_________________ WANTAGH ________________
HERALD Seaford library kicks off summer
Wantagh Class of 2022 graduates
Beth Tikvah hosts annual dinner
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Vol. 70 No. 28
JUlY 7 - 13, 2022
$1.00
School districts keep security a top priority By MICHAEl MAlASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com
In the wake of recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, school officials in Wantagh and Seaford said security would remain a top priority for the 2022-23 school year. Seaford superintendent Adele Pecora and Wantagh superintendent John McNamara both met with Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder on June 13 to go over school safety protocol, from shooting threats to the danger of illegal drugs in the schools.
Commissioner Ryder, who recently hosted a fundraising and toy drive event in Wantagh dedicated to the victims in Buf f alo and Uvalde, has already made school safety a chief goal of Nassau police. “We’re very proactive here in Nassau County,” Ryder said during the fundraiser. “We’re way ahead of all the things you see in the news today — breaching systems, alarms connected to the schools, school assessments conducted by officers and so on.” Pecora said that both the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings profoundly af fected her.
Courtesy Wantagh schools
SCHool SAfETY WIll stay a top priority for Wantagh schools next year, officials said. “When you’re in a profession of educating young children, it’s really hard not to personalize events like this,” Pecora said. “As superintendent, it forces you to hyper focus on things like building security for every school.” She added that both incidents re-emphasiz ed the importance of securing the
schools. According to Pecora, Seaford for med an ad hoc committee in the wake of the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. in 2018, with the top goal of securing the perimeter of every school building. A security task force, comprised of teachers, administrators, parents and security guards,
was brought back this year, and security at Seaford schools has been g reatly enhanced as a result, she said. “This task force is essentially a think tank dedicated to securing the perimeter,” Pecora added. “And thanks to technology, we now have school lockdown systems and a swipe Continued on page 10
Learning about Jones Beach at the Energy and Nature Center By MICHAEl MAlASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com
Jones Beach offers much more than just swimming, eateries, concerts and summer recreation. The Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center, on the state park’s West End, offers beachgoers a uniquely fun experience. The center hosts a number of exhibits, open to the public, on eco-friendly energy as well as the flora and fauna at the park. As well, the center often holds beach cleanups and educational events aimed at preserving the spectacular variety of nature on Long Island.
The center was built in September 2020 as part of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Initiative, and its staff members are a dedicated group of conservationists, led by Jeanne Haffner, who holds a doctorate in environmental history from the University of Virginia. The director of education, Marissa DeBonis, leads a crew of environmental educators. “Our big objective is demonstrating the power of nature and the nature of energy,” said Hayden Urysk, one of those educators. “From solar to wind energy, we like to educate people on how we get energy from nature.” The center’s exhibits detail
how Jones Beach was formed, the plants and animals the park hosts and how solar energy works. One of the exhibits, called Shaping the Shore, explores the history of Jones Beach before Robert Moses began developing it, going back to when it was little more than a sandbar. The center also features a wave exhibit, a small tank in which visitors can see how sea grass prevents erosion from ocean waves. Perhaps the most impressive exhibit is the Smart Building — the frame of a house, which demonstrates how solar panels convert sunlight into electricity. “The Smart Building shows how
the solar panels power the house, but it doesn’t stop there,” Urysk said. “The power goes to the grid, so solar panels on one house also help to power nearby houses.” In the Power Up program, Haffner said, “These training sessions give students an idea of how renewable energy technology and sustainable design works
in practice. They learn about building science principles in the classroom, and visiting the center demonstrates these principles in action.” Also on display are a number of animals in tanks, including Rosco, an eastern hognose snake — a species that is native to Jones Beach — as well as seaContinued on page 7