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Freeport Honors A Teacher And Friend
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| As the sun shone on flowers in the new Cheryle Isreal
Learning Garden, loving descriptions full of admiration for the late
Bayview Avenue School teacher and mentor bloomed... |
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just as brightly during a ceremony in celebration of her life last week.
Isreal, a resident of Freeport and a member of the Bayview staff for
34 years, died last March.
“Our beloved Cheryle Isreal was a master
teacher, a Project Challenge teacher, a lead math teacher, a classroom
teacher, a mentor, a creative thinker and visionary, and the writer,
director and producer of all our theatrical productions,” said
Bayview Principal Odette Wills. “She
will always live in our hearts.”
Gathered
on the Bayview parking field were more than 500 Bayview students, current
and retired staff, parents, administrators from all over the school district,
and the executive director of Long Island Red Cross, on hand to honor
the partnership Isreal forged between Bayview and his agency. She and
her students ultimately raised $20,000 for the Red Cross through a read-a-thon
and inspired other districts to do the same.
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At a ceremony honoring the late Cheryle Isreal,
who taught at Bayview Avenue School for 34 years, students presented
moving tributes in poetry, song and dance. From left, Monique Simmon,
Zanei Anderson, Margaret Moor, Isaiah Smith and Desiree Plasencia
say, “Thank you, Mrs. Isreal.” |
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Cheryle Isreal, a master teacher |
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A bouquet of yellow roses, Isreal’s favorite
flower, grows as each Bayview class adds a single flower. |
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They joined Isreal’s husband, children,
mother and other family members for the moving ceremony that primarily
featured Bayview children. Their tributes included reflections with
an oft-repeated “thank you, Mrs. Isreal;” the vocal ensemble
of Wandally Rivera, Nanci Silvera, Taya Waymer and Kathryn White singing
an original song, “Mrs. Isreal;” a poetry tribute presented
by Lois Evens, Alex Gold, Madeline Krol, Margaret Moore, Ayleene Parada,
Anthony Perez, Franco Ramos, Jennifer Veslasquex and Skye Hamilton-Carranza;
and “I Believe I Can Fly,” an interpretive dance presented
and choreographed with billowing silk “wings” by a costumed
Isaac Zellner.
Summing up, Superintendent of Schools Dr.
Eric L. Eversley expressed “a continuing sense of personal loss. But this
morning,” he continued, “We have the opportunity to celebrate
a rich life; a person who made our lives richer.”
As children filed off the field past the
new learning garden, each class added a single yellow rose — Isreal’s
favorite flower — to a bouquet in her memory.
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