Third grade student artists from Forest Avenue Elementary School recently examined and created their own sparkling gemstones. To begin, art teacher Janice Dougherty shared the book “Sam and Dave Dig a Hole.” In the story, the characters are determined to find something “spectacular” but keep missing the buried gemstones as they dig in the ground. Students examined real geodes and made educated guesses of what could be discovered inside the cracked rocks. Once opened, the sparkling gemstones were excitedly observed. Artists created their own versions using a combination of analogous markers, cut paper and metallic paint pens.

Date Added: 3/10/2025

After students at Forest Avenue Elementary School were inspired by a Zoom with the inventor of the Post-it, the schools hosted their own Invention Convention. 

Working with library media specialist Andrea Francisco, students brainstormed and collaborated to find different ways for solving everyday problems. Once they thought of an idea, students went home and worked together with their families to come up with a solution. 

On Feb. 11, participants showed off their designs and innovations during the first Invention Convention. They were able to demonstrate their latest inventions to the school as different grade levels visited the gymnasium. Both their creativity and critical thinking skills were on display for their classmates and visitors.  

Click here to view the Creativity on Display at Forest’s Invention Convention slideshow.

Date Added: 2/28/2025

Fifth graders from Forest Avenue Elementary School recently accepted their assignment as cub reporters when they attended the Newsday in Education field trip at Newsday’s headquarters in Melville. They were greeted and presented with press passes and a swag bag containing a reporter’s notebook and pen. 

The field trip included a mock breaking news story assignment, meeting reporters, touring the multimedia news facility, interacting with several Newsday personnel and learning about the different careers in Newsday’s print, television and online formats. Mrs. Francisco, Forest Avenue’s school library media specialist, accompanied the students on the trip. She strives to teach students the importance of news literacy and its impact on our community. By collaborating with Newsday, the fifth grade students received a firsthand account of a day in the life of the news world. 

Click here to view the Forest Avenue’s Future Reporters Take Field Trip to Newsday slideshow.

Date Added: 2/18/2025

Forest Avenue Elementary School is proud to have a display of first and fourth grade artwork currently in the West Babylon Public Library. The artwork is displayed in the children’s area in February as part of a collaboration between the West Babylon Art Department and the West Babylon Public Library to help promote the arts in the schools and in the community. 

Under the direction of art teacher Janice Dougherty, first grade students worked diligently to create artwork to proudly be displayed. Students created line design owls using their cutting and painting skills for mixed media artwork.

Mrs. DiStefano’s fourth grade art classes created metallic snowflakes using a color scheme developed with tissue paper and metallic lines. Additionally, fourth grade students created Jim Dine paint palettes while learning about the elements of line, value and color to develop their artwork in a similar style to artist Jim Dine. 

Date Added: 2/22/2025