Student Council Encourages
Community to Order Engraved Bricks
The student council at Division Avenue High School has been working hard to fundraise for and get the word out about their “Dragon Path.” The path, as it exists right now, is just a dirt walkway leading up to the athletic complex. But give them a few more months and the student council and its advisors will have enough bricks to build the path that will welcome spectators to the new turf field.
The Dragon Path, when finished, will consist of engraved bricks with names, sayings and accomplishments of students, local businesses and anyone who calls Levittown School District their home.
“Bethpage High School has one, so with our new turf field we thought it would look nice,” Lynn Castellano, DAHS guidance counselor and student council co-advisor, told the Levittown Tribune. “We started to fundraise for it before we had the fire at the press box and concession stand so it kind of slowed down. We hope to do it next year.”
The student council and Castellano, along with other co-advisor Gerard Marzigliano, a science teacher at DAHS, are hoping once the path gets started it will attract more interest from the community.
“The contractor that did it in Bethpage, said ‘Once you start the path then people will see it and say, ooh that’s really cool’,” Castellano said.
Outgoing Student Council President and Valedictorian Michael Comuniello said the student council used funds raised from their annual “Division Idol,” a school version of the popular competition show “American Idol,” among other events throughout the year, to help pay for the Dragon Path.
“The path that’s there now floods a lot, we wanted to complement the new turf field,” he told the Tribune. “Bethpage High School did it, I had a game there and thought it was beautiful.
Comuniello, who has already ordered bricks for himself, and with various clubs he was involved in at school, said he and the student council are reaching out to alumni as well in hopes of making the path a multi-year project, not just for current students.
He did say that current students could pay for a third of a brick and share it with other students.
The cost is $100 for a 4 x 8 brick and $200 for an 8 x 8 brick and order forms for bricks can be found on the school district’s Web site.
Comuniello said “Division Idol” and other events throughout the year go to some school beautification projects, such as planting trees and paying for student body events like homecoming and the pep rally. They decided the Dragon Path would be one of the projects they took on because it was a way to represent the school district.
“I can’t wait for it to be put in,” he said. “It’s a good way to unify the Levittown community.”
Castellano said they are about two-thirds of the way through the project and although there’s no official submission deadline right now, they hope to have it completed next school year.
Castellano said they started the project last year, gathering quotes and getting it approved with the school district. She said that orders for the engraved bricks slowed to a trickle after the press box/concession stand fire at the field but has since started up again. Castellano said with help from the student council, promoting it and fundraising for it, the project is back on its feet.
“Even if we have to do it on our own, we’re doing the walkway,” she said cheerfully.
