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UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD BEACON
D’Esposito brings town hall to you Page 2
School breaks (in) the code A song and a haircut
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$1.00 FREE
DECEMBER 14 - 20, 2023
Families learn together at Super Science Saturday By REINE BETHANY rbethany@liherald.com
Brandon Cruz/Herald
Santa Claus and David Greaves, president of the John J. Byrne Community Center, giving out gifts during the Meet Santa event last weekend.
Annual ‘Meet Santa’ tradition turns community center into holiday hub By BRANDON CRUZ bcruz@liherald.com
The John J. Byrne Community Center was transformed into an enchanting winter wonderland last Saturday, to kick off the holiday season. Meet Santa, an annual tradition hosted by the center, once again took center stage, with the community invited to the newly opened center to meet Santa Claus, pose for photos and receive gifts from him. There was plenty for parents to do as well, with many local small businesses setting up shop in the lobby. “The reason why we do this every year is because we want to give back to the communi-
ty, and we want the community to know that we exist and are here as a resource for them,” said Monica Mena, a small business owner who worked with the center to put the event together. “I grew up in Uniondale, and I never knew we had a community center until I was older,” Mena explained. “So now I felt obligated to make sure it’s in use to bring the kids together, have the families come together, and support small businesses and entrepreneurs, which I’m very big on.” Mena helped secure space for six small businesses and entrepreneurs to set up booths. One of them was Humans Who Empower, created by Jen Paz, of Westbury, who started her ContinueD on paGe 12
Super Science Saturdays in the Uniondale school district aren’ t just about science. They’re also another way to support the learning fellowship among students and their families. “We’re trying to build community relations between parents and students … with the theme of science,” said Arthur Registre, the district’s director of science. Until last Saturday, the eve n t s we re i n t e n d e d fo r Uniondale’s elementary-level scholars. Last Saturday’s event was the first to be aimed at middle-schoolers. It took place in the high school cafeteria, which is comfortably furnished with g reen leather booths, tables and chairs. “Today the teachers will show how to program the Sphero BOLT,” Registre said, referring to the robotic coding ball. “They’re going to use the balls to play Pong, like the old arcade game. It’s an if-then exercise.” Sphero makes educational tools, including the BOLT, which on Saturday was programmed by the students and parents to roll, change direction and change colors in response to something like
bumping into a Styrofoam pad. U n i o n d a l e H i g h S ch o o l teachers Jack Drevnyak and Jay Lochan led this month’s workshop. Drevnyak teaches technology, and Lochan teaches earth science. “This month we’re dealing with Scratch coding for Sphero,” Drevnyak said. “It’s the simplest form of coding. It’s all drag-and-drop, so they’re putting blocks together like a puzzle, using the iPad.” “It’s almost like Legos, to use an analogy,” Lochan added, “where you use these predetermined sets of actions and combine them to make a series of events.” The Scratch Education Collaborative was created to strengthen equitable access to training in computer coding. The Scratch coding language enables early users to communicate with educational robots, laying a foundation for careers in programming. The parents and students who had signed up for last Saturday’s workshop enjoyed two hours of intense concentration. Younger siblings who came along watched the middleschoolers and parents use an iPad to command the BOLT, telling it to roll at a certain speed over a certain distance ContinueD on paGe 4