Nassau School Notebook: Creative learning amid the coronavirus outbreak
Kaylee DeCiantis, a first-grader at West End Elementary School in Lynbrook, successfully completed a challenge from home that asked students to build a structure out of newspapers that could hold the weight of a ball. Credit: Lynbrook School District
Many Long Island schools are finding creative ways to keep students engaged from home amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In North Bellmore, more than 20 student musicians from Saw Mill Road Elementary School recorded themselves performing instrumental or vocal pieces using the Flipgrid app after regional solo festivals were canceled by the New York State School Music Association. The videos were then compiled and shared online with the community.
"We wanted to do something to give the students an opportunity to show off their hard work and efforts, especially those who have been working for months on their piece," Saw Mill music teacher Chris D'Orio said.
In Seaford, high schoolers participated in projects ranging from making churros to creating Pablo Picasso-inspired artwork through an initiative called Fiesta Fridays. World language teacher Patricia Foley also purchased postcards online, wrote personal messages to students in Spanish, and asked them to create short videos about their postcard's tourist destination.
In Lynbrook, the district's elementary schoolers have participated in weekly virtual STEAM challenges, such as using household items to create wind anemometers and building paper towers that could hold the weight of a basketball. STEAM stands for science, technology engineering, art and math.
In Wantagh, students in grades three to five chose an engineering project to work on through the PBS Design Squad website. Projects ranged from making indoor zip lines to creating four-wheel balloon cars.
"The goal of the activity was to keep students thinking creatively and critically through use of materials at home," Wantagh STEAM teacher Kaitlin Humphrey said.
First-graders at Garden City Park School celebrated Earth Day in April by creating illustrations of the planet through Google Meets under the direction of teachers Dena Zornberg and Lauren Widmer. Credit: New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District
BELLMORE
Virtual book club
John F. Kennedy High School has launched a virtual book club to help students and staff connect socially while physically apart amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The club was spearheaded by library media specialist Kristen Mogavero, who invited participants to select the first book via Google Forms. The winner was Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency," a humorous detective novel first published in 1987.
“Books have always served as an escape for readers, and I felt that this is a time when we could all use the opportunity for a mental break," Mogavero said.
COUNTYWIDE
Spreading cheer
Many schools have been spreading cheer to everyone from essential workers to senior citizens amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
West Hempstead students and siblings Isabelle, Sam and Willy Mejia shared their favorite thing about music teacher Diana Minerva during Chestnut Street School's Teacher Appreciation Week. Credit: West Hempstead School District
In Valley Stream, several clubs at North High School collected landscape drawings and photographs, thank-you cards and food items for medical personnel in the temporary Army Hospital at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. The effort was initiated by junior Peter Mura.
In Garden City, the high school's junior class president, Tim O'Hanlon, launched a letter-writing effort to lift the spirits of workers at the Garden City Police Department, Key Food of Garden City, and NYU Winthrop Hospital.
In Lynbrook, fifth-graders at Waverly Park Elementary School created about 20 cards with positive messages for residents at the nearby Atria Tanglewood.
ISLANDWIDE
Distinguished Districts/Schools
The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District has been named a 2019-20 Distinguished District, and 13 Long Island schools have been named 2019-20 Distinguished Schools by Project Lead the Way for their "commitment to increasing student access, engagement and achievement" in the nonprofit's programs, the organization said.
Distinguished Schools are: Garden City High School; Center Street, Denton Avenue and Searingtown elementary schools in the Herricks School District; and Accompsett, Dogwood, Mills Pond, Mount Pleasant, Smithtown, St. James and Tackan elementary schools and Accompsett, Great Hollow and Nesaquake middle schools in the Smithtown School District.
New Hyde Park-Garden City Park is one of just 24 districts nationwide to be designated a Distinguished District.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
