Oceanside Middle School raises money for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

On March 17, Oceanside Middle School’s National Junior Honor Society hosted a 3 versus 3 basketball tournament to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. With the support of our National Junior Honor Society advisor, Leroy Gerber, and the middle school physical education teachers, George. Wynn, Lyle Hersch, and Marianna Winchester, this fundraising event generated $600 in donations.

The event started with a motivational speech from Hofstra University Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach, Michael DePaoli, and freshman basketball player, Brad Kelleher. The coach highlighted the importance of academic success and being involved in extra curricular activities. Coach DePaoli and Brad Kelleher then challenged our middle school boys and girls eighth grade basketball teams to a shooting contest. Hofstra provided all participants and spectators with tickets to that evening’s Hofstra basketball game against Indiana University, and, in addition, Hofstra provided us with basketballs to raffle off to participants.

Daniel Keegan and the Oceanside Boys Varsity Basketball team also added to the excitement of the event. The varsity players acted as the referees for the games and the students were quite motivated by their presence.

At the conclusion of the tournament, a representative from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation addressed the students and provided them with information about Cystic Fibrosis and the latest innovations in treatment and research. She explained to the students how the donations generated from their participation were being used to fund valuable research, which comes closer each day to curing this devastating disease.

At the middle school, we believe that service to our community should be shown through actions, not just donations. We are very proud that nearly 100 students participated in this tournament and learned something in the process!

— Courtesy OMS Prinicipal

Allison Glickman-Rogers