School Notebook: Jericho team raises $430G for blood cancer research

A team from Jericho High School that raised more than $430,000 has taken the top spot in a local fundraising campaign and set a record in the process.

The team of juniors Harrison Berger and Alexandra Gatoff and sophomore Jake Gershwind, titled Team Just Cure It (2.0), placed first in the "Students of the Year" campaign of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Long Island Chapter. The campaign asked teams to raise funds for blood cancer research over a seven-week span.

The team also raised the second-highest amount among this year's campaigns nationwide and broke a local fundraising record of $276,000 set last year by a team that included Berger's brother, Ryan.

"First we sent emails to friends and families, and then we arranged meetings with corporations and presented our idea," Berger said of the team's fundraising efforts. Of the amount collected, he said: "We were really surprised and happy."

Additional money came through fundraisers, one of which consisted of a partnership with the local clothing store Mixology that gave the team a percentage of the store's profits on a given day.

The team also enlisted the help of about 25 classmates and pulled in its donations before the COVID-19 pandemic "pause."

"COVID has taught us to look on the positive side," Gershwind said. "We’re changing lives, helping people survive. One kid might have better cancer treatment because of the money we raised."

MASSAPEQUA

New principal

Barbara Lowell has been named principal of Massapequa High School. She replaced Brian Conboy, who held the position on an interim basis.

Lowell was previously the executive assistant to the principal for Alfred G. Berner Middle School in Massapequa since 2015, and has also been the school's attendance officer and dean. She began her educational career as a social studies teacher at the school in 1998.

"It is an honor to be the principal of the high school that I went to," said Lowell, who graduated from Massapequa High School in 1992. "I had a great education and a great experience here in Massapequa."

MINEOLA

New principal

Amy Trojanowski has been named principal of Mineola Middle School. She replaced Andrew Casale, who was promoted to the district's central office.

Trojanowski previously served four years as the school's assistant principal and one year as an assistant principal at Mineola High School. Before that, she was a science teacher for six years in East Harlem.

"I am incredibly excited to serve as the principal and lead learner of Mineola Middle School," Trojanowski said. "The middle school is a very special place. We continually seek opportunities to engage our students in personalized, innovative and creative learning experiences. This is where our students find their voice, plus, it's really fun."

ISLANDWIDE

LIMHOF Scholarships

Ten recent high school graduates who plan to pursue music studies in college have been named winners of 2020 scholarships by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. Five students won $500 Distinction in Music Awards, and the other five won $300 Merit in Music Awards.

Distinction winners and their high schools were: Allison Brook, Brooklyn Technical High School; Gabrielle Caine, Hampton Bays; Esther Duclair, North Babylon; Michael Golub, Smithtown West; and Melissa Mandel, Elwood. Merit winners and their high schools were: Samuel Abramson, Half Hollow Hills East; Shaun Gibbons, Sayville; Jessica Ringston, H. Frank Carey; Rachel Schlesinger, North Shore Hebrew Academy; and José Suarez, Huntington. Duclair also won an additional $500 scholarship in honor of Len Rothenberg, a longtime friend of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

— MICHAEL R. EBERT

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

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.