For the fifth consecutive year, the Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School physical education department in the Harborfields Central School District hosted its Fifth-Grade Charity Volleyball Tournament with all proceeds this year benefiting a family in the district who has a child battling cancer.

To register for the tournament, each of the 190 fifth-grade students paid a nominal fee of $5 that allowed them to participate in several volleyball matches with their fellow classmates. To help supplement the funds collected, the Tunney family, a family in the district, generously matched each child’s registration fee.

Through gracious contributions from the TJL physical education department, faculty and community members, a raffle was held, which allowed the entire school to contribute to this special cause. Some of the prizes included sport equipment packages, gift cards for Dunkin Donuts, GameStop, Besito Mexican Restaurant and Old Fields Restaurant, and students entered for a chance to win a pizza and bagel party for their class.

Through the collaborative efforts of the school community and the Tunney family donation as well as raffle tickets and concession stand sales, TJL School raised nearly $6,000 to help the Wrede family defray medical costs for their child. At the end of January, Mrs. Kerri Wrede met some of the students who participated in the tournament and thanked them personally for all their efforts.

Photo Caption: Thomas J. Lahey fifth-grade Charity Volleyball captains, Principal Margy Greene, Assistant Principal Mary Williams, members of the TJL physical education department, the Tunney family and Kerri Wrede (holding the T-shirt).

Photo courtesy of the Harborfields Central School District

Farmingdale, N.Y. – On Thursday, January 21st, the Farmingdale State men’s basketball team offered a basketball clinic in the Levittown School District. At the event, our players and coaches held two sessions for the 4th grade students at the East Broadway Elementary School, in collaboration with their physical education teacher, Diane Chapman.

The coaches ran drills with the students, as well as speaking with them about the importance of both sportsmanship and academics. The players coached the 100 students throughout the drills and gave them some pointers to help their game.

Rams head coach Brendan Twomey stated that “it was nice to see our guys giving back to the community. Our student-athletes enjoyed the event as much as the kids. We look forward to having another event like this in the future.”

Levittown faculty from MacArthur High School and Salk Middle School participated in a series of Sumo wrestling matches to benefit the John Theissen Children’s Foundation.

Under the direction of coach Michael Marrero, the participants donned immense Sumo wrestling gear to the delight of a packed crowd in the MacArthur High School gymnasium and wrestled their way to a $1,750 donation for sick and underprivileged children. The event coincided with the MacArthur High School wrestling team’s Senior

“I am happy to see that so many people came out for such a good cause,” Coach Marrero said. “We hope that the Senior Night Sumo Showdown will be an annual event that will continue to benefit the John Theissen Children’s Foundation. This was a good day for our community.”

The Sumo match participants were Salk Middle School Principal John Zampaglione versus MacArthur High School Principal Joe Sheehan; Salk teachers Bill Kind versus Caroline Kind; Coaches Brian Luball versus Chris Weggeland, MacArthur High School teachers David Levy versus Chris Bergersen; assistant
principals Patrick Mulligan versus Michael Scaduto; and MacArthur High School teacher Chris Leahy versus Dean Steve Fazzolari. MacArthur High School graduate, former New York State wrestling champion and Ultimate Fighting Championship wrestler Gian Villante, was the guest referee.

After the Sumo wrestling matches, the MacArthur High School wrestling team took to the mat and dominated the Westbury Dragons in their last league match before the post season. The graduating seniors honored during Senior Night were John Bachas, Travis Cooksey, Sal Deluca, Nick Goodelman, Jeremy Hughes,
Vincent Thron and Noah Weisberg.

Photo Captions:

A: Professional wrestler Gian Villante refereed a Sumo wrestling match between Salk Middle School Principal John Zampaglione and MacArthur High School Principal Joseph Sheehan during the Levittown School District’s first annual Senior Night Sumo Showdown to benefit the John Thiessen Children’s Foundation.

Photos courtesy of the Levittown School District

Members of the Carle Place Key Club recently volunteered at the INN Soup Kitchen in Hempstead. The INN is a working model of how to unite the community to overcome the challenge of hunger and homelessness here on Long Island. Members of the Key Club cleaned cans, organized food and sorted clothing donations. Key Club is a service learning student-lead club that aims to make a difference locally and worldwide.

Story and photo courtesy of Carle Place School District

As part of a classroom activity, students at the high school created knock hockey tables to donate to various charities and hospitals this holiday season. The students, who built 22 tables in Catherine Temps’ World of Technology classes, completed the project as a supplement to their lessons on mass production.

The tables were donated to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, the Sarah Grace Foundation for Children with Cancer, Inc., the Bethany House “Adopt-A-Family” program and the Hicksville United Methodist Church.