_________________ FREEPORT _________________
HERALD Vol. 89 No. 7
Students explore the rainforest
Senior Christian Greene shines
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FEBRUARY 8 - 14, 2024
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Efforts have started to form a new SEPTA dence to suggest that this will not be the case with the new unit. An informational meeting, Parents, educators and community leaders in Freeport are held at the Freeport Recreation spearheading efforts to resur- Center on Jan. 31, marked a rect a Special Education Parent major initial step in the proTeacher Association to provide cess. About 25 parents, teachers a unified voice for families with and administrators were in children who have special attendance, discussing their experiences and needs. expectations and The groundwork laying the foundato revive SEPTA tion for future colhas been laid laboration. through collaboraHoward E. tive efforts between Colton, Free por t the Freeport PTA v i l l a g e at t o r n e y Council and the and president of larger Nassau PTA council, as r e g i o n a l P TA loRAINE MARIN well as Procedures board, which has Chair for the Nasbeen instrumental PTA member, sau re gion PTA, in facilitating the Freeport parent pointed out the sigprocess. nificance of a speParents in the school district are primarily cialized PTA to provide strucleading the bid to bring back ture and advocacy specifically SEPTA, recognizing the need tailored to children with spefor a dedicated platfor m to cial needs. “We have eight PTA units address the unique challenges faced by children with special within the Village of Freeport, needs. Since 2020, discussions and they’re doing a great job, have taken place to resurrect but it’s nice to have one group solely focused on helping those the group. The previous SEPTA dis- with special needs,” Colton banded in many years ago due said. Colton has played a crucial to a lack of parental involvement, but there’s plenty of eviContinued on page 5
By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ
mrafiq@liherald.com
Deliah Roberts/Herald
Freeport High hosts VEX robotics competition J.W. Dodd Middle School robotics students Analis Caba Collado, 13, left, Nashla Santiago Nunez 13, Zachary George, 13 take part in the VEX festivities. More photos, Page 10.
Interns are learning what all it takes to run a village By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
As the Village of Freeport continues its recently created internship program, spearheaded by Conor Kirwan, the village’s director of human resources, the new crop of interns are learning valuable lessons about employment in the real world. Established last August, the program has already begun to make significant strides in nurturing young talent in the community. Kirwan, who has 27 years of experience in the village, explained that through project-oriented tasks, inter ns gain hands-on experience in diverse departments such as auditing and public relations.
The current interns are Olivia Torres and Marjorie Valladares, students at Farmingdale State College studying business management. Torres, who is assigned to the public relations department, is tasked with developing a campaign video centered on the Freeport Armory, a landmark that has been revitalized in recent years by the village. Valladares is involved in auditing, specifically examining records related to the village’s marinas. Their roles underscore the program’s emphasis on exposing interns to the many facets of municipal operations, giving them real-world experience they can draw on in their future careers. Continued on page 9
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had to fight… I had to do my research.