Not every school has two libraries, but thanks to a local Boy Scout, Martin Avenue Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District has this rare distinction.

Chris Dubon, a 2016 graduate of Martin Avenue, created a little lending library and reading patio in front of the school as his Eagle Scout community service project. The new space was formally dedicated on May 12. He cut the ribbon along with Superintendent Marie Testa and Principal James O’Brien during an afternoon ceremony, with kindergartners, first graders and several teachers in attendance.

“I wanted to give back to the community that created such a great home and family for me for so many years,” Chris said.

His journey began more than two years ago, working with then-Principal Leyna Malone on the concept, and then getting approval from the North Bellmore Board of Education. After delays due to the pandemic, he worked throughout the school year to create the reading area, which includes a walkway, patio, benches and little library.

Students, parents and community members can take a book home to read, or put in a book they are done with for someone else. Teachers can even bring their classes outside and grab a book for a read aloud.

“A love of reading is something we all share here at Martin Avenue,” Mr. O’Brien said, adding that the school’s youngest readers were invited the ceremony to see a reading role model from their community.

Chris raised money for supplies through fundraisers and built the little library and reading area with help from volunteers, including fellow scouts, friends and families. Even some Martin Avenue scouts contributed to the effort, with girls from the local Daisy troop planting flowers along the walkway.

Superintendent Marie Testa, former principal of Martin Avenue when Chris was a student, thanked him for this gift, as North Bellmore is a community of passionate readers.

Several books were added to the library. Ms. Testa placed a copy of “All Are Welcome,” the first grade classes added “The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear” and “Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Monkey House,” and Chris contributed a copy of “If Your Give a Mouse a Cookie,” which he read to youngsters before placing it inside of the little library.

Date Added: 5/19/2022

Despite an up and down stock market over the past several months, North Bellmore students once again succeeded in the Stock Market Game, an annual simulation hosted by the SIFMA Foundation. The district boasted two of the top three teams in the region.

Fifth and sixth graders from the district’s ALPHA gifted and talented program took part in the competition, which gives students insight into the stock market and financial management. Each team received $100,000 in fictitious money to invest.

The first place team included Park Avenue Elementary School fifth graders Colin Crichton and Daniel Fu, and Saw Mill Road Elementary School students Youssef Badad, Matthew Ferrantello and Matthew Lutwick. They finished the simulation with $108,623.23. The team mostly stuck to its initial investments, which included a significant amount of Tesla stock.

Ms. Angert explained that one of the requirements of the game is that teams diversify their portfolios, so no more than one-third of their money can be invested in a single company. The group was leading a field of 91 teams for most of the competition, had a late drop to ninth place, but their stocks rebounded to put them back at the top.

“I didn’t know how stocks worked,” Youssef said. “I just thought you bought stocks and got money.”

Coming in third place was a group of Saw Mill Road fifth graders, including Anthony Apicella, Cody Gaskin, Ryan Lay and Dagur Moi. Their total was $103,435.97. The team’s strategy was different than the other group, as they did frequent transactions throughout the competition.

Ms. Angert said this was definitely and interesting year for the Stock Market Game because of the turbulence of the market recently. Students learned how to analyze trends while gaining some knowledge they can use to manage their money as adults.

“I’m so proud of our young investors,” she said. “The fifth graders are looking forward to playing again next year.”

Date Added: 5/17/2022

Whether they need to test their knowledge of the 50 states or multiplication tables, third graders at Saw Mill Road Elementary School love to turn to Blooket.

Third grade teacher Elyse Beauman said the interactive digital resource has quickly become a hit with her students, who use it on their iPads. The competition-style games have students energized get answers correct and top the class leaderboard, which is displayed on the SmartBoard.

One popular game is Tower Defense. Students have to protect their towers by earning points for each correct answer in a game. There are different challenges, like alien invasions, which tests their defense so they benefit from getting more answers right.

“Any subject, we can find something for it,” Ms. Beauman said, adding they her class has used Blooket to review animal groups, prefixes and suffixes, and much more.

Date Added: 5/13/2022

Paleontology may seem like an advanced concept for third graders, but students at Martin Avenue Elementary School were up to the task as part of their fossil exploration.

Working in small groups, students received four blocks of clay and four objects – a penny, paper clip, paper fastener and googly eyes. Students flattened out each block of clay and pushed in one of the objects. They then stacked the layers and passed it along to another group to "unearth” the fossils with a plastic knife and toothpick.

Teachers Danielle Kalinowski and Judy Wakie said that the hands-on activity was part of the life sciences unit. Students have been learning how fossils provide evidence about organisms that lived long ago and the nature of their environments. Each block of clay was a different color to represent a unique climate.

Date Added: 5/10/2022