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UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD BEACON
Village cheers for safer streets
Breaking mental health stigma
Toys spark summer smiles
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Vol. 76 No. 32
AUGUST 6 - 12, 2026
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Backpacks and grant help local schools By STACY DRIKS sdriks@liherald.com
Stu Goldman/Herald photos
Brothers Tolunmi, 10, left, and Toluiva Onifade, 7, from Hempstead, both left with a bookbag and school supplies, along with their classmate Diamond Harriso, 10.
With the first day of school approaching on Sept. 1, hundreds of Long Island students and their parents got a head start on back-to-school preparations on Monday at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, in Garden City, while four local school districts received funding to support classroom activities in the year ahead. Optimum distributed 500 backpacks at the sixth annual Back-to-School Backpack Program, after awarding $10,000 DonorsChoose grants to the COnTinueD On page 5
Funding will give an aging H.S. auditorium new life By STACY DRIKS sdriks@liherald.com
Uniondale High School’s auditorium is set to undergo its first major technology upgrade in years after Nassau County unanimously secured nearly $278,000 to modernize the venue with new audiovisual equipment, lighting and other improvements. The project will be funded by a Community Revitalization Project grant announced on July 27, secured by County Legislator Olena Nicks, a Uniondale High graduate who now represents the community in
the Legislature in Mineola. “We completed the application for the Community Revitalization Program, and we explained the needs in the application,” Christine Lopes, the Uniondale school district’s grant coordinator said. “They returned our call and said they could help us out with our needs.” After the district submitted its application, the county estimated how much the proposal would cost. “We put together a proposal for them of the items that we were looking for,” Lopes said, “like the lighting and the con-
trol panels and the different upgrades we needed.” The funding will be used to modernize the auditorium with upgraded sound, projection, microphone and control systems, projection screens, LED lighting, a professional podium, large-format television display panels and roll-top covers to protect audiovisual equipment. “Providing Uniondale’s students with access to cuttingedge audiovisual technology will provide them with outstanding hands-on educational opportunities that are essential in the digital age,” Nicks said
in a statement last week. “Moreover, it will enhance Uniondale High School’s versatility as a venue that will benefit the entire community.” For district Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil, the improvements address a longstanding need. “Our high school auditorium is one of two auditoriums that we have in
our school district,” she said. “It’s not just used by the high school. It is also utilized by all the schools for stepping-up ceremonies, as well as numerous community events.” Throughout the year, the auditorium also hosts student performances, including concerts by the district’s Show COnTinueD On page 10