FLUSHING, N.Y. (Nov. 8, 2017) – On a brisk Queens morning, the QC swimming and diving teams ventured outdoors to participate in the inaugural Freedom Walk on the Queens College campus Wednesday (Nov. 8). Fifteen members of the Knights participated in the event which highlighted servicemen and servicewomen from all walks of life—military, first responders, civil rights advocates and more—with Veterans’ Day right around the corner.

The event took place around the Quad at Queens College, thanking veterans for their service and honoring those members who were present during a ceremony at the start of the walk. A number of veterans—around 200, to be exact—were recognized for their service while a number of others were lauded for their academic achievements. Around 30 of the veterans at Queens College have maintained a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher, with several posting a 4.0 GPA in their respective studies.

“I am grateful,” said Queens College Director of Aquatics and Head Swimming and Diving Coach Alicia Lampasso-Dillon, “to have had an opportunity to recognize our vets and be a part of the first Freedom Walk! To hear about the academic success of our Queens College veterans was rewarding.”

“To see our student-athletes participating in an event like this is amazing,” affirmed QC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President Cassidy Stewart of the Knights’ volleyball team. “Our goal with SAAC is to create a better athletic experience and we love being able to bridge the gap between athletics and the rest of Queens College.”

The event took on a special meaning for the QC swimmers and divers, and in particular, the Freedom Walk was a special chance to honor senior Jordan Melidor-Fuxis of the men’s swimming and diving team. Melidor-Fuxis, a senior freestyle and distance swimmer, is also a member of the Air Force ROTC program.

“The ROTC program,” said Melidor-Fuxis, “is helping me train to serve. I am training to be an officer and serve in a leadership role and after graduating, I can get my degree and serve in the Air Force.”

Melidor-Fuxis said that he chose the Air Force because of his passion and his major of study: computer science.

“I wanted something more computer-related. There are more career opportunities with computers and the Air Force will help me reach my goal of becoming a cybersecurity officer.”

Sophomore Amanda Giordano of the QC women’s swimming and diving team also commented on Melidor-Fuxis and his commitments post-graduation as well as his impact on her and the rest of the program.

“It was definitely a privilege,” Giordano noted, “to take part in the Freedom Walk with Jordan. He is an inspiration to us and he is someone who is a great leader in the pool and will be a great leader in the Air Force as well.”

Coach Lampasso-Dillon also praised Melidor-Fuxis, calling him “a dedicated young man who is good at time management. Jordan is our SAAC representative, our team captain and a record-holder. He is passionate about school, swimming, the Air Force and his future.”

Stewart added to this, saying that Melidor-Fuxis “represents SAAC amazingly well and we are lucky to have him as a SAAC representative from men’s swimming and diving. It is super inspiring to see Jordan being a student-athlete as well as being involed in ROTC. The dedication he has for all of those commitments as well as being a SAAC rep is incredibly admirable.

Melidor-Fuxis says that he and the rest of the swim teams have something special planned for the first home meet of the season, which will take place Thursday (Nov. 9) at the Aquatics Center on campus. QC will host Baruch and Adelphi in the Knights’ annual alumni meet, beginning at 6 p.m.

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In honor of Veterans Day, students at Rocky Point Middle School and Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School penned messages of thanks, appreciation and gratitude to the nation’s veterans.

As part of the initiative, students were invited to write letters to those who have served the country, create poems using the word veteran and otherwise express their praise for the volunteers. The completed pieces were compiled and delivered to those living at the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University and those residing at Fort Bragg.

The project was led by seventh-grade special education teacher John Mauceri and English language arts grades 6-12 chairperson Joseph Settepani with collaboration from JAE educator Gloria Meyer.  

Photo caption: Rocky Point Middle School students and staff members held many of the letters they created for local veterans in honor of Veterans Day.

Photo courtesy of the Rocky Point School District

Garden City, N.Y. – With the help of an organization called Team IMPACT, the Adelphi University women’s basketball team drafted its final team member for the upcoming season on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

The Panthers added 11-year-old Bianca Onorato, a local product of Rockville Centre, N.Y. on Wednesday morning, in a ceremonial signing day in the Campbell Lounge. The women’s basketball program, joined by members of the Onorato family and Adelphi athletic administration, watched as Onorato signed her National Letter of Intent, making her officially a member of the team.

“Your positive outlook on life, despite your circumstances has been a major influence and has been put a lot of things into perspective for all of us here,” remarked senior Simone Hobdy, student-athlete ambassador.  “You are the amount of strong and resilient that we all aspire to be. Bianca, you may look up and love us, but we want you to know that you are the real hero here.”

“I hope that one day we can be half as tough as you are. We want to thank you for being the beautiful soul that you are and impacting our lives in the way that you have, and the way that you will continue to,” she concluded.

In 2013, the 11-year old was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and Juvenile Arthritis. With all that Onorato has been through and continues to fight through, she has already been a huge inspiration to her new teammates.

Onorato and the team joined forces at the end of last semester, with an “unofficial visit” in May. Throughout the summer each member of the team wrote letters to young basketball and softball player, and a few of Adelphi’s local players had the chance to meet up with the family as they awaited the official signing.

When Head Coach Missy Traversi first started at Adelphi, Team IMPACT had no athletes in the area surrounding Adelphi.

“Bianca, I say this happily, you are well worth the wait. We waited two years for you and we feel as though we got the diamond so we are so happy to have you,” Traversi said at Onorato’s signing ceremony.

Most recently, Onorato joined the Panthers at their annual Midnight Madness and the team even surprised her at an afternoon game of her own. She will have the opportunity to be with the team at home games – even maybe the game at Molloy since it’s in her hometown, said her mom – and events involving the basketball program.

Adelphi women’s basketball plays its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 18 when they host the University of New Haven at 1:30 p.m.

About Team IMPACT
Team IMPACT is a national nonprofit headquartered in Boston, Mass. that connects children facing serious or chronic illnesses with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes. Since 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 1,300 children with more than 500 colleges and universities in 47 states, reaching over 35,000 participating student-athletes. The child joins the athletic team and the student-athletes join the child’s support team. Throughout the journey, the child gains strength, camaraderie and support while the student-athletes experience lessons of courage, resiliency and perspective they can’t learn in a classroom.

About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 25 regular season conference titles, 26 tournament championships, 33 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents’ Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six NCAA Division II National Championships.

For the latest on Adelphi University Athletics, follow the Panthers at www.aupanthers.com or via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat.

Students and staff members from Island Park’s Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School excitedly headed out to the field behind the building on Oct. 27 for the annual Winners Walk. Organized by the Student Council in collaboration with the physical education department, this event served as a fundraiser to support those in Florida that were affected by Hurricane Irma.

The event was a great success — the sun shone brightly on the field, energy was abundant and compassionate spirits joined forces to make a difference. Classes from each grade came together and ran, sprinted, walked, skipped and most of all did not give up thanks to support from parents, motivational posters and signs that adorned the fences. Physical Education teachers Annie Bennet-Neglia and Dominick Barone led the way and encouraged the participants, as did other teachers and Principal Jacob Russum.

Student Council members helped spread the word to their families and friends prior to the event, with the guidance of teachers and advisors Patricia Pozin and Denise Benedetto. Their donation will provide relief to Avalon Elementary School, located in Naples, Florida, where the storm’s impact was devastating. Having experienced similar circumstances during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the Island Park Public Schools feels deeply compassionate toward those in other regions who endured this season’s disasters and students were eager to provide assistance.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Rosmarie Bovino and Assistant Superintendent Vincent Randazzo were among the spectators who cheered from the sidelines. A total of $1,540 was collected for Avalon Elementary School in Florida.

Photos courtesy of Island Park Public Schools

On Saturday, October 14, a total of 30 high school teams will meet at Queensbury High School in Queensbury, N.Y. for the Eighth Annual Power of Pink Volleyball Tournament. The Power of Pink Tournament begins at 8 a.m. EST and eight different courts will feature high school teams mostly from the area.

“We’re really excited about partnering with The Side-Out Foundation this year,” said Tyler Carey, creator of the Power of Pink Tournament. “It’s a volleyball-related foundation and their story is something that you can tell the kids about at the tournament and you can’t help but get goosebumps just talking about it.”

This is the first year that donations from Power of Pink will benefit The Side-Out Foundation. The Power of Pink Volleyball Tournament is one of many events the Queensbury school community will host this October. Other events include a cross country meet and three other volleyball tournaments.

“This started as a single game and to see how much it has grown over the years is exciting,” stated Carey. “Power of Pink is starting to take over the whole campus with everybody doing something as part of it. It’s something that this whole community wants to get behind. When this all started, I felt like it was something I could make happen. My aunt is a survivor and my grandmother is a two-time survivor and it seemed there were a lot of people affected with some sort of cancer. After hearing stories and talking to those people, I felt like if there was anything I could do, I was going to try and do it.”

Admission into this year’s tournament is free and attendees can show their support by making donations at the event or online, purchasing concessions or t-shirts and taking part in raffles at the event. Queensbury volleyball will be accepting cash or check donations as well as donations of raffle prizes for the day. Carey expects between 500-1,000 people at each match, but is hoping that the real spectacle comes in the time between pool play and tournament play.

“I’m really looking forward to the moment of the tournament when we bring all the kids, parents and fans into the gym and we honor someone who has passed, is a survivor or is still fighting,” said Carey. “This year our honoree is teacher Tina Bureau who went through some clinical trials and is now in remission. We also do a presentation of the trophy (a trophy that Tyler made himself) and the team that raised the most money that year gets to pass it around and hang onto it for the year.”

Last year, the tournament raised more than $33,000 for cancer research. A successful event for Carey at the end of every tournament isn’t just about how much money was raised through the sport volleyball. “The moments that are experienced at this tournament are memory-makers for everyone. No matter how much money a team raises in the year, we always hear from the girls how cool of an experience it was to be part of a tournament like this and they see they can make a difference.”

If you would like to donate to the Power of Pink Tournament, visit the campaign page here.

Story courtesy of https://side-out.org