Students throughout the Connetquot School District recently celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday by taking part in festive events and educational activities designed to give back to the greater community. In the days leading up to this year’s holiday, students used their mathematical skills to create fresh baked goods for area residents, coordinated nonperishable food drives for those in need and took part in themed parades to bring joy to the community.

Photo Caption : Connetquot High School recently coordinated a number of holiday food drives for those in need this holiday season. Students in Alaina Bennet’s class collected over 5,000 items alone, ultimately winning the schoolwide competition to see which homeroom could collect the most food to be donated. Additionally, continuing with their constant contributions to the community, the Helping Hands Club recently gathered, sorted and packaged enough products to be distributed to at least 11 Connetquot School District families. Members of the Helping Hands Club are pictured here with their bountiful collection of food items.

Photos courtesy of the Connetquot Central School District

ROCKFORD — Misty Opat has led the Rock Valley College women’s basketball team to three national championships and a runner-up finish in just the past five years on the court.

But it’s off the court where Opat and her basketball players — and all athletes at Rock Valley — are making a difference. Opat, in her seventh season as the women’s head basketball coach, also has been Rock Valley’s athletic director since 2010, and she started a community-service outreach program that has grown quickly.

“We started out telling all of our coaches that we hired that we wanted each team to do at least three community service projects a year,” Opat said. “And it has just taken off from there. Everybody has bought in, and it’s really become something that a lot of people around here pride themselves on.”

Opat said they have hired the right coaches and recruited the right players during her tenure, and those people have helped expand the college’s role in the community along the way. While it started as “basic community-service stuff, like roadside cleanups and working with special needs clinics,” it has grown into a service program others annually call upon for help.

“Now the community reaches out to us because they know we’ll be there,” Opat said.

Recently, RVC athletes have helped by volunteering at the Cherry Valley Public Library, Habitat for Humanity and the Ultimate Disc National Tournament. They also have served turkeys at a local food pantry.

“It’s so much fun to watch these young student-athletes’ faces light up when they see how much people appreciate their help,” Opat said. “It transforms some people. It changes you in such a good way.”

Jay Taft: 815-987-1384; jtaft@rrstar.com; @JayTaft

Source: http://www.rrstar.com/news/20161123/slice-misty-opat-builds-rock-valley-colleges-athlete-community-service-program

Throughout the Lindenhurst Union Free School District, students honored the Thanksgiving season in a variety of ways.

At West Gates Avenue Elementary School, first-grade students in Doreen Earl’s and Carol Grasso’s classes presented a history of the first Thanksgiving for their parents through poetry and song. While at Albany Avenue Elementary School, first-grade students in Jenay O’Connell and Jennifer Fanno’s classes each celebrated the holiday with their parents in class after presenting their own shows which consisted of songs, poems and jokes. Albany Ave kindergarteners in Janine Wempe’s class took part in Native American-themed centers in which they created crafts such as feathered hats and paper-bag turkeys. At Daniel Street Elementary School, fourth-graders explored Native American culture through the Journeys into American Indian Territory program.

The students of the Lindenhurst Middle School ABLE program strengthened their skills in following directions and vocabulary building as they prepared a Thanksgiving feast in the Bulldog Kitchen. They not only prepared the meal, but practiced important life skills such as kitchen safety and handling food that is hot, setting and clearing the table and washing the dishes.

Students and clubs throughout the district, such as the student council and varsity club at the Lindenhurst High School collected nonperishable food items to create a multitude of Thanksgiving dinner boxes for several families within the Lindenhurst community

Photo Captions:

Members of the Lindenhurst High School varsity club collected nonperishable food items to create a multitude of Thanksgiving dinner boxes for several families within the Lindenhurst community.

Gotham Avenue School’s gymnasium was filled with turkeys, the fixings for many Thanksgiving meals and plenty of good cheer as the community came together to box up the food collected by students and faculty throughout the Elmont School District and prepare it for distribution to deserving families in the community.

District bus drivers, administrators, teachers and students, along with local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, and a local soccer club organized the food to ensure that each box contained a full meal. Board of Education President Michael A. Jaime and Vice President Anthony S. Maffea Sr. joined Superintendent Al Harper as the large group worked.

Among the helpers was Gotham Avenue third-grade teacher Kim McManus and her daughter’s soccer team, the Rockville Center soccer U11 team Velocity. Also lending a hand was Sewanhaka High School senior JP Iacona, who donated $500 to the Dads’ Club from the nonprofit organization Rock Out Cures and an additional $100 from himself and his sister to buy turkeys for the families in need.

In total, 120 meals were collected and distributed to ensure a happy holiday for everyone.
“This was a tremendous outpouring of love and caring by the entire district,” Harper said. “Administrators, teachers, staff and community members all worked to provide a Thanksgiving dinner to families in the Elmont community.”

Photos courtesy of the Elmont School District

Memorial High School students broke from their routine and took a short a walk to hang out with some special kids.

A group of Crimson Chargers shared quality time Thursday with youngsters at Woodland Elementary, located directly next to the Elkhart Memorial campus, for a “Walk in Their Shoes,” a mentoring program between the two schools that was established to enhance student engagement – from each side.

For Dylan Presser, a junior, it was his second year of participating in the program.

“I started last year through a different program called ‘Walk in Their Shoes’ and I was paired with Darrion Turner,” said Presser, who spent time with Turner again on Thursday.
The “Walk in Their Shoes” idea was created as a credit program by language arts teacher Michael Henderson, who challenged the high school students to give 40 hours of their time at the elementary school. “I got involved because we were getting extra credit for it, but it’s been fun since then. I really like coming over here and seeing Darrion,” Presser said. “I saw him twice a week last year, and this time I only get to see him every other week. But it’s still nice to get out of the high school and help out our community.”
Morgan Gonsoski and Wheaton Webb, also juniors, are enjoying the interaction.

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/22/high-school-student-spend-quality-time-mentoring-y/