School Notebook: Local students stretch into yoga

In some local schools, the lotus pose has become as common as kickball and dodgeball in gym class.

Dozens of Long Island schools have integrated yoga into fitness curriculums as an increasingly popular form of exercise.

In Suffolk County, physical education officials estimate that elective yoga programs - along with aerobic kickboxing and Pilates - have more than doubled in the last decade.

"It's something that any kid can do," said Mike Tully, president of the Suffolk County zone of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. "Our hope is for kids to latch on to an activity before they graduate - and they're showing increased interest in yoga."

To offer yoga, Tully said, schools typically train teachers through agencies like SCOPE Education Services in Smithtown, although physical education teachers with yoga knowledge can instruct students without formal certification.

Most physical education electives span 10 weeks.

Other schools hire outside instructors to host workshops. One such instructor is Cindy Valentine, founder of Syosset-based Yoga in the Classroom, who quit her job as an elementary schoolteacher in 2001 to handle the volume of workshop requests.

Kids who aren't into competitive sports love it, she said. "It's not just about breathing - it's about flexibility, balance and being mindful. Yoga is a challenge, and kids like that."

Valentine said she has hosted workshops at as many as three school districts a month from East Rockaway to Kings Park and Port Washington to Westhampton Beach.

COMMACK

Drug seminar

More than 1,000 community members attended a seminar on drug prevention with speakers from the Suffolk County Police Department and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset.

Topics at the seminar last month at Commack High School ranged from the warning signs of substance abuse - such as secretive phone calls and missing family belongings - to the harmful effects of various drugs. The event was coordinated by Commack Coalition of Caring, a group of parents, educators and local leaders.

In other news, Mandracchia Sawmill Intermediate School donated 146 teddy bears to the nonprofit Hugs Across America that will be given to children of deployed military parents.

EAST ISLIP

Going to Carnegie Hall

A 120-student chorus from Connetquot Elementary School has been selected to perform in a student music festival at Carnegie Hall next month based on an audition tape they sent to festival officials. It was the only elementary school chorus in New York invited to perform, district officials said.

To cover trip expenses, including transportation, the chorus held a pancake dinner last month that raised more than $5,000.

The chorus is also slated to sing at Citi Field in Queens in April and at a Long Island Ducks game in Central Islip in June.

NORTH BABYLON

New science room

Belmont Elementary School recently unveiled a new science room that includes a reading center, microscopes and fish tanks for students to make observations and test water quality. The room is to be a central location for science-related activities, district officials said.

In other news, the school raised $775 last month for the Foundation for Children with Cancer through a Hats On Day that allowed kids to pay $2 to wear a hat.

RIVERHEAD

Chat with astronauts

Ten students at Riley Avenue Elementary School spoke live with five astronauts on the International Space Station earlier this month during a 10-minute ham radio chat coordinated by the Peconic Amateur Radio Club. During the chat, students stood in front of a handmade space panorama that included a three-dimensional rocket and gold stars.

Fourth-grader Jessie Greenberg, a radio club member, served as the chat's control operator. Topics ranged from future space missions to how astronauts stay clean in space.

SMITHTOWN

Administrator honored

John Scomillio, assistant principal of Accompsett Middle School, recently received the Administrator of the Year Award from the Western Suffolk Counselor's Association based on peer nominations. The award acknowledges his "outstanding support in helping district counselors to provide excellent services to their students," the district said.

He was honored at a luncheon last month at the New York Institute of Technology.

ISLANDWIDE

UNICEF contest

Students nationwide are invited to submit creative drawings to the 25th annual greeting card contest sponsored by Pier 1 Imports and UNICEF.

One winner will be chosen from thousands of entries, and the artwork will be reproduced as a UNICEF greeting card sold exclusively at Pier 1 Imports during the 2010 holiday season. All proceeds from the card's sales will benefit UNICEF. The winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship and $500 worth of art supplies for his or her school.

The contest is open to ages 14 and younger. Artwork must be hand-drawn and will be judged on the theme "Joy to the World." Entry forms, available at Pier 1 stores and unicefusa.org, are due by Friday at Pier 1/UNICEF Greeting Card Contest, Pier 1 Imports, 100 Pier 1 Pl., Fort Worth, TX 76102.