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VOL. 37 NO. 5
JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 4, 2026
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At North H.S., a celebration of spoken poetry tinue its participation in the Poetry Out Loud prog ram. Rather than eliminate the Valley Stream North High event, Valley Stream North School held its eighth annual chose to continue the competiPoetry Out Loud competition, tion independently within the continuing a tradition that cele- district. This change gave the brates the art of spoken word school greater flexibility to run and encourages stuthe program, dents to engage enabling it to with poetry through expand eligibility performance. and include youngThis year’s comer students who petition, held on had previously Jan. 14, marked an been unable to parexpansion of the ticipate. pro g ram, as stuLori Belbol, dents from grades 7 chair of the Engthrough 12 particilish Department, pated. and Sofia Owen, an The Poetry Out English teacher and Loud competition at the Poetry Out Va l l e y S t r e a m Loud coordinator, North has grown SOFIA OWEN e m p h a s i z e d t h at significantly since Poetry Out Loud the competition has its inception, start- coordinator and become a signifiing with just two English teacher, cant event within participants in a Valley Stream North the school commusmall classroom set- High School nity. ting. Over the years, “We like having it has evolved into a Poetry Out Loud in major school event held in the our school, because it reprelibrary, drawing an audience of sents our students, and all the nearly 60 students and staff students are able to have this members this year. shared experience, because we The decision to include sev- have all different types of stuenth- and eighth graders for dents competing,” Owen said. the first time followed New “We have [English Language York State’s decision to disconContInuEd on pagE 16
By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO
azingariello@liherald.com
W
Courtesy Northwell Health
Eusha Hasan worked in the Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital kitchen, sharpening his cooking skills during the session.
Hofstra med school students learn nutrition at the hospital By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO azingariello@liherald.com
A group of fourth-year medical students from the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell took part in the Culinary Medicine elective that integrates nutrition education with hands-on experience in a hospital kitchen. The program is designed to help future physicians better understand how food and dietary choices intersect with patient care. On Jan. 15, the students commuted to Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital for a pediatric nutrition session. They cooked in an active hospital kitchen while
observing how meals are prepared for patients. Eva Sheridan, an assistant professor in the Department of Science and Science Education at the Zucker School, collaborated with Alice Fornari, a registered dietician and a professor of science education and family medicine at the school, to create the elective in 2020. “My sister is a [veterinarian], and she went to vet school back at the time, and as part of vet school, she had a whole semester where she was learning about the feeding schedule of the animals,” Sheridan recalled, speaking at the start of the program. “And I ContInuEd on pagE 12
e like having Poetry Out Loud in our school, because it represents our students