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HERALD
Graduation Keepsake Edition
June 26, 2025
Meet the
GRADUATES 2025
VOL. 27 NO. 26
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JUNE 26 - JULy 2, 2025
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Parents weigh in on school’s phone ban By RENEE DELORENZO rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Courtesy Natasha Lyons
Imani Lyons, a senior at Elmont Memorial High School, was awarded a $500 scholarship after being named a winner in Erase Racism’s 2025 Raise Your Voice essay contest for her work on healthcare disparities and mental health stigma in communities of color.
Imani Lyons earns scholarship for advocacy in ERASE Racism essay By RENEE DELORENZO rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Imani Lyons, an Elmont Memorial High School senior, received a $500 John Wenzel Scholarship after being named a winner of Erase Racism’s 2025 Raise Your Voice essay competition for her essay about improving access to mental healthcare in communities of color. All Nassau and Suffolk county high school students are eligible to compete for the competition’s five winning slots — one grand prizewinner, who receives a $1,500 scholarship, and four additional winners who each receive $500 scholarships, funded by donations from SCOPE Education Services in Smithtown. This year, the competition fea-
tured entries from 52 young student advocates. The 2025 contest theme, “Brave Spaces: Shaping Change and Transformative Communication,” prompted students to write about the meaning of changing spaces and turning systemic issues into meaningful solutions. Inspired by Wenzel’s commitment to social justice and philanthropic efforts through his involvement with the Rauch Foundation, the essay contest challenges students to imagine a world in which marginalized communities can overcome adversity. Imani, who is interested in entering the medical field and opening a neurosurgical practice focusing on Black women’s healthcare, entered the contest because she felt ContInuEd on pagE 11
Parents in Elmont expressed mixed reactions to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s smartphone ban for the upcoming school year after Superintendent Regina Agrusa hosted a community meeting at Sewanhaka High School to hear comments from the public on how the district should enforce the ban during the school day. Hochul’s legislation, passed last month as part of the state budget, will prohibit students statewide from using their phones during school hours, citing youth mental health and academic distraction as key factors. At the meeting, Agrusa presented three options being considered by the district: locking phones in pouches for the day, keeping them in lockers or having teachers collect them at the start of each period. “(The) parent meeting was a great opportunity to engage in open dialogue and hear directly from our school community regarding Governor Hochul’s ban on cell phones in an educational setting,” Agrusa said in a statement to the Herald. “Our goal is to ensure any future policy decisions prioritize student well-being and support a positive learning environment.”
Fo r Yew a n d e O g u n , a n Elmont resident and a parent of a middle school student, phones are a problem, and a ban would be a step in the right direction — though she said she preferred the term “restriction” rather than “ban,” which seemed misleading. “It gives their brain a little bit of rest from the phone,” Ogun said. “A lot of kids, they don’t know how to live without their phones.” She favored the locked-pouch approach, saying it would offer structure and minimizes disruption. She pointed out that phones are already banned in many elementary school classrooms, and children manage without them just fine. Ogun emphasized that distractions caused by phones extend beyond the classroom, disrupting slee p patter ns, impacting students’ vision and encouraging late-night scrolling that leaves them exhausted. Her hope is that discouraging phone use during the day will lead to healthier habits outside the classroom. Jazmine Rivera, who has children in both Dutch Broadway Elementary School and Elmont Memorial High School, said she left the meeting feeling uneasy ContInuEd on pagE 12