The Rev. John David McCarthy, previously a priest-in-residence at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Floral Park and the chaplain at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville since 2013, has been appointed administrator of Our Lady of Lourdes church in Malverne. more

In a sacred, thrilling, stress-filled, tear-stained yearly ritual, our area high school graduates are heading off to college, the next chapter in their journey to . . . more

It was Friday afternoon during the Qualifying Tournaments week of the U.S. Open, and Long Island’s presence was found throughout the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow Park. On Practice Court Three, 13 members of Malverne High School girls tennis team was firmly situated in the grandstand seats with their coach, Patrice Ward, examining the professionals’ techniques. “I’m looking at her serves,” said Minahil Mudassar as she and her teammates watched Venus Williams practice. “It is the most important thing in the game.” Others, like Roshni Shukla were examining other skills. “I’m looking at backhands,” said Shukla, who just joined the tennis team this year and said the two-handed backhand was the more difficult skill for her. more

I hadn’t truly understood or appreciated the mindset of an 18-year-old black woman until I read Amon Brown’s excellent article, “Black Lives Matter rallies in East Meadow,” published recently in the Heralds. Brown, who is 18 and African-American . . . more

Eight Nassau County high school students and two 2016 graduates recently invested two weeks of their summer vacations learning to craft news leads, shoot photos, edit videos and build their own WordPress blogs at Hofstra University’s High School Summer Journalism Institute. more

Dozens of Long Islanders gathered at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow on July 9 to march in the first Black Lives Matter rally in central Nassau County. The march was organized by a group of Long Island youth following the recent killings of two African-American men by police in Baton Rouge, La., and Falcon Heights, Minn. more

The Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame (HOF) was created a year ago to recognize, preserve and promote the heritage of interscholastic sports. The HOF is temporarily located in the rotunda of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola and is expected to call the new Nassau Coliseum its home. more

Alyssa Garbarino’s second concussion came on a frigid Sunday afternoon when she was 17. Under overcast skies, Garbarino, of North Merrick, who was then playing with the East Meadow Soccer Club’s Storm, bruised her way through a sea of bodies. As she battled with her opponent on the Northport Cow Harbor United Soccer Club, she was constantly driven to the ground, her head hitting the hard earth. As fast as she went down, though, she popped back up. As the game wore on, she began to feel dizzy and developed a sharp headache. more

I’d like to offer local high school graduates some important advice for the future: Don’t study too much in college. It’s not the sort of wisdom graduates expect to hear, especially from a high school teacher, but . . . more

Hundreds of people gathered at the Alva T. Stanforth Sports Complex near Elmont Library on Saturday to kick off the Elmont/Belmont Day Parade, marking the unofficial start of summer and the lead-up … more