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Schools

Valley Stream Schools Shine Light On Bright Kids

Valley Stream school districts come together for one night to showcase the talents of hard-working students.

Despite the looming threats of school budget cuts and teacher layoffs that have placed a dark cloud over the education system, the Valley Stream school districts  recently came together to shine the light on its students' successes.

Families and faculty attended the annual “Lights on for Education” program on April 14 at Memorial Junior High School, where the work of the students from all of the Valley Stream school districts, including those from James A. Dever Elementary School and Valley Stream North High School, was on display.

The night began with the singing and signing of our National Anthem.

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"I'm very proud of all my students," said Ms. McCaffrey, who teaches American Sign Language at Valley Stream North High School.

As the night continued, parents walked throughout the school taking in the presentations created by students across various subjects including art, science, and history.

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Valley Stream Central High School (V.S.C.H.S.D) and Valley Stream 13 (V.S13) Board of Education members attended event. 

"It is an excellent opportunity to see what is going on in the schools,” stated William Stris, who serves on both school boards.

Fellow board member Frank Chiachiere added, “Everyone helps with this program - the students, teachers, custodians all work hard to make this night a success.”

Students from Dever showcased their artistic talents through painting, pottery, book cover designs book covers and original stories. Also on display were biographical projects and “postcards from around the world” that were created by the students.

Malverne resident Christina McGreevy admired the work of her son, Colin, a Dever student.  

“We always come to ‘Lights on for Education’ and it is nice to see all the hard work students do," McGreevy said. "We also get to meet some of the teachers too.”

Valley Stream North chose to display one of their popular gym activities, the interactive video game, “Dance Dance Revolution” (DDR.)  

Scott Stueber, the head of physical education for the Central High School District, said, “DDR is great use of technology for physical education, it is something that people can do at home to be more active.”

Different parent-run organizations were also at the event, selling items to support their causes to improve the school districts. One of the groups in attendance was the Valley Stream School District 13 Educational Foundation. Their mission is to raise money to support educational initiatives that are not supported by taxes. They were selling scented pencils and promoting upcoming events.

The school building truly was lit up that night with the energy, enthusiasm and talent of the community's bright kids.

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