Junior from JFK High School in Plainview wins LI Brain Bee
Jessica Goldstein, center, placed first in this year's Long Island Brain Bee. Amy De Lury, left, and Ankita Katukota placed second and third, respectively. Credit: Donald and Barbara Zucker School
A Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School junior grabbed the top spot in this year’s Long Island Brain Bee.
Jessica Goldstein placed first among 35 teenagers in the second annual competition, held at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. This is the second consecutive year a Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK student has won the bee.
Amy De Lury, a junior at Sachem North High School in Lake Ronkonkoma, and Ankita Katukota, a junior at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station, placed second and third, respectively.
As the victor, Goldstein earned a trip to compete at the 2018 USA Brain Bee Championship, scheduled Thursday through Sunday in Baltimore.
“I’ve always liked science,” Goldstein said. “The Brain Bee inspired me to focus on the area of neuroscience and learn more about it. It has been an incredible experience.”
The bee consisted of three rounds: a multiple-choice exam on brain facts, a laboratory demonstration, and a test to identify anatomical functions and structures in real human brain specimens.
Students also participated in a charades-style round in which they identified brain disorders, treatments and diagnostic tools based on skits performed by medical students.
“This competition is so much fun and very interesting,” De Lury said. “I learned a lot during my time here.”
BOHEMIA
Model UN Conference
Connetquot High School’s Model United Nations Club hosted nearly 300 students and staff from 14 schools across Long Island last month as part of the 2018 Model United Nations Regional Conference.
The event featured simulations on the structure and function of the United Nations, with each student assigned to represent a sovereign nation and placed on a committee to discuss important current world topics and concerns. The goal was for participants to protect and improve the lives of individuals worldwide in a mock setting.
“This was one of the largest Model UN conferences to date,” said Jennifer Bay, Connetquot’s Model UN Club adviser.
COUNTYWIDE
Lunar New Year
Many local schools introduced youngsters to China’s culture, language and foods through activities designed to ring in the Year of the Dog.
In Lindenhurst, third-graders at West Gates Avenue Elementary School read Chinese folktales and nonfiction texts, studied the Chinese zodiac, and crafted cardboard-box dragons that were used in a hallway parade. Meanwhile, first-graders at Albany Avenue Elementary School made paper lanterns and masks before dining on Chinese food.
In Northport, the middle school’s sixth-graders learned about the art of ancient Chinese dances during a performance by the nonprofit Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. The program also included detailed explanations of the background of each dance, with students invited on stage to learn how to dance with silk ribbons.
In Stony Brook, children at W.S. Mount Elementary School crafted paper lanterns and illustrated characters on construction paper in Chinese calligraphy.
ISLANDWIDE
‘Go APE’ Awards
Eight Long Island students received Awards of Excellence this month at the Art League of Long Island’s 11th annual “Go APE” Advanced Placement Student Exhibition, which featured artwork by 140 students from 38 local high schools.
The exhibit was on view at the league’s Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery in Dix Hills through March 4.
Winners and their high schools were: Xiao Han, Garden City; Adis Kacamakovic and Alexis Tuvilla, Hicksville; Isabelle Lin, Manhasset; Shannon Culhane and Jacqueline Stevens, Northport; Alyssa Denis, Walt Whitman, Huntington Station; and Elizabeth Farragher, Wantagh.
Michael Cattaneo of Harborfields High School in Greenlawn received the Award for Presentation. — MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
