The 38 students who gathered on the back field of Saw Mill Road Elementary School on Oct. 22 had one thing in common – some pretty good football skills. The North Bellmore School District held the final round of its Punt, Pass, Kick competition, an annual event hosted by the physical education department.  

With sunny skies and temperatures that felt more appropriate for NFL training camp than middle of the season, the young athletes were thrilled to be outdoors and bonding with fellow football lovers. Two long rulers were set up on the turf field to measure, in feet, the distance each football traveled.  

Students in fourth, fifth and sixth grades competed in preliminary rounds at their schools, with the boys and girls winners from each grade earning a spot in the district championship. The young athletes then had their final chance in the three skills events – dropping and punting the football, throwing it down the field and kicking it off a tee. Each student was then able to redo one of those events to try and earn a higher score. 

At the end, the districtwide boys and girls winners were crowned in each grade level. Gabriel Guerriero and Vivienne Ferrie were tops in fourth grade, Brody Hislop and Maya Aruti were the fifth grade winners and Chase Almona and Vittoria DeMarco paced the sixth graders. They received trophies while runners up were awarded medals.  

The event was coordinated by physical education teachers James Breslin, Bill Green, Jim Mulvey, Anthony Novello, Alyssa Parker and Michael Wiener, as well as retired P.E. teacher Tom Steinmuller.  

Click here to view the Football Fanatics Compete in Punt, Pass, Kick Finals slideshow.

Date Added: 10/24/2024

Sixth graders are experimenting with artificial intelligence while building their vocabulary at Martin Avenue Elementary School. 

Students in Stephanie Speciale’s class are using Twin Pics, a website that provides an image that has to be recreated using AI. The goal is to match the image by writing a description of up to 100 characters. The website then uses their words to create a new image with AI. The closer they are to the original image, the higher the score.  

Ms. Speciale said that this activity appeals to students on many levels, including the use of technology and the competition aspect. It also supports their literacy unit on the parts of speech, as students use adjectives, adverbs and nouns to come up with the best descriptions and achieve a high score.

Date Added: 10/15/2024

To celebrate International Dot Day and increase their knowledge of renowned artists, students at Martin Avenue Elementary School created colorful circle paintings.

Students read the Peter Reynolds book, “The Dot,” an inspirational story that focuses on growth mindset and perseverance. Working with art teacher Erica Farley, the young artists then made their mark with their own dot paintings. The pieces mimicked the style of modern artist Wassily Kandinsky who was known for his paintings of concentric circles. They used tempera paint and paint sticks to complete their masterpieces.

Date Added: 9/19/2024

Heroes are often ordinary people who do something extraordinary, a lesson learned by students at Martin Avenue Elementary School to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The district marked the day by observing Patriot Day and the National Day of Service. Throughout all five schools, students and staff were encouraged to wear red, white and blue. At Martin Avenue, it was hard to find anyone missing one of those colors from their attire.

Third graders in Danielle Kalinowski’s and Judie Wakie’s classes came together for a service project. It began with a read aloud of “Fireboat,” the story of a boat that was brought back into commission on Sept. 11 to help pump water to the devasted World Trade Center site. Following a discussion about heroes in their lives and community, each student then penned a letter to a local hero.

Each youngster had the choice of writing to a personal hero in his or her life, or writing to a community hero like a firefighter, police officer, doctor, nurse, lifeguard or someone else who keeps people safe. Ms. Kalinoswki and Ms. Wakie collected the letters to local heroes to deliver.

In Ashley Vella’s fifth grade class, students read “Man in Red Bandana,” a book based on a documentary about Welles Crowther, who sacrificed his own life to help save others from the Twin Towers. Students learned about everyday people who think of others before themselves, then completed activity sheets, “What is a hero to you?” Working in small groups, students discussed the attributes and traits of heroes.

Click here to view the Sept. 11 Spurs Reflection on Heroism in North Bellmore slideshow.

Date Added: 9/12/2024