Ward Melville student makes his mark
Connor Hughes, a junior at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, has accumulated a range of academic achievements and extracurricular involvements. Credit: Annmarie Hughes
A Ward Melville High School student has accumulated achievements that range from maintaining perfect attendance since kindergarten to earning the highest possible composite score on his ACT.
Connor Hughes, a junior at the East Setauket school, is also a member of the varsity lacrosse team, student government, and Student Athlete Leadership Team, which is a group that spreads athletic awareness to get children districtwide interested in sports and fitness at an early age.
His other achievements include earning a 1530 on the SAT, with a perfect score in math.
"I studied a lot, so I went in pretty confident I would do well," Hughes, 16, said of his ACT and SAT scores. Regarding his perfect attendance, Hughes said: "It wasn't an original goal, but now I want to see how far I can get. I'm lucky I don't get sick very often."
Hughes is also currently conducting an independent research project in which he is striving to reduce carbon emissions in car batteries as part of the ExploraVision Competition, which is coordinated by Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association.
In addition, Hughes participated in the Flax Pond Summer Research Institute, which is a program in which students gather data to document changes in the salt marsh at Flax Pond in Old Field, and is a summer lifeguard with The Big Splash Pools in Setauket.
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.
