One of the pleasures of being your community newspaper is that we get to see and report on some of the important things taking place on Long Island that are often overlooked by Newsday and the other daily newspapers.
And while crime and politics take space on our pages as well, it is these events that make Nassau County a great place to live.
For example, in this issue we report on the annual Heritage Celebration at Searingtown Elementary School. This year the second graders whose families came from other countries came to school in the traditional clothing of those countries.
On this special day, the smiling little girls came to school in the beautiful dresses worn for special celebrations in India, China, South Korea and other countries. Other children cut out paper dolls showing the customs of their ancestors.
Some parents joined the celebration bringing food from their homelands for the children to enjoy.
The celebration took advantage of the fact that Nassau County is a microcosm of the world and helped the children understand more about the cultures of the world they live in.
At the Denton Avenue Elementary School the children spent Heritage Week enjoyed a similar learning experience.
Students were given an introduction to yoga, learned how to make challah bread and were taught about the structure of words in Chinese calligraphy. They also learned about Bhangra, a joyful Indian dance and even and country line dancing.
Like Searingtown, the program at Denton Avenue Elementary School was aimed at giving the students an appreciation for diverse cultures in a school where the student population itself demonstrates ethnic diversity..
In the 21st century, residents are lucky to have schools where the administrator and faculty have this kind of global vision.
At these schools and others on the island it is a small world after all.
