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Vol. 27 No. 8
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Compassion for others comes alive on the ice of the Leadership Program at Kennedy, where students must complete a civics project. They As a member of the John F. follow their passions, bringing Kennedy High School Commu- awareness to an issue, helping nity Leadership Pro g ram, others and, in the process, honjunior Jayda Levine is one of a ing their leadership skills. “It is a part of the program select group of students taking part in the three-year program goal to help students underin the Bellmore-Merstand what it means rick Central High for them to have a School District. The voice in school and leadership class community issues,” focuses on creating Brad Seidman, a what its name social studies teachi m p l i e s — yo u n g er and the instrucleaders in the comtor of the course at munity who work Kennedy, previously with fellow students explained to the and school programs Herald. to make a difference. Given her love for Students can enroll skating and the in the class as sophoi n fl u e n c e o f h e r JAYDA lEViNE mother, a speech mores, if they’re recommended by teachtherapist who works ers they had during with children on the their freshman year at Kennedy. autistic spectrum, Levine setLevine, of Merrick, has fig- tled on what she thought was a ure skated since she was 3 at perfect idea for a project. the Newbridge Arena in New- Throughout her childhood, she bridge Road Park in Bellmore, had been exposed to many kids and being on the ice has always with special needs whom her been a passion of hers. Over mother worked with. Ice-skatthe years she has traveled as far ing, she said, can be very theraas upstate Lake Placid to com- peutic for them, but is often pete in synchronized skating inaccessible, due to challenges events. ranging from cost to the diffiLevine is in her second year
By RACHElE TERRANoVA
rterranova@liherald.com
Jordan Vallone/Herald
In the North Bellmore School District on Feb. 7, the theme was all about having fun on Global School Play Day. Sadie Harsanyi, a third-grader, played Connect 4 with Lauren Fasano, her teacher at Martin Avenue Elementary School.
Global School Play Day encourages unstructured learning in classrooms By JoRDAN VAlloNE & RACHElE TERRANoVA of the Bellmore Herald
Global School Play Day is celebrated each year on the first Wednesday in February, and promotes the importance of unstructured play for children in classroom settings. The campaign was created by a group of educators in 2015, in an effort to combat reduced playtime at home as well as in school, and in the North Bellmore School District on Feb. 7, administrators, teachers and students embraced all manner of fun throughout the day. In each of the district’s five elementary schools — four in North Bellmore and one
in North Merrick — students disconnected from technology, took a step back from everyday learning and played, with toys, board games, cards and other games that encouraged creativity, critical thinking — and of course, fun. “It’s an experience for all of our students to be able to basically explore and be creative, which is oftentimes not done enough in school because there’s so much academics, which is important,” Michael Yannucci, Martin Avenue Elementary School’s principal, told the Herald. “But Global School Play Day promotes the ability for students to interact, promotes the opportunity for students to explore and make new friends, and CoNtINuED oN PAGE 10
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