Honors all around at Bellmore-Merrick Central District board meeting

The June 6 Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Board of Education meeting was an evening for awards and accolades.

Central District Superintendent Dr. Henry Kiernan and Board of Education President Dr. Matthew Kuschner began by presenting this year’s top graduates. They are Kurt Brown, valedictorian, and Danielle Wolin, salutatorian, from Calhoun High School; Ross Iscowitz, valedictorian, and Luke Massaro, salutatorian, from Kennedy; and Bilal Siddiqui, valedictorian, and Werda Alam, salutatorian, from Mepham. The Herald will run biographies of each of the students in the June 28 graduation issue.

For the past school year, the Central District board has had three student representatives –– Talia Charidah from Calhoun, Michael Schwartz from Kennedy and Francesca Olivo from Mepham –– at each of its meetings to speak about student achievements, activities and issues. Last Wednesday, the three students offered a special gift to Kuschner to thank him for the opportunity to appear before the board. The board then returned the favor, presenting each of the students with their own gavels as memories of their time representing their schools.

Kuschner also acknowledged the efforts of outgoing Central District board trustees Diane Seaman and Joseph Perrone. Each received a plaque. Seaman, of Merrick, announced earlier this year that she would not run again for the Merrick Board of Education. Perrone, of North Bellmore, lost his re-election bid in May to Nina Lanci, who lost her re-election bid in 2011.

The awards ceremony concluded with honors for Bellmore-Merrick’s retiring employees and outgoing PTA leaders.