Division Cited for Breast Cancer Walk

By Dave Mock

There's a hallway just off the lobby of Division Avenue High School that's as much an area of honor as a trophy case or a wall of fame.

On the north wall of the hallway entrance is a collection of more than a dozen proclamations and citations by Nassau County and Hempstead Town, honoring school public-service efforts and events.

This week, Division added to that record a certificate from the American Cancer Society, recognizing the $820 raised by members of the student body who took part in a breast cancer walk on Oct. 19. Marianne Esolen, senior director for school health education, presented the citation to Division Avenue Principal Dr. Harry Chertok and Division senior Brei-anna Daly, the student coordinator of the walk.

The event, nicknamed "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer," coincided with a five-mile walk the same day around Jones Beach, which drew 8,000 participants.

Esolen said Division is one of 45 schools in the area with which she's worked on projects since the beginning of the school year, especially in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Children's Health Month. She agreed that the breast cancer walk helps students get involved with an issue students know affects Long Island especially strongly.

Daly added that the event is part of a Division tradition , fostered especially by advisor Carl Laterza and the student council, to give back to the community.

Principal Chertok noted the bags of clothing in one corner of the lobby, donations to the holiday clothing drive engineered by the students in the Key Club. He added that Division students are also accepting donations of canned goods for needy families in the Levittown area.

"It's just a sense of giving, fostering the spirit of volunteerism," he said. "We try to provide every opportunity to participate in some area of volunteering.

Division's cancer-awareness efforts don't stop at breast cancer. Principal Chertok added that the school is participating this month in the annual national observance of the Great American Smoke-Out program, with a social worker presenting a series of programs in the school.

Noting that there's a high incidence of youth smoking in the Levittown community, Chertok said that Division runs weekly anti-smoking workshops, and that students who are found smoking at or around the school are required to attend a session.

Chertok said that the habit, which often starts as an element of peer pressure, has become chemical dependency even for some teenagers. Esolen added that while the incidence of smoking has decreased among adults nationwide in recent years, the numbers of those who take up the habit in fourth or fifth grade has doubled.