Twenty-five Long Island educators were recently celebrated for incorporating technology into the educational environment.

They were named recipients of Bright Light Awards from the Association of Suffolk Supervisors for Educational Technologies (Suffolk ASSET) and were honored in January at the Heritage Club at Bethpage.

Winners and their school districts: Amanda Jackson and Ashley Pate, Bay Shore; Ashley Casella, Cold Spring Harbor; Nicole Alexandrovich, Commack; Meaghan Reilly, Comsewogue; Jennifer Campagnoli-Kearney, East Williston; Briana Becker and Joanne Seale, Hauppauge; Jessica Martino, Huntington; Leighanne Dunckley, Jericho; Scott Moar, Lindenhurst; Matthew Jones, Long Beach; Leah Vitucci, Mattituck-Cutchogue; Maryalice Leno, Mineola; Tara Davidson, Mount Sinai; Tamara Chyi, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park; Nick Raio, Northport-East Northport; Samantha Halper, Oceanside; Eileen Santoro, Plainedge; Mia LaFata, Sayville; Brittany LaValle, Shoreham-Wading River; Jessica Brown, South Huntington; Nicole Connelly, Three Village; and John Lavery, West Islip. Robert Saccente Jr. of Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf was also among the recipients.

“This year’s honorees exemplify the spirit of the Bright Light environments where students and educators alike are inspired to grow, create and succeed,” said Suffolk ASSET president Reanna Fulton.

The winners integrated a range of technology into their schools. Connelly, for example, introduced students to 3D printers and robotics as a library media specialist at P.J. Gelinas Middle School in Setauket, while Lavery is a founding member of his district’s esports team and implemented AI in his sixth-grade classes at Beech Street Middle School in West Islip.

NEW HYDE PARK

Mock trial

The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school district has launched a mock trial program to introduce elementary schoolers to the roles of judges, lawyers and witnesses.

The program consists of teams at each of the district’s four schools and includes two volunteer attorneys who “guide them through the legal system and help them prepare their cases,” according to the district. To participate, pupils were asked to submit short video applications.

“The goal of the program is to strengthen confidence, expand critical thinking and communication skills and empower advocacy,” the district’s enrichment teacher, Dominque Dunn, said in a statement.

SAYVILLE

Farmer’s Fridge

Sayville High School has installed a Farmer’s Fridge vending machine that provides students with “convenient access to fresh, healthy and nutritious food options before and after school,” according to school officials.

The machine, unveiled in January by the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, features items ranging from salads to wraps for prices that range from $1.50 to $10. Sayville is just the third school statewide with the fridge, school officials said.

“This is a tremendous step forward in supporting the health and performance of our student-athletes and all students,” Ryan Cox, the district’s director of physical education, health and interscholastic athletics, said in a statement.

ISLANDWIDE

Literary magazines

Four literary magazines from Long Island high schools — Bay Shore’s The Writers’ Block, Cold Spring Harbor’s Grok, Jericho’s Pegasus and Valley Stream South’s Trials of Society Volume 13 — were among 14 literary magazines statewide to receive the highest rating of “first class” in the National Council of Teachers of English’s 2025 REALM (Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines) Contest.

Local high schools with magazines that received the second-highest rating of “superior” were Sanford H. Calhoun in Merrick, Eastport-South Manor, Floral Park, Great Neck South, Herricks, Long Beach, Wellington C. Mepham in Bellmore and Westhampton Beach, while high schools with magazines that received the third-highest rating of “excellent” were Harborfields in Greenlawn, Manhasset and Smithtown West.

This year’s contest received more than 450 entries nationwide.

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.