21 Long Island students win 1st place at science competition

Twenty-one students have advanced to the international level after winning first place at this year’s Long Island Science and Engineering Fair.

The annual competition included 490 students from 68 local schools competing in categories ranging from animal sciences to technology. The first round saw students present their work to judges with at least 25% of submissions in each category selected for the second round at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, according to fair officials.

The first-place winners are eligible to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix on May 9-15.

“Earning the opportunity to compete at ISEF is a testament to these students’ hard work and innovative thinking,” said the Long Island fair’s director, Angela Lukaszewski. “This achievement reflects not only academic excellence but also curiosity, perseverance and a true passion for discovery.”

First-place winners and their high schools: Partap Sidhu, Bethpage; Alexandra D’Alessio, Arav Chand and Benson Lu Huang, Half Hollow Hills West in Dix Hills; Nikita Kumar and Emma Su, Herricks; Julia Igaunis, Hewlett; Rachel Huth, Huntington; Anchita Agrawal, Vedant Balani and Ryan Tae, Jericho; Sydney Olivo and Karina Rios, Long Beach; Jonathan Philip, Plainview-Old Bethpage; Tessla Chan, Roslyn; Gary Han, Daniel Ming and Nikhil Shah, Syosset; Brady Schultz and Noor Sohail, Westhampton Beach, and Divya Jayam, Wheatley in Old Westbury.

GREAT NECK

Olympiad winners

A team from Great Neck South High School has advanced to the national level after placing second among 60 high school groups last month at the New York State Science Olympiad held in Syracuse.

To reach the state tournament, Great Neck’s team won first place in the Nassau West Regional Tournament in February. The competitions challenged teams of up to 15 students to demonstrate their lab, learning and building skills in 23 categories ranging from “astronomy” to “rocks and minerals.”

A team from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan won the state tournament and is also eligible for the national level next month in Los Angeles.

PLAINVIEW

SingStrong winner

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School’s Vibe a cappella group has been named the first-place winner of this year’s Singstrong A Cappella Festival held at Adelphi University.

The annual high school competition, which was held in February, featured 13 ensembles from across the country performing styles ranging from doo-wop to pop. Groups were evaluated on criteria including tone, intonation and originality — as well as an overall “wow factor,” according to competition officials.

The second- and third-place teams were from schools in Tennessee and Maryland, respectively.

ISLANDWIDE

JV, Middle School Fairs

Twenty-eight students won first place in the Junior Varsity Fair and Middle School Fair held last month as part of this year’s Long Island Science and Engineering Fair.

The Junior Varsity winners and their school districts: Regina Choi, Herricks; Aanya Gupta, Jericho; Katelynn Cai, Liam Connolly, Nicolas Keyoung, Bentley Lam, Lucus Pai and Naya Shah, Manhasset; and Cameron Alevy, Evie Loewy and Jessica Solomon, Port Washington.

The Middle School winners and their school districts: Hailey Hecht and Elizabeth Ziegler, Bellmore-Merrick; Lenna Karwowska, Copiague; Sophia Chen, Nikki Li and Ilaria Papatheodorou, East Meadow; David Hakimi, Lucas Livieim and Joseph Ohebshalom, Great Neck; Aditri Arun and Pranav Ramkumar, Hauppauge; Ethan Butov, Levittown; Hanna Heitefuss, Long Beach; and Alice Cosgrove, Kamilla De La Paz and Valentina Rafuna, Mineola. Emilia Syvertsen of Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale also won.

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.