Throughout December, fifth-grade students in Kerri Maroney’s class at Great Neck Road Elementary School spearheaded a schoolwide collection of goods to help soldiers in need this holiday season. 

The class collected donations of nonperishable food items and toiletries to donate to soldiers and veterans. Their “stockings for soldiers” campaign yielded 15 boxes of donated goods. The class also created handmade cards to include with the packages. 

Members of the local Knights of Columbus picked up the boxes and delivered them to the Amityville Civic Association. The students all received certificates from Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer from the Town of Babylon for their efforts. Councilman Tony Martinez delivered the certificates and helped with the pickup. The Civic Association shipped the boxes to soldiers abroad in time for the holidays. 

Prior to winter recess, students at Great Neck Road Elementary School had the opportunity to experience a winter wonderland during their physical education classes. With the gymnasium decorated with snow, the holiday-themed setup included snowball skating, holiday hockey, polar puzzle, Grinch snowball toss, holiday bowling and a ride on Santa’s sleigh. During their physical education classes throughout the week, students participated in the festive workouts.

Third-graders in Jeanie Mullins’ class at Great Neck Road Elementary School participated in the nationwide Hour of Code campaign as part of Computer Science Education Week. The Hour of Code is designed to introduce students to the career path of computer sciences. Using the code.org, the third-graders learned about problem-solving and worked together to conquer different levels of programming.

It was a day of high-flying, hands-on activity for third-graders in Kaileen Spadaro’s class at Great Neck Road Elementary School on Nov. 20.

The students began by reading “Balloons Over Broadway” about the New York City Thanksgiving Day parade. As part of a STEM-based Thanksgiving activity, the students were tasked with constructing their own balloon floats. Working in groups, the students chose their designs and used construction papers, boxes and other materials to get them to float atop a cardboard box. 

After they completed their floats, the students marched through the cafeteria to show off their creative designs to the kindergartners. 

Kindergartners at Great Neck Road Elementary School started preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday by participating in Thanksgiving centers on Nov. 19.

After learning different facts and the history of Thanksgiving, the three kindergarten classes rotated classrooms for different hands-on activities. In one station, the students colored three feathers and glued them to create a headband. A second classroom station featured turkeys made out of folded paper, while the students in another classroom made their own patterned necklaces out of Fruit Loops. 

Fifth-graders at Great Neck Road Elementary School celebrated World Kindness Day on Nov. 13. The students brainstormed different ways to spread kindness and wrote letters to some of the unsung heroes at their school such as cafeteria aides, security guards and bus drivers.