By Leslie Gonzalez
District donates books to fire-damaged school
After last month's electrical fire destroyed several classrooms at Hewlett-East Rockaway Religious School, students at nearby Marion Street Elementary School have donated books to help replenish the children's lost libraries.
Although the religious school, located at 295 Main Street in East Rockaway, is working diligently to rebuild, water and smoke damage from the October 14th fire caused the loss of valuable educational materials and books, including pre-school books.
"They need our help," stated Lynbrook Superintendent of Schools William Metkiff in a letter addressed to Marion Street School, referring to the loss of children's' libraries. "Please help our neighbors during this difficult time," the letter read, and called upon students' families to contribute one gently used book appropriate for pre-school children ages two through four and a half.
Marion Street Elementary Principal Peter Graffagnino also sent a letter home to parents, and fourth grade teaching staff established a book collection box in the school's foyer. The book drive coincided with the nationally-designated "Random Acts of Kindness" week, scheduled for November 6th through the 10th.
At a school board meeting held at Lynbrook High School last Wednesday, district officials commended Marion Street students and staff for the drive's outstanding success, and the books were formally presented to religious school representatives. Present were fourth grade student council members Lorenzo Branchinelli, Michelle Cunningham, Gloria Ferrante, Patrick Glien, Robert King, Aidan Donnel, Brian White and Brittany Wooster, who reached, one at a time, from the impressive stack of books collected and placed them in boxes headed for the pre-school. Marion Street teachers and Student Council Advisors Kristin Muccioli and Anne Conway read a letter from religious school Principal Cheryl Karp, who was not able to attend the presentation due to her prior commitment to an educational conference held out of state.
"Thanks to your kindness and generosity, we will be able to rebuild the library we once had," she stated, thanking students, parents and staff.
Reaching out to assist the temple students was not an unfamiliar task for Marion Street's Student Council. Previous community service efforts included visits to the neighboring school. The students last walked over to the school on October 4th, just weeks before the fire.
"Each child brings a book. Once we arrive, each fourth grade class is assigned to a pre-school classroom and then each fourth grader is paired with a pre-schooler," the students read from their essay. In addition to reading together, the students also shared art and music activities, and corresponded with thank you notes. Two more hourly visits are planned for this year, once classrooms are rebuilt.
Also at the meeting were several students from the newly-formed student council at Lynbrook's Waverly Park Elementary School, who expressed happiness in sharing their school facilities with pupils of East Rockaway.
"Every day, students picked up the garbage and cleaned their desks to make sure everything was neat and clean for our Hebrew School guests," read fourth grader Jackie Cohen.
"They were very careful and respected all of our things. Every student wrote letters to the student whose desk they used," added third grader Samantha Frankel.
"I go to Hebrew school there and probably would have enjoyed the time off, but I still think it was a kind act," read Max Kayen, as the crowd responded with laughter. After they spoke, Hewlett-East Rockaway Temple President Mordechai Mafouda stood up amidst the seated crowd to express his gratitude.
"I'd like to thank the Lynbrook School District for all it has done, and who made us feel comfortable in using their building," stated Mr. Mafouda.
