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During the first few weeks of the school closures, food service staff were preparing and serving and or delivering meals. But as the closures were extended, many districts have used the program as a way to keep in touch with students. Not only do parents get the meals, but they also pick up schoolwork, and see teachers and principals. Using district transportation vehicles, some school districts deliver meals directly to students’ homes, especially in the case where students live in remote locations or parents might not have reliable transportation.

“Our local businesses and communities have generously supported our food program. The goal we have for this program is simple, to provide meals to students. These are difficult times, especially for parents who are not working,” Naples said. “Parents are so grateful and thanking us for providing meals. They share with us how this program relieves their anxiety of how they are going to feed their children. When we hear these stories, we know that we have done something important, needed and so valuable.”

What do you get when you connect over 80 students, 23 teachers and administrators, 24 CABOCES Instructional Support Services (ISS) staff members, who are miles apart, each safely in their own homes, across 2 counties?

The first ever regional Virtual Scholastic Challenge.

On May 1, twenty teams from twelve area school districts met, virtually, to participate in the Virtual Scholastic Challenge. The Scholastic Challenge is an annual event that is hosted by Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES. The regional competition that tests students’ knowledge of academic trivia and current events, is typically held as a face-to-face tournament. This year, in response to extended school building closures throughout the region, the competition was held virtually.

In the spring of 2018, a few sunflower seeds were planted in the courtyard at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School, and at the start of the 2018-2019 school year three, beautiful, tall sunflowers greeted teachers and students on the first day of school.�� The seeds from those three sunflowers were harvested, and that is when the POBMS Sunflower Project started.

During the spring of 2019, over 100 of those harvested sunflower seeds were planted in the courtyard, and extra seeds were shared with staff members and the other schools in the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District.�� On the first day of school this year, the POBMS family was welcomed back to school with over 90 bright, happy, giant sunflowers blooming in the courtyard!�� During the fall of 2019, a school-wide seed dissection project was conducted and four shopping bags full of seeds were collected!�� The POBMS family made individual bags of seeds and designed a brochure detailing the story of the POBMS Sunflowers.�� The seeds were sent to over 300 Nassau County schools!�� In spring 2020, the POBMS family planned to plant double the number of sunflowers in the courtyard in hopes of sharing seeds in both Nassau and Suffolk counties this fall.