But remember, when it’s time to write essays and talk with the people who will provide letters of recommendation, step aside. This is your child’s college experience, not yours. Admissions committees can detect essays written by professionals and parents. Empower your student to take ownership of the process. Finally, take a step back and relax. Be confident that with the proper preparation and a positive outlook, your child will be successful in his or her college search.

Judith Burke-Berhannan is the dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Stony Brook University.

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File photo by Rachel Shapiro

By Victoria Espinoza

Smithtown school district’s headquarters on New York Avenue, which currently houses administrative offices, could soon become an apartment building.

The Smithtown school board voted at the Oct. 25 meeting to approve entering a contract with Southern Land Company, for the sale of the property and the surrounding land.

Smithtown Superintendent Jim Grossane said in a letter to residents he believes this is a positive decision for the community.

“The board of education and administration believe that the proposed use of the property is one that would benefit our school community,” he said. “If finalized, the sale will potentially expand our tax base, lowering the burden on our residents, and provide additional resources to enhance our educational programs.”

According to Grossane, Southern Land Company is planning on building one- and two-bedroom apartments that will be “in keeping with the architectural style of Smithtown.”

“Though still in the early stages of the contract, if finalized, the district would receive the greater of $71,000 per approved unit or $14,768,000 for the sale of the building,” Grossane said. The superintendent added that the contract has a 75-day due-diligence period, where the company has the right to back out of the purchase.

Jena Armistead, vice president of marketing for Southern Land Company, said the organization is very excited to start working with the community.

“We are proud to be selected by Smithtown school board to be the developer for a new residential community in the neighborhood,” she said in an email. “Having been selected in the competitive process, we will now turn to working with the community to develop an overall plan. In the coming weeks we look forward to engaging neighbors and town leaders in an open dialogue that will make an important contribution to the vision, design program and schedule for this project.”

Armistead said the plan is tentatively for the building to have about 250 apartments, although the company does not want to finalize a plan until after they have had discussions with the Smithtown community.

“We want to create something that will benefit the community,” she said in a phone interview.

The New York Avenue property is the site of the Arthur House, a historic home once owned by John Arthur, a prominent member of Smithtown in the mid-1700s.

But Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio said the plan requires zoning changes and the school board should not get ahead of themselves.

“If finalized, the sale will potentially expand our tax base, lowering the burden on our residents, and provide additional resources to enhance our educational programs.”

— James Grossane

“The Southern Land Company must apply for zone change to the town board,” he said in an email. “The school board is being presumptuous in assuming the town board will change the zone. There must be a public hearing and the people will be heard for or against such a change.”

Agnes Vion, an administrative assistant on the Smithtown Board of Zoning Appeals, said the property absolutely needs a zoning change, but they cannot be sure of the particular zone change because Southern Land Company has not submitted an application to the board yet.

According to Vion, the New York Avenue property is currently in a central business zone and an R-10 zone, meaning the property is only allowed to have single-family homes with lot sizes of 10,000 square feet minimum. Multifamily-style housing is not permitted in the current zone.

The zoning board employee said the property would need to be changed to garden apartment zoning, or R-6 zoning which allows for town houses.

In order for Southern Land Company to be granted a zone change, it would need to schedule meetings with the planning board, the town board and the board of appeals, but the exact route the company would have to take is not clear because it has not yet submitted an application.

“In any event, they will have to change their zone, unless they want to create only single-family homes,” Vion said in a phone interview.

In February, the school board made the controversial decision to close Branch Brook Elementary School due to a lack of enrollment and shrinking district revenue, and some residents pleaded then that the district should work on selling the administrative building on New York Avenue instead of closing a building used for instruction.

Trustee Gladys Waldron was the lone “no” vote on the decision and her reasoning was the same as many community members.

“I think our energies and effort of administration and board should be placed right now on the selling of this building,” Waldron said at that meeting.

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Max Rutter gets the lightbulb lit inside the new science classroom at Andrew Muller Primary School. File Photo by Rebecca Anzel

By Rebecca Anzel

Second-graders in Andrew Muller Primary School’s new science room were beaming with excitement Monday as teachers distributed materials for an experiment — a magnet, paperclip, battery, copper wire, rubber band and lightbulb.

The class was learning about interactions. Debbie Trelfa helped her students name each of the items in front of them and asked them to figure out how to make them interact. One table discovered the magnet attracted the paperclip, and Trelfa told her students there was another interaction they could make.

Andrew Muller Primary School second-grade teacher Debbie Trelfa teaches a new science lesson to her class. Photo by Rebecca Anzel
Andrew Muller Primary School second-grade teacher Debbie Trelfa teaches a new science lesson to her class. Photo by Rebecca Anzel

Students told one another to “persevere,” and a few minutes later another table discovered they could get the lightbulb to light up by placing it on the battery.

Miller Place school district’s two elementary schools, Andrew Muller and Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School, adapted an available classroom each to be used as science learning and inquiry labs. Students study topics like weather and plants in an interactive way, as opposed to using textbooks.

“Having been a classroom teacher, I loved teaching science, but it’s very difficult to do in a classroom,” Andrew Muller Primary School Principal Laura Gewurz said. “Experimentation can be time consuming and complicated to set up and break down. Having a room designed for student experimentation and collaboration makes science exciting and accessible, and saves instructional time.”

These two spaces were instituted to prepare for new state science and engineering curriculum changes, which shift the focus of lessons from memorizing information presented by teachers to understanding concepts by investigating them. The updated standards are called Next Generation Science Standards, which use “three-dimensional learning.”

Instead of a teacher asking students a question with one correct answer, for example, students would instead consider an open-ended one by using evidence presented by a teacher or reading. Or, instead of students reading a textbook chapter and answering questions on a worksheet, they would read multiple sources and write reports and posters about the ideas.

“You’re seeing a lot more hands-on experiences, hearing a lot more student talk and witnessing more student collaboration.”

—Laura Gewurz

“New York State is really changing the curriculum for science, which I think is fantastic,” Gewurz said. “It has not been changed since 1996, and not only are our concepts about teaching different, the science is different.”

According to a NYS Education Department document, the proposed science learning standards will be presented to the Board of Regents this winter. It is the last step in a process that began in January 2015, when the board counseled the Education Department to begin drafting new standards. Since then, the draft was updated with results from a public survey and discussed in June 2016.

“As teachers, schools, and educational systems systemically transition to the new science standards and changes to local curriculum and instructional practice, a call for coherent professional development opportunities is vital,” the NYS Education Department said in a statement. “To this end, the Department will continue to collaborate with science education stakeholders across the state and nation to assist in building the awareness and the capacity of teachers and leaders of science.”

Miller Place is “way ahead of the game,” Assistant Superintendent Susan Hodun said, in beginning to implement science curriculum changes before the new state standards are finalized and implemented.

With cooperative learning tables for students to work with and learn from each other, separate storage areas for each grade level and science learning resources displayed, the new science labs further encourage modern teaching methods.

Anna Paesano and Kayla Martins perform the day’s experiment. Photo by Rebecca Anzel
Anna Paesano and Kayla Martins perform the day’s experiment. Photo by Rebecca Anzel

“I think it really works with the new science learning standards that New York State has developed in the sense that students have more access to authentic learning,” Gewurz said. “You’re seeing a lot more hands-on experiences, hearing a lot more student talk and witnessing more student collaboration. I think with the changes to science, it’s all coming together, which is great.”

The science room is also financially smart, she added, because instead of purchasing duplicates of materials for each classroom, the school can instead buy a wider range of materials to create a “much richer room.”

Students spend about an hour per week doing experiments that supplement the time they spend in the classroom learning about science concepts. The teachers and principal at Andrew Muller hope that hands-on experience will help their students as they get older.

“If you’re looking at college and career readiness, how would kids even know if they want to be an engineer unless they’ve had the opportunity to experiment,” Gewurz asked. “I think it’s certainly motivational and I think you will see more boys and girls interested in engineering in this country if you start to do things like this.”

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Visitors express their enthusiasm for Stony Brook. Photo by Donna Newman

Stony Brook was on display as a destination on a global scale this past weekend.

A group of travel product developers — those who design tours for the luxury market in mainland China — visited the Village Oct. 22 as part of a “familiarization (or fam) tour” of Long Island.

“We don’t have time to showcase the entire island, so we choose some places that are special,” Joan LaRosa, director of sales for the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau said of the visit. Evidently Stony Brook is one of those.

The tours encourage designers to add Long Island stops to their itineraries. She said five “fam” tours are going on right now, hosted by United Airlines, which provided the plane tickets.

A second entity participating in this travel sales pitch is the New York State Division of Tourism via its I Love NY campaign.

Anna Klapper, a manager for global trade development for Washington, D.C.-based Brand USA, is one of the guides accompanying the group on their journey.

“They flew into New York Oct. 19 and have been visiting places on Long Island,” she said. “Tomorrow morning we’ll ferry to Connecticut and make stops in New Haven, Mystic [Seaport] and Mohegan Sun.”

Visitors enjoy craft beer at Brew Cheese in Stony Brook Village. Photo by Donna Newman
Visitors enjoy craft beer at Brew Cheese in Stony Brook Village. Photo by Donna Newman

Klapper pointed out that she and colleague Philip Joseph have noticed that their guests are constantly online posting everything on social media — adding value to their sales efforts.

Brand USA is an organization that markets the United States as a destination to travel product developers worldwide. Its goal is to increase international tourist visits, thereby fueling the nation’s economy and enhancing its image abroad, as stated on the organization’s website.

The website further states it is “the nation’s first public-private partnership to spearhead a globally coordinated marketing effort to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and communicate U.S. entry policies. Its operations are supported by a combination of contributions from destinations, travel brands, and private-sector organizations, plus matching funds collected by the U.S. government from international visitors who visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program.”

The visitors from China are also accompanied by Tina Yao, Brand USA’s Shanghai office director.

Gloria Rocchio, president of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, made the arrangements for the visitors and was on hand to greet them.

“The LI Convention and Visitors Bureau picked Stony Brook for this visit,” she said. When asked if she knew why, she speculated, “perhaps because we have a 21st century, world-class university and a picturesque, historic village on the water?”

Rocchio invited Yu-wan Wang, associate dean of international admissions at Stony Brook University, to meet the group, talk about the university and answer any questions they had about it. She also served as an interpreter, and when she asked William Wang of Shanghai to tell what he liked best about Stony Brook, she translated:

“I love the fresh air and to be so close to the ocean.”

Following a sampling of lavender and espresso cheese and craft beers, the party of 16 made their way across the street to The Jazz Loft for a musical evening.

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Stock photo.

By Bruce Stasiuk

We were talking about our schooling …

Remember the names of Columbus’ ships, anybody? Yes. Of course you do. Everyone in this overflowing audience knows the three names. Furthermore, you all know them in the same order. Good for you! Doesn’t matter where you went to school — from the Redwood forest, to the Gulf Stream waters, to the New York island, those names were taught to you and me — and in order!

Quite an achievement. Or, is it? Of what educational value are those three names? Virtually none, except maybe to a contestant on Jeopardy. But students are in real jeopardy if we continue to consume their limited school time with pointless facts, trivia, backward thinking, and low-level knowledge.

I dub it the “Nina Pinta and Santa Marianization” of our schools. Let’s sail back in time to Columbus. The big date — you know, it rhymes with “ocean blue. What was going on in the world during that era? Was there a printing press? Was there a global power? Were there wars going on? (Good guess. Seems there’s always a war going on somewhere.) Was his trip around the time of the Great Potato Famine or the Black Death? How long would the journey take and how was it estimated? What provisions did Columbus need to stock in order to survive the journey? How did the food not spoil? How much water could be used each day by each person and animal? How many men and animals should be boarded, realizing that each man and animal consumed food and water and made the living quarters tighter? What if winds were becalmed in the Horse Latitudes and the ships barely moved? Did they need weapons, and if so, why?

How many of us considered those questions in school? The teachers didn’t ask them, nor did they know the answers. Remember, teachers are a product of the schools themselves. They are primarily people who succeeded in school, liked it, and went on to do it — not change it. They are educational conservatives.

During the eight years I directed a class for teachers, I’d give them a test developed from fourth- and fifth-grade books. Not one teacher ever came close to passing. I’d tell them that they were either not very bright or that the material we’re teaching our kids is irrelevant to a functioning adult.

So, what if our educational system comes to its senses and realizes that constructive destruction of curriculum and teaching methods is necessary, and Common Core was not a common cure? What should we teach? Here’s a start:

Personal finances. Every school should create a bank where students have the option to invest by purchasing shares. The bank would issue loans to students and would require a student co-signer. Interest would be added to the loan reflecting the amount and length of loan. Credit rating would be developed. [Yes. I’ve done it and it works.]

What is fire, auto, and life insurance — and how do they work?

The art of being skeptical without being a skeptic. Time. What it is and how to manage it.

Relationships: What are they? How do they develop? And what is their value? Introductions: How to offer and receive.

Black boxes in airplanes and cars. What do they reveal? What are mortgages? Why do they exist?

Waste management. Where does garbage go? What are sewers and cesspools? [Water, water … not everywhere.]

Logic and reasoning with and without Venn diagrams. The art of questioning and the value of wrong answers.

The media. What it is, how it works, and the choices it makes. The illusions in movies and TV through editing, music, and more. PG-13: How and why things are rated. The goals and methods of advertising.

A school farm with irrigation. Students would have scheduled time working on the farm. A student and adult committee would handle the summer months. Kitchen duty with student assignments. Custodial duty with student chores.

The science of raising, preparing, and cooking food. The food we eat: Where does it come from? What is a hamburger bun?

Negotiating and compromising. Shipping and transportation. The evolution of things: the medicine bottle, the telephone, the sneaker, etc.

Dilemmas: how can Italy, the world’s biggest exporter of olive oil, also be the world’s biggest importer? Is there such a thing as too much?

Plumb lines, centers of gravity and sea level. Architecture, engineering, stacking blocks. Physics is everything. How technology affects our lives.

Language travels with us but never reaches a final destination.

Objects: magnifying glasses, prisms, levels, stethoscopes, magnets, ball bearings. The magic of perimeters. Zero-sum games.

The gift of failure, and the hardship of failure-deprived people. Thinking about what others are thinking by using game theory.

Your body: A user’s manual.

Bruce Stasiuk of Setauket continues to teach. He currently offers workshops as an instructor in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, located at Stony Brook University.

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Elizabeth Anziano smiles with one of her art students. Photo from Hauppauge school district
Elizabeth Anziano smiles with one of her art students. Photo from Hauppauge school district
Elizabeth Anziano smiles with one of her art students. Photo from Hauppauge school district

By Nicole Geddes

Bretton Woods and Pines Elementary School teacher Elizabeth Anziano was named the 2016 New York State Art Educator of the Year.

The Hauppauge teacher said she has experienced a lot in her 30-year journey as an art educator, and it helped fuel her passionate love of art, which she passes down to future generations.

“The best part about teaching is working with the students,” Anziano said in a phone interview. Anziano said one of her goals as a teacher is to reveal every student’s inner Da Vinci, and her passion for art and teaching is evident through her students. 

“Ms. A. is the nicest teacher,” Wesley, one of her students, said. “I wish we could have art class every day. We always learn the neatest things in art, and Ms. A. makes it fun.”

Colton, another student of hers, agreed.

“Ms. Anziano is the greatest art teacher; I never want her class to end,” he said. “I like art class with Ms. A. more than I like recess, because we do really cool things in art.”

Michael, a fourth-grade student, also shares the opinion that art is more enjoyable than other parts of the school day that are traditionally more popular

“I never thought that art could be as fun as gym,” he said. “Ms. A. is a really good artist and she teaches us how to be really good artists too. She shows us techniques to get better.”

Anziano said she enjoys telling her students stories of famous artists, like Pablo Picasso.

“I make sure to tell them that it was just the tip [of the ear],” she said while speaking about Picasso’s famous ear story. She also said she tells students about tests Picasso had to take when he was a student. He finished in one week what took some three months,” she said.“Everyone loves to hear stories.” Hauppauge Superintendent of schools Dennis O’Hara spoke highly of Anziano’s accomplishments at the district.

“After having had the opportunity and pleasure to visit Ms. Anziano’s classroom, and watch her interact with students, I am not surprised to learn of her special recognition,” O’Hara said in a statement. “She is most deserving, and we are most fortunate to have Ms. Anziano teaching our students.”

The teacher said her mother helped inspire her love of art.

“When I was young, I brought home a fourth-grade project,” she said. “I had to draw a deer. My mother drew the most perfect deer and I knew right then that that was what I wanted to do.”

Anziano received a Bachelors of Arts at Ohio State University,and started out working with the J. Paul Getty Trust, a cultural and philanthropic institution in a joint venture with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, located in Los Angeles.

Along the way, she met Leilani Duke and was introduced to discipline-based art education, which is a style of teaching comprised of arts production, arts history and culture, criticism and aesthetics. Eventually, Anziano joined the registrar staff of the New-York Historical Society museum where she had the chance to work with newly discovered American Art collections like John James Audubon.

Anziano said. “One of my favorite artists is Georgia O’Keefe, whose landscape paintings displays colors of purple to magenta.”

Anziano said Mary Lou Cohalan, director of Islip Art Museum, suggested that she teach art, as she had never thought of it herself. Subsequently, an after-school arts program was started at the museum which Anziano taught while earning a Master of Arts in teaching at Dowling College.

“Art doesn’t just imitate life — it is life!” Anziano said.

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Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco signs $10,000 check presented with Legislator Sarah Anker, on right, to the North Shore Youth Council for a new family counseling initiative to combat substance abuse. Photo from sheriff's office

A strong support system is vital in a fight against drug abuse, and now North Shore families will have more options to help struggling loved ones manage their addiction.

Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) and Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco delivered a check for $10,000 to the North Shore Youth Council in Rocky Point this week, which will be designated for its new family counseling initiative to combat substance abuse. The grant, which is funded from the sheriff’s office asset forfeiture monies, will engage whole families in therapy designed to help them cope, understand the root causes of addiction and support their loved one’s recovery.

Anker proposed the pilot initiative following a conversation with Father Frank Pizzarelli from Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.

Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker and Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco with members of the North Shore Youth Council after presenting the check for it's new substance abuse program. Photo from sheriff's office
Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker and Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco with members of the North Shore Youth Council after presenting the check for it’s new substance abuse program. Photo from sheriff’s office“Father Frank is on the frontlines in our battle against addiction in Suffolk County,” she said. “He impressed upon me the importance of the family unit in successfully treating addiction.”

When Anker approached the sheriff about the possibility of using asset forfeiture funds dedicated for this purpose, DeMarco was all in favor of the project.

“Family therapy can lower relapse rates, help parents with addicted children find effective ways to support their loved one’s recovery and even help children with addicted parents deal with their struggles,” he said. “ I am hoping this initiative will serve as a model and get more families involved in recovery.”

The North Shore Youth Council serves communities across the North Shore, including Port Jefferson, Wading River, Middle Island, Ridge and Coram. The agency helps hundreds of families each day through their school-based prevention and before and after care programs. According to the youth council’s Executive Director Janene Gentile, many people within the community can’t afford family counseling, because money is tight due to lost wages and the cost of treatment.

“Treatment is the first step, but ongoing family therapy is often essential to getting to the root of the problems that led someone to use drugs in the first place,” she said. “This grant will defer the cost of family counseling, which will eliminate the most common barrier to families engaging in therapy.

North Shore Youth Council’s Board President Laurel Sutton joined with Gentile in thanking the County sheriff and legislator for their support.

“I want to thank Sheriff DeMarco and Legislator Anker for giving us this opportunity to enhance our counseling services to struggling families impacted by the opioid [problem],” she said.

For more information about the family counseling initiative, or to schedule an appointment with a counselor, call the North Shore Youth Council at 631-744-0207.

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Stock photo.

By Bruce Stasiuk

Ahem.

The subject of this talk is American education; or, as I sometimes call it … artificial intelligence. Full disclosure: I admit that I don’t know much about what goes on in high school, having spent only four distracted years at that level. This presentation refers to the foundational years — the K-6 building blocks where I invested six seasons as a parochial student.

After completing the requirements at Adelphi Suffolk University, I was invited to teach a few graduate courses there. Afterwards, I spent 34 enjoyable, yet disorganized seasons as a classroom teacher, then eight more years instructing a course called Thinking Inside the Box for K-12 teachers, which gave me the opportunity to examine the species up close and personal. That comes to about 50 years in fuzzy numbers. But, who’s counting on me?

You’re urged to disagree with anything expressed here, because I make mistakes regularly, myself being a product of the American industrial-education complex. Let’s start with the premise that all knowledge is worthwhile and desirable. There is no benefit to not knowing something. Ignorance is not blissful. However, all knowledge is not of equal value. The ability to read about the inventor of the cotton gin is of more value than knowing and memorizing his name. Likewise, although there would be some usefulness in recalling every number in the Manhattan phone book, and the cognitive exercise would be an accomplishment, it would mostly be a huge waste of “edu-minutes.” Knowing how to alphabetically look up a phone number is a more valuable and transferable skill. At least until it’s made obsolete in our advancing digital world. So, can we agree that some knowledge is of lower value, some is of higher value, and some is rapidly approaching an expiring shelf life?

Since schools operate by the clock and calendar, there is a finite amount of class time for learning. There is so much to learn, but students can’t learn it all. So, choices must be made. Schools need to adopt a regular policy of knowledge triage. There’s got to be jetsam and flotsam in order to make room for the important cargo. But even if schools agreed to do it, would they flotsam the right jetsam?

Ask your local administrator what’s the last thing added to the curriculum. Then ask, what was removed to make room for it. If there’s no answer, it means the program was diluted (unless the school day or year was expanded — not a chance) or in a misguided way, the usual ballast of art and music were reduced. Like the roach motel, once something enters the schoolhouse door, it can almost never leave. Schools change very little. If you were in the fifth grade 25 years ago and you visited a class today, it would look very familiar. Computers and tablets are used like electric paper, but the substance is the same. Oh, the blackboards are now smarter … but are the kids? Old wine in new bottles.

Remember, the learning clock is ticking. Time is passing. As a child, I had a fantasy of every person, at birth, receiving a huge hourglass. Except it wasn’t designed to measure an hour. It was constructed as a lifetime-glass. The top bulb contained all the sand representing one’s life according to actuarial tables. It was inverted at birth and the sand started trickling through the narrow stem passageway. One could see the top bulb dripping sand into the bottom bulb. Even at night, opening one eye, one could visualize their lifetime with the lower heap growing while the upper kept draining smaller. I wondered if a life would be led differently with such a visual aid.

Schools have to think that way. They must sort out, rummage through, and evaluate all available knowledge and select those age-appropriate things that will help develop students into educated people with transferable skills and functional wisdom. Ideally, layer upon layer will build up until enough practical knowledge and related talents enable graduates to negotiate life in a fluid and uncertain world — a very moveable feast. A friend recently told me the experience of his dental school orientation at the University of Maryland. The dean advised the new students that 50% of what they’d learn would no longer be true by the time they graduated. Furthermore, he advised, they won’t know which 50% it was.

So what did we learn in school? Reading. Of course reading. And math. Although I never did divide 4/7 by 3/9 ever again, I remember some lessons quite well. Pilgrims wore funny hats and buckled shoes. We drew pictures of them. They were brought home and taped to refrigerators — or iceboxes —remember, this was the South Bronx in the ‘50s. “Mary’s violet eyes … ” helped us learn what was, at the time, the order of the planets. But of what practical value is there in knowing that Jupiter is nearer to the earth than Saturn? So little time … so much knowledge.

Bruce Stasiuk of Setauket continued to teach after retirement. He currently offers workshops to seniors (citizens, that is) as an instructor in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, housed on the campus of Stony Brook University.

Look for part 2 in next week’s edition.

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Robert Montano performs at the Middle Country Public Library last weekend. Photo from MCPL

By Kevin Redding

Middle Country Public Library stands as one of the busiest and most admired institutions not just on Long Island but in the country. A “dynamic community hub” that’s constantly offering up unique programs and services to benefit residents of all ages, the library also provides visitors with impressive decor and hallmarks, like the aquarium and outdoor “girl and cat” bench. This is all due in large part to the Friends of Middle Country Public Library, a noncommercial organization made up of loyal volunteers who strive to keep the library strong and the community happy — which they’ve been doing since they started more than 20 years ago.

Grace Miller performs at the Middle Country Public Library. Photo from MCPL
Grace Miller performs at the Middle Country Public Library. Photo from MCPL

Currently made up of 155 active members, the Friends serve as “ambassadors” to the library. Whether it’s getting the word out about programs or hosting fundraising events and membership drives to raise money for purchases that the library wouldn’t normally be able to afford as a taxpayer institution, the group utilizes its spirit and volunteerism to help enhance the library any way it can.

“Generally, we don’t raise money for a specific project,” said Kathryn Sekulo, a former president of the Friends of Middle Country Public Library, who takes care of group membership. “What we do is we raise money and really look for guidance from the library staff, like what they would like to see in the library. We have some really great support from the staff, so we work closely with them. We really bridge a gap between the library and the community and supply funding that they can’t.”

The Friends’ hard work has helped enrich the library’s overall appearance, contributing many things like a custom-made dollhouse to sit in its early childhood area, a Chase Waterfalls display to hang on the wall, matching dragonfly benches to adorn the outside fountain area and a Yamaha grand piano for the Centereach branch. Most recently, the group provided the library with a mural in the Heritage Area in Centereach, iPads for the children’s department, a new fish tank and iPods for the Music and Memory program — which helps patrons that have Alzheimer’s. A majority of its funds come from two book sales held in April and November of each year — which normally raises a combined $4,000 — and an annual garage sale that occurs on the first Saturday in August — which normally raises over $1,000.

With help from sponsors King Kullen and the Allstate Foundation, the Friends have also established and funded the Island Idol contest, a full-fledged music concert and competition that takes place every summer wherein local teens entertain a crowd of hundreds with their range of talents, get evaluated by a panel of judges and have the opportunity to go home with a $500 prize. On Oct. 16, in recognition of National Friends of Libraries Week, the Friends kicked off a series of activities with 13-year-old Robert Montano playing piano in the library’s lobby. Once a month, as part of the group’s Sunday Sounds events, the Friends reach out to local school districts in search of pianists, guitarists and singers looking for a venue in which to play. On Nov. 10, a fundraiser Laughter for a Cause will be held at McGuire’s Comedy Club in Bohemia and all proceeds will go toward the needs of the library.

“They’re very committed; they’re very loyal to the library and they really have the best of intentions,” said Sophia Serlis-McPhillips, the library’s director. “Their goal is to help us and to help provide and extend our services and our resources — and they really do that. They are like the true definition of a Friends group. We’re definitely grateful for the relationship that we have with them.”

Founded in 1994, the Friends were just a small group of local patrons who loved the library and came forward to help when it needed it most. According to group founder John Hoctor, there was a pack of angry residents at the time who were bent on reducing taxes and going after public institutions — complaining especially about the library — as taxes have always been its main source of income. They were extremely disruptive and resorted to picketing, Hoctor offered his help to Sandra Feinberg, the library’s director from 1991 to 2012. He had read up on Friends groups, which had existed within different libraries throughout the country, and worked to ensure that Middle Country Public Library had its own.

“[The library] has been very important to me. That’s why I’ve been involved all this time. It’s such a wonderful place, and I want to give back.”

—Donna Smosky

“The library is such an important part of the Middle Country community,” said Hoctor, who currently serves as vice president of the library’s board of trustees. “We don’t really have a town hall or a village center, so the library became the community center of Centereach and Selden and the Middle Country district. It’s a way to share resources, whether it’s books, computers, video, DVDs … there are lots of outreach programs. The Friends group is there as a place for very positive encouragement to show that we have a strong library and the wherewithal to take care of all the patrons in the community.”

Donna Smosky, a former elementary school teacher who served as president of the Friends for many years, and currently helps develop their quarterly newsletter, feels great pride for what the group has accomplished as “cheerleaders” for the library. She says that Middle Country Public Library is a jewel and that not many people realize it’s received national recognition, with librarians coming from all over the country to learn about programs that have been developed there with hopes of replicating them elsewhere.

“[The library] has been very important to me,” she said. “That’s why I’ve been involved all this time. It’s such a wonderful place, and I want to give back. It was important to me when my children were small. Every single person here has a story about how this library has impacted their lives. In fact, I have a whole notebook of stories that members have written about why they love it. These people have become great friends over the years, as we share a love for the library. There’s something for everybody here.”

The Laughter for a cause event will take place at 8 p.m. on Nov. 10. Tickets are $20 per person, and you must be 18 or older to attend. The Friends’ fall book sale will take place on Nov. 4 and 5.

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Parents at a rally protest Common Core. File photo by Erika Karp

By Andrea Paldy

After six years of controversy surrounding the adoption and implementation of Common Core and standardized tests associated with it, the New York State Education Department released a new draft of learning standards Sept. 21.

The proposed changes come as the department attempts to respond to ongoing criticism, while maintaining its stated goal of rigor and higher standards for students. The result could mean significant change to both English language arts (ELA) and math learning standards and a greater emphasis on communication with parents, students and educators.

Kevin Scanlon, assistant superintendent for educational services for Three Village said it’s too early to tell whether any of the changes will be fully implemented.

“So far it just seems to be cosmetic pieces,” Scanlon said at the meeting. “However, we need to delve a little further into it to see what potential impact it may have.”

He also said Three Village is providing feedback on the possible changes and will continue to work with the SED.

In a press release announcing the proposed adjustments, the state’s education department said its aim is to ensure that the new standards and their implementation are age-appropriate, particularly in primary grades. The new guidelines also propose additional teacher resources, guidance and professional development.

“These changes reflect what I have heard from parents, teachers and administrators over the past year in my travels across the state,” Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said in a prepared statement.

The draft committees, made up of more than 130 teachers, administrators, parents and college educators, volunteered from all regions of the state. They represent the “Big Five” districts — New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers — as well as urban, suburban and rural districts throughout the state, Elia said. These committees are suggesting that glossaries be used to explain the value and expectations of the education department’s learning standards to all stakeholders.

The ELA draft includes a preface and introduction describing the learning standard’s role within a curriculum. The committee, which worked with a child development expert, proposes more emphasis on the importance of play-based learning in the primary grades. The ELA draft revisions also seek to streamline literary and nonfiction texts across grades, while reorganizing writing standards.

According to the draft document, math standards will be revised to clarify expectations “without limiting instructional flexibility.” Math committees also recommended clarifications to “better understand the goals of the learning standards, Elia said. The revisions seek to “define the progression of skills,” so that there is continuity and a connection from grade to grade. Other changes include creating a balance between skill comprehension, application and performance.

The recommendations of committee members — described by Elia as “dedicated” — are built, in part, on those of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) Common Core Task Force Report published in December, a public survey and feedback from discussions the commissioner had with parents and educators across the state.

The committees also worked with special education and English language teachers to address criticisms that the standards are not suitable for students in those areas.

Parents and others can comment on the draft standards on the department’s website — www.nysed.gov/aimhighny — through Nov. 4.

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