__________________ Merrick _________________
HERALD A joyous Easter celebration
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Vol. 28 No. 17
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Committed to sustainability Library earns top certification in Nassau
tiatives aimed at fostering a more sustainable future. “I am thankful to our dediThe North Bellmore Public cated Board of Trustees for Library has been certified as a their ongoing support of our Sustainable Library through vision and commitment to the Sustainable Libraries Ini- achieving certification and tiative’s award-winning Sus- reinforcing ourselves as a leadtainable Libraries Certification er in Nassau County,” Jessica Program. It is the Tymecki, the first public library library’s director, in Nassau County said in a written to earn this certistatement. “I wish fication. to give special recT h e p ro g r a m o gnition to the guides libraries library’s Sustainthrough a rigorab i l i t y Te a m , ous step-by-step spearheaded by process to incorJames Luber to, porate sustainable assistant director decision-making of the library, for into their policies the daily work JAMES luBERTo and actions. The and commitment initiative provided Assistant director & that was necesa comprehensive Sustainability team sary to meet all of f r a m e w o r k t o leader the standards for strengthen the sustainable praclibrary’s dedicatices.” tion to environL u b e r t o mental stewardship, economic chalked up the accomplishsustainability and social equity. ment, in large part, to great The library serves people teamwork. residing in the North Bellmore “While our dedication to School District, which encom- sustainable practices began passes North Bellmore and long before pursuing certificaparts of North Merrick. For tion in 2023, earning Certified nearly two years, the North Sustainable Library status Bellmore library team worked serves as a testament to the diligently to review, develop resilience, dedication and teamand implement innovative iniCOnTinuED On PAgE 4
By JoRDAN VAlloNE
jvallone@liherald.com
T
Joseph D’Alessandro/Herald
Harper Boggs, left, and Temidayo Otemi, third grade students at Park Avenue Elementary School, with first graders Cecilia Deschaine and Aliyan Fahad and the school’s secretary, Christie Boschert, who created the tournament display in the lobby.
Students vote for book of the year
‘Magic Ramen’ by Andrea Wang wins 16 book tournament By JoSEPH D’AlESSANDRo jdalessandro@liherald.com
March Book Madness came to a climactic conclusion at Park Avenue Elementary School in Merrick, where hundreds of students voted “Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando” by Andrea Wang as the best book of the school year on April 2. The bracket-style tournament began with 16 books, and each week, students would vote on which books would advance to the next round of the tournament until one was crowned the winner. The tournament’s weekly results were put on display in the school lobby — an idea created by the school’s secretary, Christie Boschert. As students arrived each day, the first topic they talked about was the books’
rankings. “It’s a place where students can go and see what book is in the lead and what’s winning,” Lynn Coyle, the principal of Park Avenue, told the Herald. “It’s gotten excitement in the building. It’s all good stuff, it all promotes learning and reading, and it’s all about engaging the kids.” Two Ohio teachers, Tony Keefer and Scott Jones, hatched the idea for the book event, experimenting with using a bracket-style tournament in their classrooms in 2015. They began to promote the annual event to other educators with suggested reading lists for young students. A pair of educators at Park Avenue Elementary School, Nicole Giusto and Yvonne Francolina, helped bring this new tradition COnTinuED On PAgE 14
he certification underscores our ongoing commitment to creating a lasting, positive impact.