Wantagh team named Students of the Year
A Wantagh High School team has taken the title in a local competition to raise money for blood cancer research. Pictured here, left to right (front), are Kaitlyn Rochel, Olivia Pugliese, Ashley Reisert, Madison Boyle, and left right (back), Grace Massari, Haley Lerch, Joey Labo and Skyla Marchesi. Credit: Wantagh School District
A team of students from Wantagh High School, Chaminade High School in Mineola and Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead have won a local competition to fight cancer by raising more than $110,000.
The team raised the money as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's 2021 Long Island Students of the Year campaign, which challenged participants to raise as much money as possible over a seven-week span. The competition is designed to foster professional skills such as marketing and entrepreneurship, while raising funds for the nonprofit.
The team, titled Warriors for a Cure, bested 23 others from across Long Island.
"You couldn't have a better group of students," Wantagh Principal Paul Guzzone said. "These young people are changing the world."
The team's fundraising efforts ranged from cookie dough sales to virtual lessons in which community volunteers taught topics such as cooking, dancing and yoga over Zoom. They also hosted raffles, "penny war" competitions to collect the most pennies, and merchandise sales in collaboration with the school's Key Club and Tri-Music Honor Society.
Team members were Madison Boyle, Joey Labo, Haley Lerch, Skyla Marchesi, Grace Massari, Olivia Pugliese and Kaitlyn Rochel of Wantagh High School. The team leaders were Ashley Reisert of Wantagh, Nicholas Bifone of Chaminade High School, and Haley Leimbach of Sacred Heart Academy.
"Although the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is known for funding groundbreaking cures for adults suffering from leukemia and lymphoma, we are happy that the money we raised will be going toward child initiatives," Reisert said.
In West Islip, Beach Street Middle School students wrote inspiring letters and sent them over to their counterparts at the district's Udall Road Middle School. Credit: West Islip School District
EAST SETAUKET
Oratorical contest
Ward Melville High School junior Riley Meckley was the first-place winner of this year's Suffolk County American Legion Oratorical Contest, which challenged students to prepare a 10-minute speech based on the U.S. Constitution that highlighted the duties and obligations of a citizen.
The oration was required to be given without any notes, and a second speech was then performed based on the articles and amendments to the Constitution, legion officials said.
Westhampton Beach Elementary School students recently learned about shadows and designed shadow puppets as part of a lesson in science, technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM. Pictured, left to right, are first-graders William Marron and Maximus Marsilio. Credit: Westhampton Beach School District
Meckley went on to place third at the state level and was awarded a $2,500 scholarship.
COUNTYWIDE
Best music communities
Twenty-three Suffolk County school districts are among 686 nationwide named Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation. The designation recognizes efforts that demonstrate an "exceptionally high commitment and access to music education," the organization said.
Selected districts were Amityville, Bay Shore, Bayport-Blue Point, Center Moriches, Commack, Comsewogue, Deer Park, East Hampton, Fishers Island, Half Hollow Hills, Hampton Bays, Harborfields, Huntington, Islip, Longwood, North Babylon, Northport-East Northport, Port Jefferson, Sayville, Shoreham-Wading River, South Country, Southampton and West Islip.
Rocky Point Middle School students created a traditional Native American conical tent out of brown paper bags, which served as buffalo hide, as part of their studies in the Westward Expansion. Credit: Rocky Point school District
In addition, Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station and Woodhull School in Ocean Beach were among 80 schools that received the SupportMusic Merit Award for their commitment to music education.
ISLANDWIDE
National certification
Seven Long Island teachers are among 60 statewide to recently achieve national certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. To earn the designation, teachers must complete a rigorous performance-based peer-reviewed assessment process that includes videos, student work samples, and a review of teaching portfolios.
The certified educators and their school districts are: Shari Costello, William Floyd; Cynthia Galvin, Amagansett; Irina Kimyagarov, Sewanhaha; David Lazar, Oyster Bay-East Norwich; Tamara Rupertus, Plainedge; Alan Schorn, Great Neck; and Kathryn Shreck, Southampton.
"Through a process of introspection and enrichment, these passionate teachers elevate their efforts in the classroom and open a world of leadership and academic possibilities for themselves and their colleagues for whom they will serve as mentors," state Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said.
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.
