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UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD BEACON
celebrating different cultures
Free turkeys for Thanksgiving
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noVEMBER 28 - DEcEMBER 4, 2024
Street dedicated to late detective By KELSIE RADZISKI kradziski@liherald.com
Courtesy Town of Hempstead
Detective Erick Contreras’s family and former co-workers gathered on Union Drive on Nov. 16 for the street dedication ceremony for the late Nassau County detective.
In a heartfelt ceremony held last Saturday, Union Drive in Uniondale was officially dedicated to the late Erick Contreras, a Uniondale native and former Nassau County detective. “This is a day when we come together to celebrate not just a man, but a legacy of c o u r a g e, c o m p a s s i o n a n d unwavering service,” Contreras’ younger sister, Sharon, said in a speech at the ceremony. “Today, Union Drive is reborn as Detective Erick WenCoNtiNUED oN pagE 2
Uniondale touts P-Tech education program By KELSIE RADZISKI
kradziski@liherald.com
The Uniondale school district is part of the New York State Pathways in Technology, or P-Tech, program, which helps reshape educational opportunities for students in underserved communities by offering a unique pathway to careers in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields. Uniondale has a grant from the state for the prog ram, Christine Lopes, the district’s coordinator of state and federal grants, explained, but the Freeport and Wyandanch districts
and moving are part of the prothrough g raduagram as well. tion, allowing them “ T h e re a re 6 0 to progress alongstudents, or 20 per side their peers district,” Lopes while simultanesaid, “and those stuously earning coldents receive classlege credits. There es in their high a r e t wo d e g r e e school. So they stay pathways students with their cohort, can choose: animaand their classes KARLA BLAnco tion and digital are specifically tai- Learning and graphics or eleclored to things that development tronic engineering have to do with the coordinator, H2M degree pathway, so Architects & Engineers technology. Participants it’s more specialthen attend Vaughn ized.” The district’s P-Tech model College, in Queens, for two is structured to include stu- ye a r s t o e a r n a s s o c i at e ’s dents starting in ninth grade degrees in their chosen path-
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want them to see that there’s opportunity out there for them.
way. They remain connected to their high schools, because the program is designed to ensure that they are fully supported by their school districts and communities, with access to tutors, mentorship and guidance from industry professionals. Participating students are introduced to the program in middle school, Lopes said.
“When we recruit them in eighth grade, we work with the teachers and guidance counselors there to find students who are specifically interested in the areas of math and science,” she said. Two Uniondale High School juniors, Kenneth Duenas and Mark Benjamin, are part of the P-Tech program, on the elecCoNtiNUED oN pagE 4