Hempstead students play in concert with pros
Hempstead students recently teamed up with musicians in the Long Island Philharmonic for a joint concert, which school officials called "one of its kind" for the district.
The partnership in the Philharmonic's Performance Partners program allowed 150 orchestra students from the district's six schools to take monthly workshops with Philharmonic musicians. The program culminated last month in an hourlong concert at Hempstead High School.
"The experience of performing with professionals is priceless," said Angel Perez, district director of music, art and library media. "It brought the students up to an energy level they had never been at before."
During the workshops teams of two Philharmonic musicians visited each school to share advice with students regarding posture while playing and stylistic interpretation, among other things.
At the show, pupils split into three groups - elementary, middle and high schoolers - for separate performances with 18 Philharmonic musicians.
Music included Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and a string arrangement of Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Trumpets.
"Not everyone can afford private lessons," said senior and violinist Lamin Sesy. "This is one of the few times we'll ever play with a professional orchestra."
Other districts involved in the program are East Williston, Jericho, Westbury and Uniondale.
Red carpet for readers
Burns Avenue Elementary School recently hosted its own take on the Oscars with "The Burnies," capping a monthlong reading incentive program.
To participate, kids dressed as book characters, such as Stuart Little and Harry Potter, and walked a red carpet set up in the school hallway. Categories included favorite schoolgirl character, most mischievous character and book of the year.
Literature letter winner
Sal Diaguardia, a sixth-grader at Jericho Middle School, won first place in the grade 4-6 level of Letters About Literature, a contest coordinated by the New York Center for the Book at Syracuse University in which kids wrote letters to authors who have inspired them.
Diaguardia wrote to Cynthia Lord and shared how her novel "Rules" changed the way he views people with autism.
$30,000 for researchSanford H. Calhoun High School raised $30,000 during a fundraiser for the St. Baldrick's Foundation in which 125 male students solicited sponsorships from family and friends and shaved their heads. Thirty female students also had some of their hair cut, school officials said. The foundation funds childhood cancer research.
'Biggest Loser' visitsNassau BOCES special education students at Eagle Avenue Middle School recently received an inspirational visit from Bill Germanakos of Lynbrook, the winner on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" in 2007.
Germanakos' visit was the culmination of the school's health campaign "Strive for Five," which asked kids to eat five fruits and vegetables a day.
COUNTYWIDE
Science fair winners
Twenty-nine Nassau County students were winners last month in the Long Island Science & Engineering Fair at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. They will compete at the International Science & Engineering Fair in California May 8-14. Local winners were:
East Meadow: Salonee Shah of W. Tresper Clarke High School; Garden City: Jan Gong of Garden City High School; Great Neck: Joe Yagoda of Great Neck South High School; Josh Pfeffer of North Shore Hebrew Academy; Herricks: Neil Pathak of Herricks High School; Jericho: Pragya Kakani, Brandon Li and Pooja Rambhia of Jericho High School; Lawrence: Paul Masih Das of Lawrence High School; Jessica Lovett of Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns & Rockaway; Levittown: Chaimaa Makoudi of MacArthur High School; Long Beach: Hannah Berkowitz, Jackie Bokor, Michelle Leonetti, Zakaria Seghrouchni, and Griffin Shapiro of Long Beach High School; Lynbrook: Josh Lewin-Jacus of Lynbrook High School; Manhasset: Shaunak Bakshi, Celline Kim, James Krach, Peter Massey and Jonathan Tam of Manhasset High School; Old Westbury: Charles Yu of The Wheatley School; Plainview: Jason Littman of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School; Port Washington: Ryohei Ozaki of Schreiber High School; Rockville Centre: Alyssa Ehrlich of South Side High School; Roslyn Heights: Aaron Levine and Kevin Xu of Roslyn High School; Valley Stream: Julia Poje of Valley Stream South High School.
ISLANDWIDE
MSG Varsity V Awards
MSG Varsity and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' New York Chapter have teamed up to create the MSG Varsity V Awards, which honors high-schoolers for original television content they produce. Winning schools will receive a $5,000 grant and be featured in a one-hour special on MSG Varsity in June.
Categories are arts and entertainment, best original production, best overall coverage, editing, news, sports, sports (full game), sports (reporter) and writing. The contest is open to those in a service area of Cablevision, which owns Newsday. Entries are due by May 7; for rules and entry forms, visit msg varsity.com.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
