My name is Vincent A. Suozzi Jr. and I am a physical education and health teacher at Westbury Middle School. Before teaching at the middle school, I taught physical education at St. Brigids/Our Lady of Hope Regional School in Westbury. I was born, raised and still reside in Glen Cove. Westbury is like a second home to me. As I have said before, it's a great community and a wonderful place to educate kids.

I wanted to take the time to thank our Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) for their dedication and hard work to the children of our school district and also for their help and commitment to our faculty and staff. The PSTA's involvement in our school is tremendous.

When I taught at St. Brigids, the Parent Association sponsored many special events which included golf outings, a fall crafts fair, candy sales, gift wrap sales, a dinner and fashion show, and of course, weekly bingo. All these events helped to subsidize the cost of capital improvements and general maintenance that goes into running a parochial school. Without the dedication and hard work of the parents, none of this would be possible.

Not only do we have the PTSA, we have the support of the PTA Council. This year's president is Robin Bolling. She is easy to talk to, listens to the teachers' concerns and she had the foresight and vision to spearhead the first community night which gave the residents of Westbury the opportunity to voice their concerns and to ask questions to an esteemed panel of community members about any issue of importance to them. Some of the topics discussed were the importance of a passed school budget, residency, curriculum and facilities. Many teachers came out to support the evening. It was an extremely informative night. Hopefully now, the community understands the need to pass the school budget. The bottom line is the kids. Our kids need a passed budget in order to maintain our high level of after school programs, sports and summer school. These after school programs are an integral part of our students' day. The tutorials, sports, clubs and homework center keep our kids active and off the streets. These programs help build a strong sense of pride, teamwork, sportsmanship and overall good character.

I had the privilege of supervising this year's seventh and eighth grade girl's volleyball team. Watching these girls improve game by game was so rewarding. The girls were such good sports in victory as well as defeat. I will have a lasting memory of this year and I'm sure the girls will too. What a shame it would be if we didn't have the money for a team!

Last year I invited members of our community to come to the Middle School. Once again, I would like to extend that invitation this year. The Westbury Middle School has three fine administrators: Principal Powell and Assistant Principals Hinson and Spencer. Our Deans of Students Fahy and Maxwell work hard on maintaining order and following our student code of conduct.

Westbury Middle School is also graced with caring and professional teachers. Our secretaries, nursing staff, guidance department, social workers, teacher's aides, and cafeteria staff go above and beyond for our students. Our head of security John Robinson and his entire staff help maintain the high level of safety and security at the middle school. Our head custodian Harold Cotton and his entire custodial staff work long hard hours helping to maintain the cleanliness of our building on a day-to-day basis. We are an extremely caring staff and will do everything possible for the benefit of each and every student in our building.

I am proud of our school, our district, the programs and after school activities we offer each and every child. As both a teacher and a parent, I implore you to vote for the school budget. We need your support for our students' continued success. As one of our middle schoolers stated at our recent Community Night said, "A vote for the budget is a vote for the students."

Vincent A. Suozzi, Jr.