Seaford Harbor Elementary PTA Wins Grant For Virtual STEAM Night

SEAFORD, NY — The Seaford Harbor Elementary School Parent Teacher Association was one of only 50 local PTA groups to receive a $1,000 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics + Families Science Festival Grant sponsored by Bayer to explore science through hands-on activities at home, according to a Seaford School District news release.

The money will be used for a virtual Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics night in March, as the PTA will purchase kits with projects students can do at home with their families as a teacher leads the activities over videoconference, according to district officials.

The school hosts the popular event every year but could not this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, district officials said Vanessa Krussmann, second vice president of the Seaford Harbor PTA, wanted to continue the “opportunity for students through virtual means.”

The PTA is still deciding which science kits to purchase, but there are a lot of great options from making bubbles to building rockets and while some of the kits come with all of the necessary materials, others are supplemented by common household items, according to Krussman.

“This is going to enhance the school’s STEAM program and kids can do it in the comfort of their homes with their families,” Krussman stated.

International Week At Seaford Manor Elementary School

In other school news, the Seaford Manor Elementary School students celebrated International Week from Jan. 11-15 by learning about the cultures and traditions of visitors from countries spanning the seven continents — all by videoconference, according to a Seaford School District news release.

Every year, the school welcomes the family members of students to talk about the countries where they or their ancestors hailed from, but this year the pandemic opened up “new doors” because some of the guest speakers live out of the area and might not have been able to participate if it was not for videoconferencing, Assistant Principal Mary-Ellen Kakalos stated in a release.

This year, district officials explained, students learned about Guatemala from Patricia Weniger, grandmother of Max DiMola, who sent a scarf along with some coins for DiMola to show students to look at while she spoke about the culture of the Central American nation.

First graders also received a virtual visit from Jillian Lau, mother of Jonathan Lau, who taught students about the Philippines, where Lau’s grandarents are from, including the symbolism of the flag and a few Filipino phrases, according to district officials. Diego Aldanna also spoke to his grandson, James Aldanna, and Aldanna’s kindergarten classmates about Colombian culture, districts officials said.

In addition to learning from the guest speakers, students drew suitcases on paper featuring facts about the countries their families hail from, district officials said. Art teacher Jamie LaSota also spoke to students about her trip to an art village in China a few years ago and she showed them a tea set she brought back as an example of ceramic art, district officials said.

For International Week art projects, 3rd graders painted cherry blossom trees on rice paper, while 4th and 5th graders created art based on traditional meals in their families, district officials said. Librarian Samantha Simon, officials explained, also visited 3rd grade classes to help students with research projects on other nations using World Book online.