_________ Oceanside/island park ________
HERALD Lacrosse High School Preview
Inside
VoL. 58 No. 16
Librarian retires after 48 years
Locals help teach children to read
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APRIL 13 - 19, 2023
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‘The kids did everything’ Students get hands-on experience at OHS, building custom cars By KARINA KoVAc kkovac@liherald.com
Karina Kovac/Herald
ocEANSIDE HIgH ScHooL’S advanced materials class crowds into the ‘dirty room’ with its latest creation, a showstopping modified 1968 Chevy Impala. Technology teachers Sean Michel, third from right, and John LaCascia, fifth from right, are working to inspire students’ interest in technology programs and shape the next generation of technology teachers.
The sounds of metalwork, woodwork and general tinkering can be heard coming from a woodshop in Oceanside High School dubbed the “dirty room.” In it sits a 1968 Chevrolet Impala that, after major upgrades, will be a totally different souped-up car thanks to the juniors and seniors in the advanced materials class. There students get a feel for hands-on skills that are useful in everyday life and, for those who don’t feel college is for
them, a potentially lucrative, non-of fice-oriented future career. Work on cars at the high school started last year, when advanced materials students built a “rat rod” truck — a custom vehicle deliberately left looking rough and unfinished, like something out of a “Mad Max” movie. Technology teacher John LaCascia, a car enthusiast, searched online and found the perfect shell of a truck to modify in Connecticut. He brought it back to Oceanside, and then, he said, “The Continued on page 24
Filmmaker seeks funding for a tribute to his grandfather By ANDRE SILVA asilva@liherald.com
Tim Snow began writing about his feelings of grief, and nostalgia, for his grandfather Norman Silverman in 2018, 20 years after Silverman died. In December, Snow, 33, a filmmaker from Baldwin, completed the script for a short film, and plans to begin work on “Now It’s Your Turn” later this spring. Snow’s script is about a young man who is clearing out the home of his grandfather, who has just died, and learns to make peace with the struggles of daily life after the loss of a loved one. Since he finished the script, he
has launched a fundraising campaign and hired a production team to start filming in May. “I’ve been working on this story subconsciously,” Snow explained. “Every time I sat down to write, I would find myself describing the grandsongrandfather relationship and the feeling of grief and loss.” His film will follow the man’s life in the aftermath of his grandfather’s death. As he rummages through his belongings, he comes across a checkers table — a detail inspired by Snow’s own experiences playing checkers with his grandfather. Snow said his grandfather died during his childhood in
1998, and he didn’t get the chance to get to know him as well as he would have liked. Silverman, a Korean War veteran who was originally from Queens, lived with Tim and his family in their Baldwin home — which was originally Silverman’s home — when Tim was growing up. Now he lives in Oceanside. “He lived in the basement of our home, and I would go down to mess around with him, and give him a flick on the back of the head, or play checkers,” Snow recalled. “When he became ill, he was moved into a nursing home, and I didn’t get to see him as much.” Snow said his feelings of nos-
talgia for his grandfather grew out of the stories his family members told about him after he died. Those feelings inspired him to start writing. “As I grew up, I would hear stories about my grandfather, and I became increasingly fascinated by him and who he was,” Snow said. “When I found myself writing projects, I’d find
myself constantly trying to tell his story, so I realized I need to put this out into the world so I can start to write and tell other stories.” Snow graduated from Baldwin High School in 2007. Afterward he worked in several retail jobs — including at the nowclosed Pathmark on Grand AveContinued on page 9