Kennedy opens Cougar Walk of Recognition

Taking on an almost human dimension, Kennedy High School’s new Cougar Walk of Recognition was born after nine months in development. Members of Bellmore JFK Alumni Inc., who created the walkway to beautify school grounds while raising money for student scholarships and offering the community the chance to honor friends and family members, read the “birth announcement” at a Nov. 1 grand-opening ceremony at Kennedy.

Ronald Steiger, a 1972 Kennedy graduate and the alumni association’s public-relations director, said the Cougar Walk of Recognition, including all of its bricks and benches, weighed in at 61,092 pounds. The bricks tell a story about the thousands of students, past and present, who have attended Kennedy, Steiger said.

“Our Cougar Walk of Recognition, Steiger said, “celebrates achievements, memories of those we have lost, the events we have celebrated, the sports teams we were on and cheered on to victories, the music we played and the shows we preformed in, the organizations and clubs we belonged to and our parents, teachers, staff, PTA, Sports Boosters, families, friends, children and graduates that make up this JFK community. We grew here, we learned here, we laughed here, and we cried here. We don’t want to live in the past, but we sure do like to visit here.”

Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Superintendent John DeTommaso, Kennedy administrators, students and alumni, and local elected leaders attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was held indoors because it rained. The grand opening was held shortly before an afternoon football game against the Mepham High School Pirates, in addition to a bone-marrow registry drive for the child of a Bellmore-JFK alumna who is suffering from leukemia.

Janice Dean Xavier’s son, Tyler, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 11 and needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life. The alumni group sponsored the registry drive before, during and after the walkway ceremony. Participants were swabbed to test whether they were a match for the boy.