__________________ Merrick _________________ BUYING OR SELLIN G
HERALD
YOUR HOME ON LO
NG ISLAND?
LICENSED REAL ESTA TE BROKER
CALL ME TODAY
516 .319.0505
AI elective now at Calhoun
Newbridge Road thanks police
Jennie@BlueIslandH
Page 3
Page 10
BlueIslandHomes
JANUARY 25 - 31, 2024
SPERSON
omesNY.com
NY.com
$1.00 $1.00
12410721111028
Vol. 27 No. 5
Jennie Katz
REAL ESTATE SALE
Merrick ‘bears witness’ to affects of war in Middle East By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
Jordan Vallone/Herald
David Sussman, of David Sussman Israel Tours, gave an informative presentation during the Jan. 17 meeting of the South Merrick Community Civic Association. A resident of Israel for nearly two decades, he spoke about what it was like to experience the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
The South Merrick Community Civic Association is continuing to do its part to promote Jewish unity and community pride at home during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The civic association welcomed David Sussman, of David Sussman Israel Tours, to its first meeting of the year on Jan. 17. A Boston native and an Israel Defense Forces veteran who has lived in Israel since the early 2000s, Sussman shared his experience of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas — and what life has been like in the months since. He has led efforts to raise money to help those affected by the war. In Sussman’s early days living in Israel, COnTInueD On pAge 2
Racial Equity Club encourages voter pre-registration for young students By RACHElE TERRANoVA rterranova@liherald.com
Students at Sanford H. Calhoun High School took part in a voter registration event on Jan. 18, org aniz ed by the school’s Racial Equity Club, in honor of the Week of Service the district celebrates to accompany Martin Luther King Jr. Day. With voting requirements in N e w Yo rk s t a t e a l l ow i n g 16-year-olds to pre-register, 30 Calhoun students are now registered future voters, and will look forward to casting their first ballots when they turn 18. Founded in 2020 in the wake of the Black Lives Matter dem-
onstrations across the country, the Racial Equity Club strives to give all students a voice, and a safe space to discuss justicerelated topics. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is observed on the third Monday in January. In schools, classes and student clubs implement lessons and programs centered on King’s work in the civil rights movement. And last week, Racial Equity Club members decided that the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s MLK Week of Service was the perfect opportunity to register young voters. “A lot of people decided to maneuver themselves away
from discussing politics and partaking in it,” Nickolas Mascary, an officer of the club, said. “We didn’t see a lot of students registering. So we were, like, let’s have this voter registration drive. Let’s get this done. And it was just such a great opportunity.” The club partnered with the Civics Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to integrate voter registration into high schools across the U.S. The center urges students to get involved in politics and gover nment, no matter what issues they care about. The organization provides free training and resources to students and educators who
want to host student-led voter registration events, and provides them with a “Democracy in a Box” toolkit to run the drive. The Calhoun club was provided with a special clipboard, “I Registered to Vote” stickers, pins, and an “I Vote Because…” poster, on which, by way of Post-it notes, students shared why they registered — or why they vote if they’re 18 or older.
“I was really trying to encourage people,” said Ayana Mascary, Nickolas’s twin sister and another member of the Racial Equity Club, who helped run the voter registration table. “If we’re able to do this again, I feel like we’ll be able to get more people to register next time and create a more lasting impact.” Across the nation, 50 percent COnTInueD On pAge 9