Under the baton of music teacher Cara Navaretta, Dayton Avenue’s and Eastport Elementary‘s sixth grade choral students were invited to sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch at the June 4 Long Island Ducks baseball game. It was a family event where many Eastport-South Manor families attended to support the students singing. This was a great event for music education in our schools.

Congratulations to the following Dayton Avenue students: Tenley Albert, Mason Burke, Tanner Carr, Olivia Cefaloni, Benjamin Cressman, Courtney Dietz, Ryann Fontanetta, Maia Garcia, Olivia Goncharuk, Braiden Hickey, Peyton Keen, Scarlett Krygier, Olivia Luck, Alex Martinez, Julia Mazovec, Izabella Moore-Kopek, Liam Penkower, Morgan Skidmore, Kayla Sperandio, Avery Tepper, Mason Tonn, Mackenna Tria and Natalia Wisniewski.

Congratulations to the following Eastport Elementary School students: Valentina Aiello, CJ Bancroft, Jonah Brown, Iyla Bruno, Vicki Cloughen, Adam Degnan, Lincoln Donato, Bria Drnek, Colton Geisen, Peyton Geisen, Jake Giallorenzi, Jackson Hansen, Alessia Hauser, Colin Hogan, Taylor Lostritto, Sophia Madison, Anabella Marzillier, Daniel Pajan, Eric Ramirez, Mia Reehil, Aubrie Rodecker and Parker Salvatore, William Toscano and Jasmine Wimberly.

Date Added: 6/18/2025

Eastport Elementary School fifth grader Keira Peters is the winner of the Long Island Rail Road’s 2024-2025 School Safety S.O.C.K.S. Contest. Keira created the winning message about safety around the LLRR’s trains and tracks in the form of a picture, which has since been reproduced on socks through the LIRR’s partnership with John’s Crazy Socks.   

The Safety S.O.C.K.S. contest is an annual competition through the LIRR’s Together Railroad and Communities Keeping Safe or TRACKS Program. S.O.C.K.S. is the acronym for Saving Our Communities by Keeping Them Safe. Keira was the selected winner for the kindergarten through fifth grade category and is the first Eastport-South Manor student to receive the award. She created her design during an art class with teacher Jamie Walsh.  

LIRR President Robert Free accompanied LIRR Vice President and Chief Safety Officer Dr. Loretta Ebbighausen to personally present Keira with her award and a pair of socks with her winning design and message. Mr. Free explained to the students, faculty and Keira’s parents that the contest is a great opportunity for students to learn and for the LIRR to teach safety around railroad tracks.  

“We are a community and want to show that we care about your safety on the railroad,” Mr. Free said.     

 
Date Added: 6/3/2025  

Eastport Elementary School students learned the fundamentals of putting together a newscast, under the direction of Emmy Award winning journalist Cheryl Wills of Spectrum TV News/NY 1.  

Divided into groups, the students were designated as producer, director, camera crew, audio crew, newscaster and guest to deliver a live newscast from a prewritten script. The students quickly learned that timing is everything in television news and were able to personally feel the pressure of being on a live television crew. 

“There is not a time when putting out a newscast is not overwhelming,” Ms. Wills told the students. “But the process and outcome are very fulfilling.” 

When all of the news scripts were recorded, the students settled down with Ms. Wills for a watch party to appreciate their work.  

Click here to view the Future Newscasters slideshow.

 

Date Added: 5/22/2025

Dayton Avenue and Eastport Elementary students drew packed audiences during recent stage performances of “Mary Poppins, Jr.” and “Beauty and the Beast,” respectively.

Under director Tori Gonzalez, stage director Peter Edwards and musical director Kaitlyn Somerville, the colorful and talented cast performed the beloved classical favorite “Mary Poppins, Jr.” on April 25 and April 26, which included a similar storyline, cast of characters and playlist as the Broadway and television versions. Likewise, Eastport Elementary School thespians wowed the audience with their rendition of the beloved fairytale “Beauty and the Beast” on March 28 and March 29, under the direction of Melanie Mauriello. The students also kept to the main storyline of the Disney version and included the same familiar and beloved characters and songs.

Mr. Gonzalez spoke for both schools when she said the students worked really hard for weeks to prepare for their opening nights on stage. Borrowing a line form the show, she said, “They certainly deserve recognition for their efforts. The show [“Mary Poppins, Jr.”] was practically perfect in every way.”

Click here to view the Elementary Students Wow Audiences with Musical Productions slideshow.

Date Added: 5/9/2025