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 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

New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a report on Jan. 14 titled “School District Revenue Growth Slows.” Before I get to it, a quick primer on education funding. more