William Floyd Promotes Peace, Unity Through Seventh Annual Unity Week
Mastic Beach – The William Floyd School District recently held its seventh annual Unity Week celebration as a way to promote peace, unity, diversity, tolerance, understanding and acceptance of differences throughout our schools and in our daily lives.
Students from each building participated in various activities and for the fourth consecutive year, William Floyd took home the “Best Presentation” Award at the Shanti Fund Day of Peace at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge for the district’s numerous age-appropriate activities in each school. This year, they tied for first with Patchogue-Medford. William Floyd High School students serving on the Unity Week Committee under the direction of assistant principal Deb Gurney, made the successful presentation. Students are from a number of various groups including Student Government, the National Honor Society and Key Club.
Students in all grade levels participated in peace-related activities, a sampling of the week’s activities include third graders at Moriches Elementary School holding their annual “Poetry Café,” in which students share original poems with their classmates; fifth graders at John S. Hobart Elementary School spelled out UNITY on the playground; at Tangier Smith Elementary School kindergartners created peace signs using their handprints to reflect unity; at Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School, fourth-graders in Meghan Nocella’s class read the book, “A Peaceful Place to Be,” to Stacie Conlon’s kindergarten class and in return the kindergartners created “thank you” hearts for them; and at William Floyd Elementary School students wrote messages of hope on rocks to place in a rock garden.
At William Floyd Middle School, students created a wonderful art installation, “On Fire for Peace and Wisdom,” under the direction of art teachers Timothy Kosta and Stephanie Taisler. The installation represents “the burning desire to fan the flame of peace and wisdom throughout or school and community.”
At William Paca Middle School, students in Marco Antenucci’s sixth- and seventh-grade art classes collaborated on a project to create large prints inspired by West African Adinkra symbols of wisdom. Seventh graders constructed the print-making plates from cardboard, which were then inked, stamped and decorated by the sixth graders.
At William Floyd High School, students visited all of the elementary schools to read stories about unity to the kindergarten and first-grade students. They also read quotes about peace and wisdom over morning announcements each day and held a special craft-making activity for the community’s younger children, “Paper Cranes for Peace,” at the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library. Students also put their words into action by hosting a food drive to benefit a local food pantry. Students at the Floyd Academy also decorated the walls with peace doves featuring peaceful and inspirational sayings. The week culminated with students and staff from throughout the district wearing white for unity.
Photos: William Floyd School District | Cover Photo: Students hold up the peace sign at the third-grade Poetry Cafe at Moriches Elementary. Story Photo: Fifth graders at John S. Hobart Elementary School spelled out Unity.
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