_________________ FREEPORT _________________
HERALD Spooky movies at arts center
Inside the catch basin system
Girls’ hoops team evens its record
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Vol. 89 No. 5
JANUARY 25 - 31, 2024
$1.00
Arts council marks its 50th anniversary um theater and art trips, workshops and art exhibits. “Mrs. Diringer was one of The arts have found a local the driving forces behind it,” home for the past five decades Howe recalled, “because she with the Long Island Arts was very interested in the arts, Council at Freeport. As the and wanted to have concerts, and the school let organization prethem use the audipares to celebrate torium.” The its 50th anniversaboard’s dedication ry this year, board to the arts, coupled members shared with a seed grant details of its rich from the village history and their and the school discontinuing efforts trict, fueled the to bring art to vilcouncil’s growth. lage residents. Today, Howe, in The arts council addition to her was founded in work as a travel 1974, driven by the agent, carries on passion of people the le g acy her like Lila Diringer, father helped to the first board prescreate. The council ident; current continues its work b o a rd P re s i d e n t loIS HoWe of bringing art to Lois Howe’s father, President, the people and raismusic publisher Long Island ing awareness of Ber nard Kalban; Arts Council the diverse forms it and other Freeport takes, from visual residents who believed in the value of estab- arts to music and theater. The organization has lishing a place where the arts could thrive in the village. The expanded its reach through group’s original purpose was to various initiatives, including bring art to the community the popular art alcove at the through school arts education Freeport Recreation Center. residencies, concerts at the Created a decade ago, the Freeport High School auditoriContinued on page 5
By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ
mrafiq@liherald.com
T
Courtesy of Freeport public schools
elementary school students Laike thompson and geremy Wassaff duran visiting one of the wellness centers that is in the district’s eight school buildings.
Freeport schools: a unique approach to mental wellness By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
The Freeport school district has instituted a range of programs and protocols to enhance mental wellness and ward off mental health problems among its student population, including calming rooms, wellness centers and awareness campaigns. Helen Kannelopolous, assistant superintendent for educational and administrative services, detailed some of the measures the district has taken over the past decade. It has been three years since calming rooms were introduced in all eight of the school district’s buildings as a response to the growing awareness of students’ mental
health challenges amid the coronavirus pandemic. The rooms were designed to provide a relaxed and safe environment for students to de-stress when feeling anxious or otherwise off-kilter. They have proven so popular with students that the district has gone further, constructing full-fledged wellness centers in each school. The centers are larger than the calming rooms, and their staffs offer students additional support, teaching them coping skills and strategies to improve their mental well-being that include yoga poses and breathing techniques. This initiative is part of a broader philosophy in the district of being proactive and Continued on page 7
he council remains focused on rebuilding its board and finding new and innovative ways to get people interested.