NHP dancer wows ‘AGT’ judges

10-year-old attends Mossa Dance Academy

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Lambros Garcia, a 10-year-old dancer from Glen Head, won approval from all four judges in the June 6 airing of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” which sends him to the next round.

Lambros, who dances at Mossa Dance Academy in New Hyde Park, brought the crowd and judges to their feet after performing his choreographed routine to Billy Porter’s “Love Yourself.”

Lambros got four “yeses” from the judges. Contestants need at least three to make it past the qualifers.

A previous performance by Lambros dancing to “Love Yourself” during a competition for Mossa went viral on social media.

“You have natural stage presence,” said Judge Simon Cowell following his performance. “That’s something you can’t fake.”

The young dancer shared an emotional story after joyfully breaking down after his routine, telling the judges he was teased at school.

“I get a little bit bullied at school,” Lambros, who attends Glenwood Landing Elementary School in Glen Head, told Judge Heidi Klum. “And this solo really meant a lot to me.”

Lambros, before performing at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California, shared a story about wanting to be a dancer when he would break out moves to the beat of the music he heard from the neighboring dance studio in his karate class.

“My mom saw a passion in me that I had for dance,” he said He said if he was the winner of the $1 million grand prize, he would like to get a dog.

“You danced with such joy, with such precision,” Judge Howie Mandel said. “You’ve got to be strong, you’ve got to be an athlete, you’ve got to be amazing and performing the way you just did is the ultimate ‘nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah’.”

Lambros responded by saying how many people don’t know what it is like to be a male dancer, how he loves it so much and he “won’t let anybody stop that.”

Judge Sofa Vergara assured Garcia that kids who bully him do so because they envy him and can’t do what he does before calling the performance “spectacular.”

Select acts from the pre-taped auditions that are airing from May 30 to Aug. 8 will perform in the competition’s live shows, which begin on Aug. 22. The show’s fnale will air on Sept. 26, with results airing the following day.

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The Herricks Board of Education approved two labor agreements and received updates on the 2016 capital improvements bond during its June 18 meeting.

The board approved contracts between the district and Herricks Teacher’s Association non-instructional units and custodians, cleaners, maintenance staf, grounds crew, laborers, AV and computer technicians automotive unit.

Board President Jim Gounaris praised the negotiating team during talks and said the non-instructional units, which include support staf in classrooms and throughout district facilities, help make sure Herricks students get the best possible education.

The meeting is the third in a row where the board has fnalized new union contracts. On May 18, the board agreed to a new contract with the United Public Service Employees Union, which represents the district’s food service unit. During its May 4 meeting, the board reached a new three-year agreement with the Herricks Teachers’ Association, the district’s local afliate of the American Federation of Teachers.

On Dec. 6, 2016, the district voted to approve a $25 million bond referendum that included renovations across the district.

In 2018, Herricks High School fnished installing a new turf feld, grandstand press box and walking track, comfort station and sports storage building, among other projects throughout the district. The high school cafeteria and kitchen also received upgrades.

More recently, the high school unveiled a new auditorium and ftness center, the latter of which won an outstanding project award in spring 2023 that went to Patchoguebased BBS Architects, the frm handling both projects.

The remaining work to be done for the bond includes replacing the generator at the high school and masonry restorations at the community center and Shelter Rock Academy, said Steven Walsh of BBS Architects.

Walsh said both contracts have been awarded and that work will begin on June 26 and have substantial completion by August 28.

The next meeting for the Herricks Board of Education will take place on Saturday, July 1, at 10:30 a.m. at the community center, which will also be the board’s re-organization meeting.

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