East Northport team's rocket to compete nationally

In East Northport a team from Trinity Regional School is flying high after building a rocket that qualified for the Team America Rocketry Challenge near Washington, D.C.

The national challenge - slated for Saturday - requires middle and high school students to design and build a rocket that can climb to 825 feet and stay aloft 40 to 45 seconds - transporting an egg and returning it unbroken.

Trinity students David Mauro, Namdi Nwasike, Joseph Orsetti, Matt Richardson, Paul Tonna and Luke Woodward were the sole Long Island team among the 100 qualifiers.

"They're also one of the few middle-school teams," said Trinity science teacher Anne Kelly, noting her team members are all eighth-graders.

The team started building its rocket in the fall, Kelly said, using cardboard tubes, three half-inch engines, wooden fins, and streamers designed to decrease speed as the rocket falls. An altimeter records the rocket's height and couch cushions are used to protect the egg.

To reach the challenge, the team successfully completed a qualification flight in April.

"We're hoping to win it all," Richardson said of the upcoming competition. "It would be great for Trinity and get more kids interested in science, too."

Winning teams receive a total of $60,000 in prizes and a chance to attend the International Air Show in England.

AMITYVILLE

Administrator honored

Peter Hutchison, assistant principal of Amityville High School, was named 2010 assistant principal of the year by the School Administrators Association of New York State for setting the school's "pace, character and quality of education."

BAY SHORE

Diversity in writing

More than 1,000 teens from 18 Long Island high schools celebrated diversity and writing last month at the 19th Annual Ethnic Pen Student Writers' Conference at Bay Shore High School. The event consisted of writing workshops and lectures by international authors.

Highlights included a reading from author Da Chen, who recounted his childhood as the grandson of a landowner during China's Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, and a lecture by filmmaker Patrick Davidson, whose 2008 documentary, "The World We Want," follows a variety of teenage activists.

BOHEMIA, WEST ISLIP

Forums to fight heroin

Connetquot High School and Paul J. Bellew Elementary School in West Islip recently hosted anti-heroin forums to address the problem of heroin addiction among local youths.

In Bohemia, Connetquot's forum attracted 400 community members and included lectures from representatives of the Long Island Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence and the Suffolk County Police Narcotics Unit. Bellew's seminar included a question-and-answer session with Suffolk County Sheriff's Department representatives.

Free drug-testing kits were distributed at each of the forums.

MIDDLE ISLAND

Books for others

Charles E. Walters Elementary School students recently collected 2,800 books through a schoolwide campaign coordinated by the school's Harmony Committee. The collection benefited Middle Island Caring for Kids Day Care Center and Nana's House, an emergency shelter located in Mastic.

In other news, Walters fourth-graders recently donated about 450 stuffed animals to Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, while Longwood High School students recently raised $10,700 for the American Heart Association through a Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser.

COUNTYWIDE

Focus on saving the Earth

Dozens of local schools celebrated Earth Day last month with activities designed to raise environmental awareness.

In Miller Place, students at Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School heard Principal Catherine Honeyman recite Earth-themed poetry, while Suffolk Legis. Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-East Setauket) sang an Earth-themed merengue song at Terryville Road Elementary School in Port Jefferson.

In Southampton, fifth-graders at Southampton Intermediate School visited the LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton to learn the proper way to plant, prune and identify trees.

In West Babylon, John F. Kennedy Elementary School students learned how to reuse milk cartons as flower pots and turn magazines into necklace beads.

ISLANDWIDE

Merit Scholarships

Seven Long Island students were among 1,000 nationwide last month to be named winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Most of the awards offer annual stipends of $500 to $10,000, while some offer a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Winners were:

Babylon: Sal Albanese of Babylon High School; Bellport: Katherine O'Connor of Bellport High School; Garden City: Tom Elustondo of Garden City High School; Great Neck: Charles Starr of Great Neck South High School; Kings Park: Eric Mintzer of Kings Park High School; Massapequa: Jessica Apicella of Massapequa High School; Middle Island: Linda Liu of Longwood High School.