April 22, 2025 • 8 mins
Kerry Wachter talks to Mendte in the Morning about her fight with Albany over the name of the Massapequa high school sports teams.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a big deal in Massapequa.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Oh, it's not just student Friday, It's for the whole town.
I was born and raised here, I still live here.
You know, we'll want to chief four with the chief
for life.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
And now joining us is Kerrie Wacter walkt right? Is am?
I getting that right? Kerry Walster correct? Massive Peak was
school board president. Thanks so much Kerry for joining us today.
Talk about first of all, how long have you been
fighting this?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well, the regulation was first proposed back in November of
twenty two, so we've kind of been trying to work
through this since then. Our superintendent, you know, were reached
out to the local tribes right away. We reached out
to the state. We did all of our due diligence
hoping to head it off, but unfortunately they were not
(00:52):
interested in making any kind of a deal with mass
Peaka to keep our names. So then we filed suit
with at the time, I'm poor other districts and currently
now there's there. So we were five initially that would
uh that filed the suit, and now there's just four
now right now.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
You reached out to the local tribes, what was their reaction?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Mm hmmm, Uh, you know, basically, they just they just
wouldn't speak to us. They just kept you know, pushing
it off, and uh, you know again, I think there
was I think it was just pretty clear that they
were not going to do that despite you know, all
of the you know, the state not supporting the tribes
and them having their own problems with the state. I
(01:35):
guess they didn't want to get involved and make the
state angry as you know, like that, you know, the
month Talkeet Indians, you know, are trying to to get
recognized as a tribe again, which the legislature voted for,
but hocal vetoed and you know, the Seneca tribe was
was in a thing with the HOCl and uh you
know with the with the gambling and they you know,
(01:56):
sue them and uh you know, and then they had
to pay for that stadium for the bills, and so
I think they just don't want to get involved and
go against the state.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Before I get to Donald Trump's support of you, I
want to point out to everybody that the land you
live on when the settlers first came back here in
the sixteen hundreds, was they were welcomed by the Massapequa Indians.
And that's where Massapequa came from. And massac Peaka tweet Chiefs,
(02:28):
which is the name of your teams, the Massapequa Chiefs.
That's a tribute, is it not to the tribe.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
It is a tribute, And I do want to just correct.
It's not just our teams. It's who we are as
a school district, from the little kids the Cape kindergarten
all the way through. You know, we run sports camps
and all these kinds of camps for kids in the
summertime from when they're little, and they're always told one's
a chief, always the chief. It's all about the Chiefs.
We have alumni, We have generations of Massapeka residents that
(02:57):
are chiefs. It's not just our team name, you know,
it is our pride for our community. And you know,
you can look around the community and you will see
that chief head everywhere throughout the community, from our Chamber
of Commerce to our village of Massapeka Park to our
fire department. Every municipality throughout Massapequa carries that chief head
(03:19):
as a point of pride and honor, paying homage to
those who were there before. And like you said, the
name Massapequa, it comes from the Massapeaque Indians who were
the original you know, the inhabitants of this area in
Long Island.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
No, it's so much a part of the pride of
the area. And by the way, just to back up
what you were saying, someone that was in a department
store was a television station. Talked to that person and
they reiterated what you said.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Not just student pride, it's for the whole town. I
was born and raised here, I still live here. You know,
we'll want a chief, Allard, a chief for life.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
So it's everybody. It seems like everybody at Massapequa is
is now surrounded by this this high school, not only
the high school, but especially the name chief. They as
you heard the gentlemen say, there a second ago, Once
a chief, always a chief. That's the kind of pride
in Massapequa. And it's an interesting how important that name is,
(04:22):
how important the name chief is to the people who
live there.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
It's you know, it's it's how we identify, it's it's
what brings us together. It is something that you know,
we all belong and you know, that's what we try
to tell our students. It's like, whatever your gifts are,
you're a chief. You know, and that's what brings us.
It's the commonality. It's not what sets us apart. It's
what brings us together. And we are all Massapequa chiefs
and that's why they just don't understand. But it's much bigger.
(04:49):
It's not you know. Again, the state says it's, you know,
to protect Native Americans, but that's not what it's for.
It's to strip away our identity. And you know, I'm
not unrelated. You know. In the fall, the state Education
Department tried to force through something called regionalization, which would
basically force districts at some point or heavily incentifized districts
(05:09):
to start merging. You know, in Nasal County alone, we
have fifty six school districts. That's done on purpose, right,
so that we are local, We speak for our communities,
we represent what our communities want, and the state doesn't
like that because we constantly speak up against these crazy,
you know, woke policies that they're trying to force into
our schools. So what's the best way. Now, you strip
(05:31):
your identity. You're not an individual school district. You belong
to one big conglomerate and they can then control you
and control the boards of education by you know, just
eliminating them. And I think this is part of that.
That is, this is a big part of what they're doing.
It's it's again they use their they're shielding themselves in
Native Americans and saying they're trying to help them. But
(05:52):
that's not really what it's about. It's just about power
control and eliminating our local school boards to limit the
voices of the of the citizens.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Very well, sand and you got some big time support
from President Trump. I'm going to read part of what
he put out on truth Social. I agree with the
people of Massapequa, Long Island who are fighting furiously to
keep the massa Peak with Chiefs logo on their teams
and schools. And I'm going to jump to the end.
It says, by copy of this truth, I am asking
(06:22):
my highly capable Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon to fight
for the people of Massapequa on this very important issue
and then in all capitals, long live the massapeaqu with Chiefs.
What was your reaction to that?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Oh, my goodness, I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe it.
We were just so so grateful for President Trump and
he has so much going on, as you know, you
were talking about it all morning. He has so many
things going on, but he doesn't forget. He doesn't forget
the little people. He doesn't forget the people who work
hard every day. Massapeque was filled with first responders where
cops were firemen, teachers, nurses, just you know, patriotic Americans
(07:03):
who just want to raise their families in a great,
safe neighborhood, send their kids to good schools. He never
forgets us. And you know, and he was there for
Officer Diller's funeral back in you know, in Massapequa, and
we welcomed him with open arms, and we opened we
welcome the NYPD with open arms. That's who we are.
We are a very tight knit community. We rally around
(07:26):
each other in times of adversity and in times of
you know, a good time just like this. So the
whole town is just a buzz and cannot believe that
President Trump took time at his busy schedule to recognize us.
And we're just so very grateful, and we look forward
to working with Secretary McMahon and hoping that somehow the
(07:48):
federal government can help us well.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Carry anything we can do. Please, and as soon as
you talk to Secretary McMahon, please let us know would
love to hear about it. Kerry Walker, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I just said, thank you for having us on and
thank you for you know, just highlighting this issue. And it,
like you said, it's a bigger issue than just Massa
Peak with but thank you for allowing me the time
to explain what's going on.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Oh. Absolutely, the whole thing is ridiculous. I'm sorry you're
going through this, Kerry Walker. Mass A Peak was school
board president. That's in the April Showers of Savings event
and for a limited time, when you buy two, you'll
get a whopping forty percent off your entire
This is a big deal in Massapequa.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Oh, it's not just student Friday, It's for the whole town.
I was born and raised here, I still live here.
You know, we'll want to chief four with the chief
for life.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
And now joining us is Kerrie Wacter walkt right? Is am?
I getting that right? Kerry Walster correct? Massive Peak was
school board president. Thanks so much Kerry for joining us today.
Talk about first of all, how long have you been
fighting this?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well, the regulation was first proposed back in November of
twenty two, so we've kind of been trying to work
through this since then. Our superintendent, you know, were reached
out to the local tribes right away. We reached out
to the state. We did all of our due diligence
hoping to head it off, but unfortunately they were not
(00:52):
interested in making any kind of a deal with mass
Peaka to keep our names. So then we filed suit
with at the time, I'm poor other districts and currently
now there's there. So we were five initially that would
uh that filed the suit, and now there's just four
now right now.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
You reached out to the local tribes, what was their reaction?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Mm hmmm, Uh, you know, basically, they just they just
wouldn't speak to us. They just kept you know, pushing
it off, and uh, you know again, I think there
was I think it was just pretty clear that they
were not going to do that despite you know, all
of the you know, the state not supporting the tribes
and them having their own problems with the state. I
(01:35):
guess they didn't want to get involved and make the
state angry as you know, like that, you know, the
month Talkeet Indians, you know, are trying to to get
recognized as a tribe again, which the legislature voted for,
but hocal vetoed and you know, the Seneca tribe was
was in a thing with the HOCl and uh you
know with the with the gambling and they you know,
(01:56):
sue them and uh you know, and then they had
to pay for that stadium for the bills, and so
I think they just don't want to get involved and
go against the state.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Before I get to Donald Trump's support of you, I
want to point out to everybody that the land you
live on when the settlers first came back here in
the sixteen hundreds, was they were welcomed by the Massapequa Indians.
And that's where Massapequa came from. And massac Peaka tweet Chiefs,
(02:28):
which is the name of your teams, the Massapequa Chiefs.
That's a tribute, is it not to the tribe.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
It is a tribute, And I do want to just correct.
It's not just our teams. It's who we are as
a school district, from the little kids the Cape kindergarten
all the way through. You know, we run sports camps
and all these kinds of camps for kids in the
summertime from when they're little, and they're always told one's
a chief, always the chief. It's all about the Chiefs.
We have alumni, We have generations of Massapeka residents that
(02:57):
are chiefs. It's not just our team name, you know,
it is our pride for our community. And you know,
you can look around the community and you will see
that chief head everywhere throughout the community, from our Chamber
of Commerce to our village of Massapeka Park to our
fire department. Every municipality throughout Massapequa carries that chief head
(03:19):
as a point of pride and honor, paying homage to
those who were there before. And like you said, the
name Massapequa, it comes from the Massapeaque Indians who were
the original you know, the inhabitants of this area in
Long Island.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
No, it's so much a part of the pride of
the area. And by the way, just to back up
what you were saying, someone that was in a department
store was a television station. Talked to that person and
they reiterated what you said.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Not just student pride, it's for the whole town. I
was born and raised here, I still live here. You know,
we'll want a chief, Allard, a chief for life.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
So it's everybody. It seems like everybody at Massapequa is
is now surrounded by this this high school, not only
the high school, but especially the name chief. They as
you heard the gentlemen say, there a second ago, Once
a chief, always a chief. That's the kind of pride
in Massapequa. And it's an interesting how important that name is,
(04:22):
how important the name chief is to the people who
live there.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
It's you know, it's it's how we identify, it's it's
what brings us together. It is something that you know,
we all belong and you know, that's what we try
to tell our students. It's like, whatever your gifts are,
you're a chief. You know, and that's what brings us.
It's the commonality. It's not what sets us apart. It's
what brings us together. And we are all Massapequa chiefs
and that's why they just don't understand. But it's much bigger.
(04:49):
It's not you know. Again, the state says it's, you know,
to protect Native Americans, but that's not what it's for.
It's to strip away our identity. And you know, I'm
not unrelated. You know. In the fall, the state Education
Department tried to force through something called regionalization, which would
basically force districts at some point or heavily incentifized districts
(05:09):
to start merging. You know, in Nasal County alone, we
have fifty six school districts. That's done on purpose, right,
so that we are local, We speak for our communities,
we represent what our communities want, and the state doesn't
like that because we constantly speak up against these crazy,
you know, woke policies that they're trying to force into
our schools. So what's the best way. Now, you strip
(05:31):
your identity. You're not an individual school district. You belong
to one big conglomerate and they can then control you
and control the boards of education by you know, just
eliminating them. And I think this is part of that.
That is, this is a big part of what they're doing.
It's it's again they use their they're shielding themselves in
Native Americans and saying they're trying to help them. But
(05:52):
that's not really what it's about. It's just about power
control and eliminating our local school boards to limit the
voices of the of the citizens.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Very well, sand and you got some big time support
from President Trump. I'm going to read part of what
he put out on truth Social. I agree with the
people of Massapequa, Long Island who are fighting furiously to
keep the massa Peak with Chiefs logo on their teams
and schools. And I'm going to jump to the end.
It says, by copy of this truth, I am asking
(06:22):
my highly capable Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon to fight
for the people of Massapequa on this very important issue
and then in all capitals, long live the massapeaqu with Chiefs.
What was your reaction to that?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Oh, my goodness, I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe it.
We were just so so grateful for President Trump and
he has so much going on, as you know, you
were talking about it all morning. He has so many
things going on, but he doesn't forget. He doesn't forget
the little people. He doesn't forget the people who work
hard every day. Massapeque was filled with first responders where
cops were firemen, teachers, nurses, just you know, patriotic Americans
(07:03):
who just want to raise their families in a great,
safe neighborhood, send their kids to good schools. He never
forgets us. And you know, and he was there for
Officer Diller's funeral back in you know, in Massapequa, and
we welcomed him with open arms, and we opened we
welcome the NYPD with open arms. That's who we are.
We are a very tight knit community. We rally around
(07:26):
each other in times of adversity and in times of
you know, a good time just like this. So the
whole town is just a buzz and cannot believe that
President Trump took time at his busy schedule to recognize us.
And we're just so very grateful, and we look forward
to working with Secretary McMahon and hoping that somehow the
(07:48):
federal government can help us well.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Carry anything we can do. Please, and as soon as
you talk to Secretary McMahon, please let us know would
love to hear about it. Kerry Walker, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I just said, thank you for having us on and
thank you for you know, just highlighting this issue. And it,
like you said, it's a bigger issue than just Massa
Peak with but thank you for allowing me the time
to explain what's going on.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Oh. Absolutely, the whole thing is ridiculous. I'm sorry you're
going through this, Kerry Walker. Mass A Peak was school
board president. That's in the April Showers of Savings event
and for a limited time, when you buy two, you'll
get a whopping forty percent off your entire
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