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Freeport Herald 02-29-2024

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_________________ FREEPORT _________________

HERALD Historical society gears up for trivia

Freeport kids say I love you

Dodd students face college

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Vol. 89 No. 10

FEBRUARY 29 - MARCH 6, 2024

$1.00

Annual ‘People’s Food Drive’ off to a slow start By NIColE FoRMISANo nformisano@liherald.com

Courtesy Rob Hallam

Every year, Rob Hallam’s home is filled from floor to ceiling with food donations for the People’s Food Drive.

For the 13th year in a row, Rob Hallam is stacking boxes of food in his living room for the Long Island Council of Churches food pantry in Freeport, the standard operation for his annual People’s Food Drive. “It’s gotten so big,” Hallam, said. “I get checks from out of state. So any person involved with this in any way, it’s their food drive. That’s why I started calling it the People’s Food Drive.” The idea for the drive originated at the Community Presbyterian Church of Malverne, where Hallam and his wife, Mary, are members. The church is a longtime contributor to the Long Island Council of Churches — but the Hallams wanted to do more. “If you believe in callings, I had a calling,” Hallam said. “I felt that God was telling me, ‘Your church has done a great job collecting food here, but you’ve got to make this thing bigger. You’ve got to take it out of the church ContinuED on PagE 5

Freeport H.S. science teacher wins equipment grant By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com

Brian Snyder, the science research teacher at Freeport High School, has been awarded a grant from the Society of Science, which is devoted to the promotion of science and the vital role that science plays in human understanding of the universe. The grant will take the shape of $1,000 worth of science equipment that will upg rade the educational and research-based tools in Snyder’s classroom, providing students with access to previously less available science research equipment. Snyder, 37, who has worked in the Freeport School District for the past three years, has tried to promote a cul-

ture of scientific curiosity among his students. The grant from the Washington D.C.based non-profit Society of Science is an apparent acknowledgment of Freeport High School’s commitment to fostering scientific inquiry, and Snyder’s own personal dedication to teaching science. For the grant, Snyder had to apply by answering several essay questions about how the school would use the equipment and benefit from the grant, as well as demographic information about Freeport Public Schools. Snyder will follow up in the future with a paper about how the equipment is being used. Including Snyder, 41 teachers across the country received the grant. With a background in chemistry, Snyder’s transition to teaching science

research was a natural progression, driven by his desire to empower students to explore their own interests within the scientific world. Explaining what a science research class is, Snyder said, “they use a lot of the things they learn in chemistry, biology, physics, but what they do is they learn how to do independent research and then apply it to a topic or project that they’re interested in.” The science research project is the focus for students throughout the whole school year, with them delving deep into their chosen topic. “It’s not just studying for a test and memorizing facts,” Snyder said. “It’s trying to solve a problem.” Some of the projects that students are exploring include “looking at the

effects of acid on different types of nanoparticles” or the effects that different types of green tea have on different kinds of bacteria. In describing some of the new equipment that the high school won from the Society of Science, Snyder said, “there were some Arduino programming kits, there were these little pocket lab sensors that can sense force and magnetic fields and acceleration.” An Arduino is a shell for programming and electronics. It includes a skeleton of software and hardware with which students can make a number of things. For example, one student, Yliahna Gomez, is using the Arduino to develop an artificial kidney that will pump in ContinuED on PagE 4


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