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Vincent Garcia hopes his computer-themed logo will help to "delete" cyberbullying.
Garcia, a junior at <a href="/topics/Plainview%2C_NY">Plainview</a>-<a href="/topics/Old_Bethpage%2C_NY">Old Bethpage</a> JFK High School, recently won first place in an anti-bullying logo design contest hosted by BiasHELP, a <a href="/topics/Hauppauge%2C_NY">Hauppauge</a> nonprofit dedicated to the prevention of bias crime, hate-related harassment, discrimination and bullying.
His winning design featured a computer displaying a pixilated angry face and the motto: "Ctrl-Alt-Delete Bullying."
"The idea just kind of popped into my head," said Garcia, 16, who used Adobe Illustrator software to create the piece in the fall. "I have some friends that have been bullied -- and I've also been bullied myself -- so it's pretty cool to win this."
Garcia, a member of his high school's Anime Club, said he and his classmates entered the contest as an assignment for their advertising and design class. For winning, his design will be used on BiasHELP's future literature, promotional materials and website designs.
Other local schools represented in the contest were <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a> Middle School and Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a>. The contest was held in association with <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Network of Community Services.

Nassau

LFSHEWAY05

Way to Go! Vincent Garcia

Brittney Aiken now can say she's performed on one of the world's biggest stages -- twice.
Aiken, a junior at North Babylon High School, performed a vocal solo last month during the Golden Key Music Festival at <a href="/topics/Carnegie_Hall">Carnegie Hall</a> in Manhattan. It was the second straight year she was selected for the show.
To earn a spot, Aiken auditioned Mozart's "Non So Piú Cosa Son" -- the same song she performed at Carnegie -- and received a gold award. "I've been singing since I was a little girl," said Aiken, 16. "That's what I love to do: sing."
The festival included group performances by 41 gold award winners from throughout the United States, Aiken said, along with interspersed solos by a handful of students, including herself.
Having performed last year, Aiken said she wasn't fazed by the crowd of several hundred people in attendance at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. On the contrary, she said: "Seeing people's reactions when I sing gives me a good feeling."
"Brittney is a magnificent student," said North Babylon chorus teacher Christina Henderson. "Every day she is focused, and she always challenges herself and strives to improve."
Aiken also is a member of her school's select, vocal jazz, concert and Hebrew choirs.

Suffolk

LFSHUWAY05

Way to Go! Brittney Aiken

Nearly 100 <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> students can say they have competed in the Olympics -- the Physics Olympics.
Sixteen local high school teams recently went head to head in the 27th Annual Long Island Physics Olympics, a science-themed competition at <a href="/topics/Farmingdale_State_College">Farmingdale State College</a> that tests students' knowledge of physics through "Jeopardy!"- style questions and team challenges.
Wellington C. Mepham High School in <a href="/topics/North_Bellmore%2C_NY">North Bellmore</a> took first place overall. <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a> and <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> West finished second and third, respectively.
"The kids always have a great time with this," said Mepham coach and physics teacher Bill Leacock, who also is vice president of the Long Island Physics Teachers Association, the event's sponsor. "A lot of people get the impression that physics is real drudgery and nothing more than a pile of equations. But physics can also be fun, without a doubt."
One challenge, titled "Bridge to Nowhere," required teams to use their understanding of physics to create the longest extension off the edge of a table using seven Popsicle sticks and 21 pennies, Leacock said.
Another challenge, "Ballistic Bear," asked students to determine the mass of a stuffed bear on a spring-loaded cart by analyzing the cart's velocity.
"We used the law of conservation of momentum in that case," Mepham junior Josh Haimson said. "We knew momentum before the spring was launched had to be equal to the total momentum after launch."
Other Mepham High School team members were Werda Alam, Mollie Bienstock, Tara Panzarino and Bilal Siddiqui.
Mepham has taken first place at the competition in three of the past four school years.
 
<a href="/topics/Massapequa%2C_NY">MASSAPEQUA</a>
Social studies award
Brian Dowd, the K-12 social studies curriculum associate for <a href="/topics/Massapequa%2C_NY">Massapequa</a> Public Schools, has been named 2010-11 Supervisor of the Year by the Long Island Council for the Social Studies based on peer nominations. Dowd, the council's co-president, has spent his entire 33-year career in the district. He is president of the New York State Social Studies Supervisors Association.
 
NORTH SHORE
LI Math Fair
The North Shore School District won 28 gold medals -- the most of any Long Island school district -- in the 2011 Long Island Math Fair at <a href="/topics/Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a>. The contest, sponsored by the <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> math teachers associations, required students in grades 7-12 to submit a three-page essay on a math topic of their choice and give a 10-minute presentation.
<a href="/topics/Herricks%2C_NY">Herricks</a> School District followed with 16 gold medalists, while <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> and <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a> school districts each had 15.
The <a href="/topics/Commack%2C_NY">Commack</a> School District had eight gold medals to lead Suffolk.
 
<a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">PORT WASHINGTON</a>
Doodle 4 <a href="/topics/Google_Inc.">Google</a>
Hannah Ericsson of Carrie Palmer Weber Middle School was one of 10 regional finalists last month in the grades 4-6 category -- and the sole regional finalist from Long Island -- of Doodle 4 Google, a competition in which K-12 students redesign the search engine's homepage logo. The contest, themed "What I'd Like to do Someday," received more than 107,000 nationwide entries.
Elias Pagonis of Stewart School in <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a> was a state finalist in the contest.
 
ISLANDWIDE
<a href="/topics/Intel">Intel</a> ISEF awards
Long Island teens took home 62 awards last month at the 2011 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in <a href="/topics/Los_Angeles">Los Angeles</a>. The science research competition -- coordinated by the Society for Science &amp; the Public -- included more than 1,500 students from 65 countries and saw some 400 awards issued in various categories.
Nassau County winners were: <a href="/topics/Bellmore%2C_NY">Bellmore</a>: Gregory Manis of John F. Kennedy High School; Bilal Siddiqui of Wellington C. Mepham High School; <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a>: Samantha Phillips of <a href="/topics/Great_Neck_South_High_School">Great Neck South High School</a>; Herricks: Neil Pathak and Shyam Venkateswaran of Herricks High School; <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a>: Justine Li, Neil Mehta, Sagar Rambhia, Sahir Raoof and Serife Uzun of Jericho High School; <a href="/topics/Lawrence%2C_NY">Lawrence</a>: Abraham Killanin of Lawrence High School; Nathan Akhavan and Ben Goldman of Rambam Mesivta High School; <a href="/topics/Long_Beach%2C_NY">Long Beach</a>: Arianne Papa and Jane Smyth of Long Beach High School; <a href="/topics/Lynbrook%2C_NY">Lynbrook</a>: Daniel Kramer of Lynbrook High School; <a href="/topics/Manhasset%2C_NY">Manhasset</a>: Shaunak Bakshi of Manhasset High School; <a href="/topics/Oceanside%2C_NY">Oceanside</a>: Blake Smith of Oceanside High School; <a href="/topics/Old_Westbury%2C_NY">Old Westbury</a>: Alan Czemerinski and Thomas Wang of The Wheatley School; <a href="/topics/Plainview%2C_NY">Plainview</a>: Jonathan Goldman of Plainview-<a href="/topics/Old_Bethpage%2C_NY">Old Bethpage</a> JFK High School; <a href="/topics/Rockville_Centre%2C_NY">Rockville Centre</a>: Kelsey
McKenna of South Side High School; Roslyn: Sarah Pak and Evan Schneider of Roslyn High School; Syosset: Karan Sikka of Syosset High School.

LFSHESKL05

Schools Notebook: Mepham wins in Physics

Jan Gong, a senior at Garden City High School, was one of 141 high school seniors named a 2011 U.S. Presidential Scholar earlier this month by the <a href="/topics/United_States_Department_of_Education">U.S. Department of Education</a>. She was the sole <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> student to receive the distinction.
To get selected Gong achieved a perfect score on her SATs and then was evaluated on such factors as academic excellence, leadership, citizenship and community service.
"I don't think anyone can predict getting an honor like this," said Gong, 18, who will be acknowledged next month in Washington, DC. "It's a great feeling to be recognized for all of the hard work that I've done."
Gong won $7,500 as a national finalist in the <a href="/topics/Intel">Intel</a> Science Talent Search earlier this year for a research project that explored the existence of sugar addiction. She also won $15,000 last year as a finalist in the <a href="/topics/College_Board">College Board</a>'s Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition for studying genetic links to heart attacks in Chinese populations.
At Garden City, Gong is captain of the school's fencing and math teams, president of the Latin National Honor Society, and a board member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society.

News

LFSHEWAY22

Way to Go! Jan Gong, Garden City High

Paige Glennerster recently cooked up a victory in a local culinary arts competition. The senior at <a href="/topics/William_Floyd">William Floyd</a> High School in Mastic Beach beat 11 <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> seniors to win first place earlier this month in a contest hosted by <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County Community College's Culinary Arts and Hospital Center in <a href="/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">Riverhead</a>. She earned a $1,500 scholarship for the center's culinary arts and hospitality degree program.
Her winning dish was airline chicken breast infused with rosemary and thyme, along with sides of potatoes, carrot risotto and sauteed green beans.
"I like to be able to take a few ingredients and turn it into something that people enjoy," said Glennerster, who studies culinary arts at Eastern Suffolk BOCES' Edward J. Milliken Technical Center in <a href="/topics/Oakdale%2C_NY">Oakdale</a>.
Participants were each given a "mystery basket" that contained various ingredients, Glennerster said, and they were allowed an hour and a half to prepare a dish of their choice. Meals were judged on taste, appearance, creativity, technique, use of ingredients, and cleanliness of work station.
Jonathan Salgado of <a href="/topics/Valley_Stream%2C_NY">Valley Stream</a> Central High School and Jessica Melendez of Sachem High School East in <a href="/topics/Farmingville%2C_NY">Farmingville</a> were the runners-up.

LFSHUWAY22

Way to Go! Paige Glennerster, Mastic Beach

For the fifth straight year, a team from <a href="/topics/Chaminade_High_School">Chaminade High School</a> in <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a> won first place among <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County schools last month at the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Regional Envirothon.
The annual competition consisted of written exams and outdoor challenges in the topics of aquatics, forestry, soil and wildlife, as well as an oral presentation on estuaries -- each worth up to 25 points -- at the <a href="/topics/Old_Bethpage%2C_NY">Old Bethpage</a> Village Restoration. A total of 225 students from 35 Long Island schools competed. For winning, the team will vie for $100,000 in scholarships and prizes in the state level at upstate <a href="/topics/Geneva">Geneva</a> on Wednesday and Thursday. 
"This is a very talented group, and they did a great job," said Brother Benjamin Knapp, adviser of Chaminade's team. "It's important for kids to have a good consciousness of the environment and the impact we have on it, because they are the stewards of the future."
Chaminade had the best overall score with 122.21 points followed by Division Avenue High School in <a href="/topics/Levittown%2C_NY">Levittown</a> with 117.42. Sachem North High School in <a href="/topics/Lake_Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Lake Ronkonkoma</a> led all <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County schools with 116.60, just ahead of <a href="/topics/Mount_Sinai%2C_NY">Mount Sinai</a> High School with 112.67. 
For reaching the state level, Chaminade's five team members -- James Agolia, Rich Barakat, Sean Dvorak, Dan Ebanks and <a href="/topics/Matt_Walsh">Matt Walsh</a> -- each received a $500 college scholarship and a digital camera from Canon. The school also received a Canon printer/copier. The event was coordinated by Nassau and Suffolk Soil &amp; Water Conservation Districts.
 
<a href="/topics/Lawrence%2C_NY">LAWRENCE</a>
Young entrepreneurs
Noah Klein and Jason Peretz of Rambam Mesivta High School, were grand-prize winners of $1,500 in the 2010-11 Entrepreneur of the Year Competition coordinated by <a href="/topics/Touro_College">Touro College</a>'s Lander College for Men in <a href="/topics/Queens%2C_NY">Queens</a>.
They were chosen based on a concept for a device that controls the amount of electricity used by wall outlets, reducing overall costs. <a href="/topics/Jordan">Jordan</a> Odinsky and Avi Soep of DRS Yeshiva High School in <a href="/topics/Woodmere%2C_NY">Woodmere</a> were second and third, respectively. 
<a href="/topics/Plainview%2C_NY">PLAINVIEW</a>
ExploraVision winners
A team from <a href="/topics/Plainview%2C_NY">Plainview</a>-Old Bethpage Middle School -- Phil Danziger, Alexandra Fryman, Sophie Heiman and Tom Venezia -- beat 4,300 entries nationwide to place second in the 2011 ExploraVision Awards, a K-12 science competition coordinated by <a href="/topics/Toshiba">Toshiba</a> in which kids use their imaginations to create items using technology that doesn't exist yet. Their winning concept was a device consisting of a nano-camera embedded in a contact lens that would send video images to a blind person's brain. They each won a $5,000 bond.
 
COUNTYWIDE
Merit Scholarships
Twenty-nine Nassau County students were among 2,500 nationwide named winners earlier this month of $2,500 college scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. 
<a href="/topics/Bellmore%2C_NY">Bellmore</a>: Josh Cohen of John F. Kennedy High School; <a href="/topics/Cedarhurst%2C_NY">Cedarhurst</a>: Lauren Hoffman of Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway; <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a>: Jan Gong of Garden City High School; <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a>: Ethan Jamnik of Solomon Schechter High School; <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a>: Harry Chiang and David Kaufman of Great Neck North High School; Eric Bobrow, Andrew Gefland, <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> Jin, Brian Miranda, Samantha Phillips, Sha Sha and Winsor Yang of <a href="/topics/Great_Neck_South_High_School">Great Neck South High School</a>; <a href="/topics/Herricks%2C_NY">Herricks</a>: Neil Pathak of Herricks High School; <a href="/topics/Hewlett_Bay_Park%2C_NY">Hewlett Bay Park</a>: Alyssa Lerner of Stella K. Abraham High School; <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a>: Lindsey Lam, Matt Lam, Isabella Mu, Myles Novick and John Tam of Jericho High School; Levittown: Karolina Ksiazek of Division Avenue High School; <a href="/topics/Locust_Valley%2C_NY">Locust Valley</a>: Mary Leah Milnes of Locust Valley High School; Mineola: Louis Lagalante of Chaminade High School; Plainview: Kevin Chon of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School; <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>: Sam Kim of Paul D. Schreiber High School; <a href="/topics/Rockville_Centre%2C_NY">Rockville Centre</a>: Maria Passarelli of South Side High School; Roslyn: Scott Gladstone of Roslyn High School; <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a>: Harris Weber of Syosset High School; <a href="/topics/Uniondale%2C_NY">Uniondale</a>: Nicole Pobre of Kellenberg Memorial High School.
 
ISLANDWIDE
Best music communities
Eighteen Long Island school districts were among 179 nationwide recently named "Best Communities for Music Education" by the NAMM Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to advance participation in music. To get selected, districts answered surveys about their funding for music programs, graduation requirements, and participation in music classes. Winning districts were <a href="/topics/Amityville%2C_NY">Amityville</a>, <a href="/topics/Bay_Shore%2C_NY">Bay Shore</a>, <a href="/topics/Commack%2C_NY">Commack</a>, Connetquot, <a href="/topics/East_Meadow%2C_NY">East Meadow</a>, Great Neck, Half Hollow Hills, Herricks, <a href="/topics/Long_Beach%2C_NY">Long Beach</a>, <a href="/topics/Longwood%2C_NY">Longwood</a>, <a href="/topics/Manhasset%2C_NY">Manhasset</a>, <a href="/topics/Massapequa%2C_NY">Massapequa</a>, Mineola, <a href="/topics/North_Babylon%2C_NY">North Babylon</a>, <a href="/topics/Oceanside%2C_NY">Oceanside</a>, <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">Port Jefferson</a>, <a href="/topics/South_Huntington%2C_NY">South Huntington</a> and Syosset.

LI Life

LFSHESKL22

School Notebook: Chaminade wins Envirothon

For the seventh consecutive year, a team from Sachem North High School in <a href="/topics/Lake_Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Lake Ronkonkoma</a> won first place among <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County schools last month at the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Regional Envirothon.
The annual competition consisted of written exams and outdoor challenges in the topics of aquatics, forestry, soil and wildlife, as well as an oral presentation on estuaries -- each worth up to 25 points -- at the <a href="/topics/Old_Bethpage%2C_NY">Old Bethpage</a> Village Restoration. A total of 225 students from 35 Long Island schools competed.
For winning, the team will vie for $100,000 in scholarship prizes at the state level in upstate <a href="/topics/Geneva">Geneva</a> on Wednesday and Thursday. 
"Our team worked really well together and had a passion to win," said Jaime Bhalla, a science research teacher who advised the team along with earth science teacher Tracy Kellerman. "The older students taught the younger ones, and they all did a lot of research on their own."
<a href="/topics/Chaminade_High_School">Chaminade High School</a> in <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a> had the best overall score with 122.21 total points, and their team will represent <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County at the state level. Sachem North's final score was 116.60, which was just ahead of <a href="/topics/Mount_Sinai%2C_NY">Mount Sinai</a> High School's score of 112.67 among Suffolk County schools. 
For reaching the state level, Sachem North's team members -- Peter Amato, Kimberly Kanakos, Sharon Luebs, Jessica McGlinchey and Ruchi Shah -- each received a $500 college scholarship and a digital camera from Canon. The school received a Canon printer/copier. The alternate team member was Jasmine Lam.
"I think part of the reason we were able to do well is we're all passionate about environmental science, so Envirothon interests us," said McGlinchey. "Also, three out of the five of us have older siblings who have been on the team in the past, so we always have plenty of resources to study from."
The event was coordinated by Nassau and Suffolk's Soil &amp; Water Conservation Districts.
 
<a href="/topics/Centerport%2C_NY">CENTERPORT</a>
$20,000 donation
Washington Drive Elementary School recently raised about $20,000 for the Make-A-<a href="/topics/Make-A-Wish_Foundation">Wish</a> Foundation through an annual "Walk for a Wish" event held at the outdoor track of Harborfields High School. The funds were used to send a 3-year-old girl from <a href="/topics/Bay_Shore%2C_NY">Bay Shore</a> who suffers from chronic lung disease -- along with 12 other special-needs children -- to Disney World last month.
Additional funds were raised by students doing paid chores at home and running lemonade stands, school officials said.
 
<a href="/topics/East_Setauket%2C_NY">EAST SETAUKET</a>
Press winners
Ward <a href="/topics/Melville%2C_NY">Melville</a> High School is one of four schools nationwide to recently receive a Pacemaker Award from the National Scholastic Press Association. The award, which recognizes the school's 2010 DVD yearbook supplement, was announced last month at the National High School Journalism Convention in <a href="/topics/Anaheim">Anaheim</a>, <a href="/topics/California">Calif</a>. Ward Melville is the first Long Island school to ever receive the association's Pacemaker Award, school officials said.
<a href="/topics/Selden%2C_NY">SELDEN</a>
Composing a win
Victor LaBozzetta, an eighth-grader at <a href="/topics/Selden%2C_NY">Selden</a> Middle School, was the K-8 winner last month of the 2011 Student Composers Competition coordinated by MENC: The National Association for Music Education. For winning, his piece titled "Time Travel" will be performed next month by the U.S. Army Band at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
 
COUNTYWIDE
Scholarship winners
Nine Suffolk County students were among 2,500 nationwide named winners this month of $2,500 college scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. They were judged on academic excellence, teacher recommendations and community involvement.
<a href="/topics/Commack%2C_NY">Commack</a>: Matt Katz, Erica Portnoy and Arpon Raksit of Commack High School; <a href="/topics/Dix_Hills%2C_NY">Dix Hills</a>: Dan Cho and Dianna Hu of Half Hollow Hills High School West; <a href="/topics/Hauppauge%2C_NY">Hauppauge</a>: Lauren McGarry of Hauppauge High School; <a href="/topics/Islip%2C_NY">Islip</a>: Alda Yuan of Islip High School; <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a>: Celia Bever and Eliza Brine of Northport High School.
 
ISLANDWIDE
Best music communities
Eighteen Long Island school districts were among 179 nationwide recently named "Best Communities for Music Education" by the NAMM Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to advance participation in music. To get selected, districts answered surveys about their funding for music programs, graduation requirements, and participation in music classes.
Winning districts were <a href="/topics/Amityville%2C_NY">Amityville</a>, Bay Shore, Commack, Connetquot, <a href="/topics/East_Meadow%2C_NY">East Meadow</a>, <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a>, Half Hollow Hills, <a href="/topics/Herricks%2C_NY">Herricks</a>, <a href="/topics/Long_Beach%2C_NY">Long Beach</a>, <a href="/topics/Longwood%2C_NY">Longwood</a>, <a href="/topics/Manhasset%2C_NY">Manhasset</a>, <a href="/topics/Massapequa%2C_NY">Massapequa</a>, Mineola, <a href="/topics/North_Babylon%2C_NY">North Babylon</a>, <a href="/topics/Oceanside%2C_NY">Oceanside</a>, <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">Port Jefferson</a>, <a href="/topics/South_Huntington%2C_NY">South Huntington</a> and <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a>.

LFSHUSKL22

School Notebook: Sachem N. enviro honor

Michael Stevens, a sixth-grader at East Islip Middle School, recently beat about 20 students at the middle school, high school and college levels to win a concerto competition at the 2011 Northeast French Horn Festival held at the University of <a href="/topics/New_Hampshire">New Hampshire</a>.
Michael performed Camille Saint-Saëns' "Morceau de Concert" and earned a standing ovation from the festival's four judges.
"It made me proud of my work," said Michael, 12, who credited his father David, a band teacher at Herricks Middle School, for getting him interested in the French horn. "I'd been practicing hard for this."
For winning, Michael received a custom-made mouthpiece and two autographed compositions by <a href="/topics/Vermont">Vermont</a> composer Lydia Busler-Blais. At the festival he performed in a recital and participated in a master class with French horn soloist Hermann Baumann. 
For two years Michael has studied with Sharon Moe, principal horn of the Long Island Philharmonic. He is also first horn in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of <a href="/topics/New_York_%28state%29">New York</a> and the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Symphony.
He also recently won a Gretchen Snedeker Memorial Scholarship to attend the New York Summer Music Festival.

LFSHUWAY08

Way to Go! Michael Stevens, E. Islip

Annie Kelly, a junior at Massapequa High School, is one of 72 students nationwide recently selected to participate this spring in an online aerospace engineering program for female students, coordinated by <a href="/topics/NASA">NASA</a>.
The six-week program allows aspiring engineers to collaborate with other teens across the United Sates on weekly assignments -- ranging from math problems to online quizzes -- and interact with female NASA engineers and interns.
Forty of the students will be invited to attend a weeklong "summer experience" that will consist of a design project with NASA engineers at the <a href="/topics/Johnson_Space_Center">Johnson Space Center</a> in Houston, district officials said.
"I want to pursue a field in math or science," said Kelly, 16, who hopes the opportunity will help her get accepted into <a href="/topics/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a>, her top college choice. "I think it would be really cool to be an astronaut."
Two of Kelly's classmates, Ashley Coggins and Nicole LiBretto, were also among those to apply for the program.
"These students are three shining examples of women excelling in science and math," said Massapequa Principal <a href="/topics/Barbara_Williams">Barbara Williams</a>. "We are very proud of their achievements."

LFSHEWAY01

Way to go! Annie Kelly, Massapequa

Michael Kavanaugh, a sophomore at Northport High School, is one of 40 students nationwide receiving an all-expenses-paid trip to Germany this summer, courtesy of the American Association of Teachers of German. 
To be selected, Kavanaugh had the highest score among some 400 Long Island students on the association's National German Exam. 
He followed that up by interviewing in German with representatives from the association's Long Island chapter. 
"It's fun to be able to speak a language my great-grandparents spoke," said Kavanaugh, 16, who started studying German in seventh grade. "In America, we grow up and don't have a lot of contact with other cultures. It's important to have a broad world perspective." 
During the 31/2-week trip, Kavanaugh will stay with a host family in Nuremberg and attend German language classes at a local school. He will visit <a href="/topics/Berlin">Berlin</a> with other U.S. students to tour the <a href="/topics/Berlin">Berlin</a> Cathedral and the Reichstag, or parliament, building. 
At Northport, Kavanaugh is president of his school's German Club and a member of the National Honor Society. He plays soccer outside of school and plays the clarinet in school band.

LFSHUWAY01

Way to Go!: Michael Kavanaugh

Fifteen <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> school teams were winners in various categories last month at the 12th annual <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> FIRST Regional Robotics Competition held at <a href="/topics/Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a>. 
The competition required student teams to build and program 120-pound robots in a six-week period that could perform a series of tasks ranging from grasping and hanging inflatable tubes on pegs to deploying a "mini-bot" that climbed a metal pole. 
Varying numbers of points were issued based on each task's level of difficulty. 
<a href="/topics/Patchogue%2C_NY">Patchogue</a>-<a href="/topics/Medford%2C_NY">Medford</a> and <a href="/topics/Malverne%2C_NY">Malverne</a> high schools won the top two awards by taking home the Chairman's Award and the Engineering Inspiration Award, respectively. 
They are eligible to compete this weekend at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in <a href="/topics/St_Louis">St. Louis</a>. 
"I'm so proud at how this team came together," said Chuck Vessalico, coach of the <a href="/topics/Malverne%2C_NY">Malverne</a> 33-student robotics team. "We designed more of an offensive robot this year using wheels that allow the robot to move in any direction without actually turning." 
Other <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County high schools to win awards were: <a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a>, which won the <a href="/topics/General_Motors">General Motors</a> Industrial Design Award; <a href="/topics/Plainview%2C_NY">Plainview</a>-<a href="/topics/Old_Bethpage%2C_NY">Old Bethpage</a>, which won the <a href="/topics/Johnson_%26_Johnson">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a> Gracious Professionalism Award, and <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a>, which won the Underwriters Lab Industrial Safety Award. 
To win the Engineering Inspiration Award, Malverne team members were interviewed by judges on their robot and evaluated on their understanding of its science and technology. The award also earned the team a $3,000 grant from <a href="/topics/NASA">NASA</a> to help pay for the championship. 
About 1,200 students from 50 metropolitan area schools -- including 43 from Long Island -- competed in alliances on a 27-by-54-foot floor in two-minute, 15-second sessions. The competition was sponsored by the School-Business Partnerships of Long Island. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/Levittown%2C_NY">LEVITTOWN</a> 
Ethics essay winners 
Two students at Gen. <a href="/topics/Douglas_MacArthur">Douglas MacArthur</a> High School were winners of the 17th Annual Ethics Essay Contest sponsored by the Williams Institute for Ethics and Management, an <a href="/topics/Arizona">Arizona</a>-based nonprofit. The contest was designed to encourage ethical thinking among youngsters and required students to address the topic: "Sustainability, Ethics and You." The students, Rebecca Hopkins and Katelyn Jonny, were each awarded a $500 college scholarship. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/Locust_Valley%2C_NY">LOCUST VALLEY</a> 
'Great' sculptures 
Three students from the Portledge School were first-place winners in the "Create Something Great" recycled sculpture contest hosted by the <a href="/topics/Theodore_Roosevelt">Theodore Roosevelt</a> Sanctuary &amp; Audubon Center in <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a>. The contest required students to build sculptures made out of recyclable materials designed around the theme of animals, insects and reptiles. 
Winners were students John Piszczatowski in the grades <a href="/topics/K-1">K-1</a> division, Mia Verrochi in grades 2-3, and Joshua Yoder in grades 4-6. They each received a $100 gift card for art supplies. 
&nbsp; 
COUNTYWIDE 
Business leaders 
Twenty-three <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County students were top winners in various categories last month at the Future Business Leaders of America's 2011 New York State Leadership Conference in Rochester and are eligible to compete at the national level in June. At the state level more than 450 students competed in fields such as public speaking, accounting and entrepreneurship. The winning students are: 
<a href="/topics/Bellmore%2C_NY">Bellmore</a>: Arian Maiberg of John F. Kennedy High School; <a href="/topics/Elmont%2C_NY">Elmont</a>: Sarah Arjun, Matt Cataneo, Shanell Charles, Uma Jagnarine, <a href="/topics/Regina_King">Regina King</a>, Renee King, Krystal Nwaogbe and Funlola Otukoya of <a href="/topics/Elmont%2C_NY">Elmont</a> Memorial High School; <a href="/topics/Floral_Park%2C_NY">Floral Park</a>: Janice Lee, <a href="/topics/Brian_Moore">Brian Moore</a> and Courtney Sokol of <a href="/topics/Floral_Park%2C_NY">Floral Park</a> Memorial High School; Kieran O'Reilly and Rory O'Reilly of Sewanhaka High School; <a href="/topics/Franklin_Square%2C_NY">Franklin Square</a>: Louis Cona, Adrianna Gatt, Athena Loizos, Stephanie Melgarejo and Chris <a href="/topics/Rodriguez_%28musician%29">Rodriguez</a> of H. Frank Carey High School; <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a>: Ari Freedman, Reggie Kronstadt and Jake Mandel of <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a> High School; <a href="/topics/Valley_Stream%2C_NY">Valley Stream</a>: Anna Okolo of <a href="/topics/Valley_Stream%2C_NY">Valley Stream</a> Central High School. 
ISLANDWIDE 
Tobacco-free kids 
Dozens of Long Island schools recently educated students on the dangers of tobacco use as part of Kick Butts Day, a national initiative of the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 
In <a href="/topics/Amityville%2C_NY">Amityville</a>, Park Avenue Elementary School displayed a giant model of a cigarette to help illustrate its poisonous ingredients. In <a href="/topics/Holtsville%2C_NY">Holtsville</a> at Sequoya Middle School, kids signed their names to a "wall of pledges" to commit to being tobacco-free and encouraging loved ones to quit smoking. In <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a>, Landing Elementary School students played a "tobacco tag" game that incorporated trivia questions about tobacco.

LFSHESKL01

School Notebook: 15 winning robotic teams

Long Island high school graduates - 2011

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