_________________ FREEPORT _________________
Sit back and relax.
Busy summer for lifeguards
opening the pool for furry friends
Page 10
Page 18
Vol. 88 No. 37
SEPTEMBER 7 - 13, 2023
$1.00
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCTION
Apply online at mptrg .com/heraldnote or call 516.715.1266
1111 122 269 0283
HERALD
Get Results. Sign Up Today!
Maidenbaum Proper ty Tax Reduction Gro 483 Chestnut Street, up, LLC Cedarhurst, NY 11516 | Hablamos Españo l
Music-infused workshops revolutionizing education By MoHAMED FARGHAlY mfarghaly@liherald.com
The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, is partnering with rock legend Steven Van Zandt’s TeachRock organization to host a series of transformative workshops that promise to revolutionize the way teachers approach education. The TeachRock workshops, sponsored by Harmony Insurance, will take place at LIMEHoF’s Stony Brook location at 97 Main St. The first workshop, “Intro to TeachRock,” is Sunday, Sept. 17, with another workshop themed “50th Anniversary of Hip Hop” following on Sunday, Oct. 15. Both workshops will run from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Steven Van Zandt founded TeachRock in 2002 which is supported by a Founders Board featuring luminaries such as Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen. It offers free, standards-aligned resources that utilize music to enhance learning in various subjects, including science, math, social studies, and language arts. The mission is to fill every class-
room with the sound, stories, and science of music, with nearly 60,000 educators from all 50 states registered. “We are so excited to give teachers this opportunity to learn more about Steven Van Zandt’s TeachRock curriculum and to give them some time to explore our museum,” Tom Needham, LIMEHoF’s educational programs director said. “My hope is that this leads to many musicthemed lessons in the classroom and field trips to the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame moving forward.” The inspiration for TeachRock came from Van Zandt’s personal experience. Music was his anchor during his high school years, and he wished there had been a curriculum that used music as a teaching tool. With the goal of reducing high school dropout rates and increasing student engagement, TeachRock was born. “TeachRock teachers don’t tell kids to take out their earbuds, they ask them what they’re listening to and then make connections between their favorite music and the core curricula they need to master to succeed in life,” Van Zandt
Skye Margies/Herald
Freeport’s scholastic adventure Amidst the early September morning glow on the fifth, Azalea Gunn, a spirited second-grader, embarked on her educational journey at Leo F. Giblyn Elementary School. With her mother, Zavi Gunn, by her side, they embraced the excitement of the first day of school.
Continued on page 23
What happened to pets adopted during the pandemic? Most found their ‘forever’ homes — others had to continue their search By NIColE FoRMISANo nformisano@liherald.com
There’s something about the genuine love from a pet that understandably appealed to people during the 2020 Covid lockdown. Nearly one in five — or 23 million — American households got a new furry friend during the pandemic, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Now most of these pets are full-fledged members of the family. But for some of these pets, their forever home lasted only as long as the pandemic itself.
“We’ve seen an increase of animals getting surrendered,” said Johanna Baeyens, the founder and owner of the Lynbrook-founded animal rescue Lend-A-Paw, now based in Oceanside. “Because of either behavioral issues, or separation anxiety. A lot of people just don’t know how to deal with that. They just resort to surrendering their animal.” Lend-A-Paw cares for many animals who were returned by previous owners. Bayens says that more of half of those retur ns are pets who were adopted during the pandemic. “I think a lot of people didn’t
find other ways of keeping themselves active or fixing the boredom,” she said. “Instead they just went and thought of a quick fix, to get an animal, and now they’re seeing the consequences.” Baeyens said that pandemic pets continue to be returned. Someone gave back the two cats they adopted during lockdown because their living situation has changed now that the pandemic is over. Elyse Jordan, the shelter manager at Bobbi and the Strays in Freeport, says the animal rescue ended up caring for several pets who were given
back as life started to return to normal. “We did get what we ended up calling pandemic puppies,” Jordan said. “Where people bought puppies while they were home all that time, and then once they went back to work, they didn’t have time.” Luckily, the vast majority of
animals adopted from Bobbi and the Strays have stayed with their families. “We were all worried that once the pandemic was over, these people that went out and got dogs were going to return them,” Jordan said. “But we actually were quite surprised Continued on page 2