Malverne Celebrates Successes and Says Goodbye

Cancer fighters, Mechanical Mules and Disney stars were just some of the groups honored at the June business meeting of the Malverne Board of Education.

It took school officials well over an hour to recognize all of the students, teachers and volunteers who had recently achieved success, reached a milestone or were ready to say goodbye after dedicating years of service to the district.

Relay for Life

Spiro Colaitis, assistant superintendent of district operations, first praised seven people who made Malverne's second annuala "tremendous success." The May 4 fundraiser for the American Cancer Society brought in roughly $41,000, doubling the amount it raised last year. The two teams who brought in the most money were the students of Maurice W. Downing Primary School, led by teacher Marguerite Robles, and Davison Avenue Intermediate School, led by its captain, Jodie Towsky.

Colaitis also presented certificates to Malverne High School marching band director Erin Lynch, and social worker Matt Rosen, for their help, and newly elected school board Trustee Michael Taylor, who brought the event to Malverne in the first place. Finally, he recognized two volunteers from the American Cancer Society, Bill Holzapfel, of Malverne, and Paul Gruol, who coordinated the event. In return, Gruol presented the American Cancer Society's highest honor, the Spirit of Hope Award, to the Malverne school district. It was the first time ACS has ever presented this award to a school district.

"I've never seen such passion and drive in my life ... it comes from parenting, great and great teachers," Gruol said. "You should be very proud, because this is you."

Malverne Educational and Fitness Foundation Grants

The evening continued with the Malverne Educational and Fitness Foundation awarding mini grants, totaling $4,400, to teachers' projects. This year's recipients were Howard T. Herber Middle School science teacher Ginny DeLeo, who will use the money to fund a trout program in her classroom; Malverne High School librarian Catherine Brown, who will spend hers on ebooks and a poetry cafe; Rachel Gross for sensory field trips for middle school students; and Downing special education teacher Cristina DaCosta to pay for yoga and resources for a special needs child.

Howard T. Herber Middle School Val, Sal, and Science Research Team

Herber Principal Steven Gilhuley then honored the top ranked students in the middle school, valedictorian Jessie Pace and salutatorian Ashley Akaeze.

Pace, who earned overall GPA of 101.93, is an All-County musician, president of Jazz Band, and a member of the National Junior Honor Society, lacrosse team, Community Service Club, and the championship Pride of Malverne Marching Band.

Both students also take accelerate math and science courses and are members of Herber's award-winning science research team, which was also recognized during the June 12 board meeting, along with their teacher Ginny DeLeo, for becoming in Disney's Planet Challenge competition earlier this year. Three members of the team -- Tosen, Dante and Antonio  -- also earned honorable mentions in the Siemen's "We Can Change the World" competition.

Pace was also a semi finalist in the Young Naturalist Competition, for which he also earned a separate recognition during the meeting.

Akaeze earned a 100.93 GPA and is also an All County musician (for vocals). She attended the Young Leadership Conference in 2011 and was nominated to return in 2013, and earned the Presidential Outstanding Excellence Award.

Scholar-Athletes

Malverne High School Principal Jim Brown and Athletics Director Brenda White (along with the East Rockaway's A.D.) then presented scholar athlete awards to the members of the girls lacrosse team, who kept their grades up (90 or above) while also performing well on the field. 

Mechanical Mules

Then, the Malverne High School Robotics team, now in its fifth year and 55 members strong (That's 10 percent of the student body!), were recognized for receiving the Entrepreneurship Award at the F.I.R.S.T. competition. To educate the public about who they are and what they do, the Mechanical Mules also showed a two-minute they prepared about their team and its impact.

Achievers Award, Photography and Eagle Scout

Herber seventh grader Denise Gregory was also recognized for receiving an award from the National Achievers Society, an academic honors society that recognizes successes of youth of color from around Long Island.

Malverne High School senior Rosemary Vargas was honored for recently having one of her photographs selected by the Photographic Society of America (PSA) which will showcase it at their 74^th Annual Conference in California this September. 

The district also thanked recent Malverne High School graduate Jesse Gillespie, who create "dog decoys" for his Eagle Scout project. The wooden displays will be placed on Malverne's sports fields (when not in use) to keep geese (and their droppings) away.

Tenured and Retiring Teachers, Admins

The board also recognized teachers who recently earned tenure, and honored two teachers  -- Dan Gibbons, a special education teacher at the high school, and Kyra Freed, a science teacher at the middle school -- and two administrators -- Science Chair Marietta Cleckley and Athletics Director Brenda White -- who are retiring at the end of the school year.

Aker, Coonan Say Goodbye

Malverne also had a chance to thank long-time Board of Education Trustees Karen Aker and Dr. Patrick Coonan for their service, honoring them each with an engraved clock and a cake. Aker, who served on the school board for 16 years, is retiring when her term ends later this month, while Coonan, who put in nine, .

Aker said it has been an honor "to serve on this school district for our children, our staff and our residents ... I thank you very much."

"This is a job you don't do for yourself ... It's not about you. It's about the kids, the district and everything you do to put in to make it happe. It's the worst job in the world," Coonan said. "You sit there and you make decisions, not everybody likes what decisions you make ... and you're also charged with managing $48 million of public money every where and that's a big challenge."

Coonan praised the board for getting this year's budget passed and then said, "Thanks for the memories ... good, bad and indifferent."