Five students chosen for Science and Humanities forum

Five students will represent Long Island at the national level after being named regional delegates in a symposium that promotes research in science, engineering and math.

More than 400 local students applied for a chance to compete for the delegate positions at the Long Island regional level of the 2016 Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, held last month at York College in Queens. The event was sponsored by the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense through the Academy of Applied Sciences.

Long Island’s delegates are David Li of Commack High School, Julian Ubriaco and John Jeffrey of Kings Park High School, Jordyn Schor of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, and Archana Verma of Jericho High School.

They received all-expense-paid trips to compete at the 54th National Junior Science & Humanities Symposium in Ohio on April 27-30.

“When I had the opportunity to do a research project, I thought, ‘Why not do something that could help myself and others with the same condition?’ ” said Schor, 17, who suffers from an involuntary eye movement known as nystagmus. Her research found that those with the condition displayed higher cognitive fluency when reading material is formatted in the Golden Ratio, a math formula.

To participate, students submitted research papers that were evaluated by college faculty and local scientists and engineers. Students with the best papers were selected to present during the symposium.

Other Nassau County finalists for delegate spots were August Chen of Great Neck North High School, Niranjan Senthilkumar and Kimberly Te of Manhasset High School and Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna of Elmont Memorial High School.

BETHPAGE

Broadcasting studio

Bethpage High School has unveiled a broadcasting studio for students to write, anchor and produce segments every morning as part of the school’s broadcast journalism curriculum.

The studio is used for daily 3- to 5-minute broadcasts that include a live reading of club and school announcements, as well as a prerecorded feature story of the week, a sports corner and the cafeteria’s lunch options.

Student anchors sit in front of a green screen and read from a teleprompter. All clips are posted on Bethpage High School TV’s YouTube channel.

LYNBROOK

Yoga addition

Lynbrook High School students are learning the importance of mindfulness and stress reduction through a new yoga elective.

The class was created by physical education and health teacher Deborah DeBetta. She based it on her training as a registered yoga instructor and at the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness.

She also offers mindfulness training to local teachers through Nassau BOCES’ Physical Education Consortium.

COUNTYWIDE

100th day

Schools celebrated the 100th day of the academic year in February with educational activities centered around the number 100.

In East Rockaway, kindergartners at Rhame Avenue Elementary School shared self-portraits of what they might look like at that age and writing assignments that asked them to finish the sentence: “When I’m 100 I will ...” Meanwhile, kindergartners at Centre Avenue Elementary School decorated posters with 100 items, such as cotton balls and googly eyes.

In Glen Cove, first-graders at Deasy Elementary School completed 10 sets of 10 different exercises, while other children dressed as centenarians by sporting silver hair spray, spectacles and suspenders. They also practiced math skills by counting snacks in groups of 10.

In Wantagh, kids at Wantagh Elementary School wrote 100 recognizable words, took 100 steps to see where they would end up, and wrote essays about what they would do with $100.

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.