________ Franklin square/elmont _______
your HEALTH body / mind / fitness
and AUGUST 31, 2023
HERALD
with a focus on:
Wellness
Vol. 25 No. 36
Taste the wine at Plattduetsche
Schools looking to hire this year
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AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
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Elmont High welcomes its new principal By NIColE WAGNER nwagner@liherald.com
Keith Rossein / Herald
Summerfest provides free backpacks and family fun A group of volunteers from One Church Elmont were able to give away 250 free backpacks. The house of worshiprovided some family fun to close out the summer. Story, more photos, Page 10.
New Elmont Memorial High School principal Marya Baker has met her staff and many students of her new school and is now looking forward to meeting the community as the 2023-24 school year gets underway. “I’m excited to be a part of the life of the school community,” Baker said. “All of the wonderful activities and events that happen after school, I’m excited to have that opportunity to just jump right in and be part of that community.” Baker’s addition to the Sewanhaka Central High School District is not the only new principal added to the district’s roster. Jennifer Alaimo joins H. Frank Carey High School as its principal this year as well. However, Alaimo is not a new face for the community, having previously served as assistant principal at Floral Park Memorial High School. A meet the principals event was held on Aug. 23, where about 150 community members including board members, parents, teachers and students met the COnTinuEd On PAgE 4
Franklin Square teacher honored for high-tech classroom
Through pandemic, Jean D’Aurio helped colleagues with virtual class instruction By NIColE WAGNER nwagner@liherald.com
From a young age, Franklin Square native Jean D’Aurio knew that she wanted to be a teacher. Today, she walks the same school halls as a teacher that she did as a student growing up. D’Aurio, who has taught in the Franklin Square School District for the past eight years, has strongly believed in incorporating technology into classroom instruction, particularly when it comes to helping special needs children to learn. As a result, the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educa-
tional Services, or BOCES, and the Nassau Association of School Technologists, or NASTECH, recently recognized D’Aurio for advancing the use of technology in education. She was honored at NASTECH’s fifth annual awards c e re m o ny h e l d at N a s s a u BOCES’ Brookville Outdoor and Environmental Education Center on Aug. 10. For the past seven years, D’Aurio has worked with sixthgrade special needs students at John Street School, after havi n g t a u g h t at Po l k S t re e t School and Washington Street School. With such a technolo g y
affluent world, D’Aurio said she believes that teaching students how to use technology appropriately is important. “I think it’s super beneficial, especially with the population I work with,” D’Aurio said. “There’s a lot of accessibility features on their iPads and stuff that can help them in their real world life.” Features like voice instruction or reading accessibility on technology can help those with special needs accomplish everyday tasks they might otherwise struggle with. She said one of her students struggled with a severe case of dyslexia, a learning disorder
that affects the ability to process speech sounds and how they relate to letters and words. She said students that are dyslexic usually have a high level of comprehension, but this student was unable to read books because of this learning disorder. “Getting them set up with audio books, how to use them,
and getting them exposed to m o re l i t e r at u re t h at t h e y weren’t able to get exposed to before, I think that’s been one of my highlights with the students,” she said. D’Aurio earned a Masters degree in education technology from SUNY Buffalo in 2018, which came in handy when COnTinuEd On PAgE 12