With many changes taking place at the Mineola School District the last two years, two others took place recently. The district said goodbye to longtime board of education member Gia Lynne Hall and director of technology and communication Ari-Zev Anolic.

Ms. Hall is a proud graduate of Mineola High School. She has lived in the community for over 45 years. She is so proud of the Mineola Schools that she dedicated nine years to working as a trustee on the Mineola Board of Education, a volunteer position, as a way of giving back to the community. This past year, she served as the board's president.

In a statement she expressed gratitude for having had the chance to serve in the community she calls home.

"I want to be thankful for the past nine years of sharing the wonderful accomplishments of our Mineola students. One of the best things about this volunteer position of becoming a board member is watching young people work hard and achieve their goals. Then when I receive wonderful letters and calls from former Mineola students in college and they express their excitement of a new life ahead of them it makes all the countless hours I spent on the board contemplating challenging decisions worth every minute.

"Being a board of education member has its mountains and its valleys but what most people fail to realize is that it is hard, dedicated work. The decisions that are made by a board affect the lives of students, staff, and community. That is a lot of people. They require positive collaboration by all of those entities.

"I believe the past two years have been the most rewarding and challenging for our school district with our evolving into a district that embraces learning, research, and community input. While some of the input did not put all of our children first, nevertheless it was considered. Because when it comes down to the wire it is the board that makes that final decision and like many board members I have spent many sleepless nights over many important decisions because you are a board member 24 hours, seven days a week.

"I have in the nine years brought a different perspective because I am a product of the district, a minority, and a taxpayer with no children. As my colleagues have stated publicly, I react differently to situations based on my life exposures and experiences. My having joint guardianship over an adult sibling perhaps made me more empathetic to parents of children with special needs. When I first came to the board there was no formal focus on special education. Now, nine years later, as president of the board of education, I leave with a new Willis Ave. promising to be the beginning of an educational evolution in terms of how we assess our students which will enable us to create better curriculum to address their many different learning needs. Our student performance will continue to improve, as we should believe in all of our children. I do.

"I have heard from many parents and other community members that they 'see' the benefits of change within our educational system. I will also always be proud of the improvements we have made in addressing our operational performance. The new improvements in how we deliver transportation by increasing service while significantly reducing taxpayer's cost as well as reorganizing our central and administrative offices to better serve our students, again at a reduction to taxpayers cost. I have always been fiscally conservative and want all residents to know that I leave the Mineola Board of Education on a high note. One with many accomplishments and exciting new programs. Other prior budget accomplishments include the scheduled improvements to the high school library. I am very proud to have been part of the team.

"May God bless you all!"

Dr. Anolic, Director of Technology and Communications, retired this year after serving the Mineola School District in a variety of roles for over 20 years. Initially a consultant and specialist for testing and evaluation, Dr. Anolic was eventually appointed assistant to the superintendent and ultimately assistant superintendent for Research, Evaluation, Planning and Technology in 1995.

Although Dr. Anolic had many responsibilities, one of his most important contributions was in the area of information technology. His technology planning helped result in a K-12 program and support staff structure which moved Mineola forward, advancing the state of technology from no computers in the district to over 800 state-of-the-art computers, providing access in every classroom and office. These computers are linked to each other and the Internet through high-speed local and wide area networks. Users can enjoy e-mail accounts, personal websites and many other advanced capabilities that support the instruction of our children.

Dr. Anolic also helped develop a comprehensive K-12 Library Media Center plan with design specifications, job descriptions and tools to evaluate our current libraries. Today, all library functions are automated, and the district provides a web presence and on-line research resources available to students and parents 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In addition he facilitated the first strategic plan developed in the district and created a culture of planning that led to the successful site-based strategic plan at Hampton Street School, and to the district's current strategic plan and assessment tools development.

Using the planning model and work developed from the Hampton Project, Dr. Anolic developed the "learner outcomes" and content benchmarks that characterized the district's first attempt in many years to create a comprehensive and coherent district curriculum. This effort is still ongoing.

In the areas of testing and assessment, Dr. Anolic helped streamline the district testing program to eliminate unnecessary testing of children. He introduced the concept of district-wide portfolios and project-based assessments and began the practice of regularly reporting school data in comparative and trend form to the public.

As an evaluator, Dr. Anolic conducted many high quality evaluations and studies of programs such as bilingual education in Mineola, the Teacher Evaluation Program (TEP), Parallel Block Scheduling, the Hampton Project, a Community Bond Survey, and the Elementary Spanish Program. These provided the district with objective results for data-driven decisions.

In reflecting on his many years of service, Dr. Anolic stated recently that, "The most exciting and rewarding aspect of my work in Mineola has been that most of these initiatives were accomplished with the direct and meaningful participation of parents, students, staff and community members. This community has never let me down. There have been accomplishments and failures in our attempts to grow, but the school community members I have worked with never lost faith or their energy and dedication. Ultimately, they and the many others like them are this district's greatest resource. I am grateful to have had the chance to work alongside them."