By Nicole Falco
Clinging close to loved ones, they watched as heroes ran to the heaps of rubble and smoldering ash, shattered glass and crumpled steel - to help. The children of Valley Stream saw those images of pure inspiration and became an inspiration themselves.
For their tireless efforts and creativity in raising money for the victims' families of the World Trade Center tragedy, for their ability to express emotions felt by us all through art, music, and writing, for their unwavering pride in the red, white and blue and because they never stopped being children through it all, the Valley Stream Herald recognizes all the children of Valley Stream as its "People of the Year 2001."
The children's greatest, most heartfelt efforts could never have been realized were it not for the nurturing parents, teachers, district staff and community leaders at the center of their lives. In honoring the children we applaud the entire Valley Stream community.
Valley Stream's children put into practice a lesson learned at home and at school: that good can overcome evil. And as they acted out their best, most giving selves, they taught us all a lesson of their own: that virtue knows no minimum age. Their actions spoke of a wisdom beyond their years: somehow they knew, all of a sudden, that life was at once frighteningly fragile and powerfully precious.
VS children react quickly
Their grandparents remember exactly where they were when they heard Pearl Harbor had been bombed, their parents were probably in class when President Kennedy was assassinated, and in the future, the children of Valley Stream will be able to tell their own children how the horrible events of Sept. 11 unfolded.
Teachers and administrators in each district tried to maintain some level of normalcy that day as they searched for the best way to tell their students what had happened. After all, many children's parents worked in Manhattan and even in the WTC. Still worse, more than 20 children would go home that day to be told that their fathers were missing. To those children of the missing, we say thank you. Thank you for showing us firsthand what it means to have courage.
"The single most important message I want to share with you is that during this time of crisis, for as long as it may last, our schools are a safe harbor," wrote Dr. Ronald D. Valenti, superintendent of the high school district, one week after tragedy struck.
Besides being a "safe harbor" where students continue to learn and grow, the high school district's four schools also became a place where students took action to raise money and show support for victims' families.
Benefit concert
At Central High School, students dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos to perform 30 song and dance numbers during a three-hour benefit concert. By evening's end, the benefit raised over $2,500, which was then matched by a local bank.
"The idea to have students, parents and grandparents of the community come together one month after the tragedy was generated by the students," said Central's choral director, Amy Neuner, who helped students plan and practice for the event in only 12 days.
Among the songs chosen by the students were "America the Beautiful," sung by Tayeb Mohammed, and "Help is on the Way," sung by Toni Rosenbaum.
Memorial Junior High School's student council used their lunch hour to sell red, white and blue ribbons and then sold cookies after school. Under the direction of advisors Angela Conetta and Brian Dalton, the students raised over $1,000 for the New York Police and Fireman's Widows and Children's Benefit Fund. Adding to their fund were profits from the sale of commemorative T-shirts purchased by Memorial art teacher Lynne Pravda and language teacher Josephine Evola.
North High School students raised over $4,000 through various fundraisers at school. The social studies department at North High School, headed by Josephine Buonaspina, made green ribbon pins, which the students then sold for donations that raised over $800.
North's football team donated $500 and the girls' soccer team donated $1,800 to the Red Cross WTC Fund. The soccer team donation includes $1,000 they had originally raised to buy warm-up suits, but voted to sacrifice for the cause.
On Nov. 9, under the leadership of North's English department head Rona Kalin Moss and social worker Karen Ehrlich, students held a Pasta Fest and Food Boutique to raise funds for the "Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund" for which children of WTC victims can apply. The community event drew over 180 people for dinner and raised over $1,900.
South High School students sold "United We Stand" T-shirts and ribbons and collected donations for a total of approximately $1,600 for Newsday's Disaster Relief Fund that generates matching funds.
Dr. Valenti said of the district's students' reactions, "I think at that moment, students began to see the world in a very different way...they began to see how fragile life can be.
"Adolescents truly believe they are invincible and life is eternal, this struck at the heart of their existence. ... The students' reactions helped me. I've been moved."
Students at the elementary level pitched in to raise money for relief. In District 13's James A. Dever Elementary School, sixth graders helped the PTA collect clothes, food and other items for the American Red Cross, as did students of Willow Road School. Wheeler Avenue School's "spare change drive" netted over $3,000, which was sent to the FDNY Relief Fund.
On his own
Ever since Sept. 13, except for a few rainy days and two class trips, 11-year-old Howell Road School student Troy Rosenbaum has stood on the school's corner selling candy. He has raised almost $1,000 and will continue to raise money, he says, until "the first snow flake falls."
Marie Clausell donated $300 to add to the money Rosenbaum already collected. "I saw Troy out here and thought, 'What a good thing for him to do.' He's out here every single day and he's doing a great job," Clausell said.
The students' efforts prompted Margaret Daugherty, superintendent of District 13, to remark, "Although it was a terrible time for everyone, our children reflected the feelings of the whole community."
District 24's William L. Buck School held a student council Pizza Hut fund-raiser lunch and fifth graders sold patriotic items including handmade placemats, buttons and pins. At Robert W. Carbonaro School, students donated pennies to a "penny jar" in school to raise over $200. At Brooklyn Avenue School, students helped collect food, water, clothing, juice, flashlights, socks and more for a total of 75 boxes given to the Valley Stream Fire Department to bring to 'ground zero.' They raised money through the sale of pins, picture frames and books marks for a student at Buck whose father was killed.
"The spirit that radiates from the children provides a testimony to the beliefs and values fostered by parents and guardians, teachers and staff," stated Dr. Edward Fale, District 24's superintendent.
Gene Nyitray, assistant superintendent of schools in Dist. 30 made a similar remark after witnessing students' reactions. "If there is anything good that can come out of the [tragedy] it is the unity that has emerged."
Shortly after Sept. 11, a Clear Stream Avenue School fifth grader, Maria Taliercio, decided to make American Flag pins to sell for donations. Within a few weeks, Taliercio had already made over 300 pins and raised over $600. Besides Taliercio's effort, the student council organized a penny drive.
At Shaw Avenue School, over $800 was raised selling red, white and blue ices. Students also sold American Flag pins, which they made, on parent-teacher night and raised $700. Like Taliercio at Clear Stream, three Shaw students raised money on their own. The weekend after the tragedy, the girls set up a lemonade stand outside Key Food in North Valley Stream. Sixth graders Jessica Galante, Stephanie Cabrerra and Maria Tricarico raised over $1,000 for the Red Cross. Also, a cupcake sale at the school raised $800.
"It's a tribute to our school...that young children can be so sensitive and compassionate. It represents all that is good in the world through all they have done in their efforts to help others," said Henry Mazar, principal of District 30's Shaw Avenue Elementary School.
At Forest Road School, second graders, under the direction of teachers Taya Kelly and Melissa Remhild, held a bake sale and raised almost $300. A school-wide donation drive called "Put Your Two Cents In," raised almost $400 for relief. Proof that even the smallest donation can help came from second grader Prashant Panchal. Panchal set up a lemonade stand outside his home the weekend after tragedy struck. Panchal added the $5.55 he raised to his class's bake sale.
Members of the Valley Stream Roller Hockey League participated in a three-day tournament from Oct. 26-28 to raise money for the family of Lt. Vincent Giammona, a firefighter from Valley Stream killed on Sept. 11. The youngsters, their parents and the Valley Stream community raised over $18,000. More than 700 Valley Stream Soccer Club players and their families participated in a walk-a-thon in October and raised over $13,000 for WTC victims' families.
VS students reflect on tragedy
Raising money was a much needed and very welcome role that the children of Valley Stream played, but they didn't stop with fundraising. The children expressed their thoughts and emotions following the tragedy in ways that echoed the emotions of the nation.
There probably wasn't a student in any of Valley Stream's 14 schools who did not send a letter of thanks or create a poster of appreciation for the firefighters, police officers, EMTs and others who risked their lives to save the lives of others.
At Memorial, English teacher Lee Camilleri had her students write letters telling, "Why I'm Proud to be an American." Camilleri displayed the letters in her classroom. Students' responses included, "I love this country because we are free," and "I'm proud to be an American because you can make your own decisions." Eighth and ninth graders at Memorial also wrote memoirs of their reactions to Sept. 11.
With the help of art teacher Lynne Pravda and language teacher Josephine Evola, seventh, eighth and ninth graders at Memorial created an eye-catching red, white and blue American Flag using waterproof ribbon. Evola tied the ribbons to the chain link fence outside the school.
Whether it was a project entitled "Hands of Diversity," initiated by art teachers Pravda and Darla Carberry or a dramatic art exhibit on view during November's American Education Week entitled, "America! America!" supervised by studio art teacher Carol Nelson, Memorial's students found ways to express their feelings.
Ellen Edwards, an administrative associate at Memorial, had an understandable reaction after viewing "America! America!" a collection of student-made collages of images seen in publications after the tragedy. "I was in here [the library] alone the other night because I had a sense I wasn't going to be able to view [the exhibit] in a group without crying. It conjured up emotions we have all felt."
Our spirit stays strong
In attacking America, the terrorists sought to break the American spirit, but they couldn't. When students of South High School created a "United We Stand" unity chain around the school on Sept. 17, they told the terrorists, "you failed." Every time a student at Dever, Howell Road, Wheeler Avenue, Willow Road, Buck, Brooklyn Avenue, Carbonaro, Shaw Avenue, Clear Stream Avenue and Shaw Avenue recites the Pledge of Allegiance, they are collectively telling the terrorists that they are proud to be Americans. When Dever and Wheeler students participated in the PTA-sponsored "Wreath of Remembrance Day," they told the world that they will never forget. When Howell Road School students planted a "Tree of Life" on Oct. 17, they reaffirmed their belief in America. Third graders in Mrs. Rosenfeld's class built a 3,100-piece puzzle depicting New York City's skyline, including the WTC, they told the world they still have hope.
Fifth and sixth grade students involved in District 30's Quest program envisioned their plans for the future of the World Trade Center site. Under the direction of Ronni Horowitz, students created models of the future. Their ideas included much smaller buildings, with memorials and museums to honor victims. Each student said they would surely visit a new WTC complex if built. They basically told the world they still have faith and trust.
"If you're afraid to go back, it's like letting [the terrorists] win," said Paul Albanese, a fifth grader at Clear Stream.
Horowitz called the project "good therapy for everyone."
We will never forget
A committee of representatives from the four Valley Stream School districts, under the leadership of Dr. Valenti and High School Board President Andrew Walters, is planning a ceremony on Saturday, May 11, to memorialize those relatives of students and staff and those alumni who were lost on Sept. 11. A permanent artistic memorial made by students will be unveiled at the ceremony.
In addition, many of the districts' educators believe the students' extreme show of patriotism will endure.
"Students are much more interested in giving and student service. Their overall behavior has improved," said Dr. Valenti.
"I don't think there is a deadline on this type of patriotism. Witnessing their expressions will certainly be with us a long time and it is certainly going to continue for many, many years to come," said Diana Pirrone, assistant superintendent, District 24.
