Valley Stream students showcase talents

See more photos from the event here.

Things were looking awfully bright in Valley Stream’s four school districts when students and teachers from all 14 schools showcased some of their work at the 51st annual Lights On For Education event on April 26 at Memorial Junior High School.

The school day may have ended, but Memorial was as lively as ever, with hundreds of people going from room to room and getting an in-depth look at some of the projects students from around Valley Stream have been working on.

“I believe that if we want to give our children the best possible chance in life, if we want to open doors of opportunities while they’re young and teach them the skills that they’ll need to succeed later on, then one of our greatest responsibilities as parents and educators is to ensure that every child receives a top-notch education,” said Margo McKenzie, co-president of the Valley Stream Council of PTAs.

McKenzie addressed the crowd of eager parents, students, teachers, administrators and school board members during the event’s opening ceremony. Student council representatives from each elementary school also went up to the podium and shared inspirational quotes with the audience.

After the opening ceremony, the crowd dispersed and traveled around the first floor of Memorial. Each district had its own section of the building with plenty of creative projects and programs displayed for all to see.

District 13 had half of the gymnasium where an interactive game of Risk took place. Sixth graders played the game of world domination on a student-made board. Richard Rosenfeld, who runs the gifted and talented program in the district, advises the after school club and teaches students games of strategy.

“It’s a good to have an interactive exhibit at Lights On,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s good to see the models, but to see them actually doing it is the big draw for them and for their families.”

He added that seeing the game played might pique the interests of students from other schools or younger students and encourage them to get involved.