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HERALD Children practice fire safety
An exhilarating homecoming
Welcome to the playoffs
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VOL. 71 NO. 44
OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023
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Bridging the esports gap with older generations medical school, but her other son, Christopher, 20, is a professional gamer. Quinones-Smith wants parents to know that gaming doesn’t stop Karen Quinones-Smith said she hated the kids from doing what they want to do, but she teaches parents how to promote moderation and attraction video games had for her two sons. balance. But she continued buying them Quinones-Smith said parents games and accessories because should talk to their children about playing them was something they who they’re playing online, just like liked doing with their friends. they would talk to them about their After a while, the Levittown friends in school. Lear ning the mom started to understand the basic rules of the game is a way for strategies, the skills involved, and parents to keep the lines of commuthe joys of winning. She realized nication open with their kids. that she had been transformed into Although some may picture a an “esports mom” and started a gamer as a solitary person sitting company, Bridging the Gap in for hours in front of a computer, Esports, to educate other parents on KAREN they are not isolated, Quinonesthe industry. She even wrote a book QUINONES-SMITH on the topic, called “Confessions of Author of ‘Confessions Smith said. Her son can talk and laugh with the people he’s playing an Esports Mom,” which will be of an Esports Mom’ with, even if they’re not in the available in two weeks. same room, and he now goes on Quinones-Smith gave a primer on esports — short for electronic sports — at the trips with them to tournaments around the Levittown Public Library on Oct. 18, sponsored country. Skills learned in gaming are transferable to by the Levittown Community Council. Her eldest son, Brandon Smith, 21, is now in CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
By JANET PRETE
Correspondent
T
ransform their love of gaming into career pathways.
Tim Baker/Herald
It’s still rock ’n’ roll to Wantagh River of Dreams, a Billy Joel tribute band, played an energetic set of the piano man’s songs for an excited crowd at Temple B’Nai Torah in Wantagh last Saturday. Story, more photos, Page 3.
How could her 5-year-old wander home from school? By CHARLES SHAW cshaw@liherald.com
Weeks after her son wandered away from a Wantagh elementary school, his mother is still looking for answers. Katie Matthies, of Wantagh, a mother of three children who attend Forest Lake Elementary, approached the podium during the public comments section of the district’s Board of Education meeting at Wantagh High School on Oct. 19. Speaking through tears, Matthies asked the board about an incident last month, when her 5-year-old son walked out of the school unattended and made his way
almost a third of a mile to their house. Since then, Matthies said, she has emailed the district at least once a week, inquiring about updates to security measures, and has been told by district officials that the incident was under review, a response she was not satisfied with. “The lack of response at the district level has really caused my family — and I’m sure other families in the district — to lose their trust in the district,” Matthies told the board, “and I just can’t even begin to express to you how awful it is to lose trust in the people that are in charge of taking care of your
children, and that has been the hardest part of this for me and my family by far.” According to Matthies, on the seventh day of kindergarten classes, her son asked to use the bathroom, and was sent unattended. He walked through three hallways, left the building through a front door near the main entrance and made his way home. He showed up on the residence’s security camera, accompanied by a neighbor, who was concerned about his safety. Both of his parents were away at work, so Katie Matthies called the school to alert them that her son had left the building, and the principal, Thomas
Burke, ran to the house to retrieve him. At the board meeting, Matthies asked the trustees to consider increasing the number of aids in the school, installing hard-wired alarms on the doors and revising district policy on the supervision of children. She said she wanted to hear from the board about the
changes it planned to make to enhance their safety. Superintendent John McNamara apologized to Matthies about the incident, and said that the district had conducted a full review immediately after it occurred. Officials reviewed protocols with staff, and tried to determine whether there had CONTINUED ON PAGE 5