Sunday, November 15, 2026
Jaclyn Gentilesco, an art teacher in Wantagh Middle and High School, said that she’s always enjoyed completing community-based projects. As of last week, one of those projects can be spotted on the walls inside of the Starbucks cafe in the Willow Wood Shoppes in Wantagh.
Gentilesco had some of her high school students create portraits of the animals at Last Hope Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation in Wantagh in an effort to increase adoptions. Tenth graders in her art class selected the animal they wanted from a photo collection and created portraits using any medium they preferred. As of last week, there were 40 portraits hanging in the cafe.
After the art teacher was sent images of some of Last Hope’s animals and she took her own pictures, students were able to select their photo as inspiration.
“They all know the animals by name,” Gentilesco said. “They’re really proud of it. Everyone’s really into it.”
Gentilesco said she wanted to display the portrait in a location with a lot of foot traffic. After speaking with a manager at the Starbucks on Wantagh Avenue, the portraits hit the wall.
“A lot of people go into the Starbucks, the workers said it was one of the busiest ones,” Gentilesco said. “It’s where the kids go.”
The project began last year when she asked Wantagh Middle School and High School students to paint or draw portraits of Last Hope pets awaiting adoption by using their photos as models. Gentilesco then visited the shelter and placed each student’s artwork next to each pet’s cage in an effort to increase adoptions. When the animal was adopted, the portrait was given to the new owners as a keepsake.
Joanne Anderson, the outreach coordinator for the shelter, said the shelter is grateful for Gentilesco’s efforts: “It’s a great project. … the animals get adopted and the new owners get a nice portrait gift with it.” It was only last year that the new owners got the portraits. This year since the project grew, they will only be featured in the Starbucks.
Last year there were only about 14 portraits, but Gentilesco said that Anderson told her that a lot of the animals got adopted that had the portraits put on their cages.
The student-artists were receptive to the project, including Bethany Boland, a tenth grader at Wantagh High School. She decided to illustrate Mooshie, a cat up for adoption at Last Hope.
“I chose Mooshie because she was so cute and I was drawn to her big beautiful eyes,” Boland said in a statement. “I liked that I could help raise awareness for the animals that need loving homes. I feel good that I could help get the animals adopted.”
“It feels good to give an animal a chance to be adopted,” Tenth grader Catherine Ibrahim said in a statement. She painted a white and gray cat named Chase.
Tenth grader Brooke Minogue held a similar sentiment: “It felt good to know that people would see the animals and hopefully want to adopt them,” she said. She painted a beagle named Droopy.
This isn’t the only community-based project that Gentilesco has taken on. She’s asked students to take photos at Jones Beach State Park, and asked students to create artwork of the Jamaica train car at the Wantagh Museum.
Gentilesco said she appreciates the community’s support and believes that children should participate in as many community-based projects as possible to give back.
“I wanted to add more community projects [to the students curriculum],” Gentilesco said. “The kids love living in Wantagh. Their families live in Wantagh, their cousins live in Wantagh. It’s a special community.”
