22 JULY 29 - AUGUST 4, 2020 • ANTON MEDIA GROUP
FULL RUN
NEIGHBORS IN THE NEWS Emma Berens, Leigh Engels and Kirsten Scott of the Locust Valley School District joined their fellow graduates in the Nassau BOCES Long Island High School for the Arts (LIHSA) Class of 2020 in overcoming significant obstacles to celebrate their commencement during the COVID-19 crisis. The gifted young artisans faced the situation with the same poise and professionalism with which they enter any performance: The show must go on, and it did. Berens, Engels, Scott and their families took to their cars for a ceremonial commencement parade, during which they were honored by LIHSA teachers, administrators and BOCES board members. Practicing safe social distancing protocols, the grads gathered as best they could to bid farewell to their beloved alma mater, and to collectively look ahead to the bright future that
Emma Berens of the Locust Valley School District bids a tearful farewell to her beloved alma mater during the social distancing commencement auto parade for the Nassau BOCES Long Island High School for the Arts graduation ceremony. (Photo courtesy of Long Island High School for the Arts)
awaits them. “We could not be more proud of our brilliant and talented graduates,” LIHSA Principal Dr. Chris Rogutsky Bleecker said. “In addition to their hard work, day in and day out, in honing their respective crafts throughout
the year, they have risen remarkably to the immense challenges the world currently faces. We applaud them for their courage, their abilities and their determination, and we are certain they will be successful in whatever path they may choose.”
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth and members of the town board, along with the North Hempstead Housing Authority, thanked the Girl Scouts of Nassau County and Boy Scouts for their donations of homemade masks for local residents. “The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of Nassau County are dedicated to helping others, especially those in their community,” Bosworth said. “We are so thankful to them for using their skills and making a difference in helping others.” As part of the town’s mask making initiative Scouts were provided with step-by-step tutorials and a card to include a personal note from the recipient. During the course of a month, more than 100 masks were created and donated to the North Hempstead Housing Authority who distributed them to residents.
The Mary Brennan INN soup kitchen in Hempstead is having a curbside “Food Drive” on Saturday, Aug. 1, from 10 a.m. to noon. The address is 100 Madison Ave. in the Village of Hempstead. All nonperishable food items are welcome—canned soups, vegetables, stews, tuna, fruit, etc along with pasta, cereals, rice and related items. For additional information, call 516-732-6009.
To address a shortage in blood supplies cause by a decrease in donations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan (Woodbury) partnered with the Bayville Fire Department to host a community blood drive for the New York Blood Center on July 13. More than 80 residents joined Lafazan in rolling up their sleeves as part of a coordinated campaign to replenish blood supplies at local hospitals. Fully recovered COVID-19 survivors were also able to donate convalescent plasma.
Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan partnered with the Bayville Fire Department to host a community blood drive. (Photo provided by Legislator Joshua Lafazan’s office) “Donating blood is one of the easiest ways to give back to our community, especially during these unprecedented times,”
Lafazan said. “I am so thankful for our community for stepping up to make this blood drive such a life-saving success.”
Joanne Y. Pierce, art teacher at Holy Child in Old Westbury is holding free 25-minute art classes for both children and adults every Wednesday at 7 p.m. The new video series, “Pierce the HeArt Lessons,” is available on Instagram and at www. jypfineart.com/piercetheJoanne Pierce is offering heartlessons. Classes include online art lessons. drawings on horses and horse (Contributed Photo) settings. Episodes will be in a traditional art classroom setting, but in coming months, Pierce will also have on-site solo lessons at various scenic locations around Long Island, highlighting her favorite horse farms, vineyards, beaches, etc. Pierce has a decades-long career in teaching and creating fine art for both children and adults. She and her son, Tom, created Pierce the HeArt Lessons in the summer of 2019. In a world where public arts funding and arts education budgets at schools and arts town councils are being cut, Pierce wants to play an integral part in filling the creative and therapeutic void that so many human beings are experiencing in the modern world. Wantagh High School senior Athena Yao was named a $2,500 scholarship winner in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Yao was chosen among more than 15,000 talented finalists from each state, who were judged based on their skills, accomplishments and potential for success. As a finalist, she was selected through a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors based on her academic record, the level of difficulty of courses studied and grades earned, scores from two standardized tests, contributions and leadership in school and the community, a finalist essay and a high school official At the young age of 7, Jessica Sayo from Levittown is well aware of how Alzheimer’s can affect those you love as she witnessed her grandpa, Tony Matera from Hicksville, deal with the disease. They joined the Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia (LIAD) Center after he was diagnosed. The 7-year-old learned firsthand the importance of her grandpa’s weekly “retirement club’”and learned to love everyone there. Inspired by how happy and fulfilled her grandfather seemed from the LIAD Center, she sold 250 hand-made purple bracelets.
Athena Yao
(Photo courtesy of the Wantagh School District)
recommendation. Yao is salutatorian of the Class of 2020, a National Advanced Placement Scholar and is enrolled in the district’s rigorous AP Capstone program. She plans on pursuing a degree in neuroscience at Duke University this fall.
Jessica Sayo sold 250 purple bracelets to support the Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia Center. (Photo courtesy of the Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia Center)