After 25 years of devoted service to children with severe disabilities, Farmingdale residents Joe and Rae Amorosa are ready for 25 more. The happily married couple volunteers at the Nassau BOCES Carman Road School, and while technically their role is escorting students to and from therapy sessions, they are also there to provide smiles.

"Our volunteers are so dedicated to these children," says Carman Road Principal Amy Rumelt. "They bring more to the table than just transporting youngsters back and forth. They bring personality, warmth and caring, and the children really respond to them." According to teacher Laurie Platt, the volunteers are invaluable. "They're an essential part of our family," she says.

Carman Road serves students who are classified as multiply disabled, which means that they have some form of physical or medical impairment coupled with a cognitive disability. Much of Carman Road's student population remains at the school through the age of 21. Because many students are severely impaired and getting them from place to place can be quite labor intensive, each day has its own "fleet" of volunteers. Out of the 35-person crew, 11 have 25 years of service under their belts.

"I really believe in our responsibility to the children," Joe says of his and his wife's work at Carman Road. "We feel close to them." In addition to the students, Joe says his fellow volunteers also help to make the work rewarding. "The people around us are wonderful. There's no way I could be here this long without loving what I do and the people around me," he says.

"We wanted to do something to help people," Rae says, explaining why she and her husband began volunteering at Carman Road. "I love children and I love being with children," she continues. "It's been very rewarding to do this."

Part of the public school system, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Nassau County (Nassau BOCES) provides a wide variety of shared services to the county's 56 school districts. Among these are special education and career education programs, alternative schools, distance learning, and a wide variety of teacher training and other programs that support the use of technology in schools.