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Friday, May 4, 2018
Vol. 78, No. 17
Syosset & Jericho kids try out for National Juniors Wushu Team BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Syosset’s own Alan Huang, a student at South Woods Elementary School, who earned a spot on the U.S. Junior Wushu Team after competing with kids from across the country at the national team trials in Lubbock, Texas, held April 19 through 22.
Four Syosset students and three Jericho students competed in the Seventh Annual Wushu U.S. Junior Team Trials in Lubbock, Texas from April 19 through April 22. For the past several years, each student (ages 7 through 17) has trained under the internationally acclaimed teacher Lynn Lin of Sitan Tai Chi & Martial Arts School, located at 227 Michael Drive in Syosset. Under Lin’s direction, last year her students from both the Jericho and Syosset communities performed at the United Nations in a demonstration featuring action movie star and retired Wushu champion Jet Li. In April Jericho residents Claire Ma, Sabrina Pan and Enson Pan joined Syosset’s Maggie Chen, Leo Dai, Alan Huang and Justin Shen as well as Jiachen Lee of Dix Hills in Texas for the junior level’s premier Wushu competition. The local contingent were among hundreds of trained athletes from 21 states and 65 member training facilities joining the national Junior Team Trials. Alan Huang earned fourth place in his age group at the trial and will be on
the U.S. Junior Team to compete in the upcoming Pan American Wushu Championships in Argentina. His fellow classmates from Sitan Tai Chi did not make the final list of young athletes to represent the country in Wushu, however they were all awarded gold and silver medalists in the New York State division this year. Parents wrote to the Advance and News Journal via email from Texas with the following description of the weekend’s experiences and life lessons: “With years of trainings at Sitan Tai Chi ‘under their belts’ our local kids from Jericho and Syosset went to the Lubbock arena and delivered their own best performances in front of hundreds of spectators. After the competition, everyone attested to the wonderful experience they had with their friends and families….Traditional Wushu is a form of Chinese Kung Fu which promotes health, discipline, precision, and peer supports; it is an art of transformation from philosophy into physical actions. Here, the kids learned how to perform under tremendous amount of pressure. Working together See page 22
Bestselling Syosset author speaks at literary festival
BY GARY SIMEONE
New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer took some time off from her busy schedule to speak at the Long Island LitFest in Huntington last Sunday. The Syosset native read passages from her new book, The Female Per-
suasion and held a question and answer session with the audience. The Long Island LitFest, takes place once a year and is a platform for writers and authors to talk about their books and hold book signings. Wolitzer, who graduated Syosset High School in 1977, said growing up in the
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town helped to create her passion for writing. “I had a group of wonderful teachers who were warm and supportive, and very encouraging to me in my writing career,” said Wolitzer. “My mother, Hilma, who was also a writer, helped to push me in a positive direction.” Wolitzer said her family lived within close proximity of the Syosset Public Library and she spent most of her time there as a kid. In high school, she worked as a page for the library, sorting through all of the books and novels. “It was a very important place to
me at the time, being around all those books, and just reading about the outside world.” Her new novel, The Female Persuasion, debuted in early April and is currently on the New York Times Best Seller list. “Many of the themes in the book focus on female power, mentorship, and people’s meaning in the world,” said Wolitzer. “The title is kind of a pun or play on words to describe women and how they kind of persuade each other in See page 22
Syosset HS honors Autism Acceptance PAGE 3 J-S Girl Scouts visit Camp Blue Bay PAGE 12