The future is now at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School, where fifth graders are immersed in robotics.  

Computer science teacher Catherine Schlaich introduced students to Lego SPIKE kits to build and program carnival games. Working in teams, the young engineers had six options, such as bowling, hockey and mini-golf. They had to following the building instructions, install a battery, motor and sensors, then program movements in the SPIKE app on iPads. 

Students worked with Blockly, a visual programming editor, to write the code using drag-and-drop blocks. She said it builds upon their knowledge of Scratch coding, which they learned in fourth grade. After getting the movements to work, students had to modify and enhance their code.   

In the Avoid the Edge carnival game, students included a motor and color sensor, and had to program a bat to hit a ball, but not so hard that it went over the edge of the Lego base. The mini-golf game required programming a club to hit a ball and a light to go on when it reached the hole. A-Maze-Ing used a gyro sensor to tilt the entire base so a ball worked its way through a maze.  

As a culminating project, students will then create their own carnival games, which must use at least two electronic components. They won’t have instructions to follow then, so they must use their creativity while also following the engineering design process. The success will come from collaboration.  

“They have to work as a team in order for their robots to work,” Ms. Schlaich said. “Everybody’s got to be participating and helping each other out.”

 

Click here to view the Brick by Brick, Dinkelmeyer Students Build Bots slideshow.

 

Date Added: 11/25/2025

The generosity of Newbridge Road School students will benefit local families for Thanksgiving. The student council partnered with the PTA for a food drive, which resulted in the donation of hundreds of nonperishable goods.

Each grade was assigned specific items to donate, to ensure a variety of food was collected, including canned vegetables, cookies, juice, pasta and soup. Student council members checked the expiration dates on items, then sorted the food and packed bags to be distributed to local families before Thanksgiving. Extra donations will go to the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s Community Cupboard.  

Date Added: 11/21/2025

As they circled the back field at Saw Mill Road Elementary School on Nov. 3, students experienced how easy it is to get some exercise. The annual Gobble Run was hosted by the physical education department to promote health and fitness.

Physical education teachers Alyssa Parker and Anthony Novello set up cones around the field, and every five laps equaled one mile. Students and teachers could run, jog or walk, and some hearty youngsters exceeded 20 laps during their 40-minute sessions. The teachers marked their index cards at the completion of each lap.

Each grade level had a chance to partake in the Gobble Run, which served as a launching point for a cardiovascular fitness unit in physical education classes. Ms. Parker and Mr. Novello said they want students to create lifelong habits that promote health and fitness by seeing that activity can be as simple as taking a walk around the neighborhood.

The annual event occurs between Halloween and Thanksgiving, and students had a partly cloudy but dry fall day to enjoy the time outdoors. For their participation, children were encouraged to donate candy at a donation box in the lobby. The candy will be given to the Bellmore Lions Club for its Polar Express holiday event in December.

Click here to view the Saw Mill Students Enjoy Fitness and Friendship 2 slideshow.

Kindness is emphasized every day at Park Avenue Elementary School, but young learners got an extra reminder on Nov. 13 in celebration of World Kindness Day. 

Kindergartners in Anne Griffin and Sarah Mazeika’s classes took part in several activities that reinforced the importance of being kind to others. The goal was to impart this wisdom on students at a young age so they build lifelong kindness habits.  

Working with partners, students played kindness bingo. Using small blocks and toys, they marked off on their bingo cards as different acts of kindness were read aloud, like being nice to animals, helping someone with a chore, giving a high-five or inviting a classmate to play.  

Teachers shared a book, “Be Kind” by Pat Zietlow Miller with their students. Children created kindness collages by cutting out, pasting down and coloring pictures that reflected kind acts. They also thought of times they showed kindness to others, and drew pictures to capture those moments. 

All students at Park Avenue also contributed to a kindness tree, with each leaf listing kind deeds and compassionate acts.

 

Click here to view the Kindness Marks the Spot at Park Avenue slideshow.

 

Date Added: 11/14/2025