FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com june 12, 2014 • The Courier sun 19 Have a heart, get involved BY ISABELA TAXILAGA This year I learned lessons about heartfulness. It is a lot like mindfulness because you have to take a breath and a moment to think. But what’s most important is knowing the Golden Rule: treat people the way you want to be treated. Imagine if you saw a kid being bullied. You would want to stop him or her, but would you say something mean? Maybe you thought about it and you still felt like saying something mean. A Better Kind of Cancer Care Instead, you took a deep breath and thought about something better to say. Imagine how that kid might feel that was being bullied, he or she was hurt by that bully. You don’t want to become a bully too. When you see something like that don’t just walk away, remember the Golden Rule and do something about it. Always think: what’s the right thing to do? I hope you do that! I hope you learned a lot about mindfulness and heartfulness! Thank you very much Ms. Lupoli for all of these lessons. ISABELA Isabella Taxilaga was the grand prize winner of the Be Kind People Project’s nationals student writing contest. My name is Isabella and I am in the first grade at P.S. 122 in Astoria. My favorite things to do are reading, writing and drawing. I love to write poems, songs and stories about my family and what I feel. I really love doing this job and I’m very happy and proud to write for everybody. “I came to Winthrop because treating pancreatic cancer absolutely requires a collaborative, team approach.” Dr. John D. Allendorf is head of Winthrop’s Pancreatic Cancer Program and Vice Chairman of the Department of Surgery. He joined Winthrop from the largest university hospital in New York City. A renowned pancreatic surgeon and innovator in robotic surgery, Dr. Allendorf and his team are giving new hope to pancreatic cancer patients. “What’s important is to have a group of specialists that are expert in their respective elds and dedicated to a common problem. Physicians, nurses and other providers who work well together in an institution that encourages teamwork. Here at Winthrop we have six to eight physicians from di erent specialties all focused on each individual cancer patient. That is uncommon across the country and unique on Long Island. “I really believe that at Winthrop-University Hospital, we’re delivering a better kind of cancer care.” ‚ƒ„ First Street, Mineola, New York ŠŠƒ‹Š • Š.Ž‘‘.WINTHROP • winthrop.org Street to be co-named for teacher who died from cancer BY LIA M LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com @liamlaguerre Former P.S. 41 science teacher Geri Cilmi’s motto to her students in the Bayside school was “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” So when she was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007, instead of fretting about it, Cilmi took all the necessary treatment and fought the disease with a smile, her husband, Tom, said. “She was fantastic,” he said. “Doctors were amazed at her attitude and everything was just hunky-dory.” But the cancer attacked strong in 2011 and Cilmi, a mother of one and beloved public school teacher of four decades, died that May. To honor her memory and achievements, a former student, Thomas Fennell, requested a street be conamed and Community Board 11 approved it. Family and friends will gather on June 20 as Councilman Paul Vallone unveils the new Mrs. Geri Cilmi Place at 214th Lane behind the school. Cilmi began teaching in 1967 as a substitute teacher in Brooklyn elementary schools. When she shifted to P.S. 41 in 1989 she became a full-time science teacher. She retired in 2008. During her time at P.S. 41, Cilmi was loved by colleagues and students for her extraordinary effort as a teacher. Cilmi hosted science nights in the school, where parents and students were able to do a variety of experiments. She applied for numerous grants for the school, including one from NASA for a weather station. She also set up the school’s garden. She was vice president of the Elementary School Science Association (ESSA) and made various science presentations for children. “She was one of those people that were a natural teacher,” said second grade teacher Diane DiBlasi, who worked with Cilmi at P.S. 41 for two decades. “She opened up the world to so many children in a positive way.” Outside of teaching, Cilmi was a bright woman who loved to dance and a devoted mother who raised her son to be a Harvard Universityeducated doctor. She listened to The Beatles and Elvis Presley, and loved to draw. Cilmi desired to write a children’s book, but never had the chance. Tom will be present at the ceremony and believes his wife deserves the honor. “It gives me the feeling that she really accomplished something,” he said. “She touched a lot of people and an awful lot of children.”
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