Mineola PTA Installs New Officers for Next Year

Mineola Parent Teachers Association (PTA) co-president Cindy Velez recalled how impersonal it seemed when parents would sit in their cars outside the elementary school and wait for their children to come out without ever bothering to introduce themselves. 

“If you take the extra step and get out of the car, you never know who you will meet,” she said at the recent Mineola PTA installation at the .

Fortunately, many Mineola parents are now convening and conversing, drawn together by the challenges of school closings and consolidation amid a down economy, budget constraints and declining enrollment.

For the first time, the various chapters of the Mineola PTA met as one to coalesce and commiserate about a difficult year, one in which the group may be closer than ever.

Robin Bischoff, who serves as co-president along with Velez, said the threat of school closings this year was a defining moment.

“We believe in unity and our community coming together,” she said. “You have to make it work for the kids.”

Velez pointed out that 20 percent of the school budget is earmarked for student programs, which the PTA feels places an unfair burden on the students.

There were painful moves made this year, she said, including the closing of the and the .

“Cross Street made the sacrifice for all of us,” Bischoff said. “We want to hold onto as much as we can and move onto something new. Everyone wants to know where their kid is going in September. Now there is a plan in place.”

Velez pointed to positive developments like the formation of the “,” which is designed to help existing fourth graders transition into the , which now begins in the fifth grade.

The club is set up so that younger students can ask any question of older students about what to expect. It is this guidance and mentoring that is helpings younger students ease into their new school.

“It is one of the wonderful programs Mineola offers,” Velez said. 

The new executive boards for the 2011-2012 Mineola District Council PTA are as follows: 

Willis Avenue PTO 

• President: Cina Palumbo 
• VP: Regina Valente 
• Treasurer: Lisa Frey 
• RSec: Joanne Sousa 
• CSec: Graceann Keese 

Meadow Drive PTA 

• Co-Presidents: Aileen Scott and Debbie Beatty 
• VP: Kathy Sieman 
• Treasurer: Veronica Levitan 
• RSec: Laura Gaglione 
• Historian: Julie Asam 

Mineola SEPTA

• Co Presidents: Virginia Braster and Erin Bertuccio 
• VP: Janet Cardillo, Toniann Dalton, Suzette Sinert 
• Treasurer: Elizabeh Milazzo 
• Secretary: Cathy Bongiorno 

Hampton Street PTA 

• Co-Presidents: Connie DeCaldas, Michelle Grotheer 
• VP: Sue Iadevio, Debbie Tobar, Nancy McCarthy 
• Treasurer: Barbara Lubrano 
• RSec: Robin Kostulias 
• CSec: Lori Baker 
• Historian: Maureen Palumbo 

Jackson Avenue PTA 

• Co-Presidents: Karen Winski, Tara Bridges 
• VP: Christa Basel, Tricia Medved 
• Treasurer: Claudia Kessler 
• RSecretary: Diana Rodriguez 
• CSec: Cathy Carr 
• Historian: Michelle Amante 

District Council 

• Co Presidents: Cindy Velez, Nicole Matzer 
• VP: Toniann Dalton, Mary Desiderio 
• Treasurer: Teresa Hornberger 
• CSec: Nancy McCarthy 
• Rec Sec: Sue Iadevio 
• Historian: Regina Valente