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Friday, January 31, 2025
Vol. 85, No. 5
Town honors Auschwitz survivor Pearl Friend
Syosset team wins Lego Robotics Competition BY RIKKI MASSAND
Members of the Town of Oyster Bay honored Holocaust survivor Pearl Friend in recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Supervisor Joseph Saladino and members of the Oyster Bay Town Board honored Pearl (Zylberblech) Friend of Woodbury at Town Hall. Pearl was joined by her family, congregants of Woodbury Jewish Center, and Rabbi Jason Fruithandler. In 1939, Pearl was 11 years old when the Nazis invaded her hometown in Poland. Her father and two uncles were taken by the
Nazis on death march along with 6,000 Jewish men. Her 6-year-old brother, Chiel, was murdered by the Nazis, as her mother was forced to watch. Pearl and her mother, Anna, miraculously survived Auschwitz and five labor camps. They were transferred to Tereizenstadt with 128 Jewish women to be executed. A young Jewish tank commander, in the Russian Army, intercepted German Army radio communications and freed Pearl, her mother and oth-
ers for execution in the camp. Pearl discovered that her father and uncles were alive and were later reunited in Poland. Upon arriving home, the young Jewish tank commander – Philip Friend – asked Pearl’s father for her hand in marriage. They married and immigrated to the United States in 1949. Pearl and Philip were married for 72 years, and blessed with two children, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. See page 8
The Jericho Syosset News Journal is published every Friday by Litmor Publishing Corp. Periodical Postage paid at Hicksville, N.Y. 11801Telephone 931-0012 - USPS 3467-68 Postmaster: Send Address Change to: The Syosset Jericho News Journal, 821 Franklin Ave., Suite 208, Garden City, N.Y. 11530 • Meg Norris Publisher
A team of Syosset Central School District students were big winners last weekend, as they took home the prize in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) Long Island Challenge Qualifier #4 held Sunday, January 26th at Mineola High School. The Lego Robotics team from New Energy Education of Syosset is named Overpowered Spicy Robot 50946. The team consists of four local children, and is led by Coach Yang Zhao. Three participants are 8th graders – Ryan Qiu, who attends Harry B. Thompson Middle School, and his friends, South Woods Middle School students Kevin Liu and Sylvia Lin. The fourth student on the Syosset-based team is Tomas Flores, a 5th grader at Village Elementary
School. Their project robot, the Lego Ev3, won the Champions’ Award and the Robot Performance Award among all 28 teams that competed over the weekend. The Overpowered Spicy Robot team met every Thursday to prepare their game plan and robot model for competition. Coach Yang says a unique part of the Robotics learning experience was the development of a picture book, “The Great Whale Escape” for its FLL Innovation project. The book connects to a game, developed using Scratch (computer program used in education) which aims to teach the students both coding and marine science. The team also participated in workshops where students were able See page 8
Team "Overpowered Spicy Robot 50946" from New Energy Education in Syosset: Coach Yang Zhao with 8th grade students Ryan Qiu, Kevin Liu, Sylvia Lin and 5th grader Tomas Flores (in front).
Free music at local libraries PAGE 13 Town summer rec program PAGE 3