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Homecoming for Calhoun High
Street festival returns to area
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Kennedy H.S. teams up to fight cancer cancer. The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, founded to address In a heartfelt tribute to the gaps in knowledge surrounding late mother of a varsity cheer- bile duct cancer, raises money leader, John F. Kennedy High to cure and improve patients’ School will host a game night quality of life. The foundation and clinic on Oct. 4, uniting the offers caregiver support, a community to support breast mentorship program, and fundcancer awareness raising research and the Cholangiointo cancer. carcinoma FoundaErica Mikhail tion. was diagnosed in Although OctoJanuary 2024 and ber is focused on the disease rapidly bringing attention spread until her to breast cancer, the passing. Her story school’s teams have emphasizes the decided to combine importance of this pink and green at event, which aims their home game. to honor her memoThe Kennedy High ry while raising School cheerleadawareness and suping team is spearpor t for cancers heading a commuthat are often diffiLINdA PuSATERI nity campaign to cult to detect in raise awareness for Kennedy H.S. their early stages. bile duct cancer, varsity cheer coach “There are a lot along with breast of other charities cancer. that focus on rare “Having this as an addition- cancers and rare diseases, but al initiative with it can help this one specifically provides carry on her fight and help resources to patients and famispread awareness to something lies, it funds research, and so widespread.” cheerleader spreads awareness altogether,” Chloe Mikhail said of her Mikhail said. “I think it will mother Erica, who passed away definitely help to give attention in November 2024 after a CoNtiNuEd oN pAgE19 10-month battle with bile duct
By ISABELLA PLANTE
Intern
I
Courtesy Jeff Rae
State Sen. Monica Martinez speaks at Norman J. Levy Elementary School in Merrick in a discussion on project labor agreements and the Stop Worker Exploitation in Education Act on Sept. 9.
Pushing for construction reform Senators gather to support project labor agreements By ISABELLA PLANTE Intern
A bipartisan trio of New York State Senators Monica Martinez, a Democrat, and Mario Mattera and Jack Martins, both Republicans, joined union labor leaders and local officials at Norman J. Levy Elementary School in Merrick to rally support for project labor agreements and the Stop Worker Exploitation in Education Act. The Sept. 9 event highlighted growing concern over how public-school construction projects are awarded and performed. For years, union advocates have argued that taxpayer dollars should be reinvested directly into local communities by ensuring jobs go to qualified, fairly paid New York workers. Too often, they say, out-of-state contractors are hired instead, undercutting wages, bypassing safety standards, and leaving students and communities with fewer opportunities. The
proposed legislation aims to curb those practices by requiring school construction projects to prioritize the use of local unions. Project labor agreements are central to the plan. These collective bargaining contracts, struck between building trade unions and contractors, set the terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions in advance—standards advocates say help prevent exploitation while guaranteeing work is completed efficiently and safely. Josh Slaughter, a local political labor coordinator, said the issue extends beyond wages. “This is a taxpayer issue,” he said. “Workers are being exploited, children are being sent to unsafe schools, and in [the Merrick School District], one of the contractors was doing asbestos cleanup. If he was cheating his workers, they were probably cheating on how they handled that material as well.” Some residents and business leaders may CoNtiNuEd oN pAgE 13
hope people see how strong this kid is and that she’s trying to help someone else, even with what’s happened.