On Nov. 28, the district hosted their fall ENL family night. There were more than 150 people in attendance at the event, housed in the Lindenhurst High School cafeteria.            

Students, their family members, teachers and district administrators shared food, explored further the ENL program and took part in various activities designed to involve all family members. Attendees also enjoyed a dance presentation from the Ukrainian Dance Ensemble “Horlytsia,” choreographed by Grygoriy Momot and Khrystyna Momot. The district’s MCJROTC members assisted in making the event a successful one.            

“We are always trying to maintain our home-to-school connection, welcome new families and affirm cultural diversity,” said Coordinator of World Languages Shelita Watkis. “Events such as this serve exactly that purpose.”

Daniel Street Elementary School fourth-graders explored the culture of the Eastern Woodland Indians with the assistance of the “Journeys into American Indian Territory” program.

The unique and interactive presentation lead by guest presenters Maddie Cheers and Chuck Gosline allowed students to learn about the daily life of Eastern Woodland boys and girls through hands-on activities, games, role play and a traveling museum of authentic artifacts and artwork.

Throughout the day, students explored the traditional gender roles of the boys and girls in the tribe and learned about the skills they would have acquired such as hunting, gathering and weaving. They shared traditional stories and played Native American games, that taught respect and teamwork, important principals in the Native American culture.

Additionally, fourth-graders made their very own clay pots, pounded corn into flour and took part in a governing exercise that demonstrated to students the way the Native Americans viewed laws and leadership roles.

New York Islanders professional ice hockey players Brock Nelson and Luca Sbisa paid an exciting visit to Lindenhurst Middle School on Nov. 19 for the building’s annual Islander School Day assembly. Lindenhurst was one of approximately a dozen New York schools selected by the program for its team and community spirit.

Assistant Principal John Andruzkieiwicz, clad in an Islanders jersey along with the rest of the staff, pumped up the audience with an inspirational video before the players arrived. Nelson, a center from Minnesota, and Sbisa, a defenseman who grew up in Switzerland, introduced themselves to the rapt audience of sixth-graders and talked about their backgrounds as well as concepts like teamwork and health.

The students had worked hard in advance to prepare questions for the two players, touching on topics such as their daily routine on game days, stress and diet, their views on fighting, their favorite hockey players, major obstacles they faced and the hardest game they ever played. Andruzkieiwicz finished the discussion by asking Nelson and Sbisa if they would bring the Stanley Cup to the middle school if the Islanders won the championship this season. They happily agreed, before sitting down to provide autographs for groups of lucky students.

Students in kindergarten through third grade at Daniel Street Elementary School took part in a series of educational games and interactive lessons focused on financial literacy as presented by the trained corporate volunteers of the Junior Achievement (JA) program.             Junior Achievement is a nonprofit organization whose community and corporate volunteers present lessons that focus on financial literacy, business and entrepreneurship, as well as college and work readiness.

The programs presented are thematic, developed by K-12 educators and correlate to the New York State Social Studies Learning Standards.            

Students in kindergarten began with a study of themselves, while first grade students explored families and how family members’ jobs and businesses contribute to the well being of the family. Second-grade students studied the community and explored the concepts of businesses and production, and third-graders discussed careers as well as businesses and the contributions they make to a city.

Thank you to all of the district principals for your hard work, dedication and commitment!