Seaford
HERALD Citizen
Decoding writers’ notebooks
MacArthur junior is off to Juilliard
Manor students learn creativity
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Vol. 68 No. 13
MARCH 26 - APRIl 1, 2020
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Pandemic is severe test for 12-steppers ings are happening now,” said one longtime AA member who attends weekly meetings in SeaWhile many agencies across ford, Wantagh, Levittown and the state and county are focused Bellmore. “I found one in Wanton the physical and financial agh that I hadn’t been to before, impact of the but it’s been susCOVID-19 virus, the pended now, too.” mental health of the In normal times, county’s 1.36 million Nassau County has residents is just as more than 700 AA critically important. meetings a week, And recovery with about 30 in Seagroups of all kinds ford and Wantagh. have felt the impact Other recovery of social distancing groups besides AA and closed doors have been similarly more than most. hard hit. Speaking at a Meetings are a news conference in key tool for many Eisenhower Park on recovering addicts March 19, Nassau and are especially County Executive important for those Laura Curran spoke just beginning to of the difficulties live without their faced by recovering substances of addicts of all variet- SuSAN KlEIN choice. “I’m really ies who had mainly Program director, worried about the been using schools people just coming Southeast Nassau and churches for out of rehabs or m e e t i n g p l a c e s, Guidance Center treatment centers,” until Gov. Andrew the AA member Cuomo’s declarations limiting said. Like many in the various the number of people who could fellowships, he requested that meet in one place. But many ven- his name not be used. “They’re ues had already closed their the most vulnerable, and the doors to outside organizations. tools of recovery are new to “None of my regular meetContinued on page 3
By TIMoTHY DENToN tdenton@liherald.com
A
Courtesy Elise Weber Facebook
SEAfoRD RESIDENT AND Adelphi senior Elise Weber’s last undergraduate semester has taken a confusing turn in recent weeks, as classes have been shifted online and her student teaching assignments have been canceled.
A senior unsure of her future Student teaching, commencement canceled By J.D. fREDA jfreda@liherald.com
Adelphi University senior Elise Weber, an art and design education major and a 2016 Seaford High School graduate, has lost her student teaching position, her access to her senior art studio space on campus and her opportunity to be part of a commencement ceremony celebrating four years of hard work. The spread of the coronavirus has been bad news for
Weber and her Adelphi classmates. On March 11, the university canceled all in-person classes and replaced them with online classes. Four days later, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced that all county schools would close for at least two weeks. Weber had been enjoying fulltime work as a student art teacher at Watson, Covert and Riverside elementary schools in Rockville Centre, but that suddenly ended. “I was told by the coordina-
tor of outside affairs, the one who sets up internships and clinicals for Adelphi students, that I couldn’t go in anymore,” Weber said. “I had been there teaching firstthrough fifth-graders every school day since Jan. 23 and going to my Adelphi classes at night. “I had fallen in love with teaching,” she added. On March 16, Adelphi’s spring break began. Not surContinued on page 8
lot of what we do can be done by phone. We’ve been . . . working this week to set up teleconferencing for our group sessions.