SEAFORD
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HERALD $1.00
What’s new in Seaford schools
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Vol. 70 No. 24
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Residents clean up the beach
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JUNE 9 - 15, 2022
Meet the top students at Seaford High herney and Linzer ran track together, and Pidherney looked up to Linzer. Seaford High School will hold “I saw the way he operated, its graduation this month, and and I wanted to be like him,” leading the class of 2022 are two Pidherney said. “I wanted to be stellar scholars, Valedictorian the valedictorian and go to a Jack Pidherney and Salutatori- good school with a scholarship. an Rayann RamouHe guided me in the tar. right direction and, The two waged a whether he wanted friendly competition to or not, became my that came down to role model.” the margins — PidPidherney faced a herney was named number of obstacles, valedictorian with a all of which he overweighted g rade came. He has Type 1 point average of diabetes, and while 105.8, while Ramouthat was certainly a tar was close behind, challenge, he turned at 105.4. it into a positive, sayPidherney start- RAYANN ing that it taught ed his education at him to be disciplined Seaford Elementary RAMoUtAR and to overcome S c h o o l , w h i l e Salutatorian adversity. Another Ramoutar moved to obstacle he faced Seaford in the sixth was the separation grade. of his parents, which forced him For Pidherney, graduation is to live in an apartment, where he the end of one journey and the had to change his at-home start of a new one. He viewed dynamic entirely — less space high school as a steppingstone to and no loud music. higher education, which motiPidherney’s favorite class at vated him to do well. The jour- Seaford was AP psychology. “I ney began when he became learned a lot of interesting familiar with the 2020 Seaford things in that class,” he said. “I valedictorian, Jason Linzer, and find it interesting to analyze aspired to be just like him. PidContinued on page 10
By MICHAEl MAlASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com
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Michael Malaszczyk/Herald
DEpARtMENt oF ENVIRoNMENtAl Conservation workers and volunteers pulled water chestnut out of the pond in kayaks and canoes, which aren’t usually allowed in Nassau County ponds.
State hosts invasive species pull at Wantagh’s Mill Pond By MICHAEl MAlASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com
Last Saturday, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation hosted a cleanup at Mill Pond Preserve, off Merrick Road in Wantagh. The cleanup was run by the DEC’s freshwater fisheries manager, Heidi O’Riordan, and its Long Island aquatic invasive species coordinator, Ashley Morris. Nassau County Legislator Steve Rhoads and members of Boy Scout Troop 96 took part as well. Mill Pond, previously known as Jones Pond, is a popular freshwater fishing spot, with easy shore access and a naturally reproducing population of fish including large-
mouth bass, pickerel, carp, yellow and white perch, crappie and catfish. The pond is also popular with bird watchers because it is a haven for geese, swans, ducks and herons. In recent years, however, the pond has been plagued by invasive water chestnut. Originally from Asia, water chestnut grows unchecked in lakes and ponds, outcompeting native plant species and producing massive overgrowth that affects local populations of birds, fish and other plants. The chestnut itself is a small, barbed nut that floats, and sticks to birds. The plant also reduces aquatic oxygen levels. “The water chestnut does not provide ideal habitat,” Morris said. “It’s not replacing one Continued on page 4
or me, high school was all about setting up for what I want to do in life.