_________________ FREEPORT _________________
S
C
H
O O L
the final bell Looking aheadandto avoid spring fever
In sid e:
&
Se e
C
AM P
is an opportunity to do their best. Encourage set aside your kids to try their best, continue to prioritize time to complete homework, and about school attendance. Your positive attitude time for school (even when it’s sunny and almost strong. vacation!) can help your children finish
Focus on school
T
he school year might be winding down, but this is one of the most treacherous times of the year when it comes to stuof the dent attendance and focus. The advent winter nicer weather, plus the stress of intensive that combine to produce a sort of “spring fever” and hits kids of every age, making them restless when inattentive. This is also the time of year starting attendance numbers plummet as well, June. from April and worsening on through and With spring in full swing, many students of the families begin to think about the end the only school year. High school seniors aren’t “end-ofones who experience “senioritis” or the school the-school-year-blues.” Even elementary dial back students can begin to shut down and year. their efforts towards the end of the school the It’s important to help children finish responsiraise to is goal school year strong. The to work ble learners who don’t quit and are able hard despite distractions. how School administrators are well aware of kids the annual epidemic of spring fever impacts teachers in the classroom. Toward this end, savvy incenextra with motivated students their keep tives, including engaging projects. Many teachers also instigate periodic “brain breaks,” when everyone takes a five-minute in some break to get up and stretch, or engage many spontaneous, fun activity. Likewise, during schools schedule incentivizing activities and the last few weeks to keep kids interested motivated. of For parents, this can be a frustrating time child’s the year. You’re sympathetic about your keeping restlessness; but also concerned about for final grades up, especially when it’s time exams. The good news is, with a bit of extra atten-
$1.00
proactive tion and creative thinking, you can be last in helping your child during these difficult easily be weeks of school. These tips, which can can help implemented into your daily routine, until the your child stay motivated and focused bell rings for summer vacation. Create a list of mile markers or Find out about upcoming school projects marker assignments, and transfer them to a mile This will list, charting progress along the way. without encourage your child to stick to the task track procrastinating, and will also help you keep to conof your child’s progress without having comis project the When stantly ask questions. child. pleted, plan a satisfying reward for your De-clutter work/study spaces Creating a peaceful, clutter-free work/study toward space for your child can go a long way your relieving unnecessary stress. Encourage cleaning, child to join in with a bit of early spring last so that you’ll both be prepared for those weeks of school.
Stick to the routine be When it’s warm and light outside, it can it’s super more difficult to enforce bedtime, but to get a important to help your child continue school good night’s rest through the end of the and year. Stick to your child’s regular bedtime and atcontinue to make time for homework home reading. responsidevelop to child your Encourage that bility and perseverance by maintaining until the good learners do what they need to do summer job is done. Sunny days and a looming learnvacation can’t stop motivated and eager will ers! Maintaining your school-year schedule help reinforce these beliefs.
Reasonable and reachable goals motiGoals are a great way to keep students a school vated and on-task towards the end of Gear check or two small time year. Help your children select one After months of hard work and lots of end of the level] goals to accomplish before the spent in the classroom, many [elementary be challenging supplies. school year. The goals should some ideas students are left with less-than-ideal have but reachable. For younger students crayons and erasers have longer no Pencils a level in reading, do your include things like moving up having a been worn down to nubs. It’s hard to memorizing their multiplication facts, tools. etc. days, best work when you don’t have the right best certain number of positive behavior Support your children put forth their steps to take stock of Work with your kids to determine effort up through the last day, by taking and encourage pencil, to work towards their goals their school supplies. A freshly sharpened can practice at home. a glue stick or two, and a new box of crayons By creating a low-stress, supportive home child to make a world of difference. environment and encouraging your be can you off, slacking without keep studying Lead by example during to proactive in combating spring fever Kids learn by example, and are quick With your help, talking those last two months of school. adopt our attitude. If your child hears you of seeing just how you your child will have the satisfaction about how you wish it was summer, or the school year on is likely to how rewarding it is to finish summer can’t wait for school to be over, he/she top. And you’ll both be ready for the adopt that mindset. Avoid speaking negatively season. your of about school, homework, etc. in front put forth child. It will be harder for your child to as the don’t Above photo: It’s way too easy to let things slide from down his best effort if he thinks you don’t care, weather gets nicer and kids are feeling worn like school, etc. months of study already completed. We like to tell our kids that every assignment
HERALD
From the community. For the community.
We help Nassau residen ts
Camp and School
A holiday food distribution Page 3
Inside
Vol. 87 No. 17
DEADLINE MAY 2ND
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION Sign up today. It onl y takes seconds. Apply online at mptrg .com/heraldnote or call 516.479.9171
Maidenbaum Property Tax Reduction Grou p, LLC 483 Chestnut Street, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
APRIl 21 - 27, 2022
save.
1171475
April 21, 2022
Hablamos Español
Battle over Cleveland field intensifies By REINE BETHANY rbethany@liherald.com
Reine Bethany/Herald
GEoRGE DEwEY SmAllS, left, expressed his concerns about replacing the Cleveland athletic field with a large Amazon-type distribution center.
Freeport residents who attended a public hearing Monday night at Village Hall had a number of concerns to share with villa g e gover nment regarding its plans to replace the Cleveland Avenue athletic field with a last-mile distribution center. But the residents’ strongest sentiment? Feeling they were not included in the process of deciding whether to even make the replacement happen. The village owns the field, but the Freeport School Dis-
trict has exclusive use of it for athletic practices and games under a parkland easement granted by the Long Island Parks Commission in 1949. The village, however, has owned the field since 1971. The current administration claims the right to revoke the easement, while also denying its validity. School district officials are fighting the village in court over the rights to the field, while village officials have lobbed their own $45 million suit against the school district, claiming it is obstructing ecoContinued on page 14
National Poetry Month celebrated at the library By REINE BETHANY rbethany@liherald.com
Room 1 on Freeport Memorial Library’s second level has seen many colorful performances of music and drama on its stage. Last week, however, the color inhabited the air itself — not through lights or vapors, but in the words of the poets who gathered to celebrate National Poetry Month. “I was very pleasantly surprised at the turnout,” said children’s librarian Tammy Manor. “People have been hesitant to come back into the library since Covid.” Manor co-organized the April
13 event with Barbara Spinelli, a career counselor at the library, who also chairs the library’s business resource information center. Both are published poets and veteran members of Long Island poetry organizations. When Spinelli suggested a poetry night at a library planning meeting this spring, the idea blossomed. All told, 14 poets of all ages and backgrounds showed up, joined by family members and friends. They read two or three poems each. “The youngest (participant) was 15, and the oldest was a senior citizen, so it was a very big age range,” Manor said.
P
oets write to heal.
BARBARA SPINEllI
Career counselor, Freeport Memorial Library “One person came from the city. One was from Long Beach.” “There were some young people who wrote so well,” Spinelli said. “It was very exciting.” Both Manor and Spinelli also shared some of their works. They have participated in poetry readings for many years, especially with the North Bellmore-
based Performance Poets Association. Their poems have been published numerous times in poetry outlets and anthologies, as well as self-published in chapbooks. “Poets write to heal, to say the things that are not verbally said,” Spinelli said. “I wrote my first poems out of trauma. I literally couldn’t speak for 10 days”
after a devastating experience. That act of writing her first poem started her life as a writer. The focus of Spinelli’s poems is “discovery and awareness.” One of her more recent works, “Sun Shower,” ends with the lines, “I look up and open my mouth, to the sky’s tears. Droplets of nourishment, from the Continued on page 9