READER OF THE WEEK IS MARY ANN SHERMAN OF MASSAPEQUA PARK
Obituary: S. Margaret Elizabeth Murphy Page 6 Vol. 73, No. 28
WEDNESDAY, July 10, 2024
IN THE NEWS MSD educator Martin Voigt named new interim director of pys ed The Massapequa School District announces that Martin Voigt has been named the district’s interim director of physical education, health, athletics and recreation for the 2024-25 school year. Voigt worked in the district for more than three decades as an administrator, teacher and coach
before retiring in 2021. His career in Massapequa began in 1985 as a physical education teacher, and he worked at Birch Lane, East Lake and Hawthorn elementary schools during his tenure. In 2001, he moved up to Massapequa High School to serve as the physical education chairperson and athletic coordinator for the main and Ames campuses. His responsibilities included overseeing the high school physical education curriculum and budget, staff development and athletic facility usage, conducting teacher observations and evaluations, and serving as a liaison to the district athletic director. As chairperson, Voigt spearheaded the creation of the high school’s selective physical education program which gave students more choice in their activities, introduced a personal fitness and wellness component to the program, and developed the online Pex and home instruction program for physical education. Voigt is an accomplished coach in the district. He led the boys varsity basketball team to more than 300 victories in 28 seasons, along with four conference championships. He also served as junior varsity football coach for nine years and an assistant basketball coach at Hofstra University for eight years. One of his proudest accomplishments was launching an annual alumni basketball game to raise money for the Lustgarten Foundation, which funds pancreatic cancer research, in honor of his father. Voigt is a Massapequa Hall of Fame inductee, a recipient of Adelphi University’s Department of Health and Sports Science Ronald Feingold Award, an administrator of the year honoree from Long Island’s Council of Administrators and Supervisors and a three-time winner of the Section VIII Coach of the Year award. “I am looking forward to working with the physical education teachers and athletic coaching staff,” Mr. Voigt said of his new role, “and utilizing my 38 years of experience in both teaching and coaching. Massapequa’s physical education program is a model and our athletics is one of the most highly regarded programs in the state.”
Massapequa nurse in need of kidney finds a ‘friend for life’ Page 3
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Massapequa HS Marching Band is ‘debanded’ for now; Kerry Wachter reelected school board prez By Mike Polansky The Massapequa High School marching band is being eliminated. The School Board recently heard a detailed presentation by Vincent Green, the School District’s Director of Fine & Performing Arts, explaining the decision to do away with the district’s Marching Band. Green told the board that after a yearlong study and review of marching band participation, it was concluded that “at the present time this activity doesn’t fit in with what’s best for our music programs.” According to Green, the review included detailed discussions with the district’s music teachers, students, building and district administrators, and the leaders of music education in other districts. The bottom line, according to Green, is the dramatic drop in student enrollment in the Marching Band, from 140 members five years ago to only 80 this year. Too many conflicts, the antipathy of many students to wearing uniforms, and the overall lack of interest by students and their families make it sensible to at least temporarily give up the marching band and focus on the stationary “Pep Band,” he said. Green noted that time spent on teaching marching leaves less time for teaching music, and eliminating the band Kerry Wachter with husband Mark right, and son Jacob who were in “does not decrease our commitment to having a musical experience that is attendance at the July 2 Meeting to congratulate her on her re-election supportive of the students, and will give as School Board President. them opportunities for leadership, for •approved a five-year collective bargaining agreepersonal growth, for musical growth and for more ment with the Massapequa Federation of Teachers. opportunities to be a part of the community.” The agreement provides a 1.75 percent salary inHe added, to that point, that music students will (Continued on Page 3) still have the opportunity to perform at homecoming and community parades. In other business at the June 20 meeting, the board: •re-elected Kerry Wachter as President of the Board for the 2024-2025 school year. Wachter has served on the Board since July of 2018 and has been President of the Board since July of 2019. She was re-elected to her third three-year term on the Board in May. Jeanine Caramore was re-elected as Board Vice President and Cher Lepre was re-elected as the Secretary of the Board.