Malverne/West Hempstead
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Vol. 27 No. 30
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JUlY 23 - 29, 2020
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Hunderfund: Years flew by Malverne superintendent is set to retire at the end of the month Hunderfund wondered out loud. “When you’re enjoying what you do, time just flies by.” Continuing to make students He will leave Malverne with great. That was Malverne School nearly 50 years of experience in District Superintendent Dr. education, 26 of them as a superJames Hunderfund’s last mesintendent. His leadsage to the trustees ership model is a colat the Board of Edulaborative one, makcation’s virtual reoring the entire comganization meeting munity a partner in on July 14. the educational sys“We’ve done it tem. As superintentogether as a team, dent, he expanded and I hope that team services in the continues to carry region through an on,” Hunderfund, 76, extensive volunteer said. program involving After 13 years students, parents with the district, and residents, and Hunderfund will Dr. JameS established a numretire on July 31. He ber of committees, HUNDerfUND took the superintenbringing community dent position in an Superintendent, g roups and the interim role in 2007. Malverne School schools to gether. S u p e r i n t e n d e n t District Under his leaderMary Ellen Freeley ship, the district had just retired, and passed two bonds H u n d e r f u n d f i l l e d i n , h e that helped bring its buildings recalled, as a way to stay active up to 21st-century learning stan— after serving as superinten- dards. dent of the Commack School “Dr. Hunderfund has made District for over a decade and tremendous strides in our disretiring in 2006. But when the trict by redefining our standards district offered him a full-time and traditions and bringing our position, he couldn’t refuse. schools, curriculum, students “How did my last 13 Malverne years evaporate so quickly?” Continued on page 2
By Nakeem GraNt ngrant@liherald.com
N
Courtesy Talonda Thomas
Dr. taloNDa tHomaS, a business owner from West Hempstead, faced some hurdles as she tried to reopen the New York Musician’s Center in Bellmore, where she is the director of education.
Black business owner from W.H. faces reopening hurdles By alYSSa SeiDmaN aseidman@liherald.com
When Long Island entered the second phase of reopening its economy June 10, Dr. Talonda Thomas, director of education and CEO of New York Musician’s Center in Bellmore, readied for a return to normalcy. Before the pandemic took hold in March, more than 700 students filled Thomas’s business weekly for guitar, bass, vocal, piano and drum lessons
led by a staff of teachers from around the world. To comply with social distancing, instruction shifted to Zoom, which proved difficult for Thomas’s students, some of whom are young children and older adults. “Guiding a student on an instrument is easier to do in person,” said Thomas, of West Hempstead. “There were a lot of setbacks in the process, but we got creative.” Thomas holds a bachelor of music from SUNY Potsdam
and a doctorate from Capella University, specializing in kindergarten-to-12 education studies. The 33-year-old has been a vocal music teacher in the Freeport School District for the past 13 years, and last year joined Elmont Memorial High School as its music chairwoman. She founded NYMC in 2006 and conducted lessons from her former Glen Cove home until September 2013, when Continued on page 3
o matter what we disagree on, we have to come together and be positive.