HERALD $1.00
Students write letters to police
Page 12
Page 14
Vol. 70 No. 21
10000*
$
discount
1111028
Wantagh schools doing big things
1174431
_________________ WANTAGH ________________
MAY 19 - 25, 2022
eleCTioN WiNNeRS
Jennifer Perfetti Board of Education trustee
laura Reich Board of Education trustee
Wantagh Union Free School district board
Courtesy Rochel family
JohN TheiSSeN ANd Wantagh resident Lauren Rochel collaborated to create special grocery bags to be sold at Lidl grocery stores.
Helping cancer patients, one Lidl grocery bag at a time By BReNdAN CARPeNTeR bcarpenter@liherald.com
John Theissen recalled walking into Schneider’s Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park on Dec. 8, 1988, to have surgery for a brain tumor. He was 17. There he met Tasha, a 7-year-old girl Theissen would find himself spending time with at the hospital. Later that month, the hospital held a holiday party, at which Tasha met Santa. When asked what she wanted, she had an
unexpected response. She asked for a teddy bear for her friend John upstairs. Theissen was touched. He realized then that when he got out of the hospital, he wanted to help children with illnesses, just like Tasha. Thirty-four years later, a child and a family he helped is returning the favor. When Kaitlyn Rochel, of Wantagh, was 3, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Theissen and his charitable organization, the John Theissen Children’s Foundation, which
is also Wantagh-based, was there to help. The foundation aided Kaitlyn and her family every step of the way, even throwing her numerous birthday parties. “They’re a local Wantagh family,” Theissen said. “I always wanted to make sure Kaitlyn and the entire family was OK then and now.” Kaitlyn is now 19, and cancer-free. Her sister, Lauren, 17, has been volunteering for the Theissen Foundation for seven years, helping with Continued on page 13
Jennifer Perfetti will be the newest face on the Wantagh Union Free School District board, capturing the most amount of votes in Tuesday’s at-large election, unofficially, at 1,661. Not far behind was Laura Reich, the lone incumbent on the ballot — and current vice president of the board — with 1,651 votes. Dawn Conlon just missed a seat of her own with 1,294, followed by Jennifer Strauss with 1,086 and Jessica Elmazi with 101.
Wantagh Union Free School district budget Total: $84.981 million — Passed, 2,252-825
Proposition 2
Total: $600,000 — Passed, 2,324-589 Money will come from the capital reserve fund for the reconstruction of the Wantagh High School gymnasium, including replacing windows, restoring floors, removing the ceiling, painting, the installation of acoustic panels, adjustments to the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, and the lighting. — Jeffrey Bessen Continued on page xx