________________ HEMPSTEAD _______________
BEACON Incorporating The West Hempstead Beacon
Watching the World Cup
Having an EPIC prom night
High schools seniors graduate
Page 3
Page 4
Page 9
VOL. 76 NO. 28
JULy 9-15, 2026
$1.00
Hofstra teaches AI in business By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO azingariello@liherald.com
Courtesy Sacred Heart Academy
Sacred Heart Academy rising senior Natalia Taylor on the track after a record-breaking season in which she won four CHSAA state titles and earned NYS Federation Sportsmanship Award honors.
Throwing spotlight to Sacred Heart By JUSTIN HABERMAN Intern
Natalia Taylor’s journey to becoming one of New York’s top high school throwers began with a volleyball serve. Sacred Heart Academy track and field coach Angela Mongitore first noticed Taylor’s potential during her freshman year, while teaching physical education class. “I had her in ninth grade and she was playing volleyball, and I saw her serve,” Mongitore said. “The amount of power and strength that she had behind the volleyball was crazy. Knowing that I coach track, I pulled her aside and recommended shot put and discus, and she finally joined the track team.” That decision launched Taylor, the rising
senior at the Hempstead high school and Freeport resident, into one of the state’s most accomplished field athletes. Tanya Taylor said it was during her freshman year that she recognized her daughter’s Taylor’s potential. “I watched her throw at St. Anthony’s and saw her potential,” Tanya said. “After seeing that, I knew she would become one of the greater throwers in the league.” During the 2025-26 school year, Taylor qualified for the New Balance Nationals in the hammer and weight throw, won bout CHSSAA state titles, earned Most Outstanding Field Athlete honors at the indoor and outdoor championships and placed fourth in the weight throw at the New York State CoNTiNued oN pAge 6
The Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Entrepreneurship Assistance Center at Hofstra University to launch a new educational initiative, beginning with an artificial intelligence workshop designed to help local business owners better understand emerging technology and apply it to their day-to-day operations. Held at the Valley Stream Community Center at Hendrickson Park, the June 9 workshop was the first in a planned series of quarterly programs the chamber and Hofstra’s Entrepreneurship Assistance Center will offer to support and educate the local business community, For Hofstra’s EAC, the event aligned with its mission of helping entrepreneurs launch, grow and strengthen their businesses through education, coaching and community partnerships. Joy Williams, director of the Hempstead-based school’s EAC, said the workshop focused on giving participants practical tools they could use immediately rather than simply explaining AI concepts. Attendees worked on their own laptops throughout the session, experimenting with prompts that helped define their customer base, evaluate branding and better understand their businesses. Williams said AI could benefit businesses of all sizes by com-
pleting research, organizing information, identifying trends and assisting with planning and marketing. “I think when we have a new technology, there are people who are hesitant to start using that technology, and there are potential negatives,” Williams said. “But at the same time, we have been using AI, even when people aren’t really paying attention to it, so spell checkers and all those things, and they’re AI; we’ve been using it. So, how can we use and maintain it safely? To make sure you’re safe, you need a basic understanding of how it works and what you should and shouldn’t do.” The inaugural session, “Using AI to Accelerate Your Business,” introduced attendees to practical ways artificial intelligence can improve productivity, marketing, customer engagement and business operations. According to chamber board member Lauri LoQuercio, the workshop exceeded expectations for its first offering. Attendance was strong, with most registered participants attending. “It was not only people in the chamber, but there were also businesspeople who were not in the chamber, as well as just some citizens who were interested in it,” LoQuercio said. “As always, the chamber tries to involve everybody.” The program was organized CoNTiNued oN pAge 5