_____________ ROCKVILLE CENTRE ____________
2025 HIGH SCHOO L S P O RT S P R E V I E W April 10, 2025
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‘Therapy Dog Thursdays’ helps de-stress Rockville Centre school district, fostered Bob in 2017 as part of the Guide Dog Foundation. Bob As students at South Side was raised with the intention of High School begin reviewing for becoming a guide dog for the Regents exams and finals, they visually impaired — a rigorous process requiring have support from a months of training beloved wellness and assessment. initiative, Therapy “He was there D o g T h u r s d ay s, for two months, and with Bob, a calm at the end they and cuddly black released him for Labrador retriever, lack of enthusiand Tory, a lively asm,” Leahy said, shih tzu. “but that said, Bob South Side’s is pretty quiet and therapy dog prokind of a passive gram, now in its dog, and so I knew fourth year, was he had some kind created in the afterof life of service in math of a series of him.” student suicides in Despite flunking 2019. The school disout of his original trict first brought NoREEN lEAHy c a re e r t r a i n i n g , in dogs from Long B o b ’s e x t e n s ive I s l a n d T h e r a p y Former assistant work with humans Dogs to help stu- superintendent, and gentle demeandents cope with Rockville Centre or made him the grief and trauma, school district ideal candidate for but then decided to South Side’s first keep therapy dogs full-time therapy dog. of its own on hand. Leahy and Josie Bishop, a That decision led to the acquisition of Bob, who had school psychologist at South once been on a very different Side, both completed certification through the American Kenpath. Noreen Leahy, a former assis- nel Association’s Canine Good tant superintendent of the Continued on page 9
By KElSIE RADZISKI
kradziski@liherald.com
Courtesy Covert Elementary School
Covert codes their way to Hackathon glory In January, Covert, Wilson and Watson Elementary schools tied for first place in the Rockville Centre Hackathon, earning spots in the county competition. On April 4, Covert’s Hackathon team, The InCODEables, placed 7th overall and first among Rockville Centre schools, winning the RVC Hackathon Trophy at the KidOYO County Hackathon.
From Rockville Centre to the red carpet with feature film By KElSIE RADZISKI kradziski@liherald.com
A decade-long creative journey that began with a spontaneous joke on a Los Angeles highway has culminated in a feature film debuting in theaters this week — and it all traces back to Rockville Centre. Rockville Centre native and writer-producer Chris Smith, 42, is celebrating the nationwide release of his first produced feature film, “Sacra-
mento,” a coming-of-age road trip comedy cowritten with longtime collaborator Michael Angarano. The film, which also stars Angarano alongside Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart and Maya Erskine, had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and was screened in Los Angeles earlier this week. The movie was inspired by one scene that Smith and Angarano wrote 10 years ago after both being cast for a CBS television pilot, “We Continued on page 20
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e really wanted to do everything in our power to find interventions that would help students to get through the day.