Tags Posts tagged with "Deniz Yildirim"

Deniz Yildirim

File photo by Raymond Janis

Vote for democracy this November

My car has a single bumper sticker supporting a Democratic candidate. On Sunday, I was driving home from doing some shopping. For the second time in a little over a week, a motorcyclist behind me at a stop light cursed and threatened me.

He called me un-American and threatened to vandalize my car. How can anyone believe that threatening to vandalize someone’s car because of the candidate that they support is consistent with our country’s values?

Neighbors, whatever party you belong to, I beg you this November to vote for the candidate who will protect our democracy. I have to believe that the vast majority of us, regardless of party affiliation, don’t want to live in the sort of country that some motorcyclists would like to create.

Rachel Kreier

Port Jefferson

Balancing restoration with resilience

I join county Legislator Steve Englebright [D-Setauket] in favoring the restoration of the iconic Stony Brook Mill Pond.

As the interim president of the Frank Melville Memorial Foundation, custodians of the dams and Setauket Mill Ponds, I thank Steve for his mention of our ponds and the credit given to our dam’s construction [“Perspective: Restore and protect Stony Brook Mill Pond,” TBR News Media, Aug. 29]. 

I would add to the story, however, when Steve says that we were subjected to the same storm event as the Stony Brook Mill Pond. While it is likely that we shared the same amount of water and climate violence as Stony Brook, we were the beneficiaries of a years-long Save The Ponds campaign in which we lobbied for the installation of the recharge basin at Detmer Farm (thank you, Suffolk County) and a cascade system to slow the runoff of rainwater from Main Street, Old Field Road and Christian Avenue (thank you, Town of Brookhaven) and yes, even Route 25A (thank you, New York State).

While our focus was on restoration of the ponds, the first stop, led by Chuck Hamilton — then a member of our board and a former regional enforcement officer for DEC — was to identify and address root causes. In our case, there was too much road runoff, sand and dirt flowing into our ponds.

Add to this that we have done a series of engineering assessments. The most recent of these was performed by Thomas O’Dwyer of HomePort Engineering who donated his services and was led by Robert Reuter, one of our board members and a past president. Our dam and sluiceway were reinforced under Robert’s oversight within the last two years. 

So yes, I vote to restore the Stony Brook Mill Pond, but not without a plan to manage the velocity and volume of water running down 25A and not without a commitment to inspect and maintain the dam itself.

Timothy Glynn

South Setauket

Restoring our roots

I am writing in response to Kurt Johnsen’s enjoyable and nostalgic guest column [“Stony Brook Mill Pond — a warm childhood memoir,” TBR News Media, Aug. 29]. His writing was both informative and captivating.

One can easily picture a somewhat different time in our not-too-distant past. For all that must have changed, much has remained. Three Village continues to share a strong sense of community along with the bucolic landscapes that fill our windshields from school pickups to grocery shopping to visits with friends.

The disasters at the Stony Brook Mill Pond and along Harbor Road are indeed impressive, in the scariest sense, especially when visited in person. Happily there was no loss of human life. Considering our hometown has been unique since the very beginning as explained by Mr. Johnsen, I am hopeful that our sense of place helps us restore what was lost and build something lasting for our children and grandchildren to share with their families and create memories not so different from the ones made nearly 60 years ago.

Mr. Johnsen would also be pleased to know there are wood ducks which frequent the Mill Pond. I do not know if they nest in the boxes he built all those years ago, but it’s not impossible to think his hope-filled project changed the trajectory of this particularly stunning waterfowl.

Rebuilding gives us an opportunity to do something special and future-focused. Thank you for inspiring us.

Craig Beale

Setauke

Trying to enjoy peace at Cedar Beach

People come to the beach for many reasons: fresh air, the scenery or to escape their problems. None of which can be enjoyed with you sitting in your car with the windows rolled up, while you scroll on your phone. It makes no sense! If you don’t want to enjoy all that our wonderful Island has to offer, fine. But, you not only get in your own way, but you ruin it for others.

I’ve gone to Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai to see the sunset several times this summer and without fail there’s someone doing this very thing. With their car running! It’s late in the season, late in the day so it’s not hot and yet people pull in with their windows rolled up.

Unfortunately, I cannot walk to the shore because of health reasons. So I sit on the beach right by the parking lot, away from the noisy Beach Club. I try to enjoy some peace on our beautiful beach.

But I can’t.

I didn’t come here to listen to your engine or to smell your car’s exhaust. So let me ask: Why are you here?

Deniz Yildirim

Port Jeff Station

Come meet Sarah Anker

If you’ve been asked to vote for Sarah Anker as your next New York State senator for District 1 and your answer is that you don’t know who she is, here is your chance to learn more about her.

Come meet Sarah on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 12:30 at The Shoppes at East Wind, Suite T, Wading River. Hear what supporters have to say about her, pick up literature and lawn signs, and eat some pizza. Of course, if you want to help reach out to voters, consider volunteering to help spread Sarah’s message. There’s a lot to be done between now and Nov. 5.

You can help canvas/knock on doors; make phone calls either from home or the office; reach out to your friends or people in your network, sharing with them why they should vote for Sarah; help with voter registration; getting lawn signs to put in your yard; or any other way you can think of to help Sarah become your next state senator.

On Nov. 5 it is crucial that you vote for those national candidates that will secure our democracy. Sarah will work for that goal and so much more. She will do what she’s done as a county legislator — she will have our backs.

So, come meet someone who will protect everyone’s rights. For more information about Sarah, go to her website at www.sarahanker.com. She will continue to put people over politics.

Ernestine Franco

Sound Beach

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL 

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation. Email letters to: [email protected] or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

 

Above, Comsewogue High School Business Honor Society students and school administrators with Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn, center wearing blue and yellow, during a pet food donation event. Photo courtesy Deniz Yildirim
By Deniz Yildirim

Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) recently teamed up with the Comsewogue High School Business Honor Society to help pets on Long Island. 

On Tuesday, April 25, Hahn met with students and club advisors Anthony Ketterer and Anthony Rovello to pick up over 100 pet-related food items. 

‘Unfortunately, many have to face tough choices between paying the bills, feeding themselves and feeding their pets.’ ­

— Kara Hahn

Students, such as senior Riley Hughes, earned community service hours by making dog toys. Hughes also braided multiple strands of fabric to create a colorful chew toy. The team collected wet and dry food, treats, leashes and more.

The business department presented its collection to Hahn on a table in their classroom, then listened as she addressed the organization about the importance of giving back to the community. 

“There are so many families who need help,” the county legislator said. “Unfortunately, many have to face tough choices between paying the bills, feeding themselves and feeding their pets.”

The proceeds from this effort will go to Baxter’s Pet Pantry and the Port Jeff Station-based animal shelter Save-A-Pet. 

Comsewogue Superintendent of Schools Jennifer Quinn and High School Principal Mike Mosca also attended the event. “It is important to help those who cannot advocate for themselves,” Quinn said. “I’m so proud of our students.”

Deniz Yildirim is a librarian at Comsewogue High School.

Schools in the Comsewogue district are getting a facelift before school starts up. Photo from Comsewogue School District

By Deniz Yildirim

New school year, new(er) schools! 

The Comsewogue School District is working hard to get ready for the 2021 school year with some major updates. 

A state-mandated five-year building conditions (and recommended improvements) report was unanimously accepted by the Comsewogue School District Board of Education on March 5, 2018. 

In an effort to improve district facilities, construction is underway to improve health, safety and infrastructure.

Photo from Comsewogue School District

According to the school’s website the proposed bond will secure “facility improvements [which will] preserve the integrity of the school buildings, address repairs, improve instructional resources for all and upgrade athletic facilities.”

Come September, students will find new art rooms, smoother curbsides and new classroom cabinets. 

“I’m pleased with the progress” said Jennifer Quinn, superintendent of schools. “But we still have a lot of work to do.” 

The art room at Terryville Road Elementary School has been completely gutted and supplies have been weeded, organized and await new storage shelves. 

“After the challenges of last year, a new art room for students to be creative is just what we need,” said Terryville principal Annemarie Sciove. 

Parking lot renovations at the high school, a new lobby at JFK Middle School and additional receptacles at Clinton Avenue Elementary School are among some of the specific projects underway this summer. 

Comsewogue regularly posts updates on Instagram and the school website so community members can see what’s happening. 

“It’s important to share our work and let the community know what’s happening with our schools,” said Don Heberer, administrator for instructional technologies and overseer of the school’s website. 

More pictures, videos and detailed information including comprehensive facts and figures can be found on comsewogue.k12.ny.us.

Deniz Yildirim is a librarian at the Terryville Road Elementary School.

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Nicole Haff’s students hang on to the walls of Terryville elementary as part of a project to increase togetherness when everyone remains seperate. Photo by Deniz Yildirim

By Deniz Yildirim

It’s safe to say that many of us are looking forward to the end of 2020, no one more so than teachers. Last school year was disrupted by COVID-19 and this school year had a challenging start for the same reason. Teachers had to think outside of the box to reinvent every part of their day to accommodate safe practices like social distancing; could you imagine story time without gathering your class on a carpet or learning your students names without seeing their faces?  

Despite all of these challenges, Comsewogue schools are making it work, and are creating some much needed cheer for the holidays. For the past six years Terryville Road Elementary School has hosted a door decorating contest and produced some truly genius and show stopping doors. Since classes have been split into two groups, the obvious theme was “We are seperate together.” This year students worked “together” to decorate pieces which they applied to the door. With the help of teachers and aids, classes created delightful and creative doors like Jackie Dunn’s 4th grade class. They decorated both doors and included the space between them to make a mountain landscape with a zipline which students are riding into each others’ room. 

Even virtual students were able to participate. Annemarie Sciove, the Terryville elementary principal, compiled pictures of finished school doors and included pictures from virtual students which was then presented to the school during an in school virtual assembly. 

“It’s very important to remember we are together even if we can’t see each other.” Sciove said. 

In keeping with that mindset, the school donated over $1,000 to families in need during this difficult time. Superintendent Jennifer Quinn makes a point to visit every school during this hectic time and this year her nephew has joined the Terryville family. She said, “Terryville never ceases to amaze me! The doors are a visual representation of  what we are doing with our hearts.”

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Comsewogue High School. Photo by Deniz Yildirim

By Deniz Yildirim 

What is school going to be like? This is just one of the many questions people are asking as September approaches. Despite being erroneously listed as a school district who has not submitted a back to school plan by New York State, the district had actually submitted a plan to the state weeks ago and has been communicating with the community about its plans throughout the summer. 

Comsewogue School District From left: Susan Casali, Jennifer Polychronakos, Michael Mosca, Joseph Coniglione and Jennifer Quinn. Photo from David Luces

As of right now the Comsewogue school district plans to open and is offering families the choice to go back live or virtually. Once parents make a decision, administration will be able to determine how many virtual teachers they need and will then go about appointing teachers to these positions. This year will be unlike any other as the school takes creative steps to put both students’ and teachers’ health and safety first. 

Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Quinn and her team have been working tirelessly to create two plans, one for elementary and another for secondary to best meet the needs of all students. These plans have been explained in detail in videos posted on the district’s website. Elementary students who opt for live instruction will be in school everyday and classes will be split into two groups so that there are no more than 15 students in a classroom. To reduce the students exposure, groups will remain in their classroom all day, and lunch and special areas will be coming to them. Secondary students (those in grades 7-12) will follow an A/B schedule and come to school on alternating days, and their days at home will be spent participating virtually and completing work on their Google classrooms.

Though there are still a lot of questions (How will recess be managed? And How long should students stay home if they show symptoms of COVID?). It’s clear that everyone is working hard to make decisions based on research and health guidelines. 

Deniz Yildirim is a librarian at the Terryville Road Elementary School.

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Kingstone and Miles Fowler practice distance learning. Photo from Kristina Fowler

During challenging times like these, the Comsewogue School District reacted to be fully prepared to not only provide and keep its classes and academic standards at a high level but also to keep the students’ social and emotional well-being stable despite no longer being in the school buildings.

The administration, staff, students and community saw fit to have educational packets and more in place while the upper grades were provided with Chromebooks and resources online available before school was closed. The technology department was in close contact and continues to be communicating with everyone on a daily basis with updates and more.

“I was happy to receive additional training available up to the very last day,” said Camie Zale, a special education teacher.

“Teachers and students are comfortable with using technology and communicating with various websites and apps on a normal basis,” said Andrew Harris, a teacher at the middle and high school. “Unfortunately, I’m nowhere as savvy as most of these students who have grown up with this technology. If I ever have any problem, I can ask any of my students who usually solve it in a matter of seconds … they are amazing.”

Don Heberer, district administrator for instructional technology, said the 1:1 take-home Chromebook program in the high school and classroom carts at John F. Kennedy Middle School had allowed students and teachers to become comfortable with using the technology for education.

Melissa McMullan, a sixth-grade teacher in the middle school, said the school did a great job getting Chromebooks into kids’ hands. The process, she said, has been tricky to find what works and what doesn’t on an online space.

“The kids and I will solve the need for distance learning together like we always do,” she said.

Students in the elementary schools have grade-level packets posted online along with hard copies sent home. The district is also providing support to both teachers and parents remotely on using the technology.

”Comsewogue has always prided itself on being innovative and willing to try something new,” Heberer said. “We know that it will be a challenging change for everyone; however, Comsewogue staff has worked hard to provide the students, teachers and community resources during this period.”

The Comsewogue district has taken to online as well for interteacher-related processes. Harris said teachers received a message from the Pupil Personnel Services department that they will hold upcoming annual meetings on Google Hangouts as part of their annual review process. It has taken time and effort but he feels he has become comfortable and “up to speed” with the various programs.

“For me, I am learning as I go,” Harris said. “The first day I mostly communicated the way I was most familiar with — I picked up the phone and called most parents to let them know what was going on with their child’s education. From there I switched to text messages, and finally have been using Google Classroom and more as I get better.”

After checking in with several of the students, Harris said many teachers realized they were perhaps giving too much work. One parent communicated that her daughter was working from early morning until about 5 p.m. on her assignments and starting to stress out.

“I think many of the teachers didn’t want the students to feel like they were on vacation and get complacent,” said Joe Caltagirone, a teacher at the high school.

Harris said he wanted his very first assignment to be something light and be beneficial to his students and their families. He posted a YouTube video on how to do Box Breathing, a technique of taking slow, deep breaths to relieve some stress and help concentrate.

“I know people are highly stressed so I asked that the student watch this video first,” Harris said. “I also requested that they teach members of their family how to do it. I know from experience when you teach others you become very proficient at what you’re teaching. I asked them all to comment on how it made them feel.”

Harris, also a yoga instructor, said that breath work is easy to learn and perhaps the best thing people can do in these stressful situations.

Having said all of this, there are many in the Comsewogue community that may not be as comfortable as students are with technology, though there are many people willing to help distribute food and other resources to our senior citizens.

“The problem is that they may not know that there is help out there. Where many of us can easily access social media sites, many of these seniors don’t have the ability to do so,” said Ed Garboski of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association.

“Currently, I’m trying to find a way to bridge that gap,” said Harris. “We are trying to put together an electronic way to have our students write letters to the senior citizens who are being quarantined at local facilities. If we have to, we will have the letters printed and distributed to those seniors directly or through the facility’s printer, so they are not compromised.”

Superintendent Jennifer Quinn stated that the whole staff is committed to doing whatever is necessary to make sure the students continue to get everything they need to have a great education, and much more.

Information and quotes provided by Andrew Harris

Comsewogue Won’t Be Stopped by COVID-19

By Deniz Yildirim

Like the rest of New York, Comsewogue School District is facing unprecedented challenges with courage and teamwork. Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) orders, all six of the district’s schools were closed on Monday, March 16, for a tentative two-week period. Administrators and teachers worked hard to create packets and uploaded countless resources onto the district’s website so students can continue their education at home.

Preparing work for over 5,000 students with numerous and distinct needs such as learning disabilities and language barriers could only be completed with hard work and collaboration. Reading teachers, English as second language teachers, teaching assistants and even special area teachers like music teacher Ellen Rios came together to create comprehensive packets that were sent home with students on Friday, March 13. Parents could come in person to pick them up if their child wasn’t in school to get it themselves.

Superintendent Jennifer Quinn has been regularly calling parents with updates and also informed families that the district is even willing to lend out its Chromebooks to students who couldn’t otherwise access the online learning tools.

“This is a scary time for everyone and our students’ health comes first. We want to share what we have to make them feel safe and help them continue to learn,” said Quinn. “Families are advised to call the district so they can prepare the appropriate materials and ensure a smooth and sanitary pick up.

In addition to student work, Comsewogue is continuously posting statements on its website (in English and Spanish) in order to keep families informed. One such notice comes from Robert Pearl, the district’s new administrator for Pupil Personnel Services and Micheala Finlay-Essig, the assistant director of PPS; they have been rescheduling important meetings regarding student services that will now be “teleconferencing” meetings through Google Meet. The instructional technology department led by Don Heberer has never been more critical and everyone can testify to the key role they are playing.

“We’re here to help our students, teachers and community,” Heberer said. “We have been supporting our teachers through technology professional development, so the teachers can support our students’ learning. We are updating the district website and mobile app daily to keep our community informed and provide vital resources.”

Comsewogue graduate, parent and now teacher Kristina Fowler said she’s never been prouder of her community. Fowler has a unique perspective because she’s been in everyone’s shoes, so it’s particularly meaningful to hear her say that Comsewogue is going above and beyond her expectations. She supports her two sons, fourth-grader Kingston and second-grader Miles and lets them “play” with their friends via FaceTime. Most recently, Kingston and Kristina helped classmate Liam Schneph with a question he had about his new hamster.

“It’s so important to stay connected and let kids be kids,” she said. “Comsewogue won’t be stopped by COVID-19.”

Deniz Yildirim is a librarian at the Terryville Road Elementary School