As the activities at the Garden City Pool begin and the Recreation Department gears up for its summer youth camp programs, the last thing most kids want to think about right now is school, but before the 1997-98 school year becomes a memory, Garden City Life thought we'd take a moment to celebrate the accomplishments of the students in the many schools in Garden City and reflect on the year. The Garden City Union Free School District, St. Anne's School, St. Joseph's School, the Waldorf School, Resurrection Lutheran Preschool, Garden Manor Preschool, Garden City Nursery, Community Church Nursery, and more, all call the Village of Garden City home. The hallowed halls of the Village's many schools were bustling with activity from the very first day of classes until the many graduation ceremonies and final days of classes held this June.

This year was particularly special for the students and faculty of Stewart Elementary School of the Garden City Public Schools, as the school celebrated its 60th birthday. Students and faculty worked with art teacher Michelle White to create a giant birthday cake sculpture constructed of small framed self-portraits of everyone at the school. The cake sculpture was placed on display by the gymnasium doors and was then surrounded by art created by the students. An Open House was held at the school on May 19 and afforded the parents and friends of the school to admire the work and help celebrate this momentous birthday. The students in Mrs. Solmonsohn's 3rd grade class made a timeline decorated with pictures and historical information spanning a 15-year period in the middle of the school's existence (1967-1982). Faculty and family members contributed personal photographs of their own history from this time period and supported the exploration of history enthusiastically.

In this same spirit of support for the students in the Garden City schools, the 2nd Annual Read Aloud Festival was held at the elementary and primary schools within the district. Members of the community, school administrators, teachers, staff, Board of Education members, and Village administrators were invited by the site-based teams and librarians to come to the schools during National Library Week and read to students. Village Administrator Robert Schoelle; Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Planz; Principal Bernice Theresa Acevedo; Assistant Principal Anne Meatto; Reading Specialist Dr. Roberta Levitt; Public Relations Consultant Carole Dean; Principal John Okulski; Assistant Principal Steven Leunig; Principal Marylou McDermott; Assistant Superintendent for Business Daniel Bryan; Stratford Teacher-In-Charge Joseph Pap; Director of Pupil Personnel Services/Census Eileen Fitzgerald; Director of Management Information Services Dr. Rita Melikian; and Superintendent Dr. Lee Wilson were among the readers who shared books from the schools' collections or their personal libraries. The children not only were able to enjoy storytime, but had a unique opportunity to share this literary moment with adults whom they either would not normally meet, or at least not meet in this context. The adults were pleased with the chance to meet the budding scholars of the Village.

Parents have also had an opportunity to share in the educational process at the many schools in the Village. Quest students in the 3rd and 4th grades studied Chinese with Mr. and Mrs. Chiang, whose daughter Debbie is a Quest student. The unit was entitled: The Chinese Language for Beginners: Idea-o-grams/Abstract Art and was a three month long course which enabled students to learn some of the language while appreciating the artistry of the Chinese characters. Students created Chinese crossword puzzles as one of the ways to help them practice reading and drawing the characters. In appreciation for their time and effort, Mrs. Banks' students held a special presentation to thank the Chiangs for honoring them by volunteering to share their knowledge and guidance. The students in the Quest program also examined other means of expression such as hieroglyphics as part of their exploration of human communication through language and art.

Many schools featured Parent Career Days as part of economic studies or as part of what are termed infused lessons on other topics such as aviation, which would open the door to a presentation by a flight attendant or pilot. Resurrection Lutheran Preschool hosted Dr. Vic LaGinestra, whose daughter Gina recently graduated from the school, and whose son Nicholas will be attending the school in the fall. Dr. LaGinestra is a veterinarian who owns and operates the Animal Hospital of Roslyn and he brought his dog Max for the kids to meet and spoke about the important role he plays in the community by taking care of the four legged members of our families.

Homestead School hosted Dr. Neil McGowan, an oral and maxilofacial surgeon, and the father of Kevin. Dr. McGowan discussed proper dental care and showed the students models of teeth as the students asked him countless questions about his profession and their own oral hygiene. Jim Debold of Garden City Goodyear also visted Homestead and his daughter Elizabeth and spoke about car safety and his role in vehicle maintenance. Tom Peppard visited the 2nd graders in Mrs. Guiry's class and spoke about banking; Teresa Muller explained what it means to be a visiting nurse; Bill Dailey shared the excitement of telecommunications; Debbie Mallon discussed her job as a hospital health information manager; NYCFD Captain Nick Gaudiosi shared firefighting tales; Mary McGill explained the role of a nurse supervisor at a nursing home and defined gerontology for the children; and Mike Finnegan talked about a career in selling film to hospitals for X-rays.

Children took field trips which also allowed them to study careers. Most of the nursery schools in Garden City as well as the primaries and elementary schools take field trips to the Garden City Fire Department, visiting the stations around the Village such as the one on Clinton Avenue and the headquarters at Village Hall. Mrs. Guiry's students attended the Nassau County Police Open House to further their exploration of community workers and careers. The children witnessed a SWAT team demonstration, the Bomb Squad's presentation, the ocean rescue team's boat and discussion, and a chat about the jaws of life, which the children also were able to see in person. A visit to the jail was exciting, but the highlight of the trip was watching the sniffing dog Bandit demonstrate his talents. In addition to learning about the job of policemen, the children also were able to help themselves improve their own safety by having an updated Kid Pix I.D. card made.

The little ones weren't the only ones who benefited from field trips this year. Laura Rebecca's Garden City High School students in her Introduction to Self-Expression class visited the production facilities at Hofstra University's School of Communication. Garden City resident Tim Fehmel is the facilities manager at the school and gave the GCHS students a tour of the video soundstage (one of New York's largest), video editing rooms, the WRHU radio broadcasting studio, and the journalism laboratory. The 9th graders in this class, which explores public speaking strategies and effective means of communication, were afforded a unique look into a possible future career path and opportunity to prepare for this career at a university here on Long Island.

After school groups like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have also spent the year working toward badges which promote explorations of various career paths. Troops from across Nassau County routinely arrange with the editors of their local papers here at Anton Publications to take tours of the facilities in Mineola. A number of troups from Garden City have taken advantage of this opportunity to see the production elements of Garden City Life and understand what goes into making a newspaper. Youth groups, classes, and Scouting troops are always welcome to visit here.

All of the schools in Garden City have worked diligently this year to foster a creative environment in which students can develop their artistic talents. The 6th graders in Mrs. Kastner's Garden City Middle School art class undertook an extraordinary project to study the art of Tibet. The children attempted to steep themselves in the culture of this Buddhist land and in this effort they watched the film Kalachakra Sand Mandala and studied the ancient art of creating a mandala. They watched the monks create these sacred circles for ritual meditation and were inspired to create their own. As they studied the symbolism of these recreations of configurations in which Buddhist dieties are believed to reside, they also reflected on the differences between Eastern philosophy and Western thinking. They also developed an appreciation for the enduring spirit of the Tibetan people as they live in exile while Tibet is controlled by the Chinese government.

To accompany the artistic rendering of the mandalas, English teacher Ms. Ippolito taught the children to write poems that expressed their own "Ideal World" and then attached these poems to the back of their mandalas. Some of the mandalas with their accompanying poems (or short letters) were sent to the Dalai Lama and others were sent to the Campaign to Save Tibet in Washington, D.C. The project concluded with the viewing of the film The Little Buddha.

Students in Jeanette Blitz's computer classes at Garden City High School also worked on a significant art project to help benefit people. A graphics design program was used to create T-shirts for a contest sponsored by the Long Island Association for AIDS Care, Inc. The T-shirt design that wins the contest will be featured on shirts to be made up for this October's AIDS Walk Long Island. This project intertwined computer skills and a desire to help people in need and was one of the many service oriented lessons learned in the Garden City schools.

Garden City High School was brought honor and glory this year by its academic team, "It's Academic" which won the Nassau County Championship in the Cablevision/Newsday Long Island Challenge. The team won a trophy and a $5,000 cash award which was presented to Garden City High School. Each student on the team also received a $500 U.S. Savings Bond. The team was originated by its advisor, Doug Sheer, who first got students together for academic competitions six years ago. Now the team consists of eight students who audition for junior and varsity (four on each) teams, often with a hundred or more students in the high school trying-out for the team.

The "It's Academic" team competes regularly in Regional Quiz Bowls and other such competitions between area high schools. An Intramural Quiz Bowl is held within the high school also, at which teams of three students and a teacher compete against other teams from within the school. This year there were 18 different teams. The crowning moment, of course, was winning the Nassau County Championship and watching the match on cable.

This year the Garden City High School also was able to boast about the tremendous number of scholar athletes it produced during the different sports seasons. Few schools in New York State have so many scholar athlete teams. This spring the Girls Lacrosse Team was honored as the State Champion Scholar Athlete Team. They had the highest average of all lacrosse teams in the state with a 96.3 and were honored by the board of education at one of their meetings in the Administration Building. The total for the 1997-98 academic year of scholar athlete teams was 24, which is an extraordinary accompishment for the school and the students.

Musically, the schools of Garden City have also had a very busy and accomplished year. The select chorus of St. Anne's school were chosen to perform the national anthem at Shea Stadium and were also asked to perform at the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony held on the Village Green by the Chamber of Commerce. This acclaimed singing group also entertained their parents and friends at seasonal concerts at the school and members of the Over 50 Club at St. Anne's during a special recital held for them.

The students in the Garden City High School Band and Orchestra, under the direction of James McCrann and Margaret Gullotta, performed at Epcot Center in Disney World, at Universal Studios (not part of the Disney theme park), and in the SpectroMagic Parade at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. There were 123 student representatives from the high school, as well as 11 chaperones, who in addition to performing for guests at the park, were able to enjoy Mardi Gras Disney style. The high school's music students were also able to enjoy a special field trip. The students traveled to Yale University to study with the nation's top vocal instructors and tour the university campus.

Plans for the 1998-99 school year are already under way for all of Garden City's many institutions of learning, but for now, the students are enjoying days at the pool and looking forward to youth sports camps and recreation department trips to Adventureland and Splish Splash. Internships are beginning for the summer and family vacations are approaching quickly. At Garden City Life we hope our readers will keep us and the community apprised of their summer adventures.