Valley Stream teachers compete for a good cause

About 200 students, parents and faculty members gathered to watch the Valley Stream Central High School District staff softball game on May 20 to benefit a nonprofit organization founded by a Valley Stream alumnus for terminally ill children.

“Watching teachers in a different setting, I was exhausted from laughing,” said Central High School Principal Joseph Pompilio. “It was so much fun.”

The team scrimmaged with faculty from Memorial Junior High School. Central won the game 16-4. Pompilio said the schools hold such events because students at Memorial (grades 7 through 9) feed into Central (grades 10 through 12), unlike North and South high schools (grades 7 through 12), which are self-contained.

Pompilio said there was sufficient “clean and appropriate” trash-talking among the teachers. Tony Lombardo, a security officer at Central, coached the team with Pompilio and was doused with water at the end of the game. Central faculty also brandished an oversized cardboard cutout of Lombardo’s face. “He’s a character,” Pompilio said.

Proceeds from food and drink sales were donated to the Quinn Madeleine Foundation, a wish-granting organization serving young children diagnosed with a terminal or life threatening disease. The organization was founded by Memorial and Central alumnus Eileen Linzer in memory of her daughter, Quinn, who died in August 2013 of Niemann-Pick Disease, Type A at 15 months old. The Quinn Madeleine Foundation’s mission is to support research and treatment of the disease and to facilitate memorable experiences for children under 3 who have been diagnosed with a terminal or life-threatening illness.

“We understand that not everybody has the support and resources that we had,” Linzer said. The impetus for providing an experience or vacation to terminally ill children came from the fact that Linzer’s two sons associate Quinn with memories of activities they did together before she died.

Linzer said that Memorial would be donating one lump sum to the charity at the end of the school year, combining other fundraising events that have already taken place.

“It was so much fun, the weather was beautiful and I think that helped contribute,” she said. “The staff and faculty of both Central and Memorial were incredible, and it was a good time.”