19 from LI win category awards at Intel science fair

Long Island students proved they are among the world's brightest young scientists earlier this month by taking top awards at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, Calif.

The fair - administered by the nonprofit Society for Science & the Public - included some 1,600 students from 59 countries presenting independent research they conducted in categories ranging from animal sciences to biochemistry to energy and transportation.

Two Nassau County students, Joshua Pfeffer of North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck and Celline Kim of Manhasset High School, were among 19 students nationwide to win best of category prizes and $8,000. They won in the mathematical sciences and environmental sciences categories, respectively.

"All the nights my mom drove me to the lab and back [were] definitely worth it," said Kim, a senior, who researched at SUNY Old Westbury.

Kim's project evaluated specific hormonal toxins as a potential contributing factor in the development of autoimmune diseases. Pfeffer, a senior from Plainview, invented a math tool to advance understanding of string theory.

Other Nassau winners of smaller cash prizes in a variety of disciplines were: Jan Gong of Garden City High School; Julie Chang, Yesha Maniar and Neil Pathak of Herricks High School; Mubarrat Bhuiyan, Pragya Kakani, Brandon Li and Rambhia Pooja of Jericho High School; Chaimaa Makoudi of MacArthur High School in Levittown; Hannah Berkowitz, Jackie Bokor and Michelle Leonetti of Long Beach High School; Joshua Lewin-Jacus of Lynbrook High School; Peter Massey of Manhasset High School; Joe Yagoda of North Shore Hebrew Academy; Charles Yu of The Wheatley School in Old Westbury; Alyssa Ehrlich of South Side High School in Rockville Centre; Samantha Halpern, Aaron Levine and Kevin Xu of Roslyn High School; Julia Poje of Valley Stream South High School; and Salonee Shah on W.T. Clarke High School in Westbury.

ELMONT, LEVITTOWN

Scholarship winners

Michael Comuniello of Division Avenue High School and Christina Kelly of Elmont Memorial High School were among 253 seniors nationwide named scholarship winners by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. They received $20,000 and $10,000 scholarships, respectively.

JERICHO

Presidential scholar

Yvette Leung, a senior at Jericho High School, was named a 2010 presidential scholar this spring based on her "outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, service, and contribution to school and community."

In total, 141 seniors nationwide were chosen by the Commission on Presidential Scholars and will be honored next month in Washington D.C.

LYNBROOK

Young naturalists

Joshua Lewin-Jacus, a senior at Lynbrook High School, was one of 31 students nationwide named finalists in the American Museum of Natural History's 2010 Young Naturalist Awards for his project, "The Effects of Grazer Inhibition and Sediment Relocation on Colonization of Hard Substrates by Microbial Communities."

The competition requires students in grades 7-12 to investigate questions in biology, Earth science, ecology, and astronomy. Local semifinalists were:

Garden City: John Cassano and Anthony Ienna of Garden City High School; Plainview: Austin Rutcofsky of Plainview-Old Bethpage High School; Rockville Centre: Leah Buchman, Alyssa Ehrlich and Lori Ying of South Side High School; Syosset: Dylan Jared Assael of Syosset High School.

COUNTYWIDE

NCC fair winners

Twenty-seven Nassau County students were winners in Nassau Community College's 2010 Arts and Science Fair. In total, some 200 teens presented science projects, art and monologues. Nassau winners were:

Bellmore: Molly Lambe of John F. Kennedy High School; East Meadow: Allyson Clark, Paul DeSantis, Annet Kuruvilla, David McGee and Harrison Price of Woodland Middle School; Lauren Clancy, Matt Jones, Neil Khosla, Bisma Masroor, Sunil Reddy and Anson Wang of East Meadow High School; Farmingdale: Joshua Murthy and Michael Rulli of Farmingdale High School; Freeport: Dwayne George and Victoria Mule of Freeport High School; Garden City: Tanay Maddula and Vinay Maddula of Garden City Park School; New Hyde Park: Jeremy Elkashash, Vasia Halicos, Kevin Keenan and Yegor Manoni of Hillside Grade School; Tahmid Bhuiyan, Hussain Gittham and Michael Romando of New Hyde Park Road School; Rockville Centre: Madison Bondy and Hannah Byrne of South Side High School.

ISLANDWIDE

Best music communities

Eighteen local school districts were among 174 nationwide named best communities for music education this month by the NAMM Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at increasing interest in music. Districts were chosen based on surveys conducted by the Institute for Educational Research and Public Service at the University of Kansas. The districts were Bay Shore, Connetquot, East Meadow, Great Neck, Herricks, Hewlett-Woodmere, Island Trees, Jericho, Longwood, Manhasset, Massapequa, Mineola, North Babylon, Northport-East Northport, Oceanside, South Huntington, Sayville and Syosset