Malvernite Bettina “Tina” Castelluzzo dislikes asking for help, even with little money to pay for her impending divorce, a new home and college and vocational school expenses. But when she realized that she couldn’t afford everything, she accepted her friend Caroline Bormann’s aid. more

Malvernite Bettina “Tina” Castelluzzo dislikes asking for help, even with little money to pay for her impending divorce, a new home and college and vocational school expenses. But when she … more

Part five in the series “Educating the 21st Century Child.”Mepham High School broadcast teacher Stu Stein often holds class in the dark, and with virtually every surface in his … more

The drug addicts’ brain scans that Dr. Stephen Dewey takes appear in psychedelic shades of red, yellow, green and blue, each indicating a level of brain activity — or inactivity. Red means excited. Blue is dormant. Dewey is the laboratory director for behavioral and molecular neuro-imaging at the North Shore-LIJ Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. In that capacity, he’s put hundreds of addicts’ brains to the test — the positron emission tomography test, that is — seeking to understand precisely what happens to the mind when a pot smoker lights up or a heroin junkie shoots up. And, he has found, it isn’t pretty. more

Jake Thomas and Alex Vargas, both 21, played baseball together in 2011 at Calhoun High School under legendary coach Joe Corea. In 2010, Thomas led the Colts squad that captured the Nassau County Class AA title. In 2012, Vargas played a critical role in the Colts’ victory at the Long Island Class AA championship. Major League teams recently drafted them both. more

The 11th annual Bellmore-Merrick Challenge Day brought together special-education students from across Nassau County and seniors in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District for a day of fun and games at Calhoun High School on May 20. more

The Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District will host a Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, May 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mepham High School, 2401 Camp Ave., Bellmore. more

Graduation rates are steadily rising in the Valley Stream Central High School District, according to figures recently released from the New York State Department of Education. more

Nearly half of the Valley Stream Central High School District’s Board of Education seats will be filled by trustees who didn’t serve there last year. Following reorganization meetings for the three elementary districts on Monday, four of the nine seats will change hands for the 2014-15 school years. more

North High School’s top graduates say they would not be where they are without each other. A friendly academic rivalry developed over the years, and, when the dust settled, Jeanette Freeman, of Malverne, became the valedictorian of the class of 2014. more