Saul Lerner, the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District athletic director, recently resigned his post as coordinator of the Nassau County Boys' Basketball Committee because, he said, the Section VIII Athletic Council rejected a proposal of his to fine-tune the seeding process that ultimately determines teams' playing schedules. In 2006, Lerner was the architect of an ability-grouping system that determined a team's conference by its record. Previously, teams were assigned to conferences without much regard to their records. Rather, officials used what they called the "snake," in which teams were seeded and then laid out on a grid that wound back and forth in serpentine fashion. more

It's a safe bet that any dust settling on the blackboard in Lisa Drewes's classroom at Fayette Elementary School in North Merrick is a byproduct of abandonment rather than chalk. The fourth-grade room is outfitted with one of 15 SMART Boards in the North Merrick School District, a new tool that teachers are crediting with revolutionizing teaching methods and making conventional blackboards obsolete. "I put my schedule on it every day, aside from that I don't write on my blackboard at all," Drewes said. more

Only 6 months old, Sophia Gaynor of Bellmore is bringing out the best in hundreds of local high school students. Around 300 people turned out at Mepham High School's track on Oct. 22 to take a part in a walk-a-thon to benefit the charitable organization, Sophia's Cure. The organization is named for a local newborn who was diagnosed with fatal spinal muscular atrophy, a group of diseases that affect the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brain stem. more

Calhoun High School students got a small taste of what it's like to drive drunk last Friday, the final day of National Teen Driver Safety Week. The students suited up with bicycle helmets and special glasses that obscure users’ vision, hopped aboard one of two pedal carts and attempted to negotiate an obstacle course of orange highway cones. The students, who were not drinking, smiled and laughed as they maneuvered slowly -- and quite awkwardly -- through the course. But the message was serious: Drinking makes you lose your sense of control, and that can lead to dire consequences if you drive. more

I’d like to devote my 750 words this week to shamelessly promoting two books by a former colleague and good friend, Michael Otterman. They are “American Torture” (Melbourne University Publishing, 2007) and “Erasing Iraq: The Human Cost of Carnage,” to be published in 2010. more

As they have at recent Central District Board of Education sessions, roughly a half-dozen parents and members of a recently formed, ad hoc community group, Time for Turf, spoke again at the Oct. 7 board meeting, reiterating their desire to see artificial-turf football fields at Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham high schools. And, they said, they're not going away. In two recent meetings at which Time for Turf members spoke, they were unchallenged in their calls for synthetic-turf fields, with Central District officials primarily listening to their concerns and, most recently, forming a district committee to examine ways to improve all of Central's 31 athletic fields at its three high schools and two middle schools. This time, the calls for artificial turf were met by vocal opposition from Fred Kleiman, a local resident. Repeatedly noting the per-field cost for synthetic turf of more than $1 million, Kleiman said it would be "fiscally irresponsible" of the Central District to consider such a proposal, given that it would likely mean a property-tax increase amid a deep recession. more

The Merrick School District welcomed the newest additions to its staff at the Sept. 29 Board of Education meeting. Joining the faculty this year are art teachers Robyn Jordan at the Birch School and Amanda Kaminsky at Chatterton School. Also teaching English as a Second Language districtwide is Christine Treglia. more

The Merrick School District welcomed the newest additions to its staff at the Sept. 29 Board of Education meeting. Joining the faculty this year are art teachers Robyn Jordan at the Birch School and Amanda Kaminsky at Chatterton School. Also teaching English as a Second Language districtwide is Christine Treglia. "These teachers went through an extensive interview process," Dr. Ranier Melucci, district superintendent, said. "On behalf of the Board of Education, the central office and the Merrick community, I want to welcome each of our three new teachers to the school district." Also discussed at the meeting were plans for the new school year, including continuation of guided reading programs and the inclusion of fun, wellness-based physical activities for students, like the popular game Dance Dance Revolution. The next Board of Education meeting will be on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at Levy-Lakeside School. All board meetings are open to the public. more

From breaking news updates on 1010 WINS, to traffic reports on Z100, to sports recaps on WCBS 880, to political debates on national television, the alumni of Hofstra University’s radio station can be heard across the metropolitan area and around the country. more

Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham high schools all celebrated Homecoming on Saturday, and students had a blast at the pre-game parades and at the big football games, despite all three home teams losing. Calhoun went down to Massapequa, 24-20. Kennedy lost a heartbreaker to Division, 21-20, after being up 20-0 at halftime. And Mepham was overpowered by No. 4 seed Wantagh, 30-7. more