Syosset, Ward Melville teams qualify for Science Olympiad National Tournament

Teams from Syosset High School and Ward Melville High School in East Setauket will compete at the national level this month after taking the top spots at the New York State Science Olympiad.

Syosset’s team won first place for the second consecutive year, and Ward Melville was the runner up out of 59 teams in the annual tournament, which was held in the spring at Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

The teams are now among 120 nationwide invited to compete at the Science Olympiad National Tournament in Michigan on May 24-25.

“Syosset has done an amazing job in the last two years,” said coach Mildred Castaneda. “I am honored to be a part of it.”

The state Olympiad challenged teams of up to 15 students to demonstrate knowledge in 23 categories ranging from astronomy to forensics. Students participated in knowledge-based events that required them to take a test or analyze data, hands-on events that required them to perform experiments or interact with physical objects, or engineering-based events that required them to construct devices following specific parameters.

To reach the state level, Syosset and Ward Melville were among the top-placing teams this past winter in the Nassau East, Nassau West and Eastern Long Island tournaments, which were among 13 high school regionals held statewide. The first-place teams in those three regionals were from Syosset, Great Neck South and Ward Melville high schools, respectively.

Other local high school teams that reached the state level were from Chaminade in Mineola; Half Hollow Hills East in Dix Hills; Hauppauge; Hicksville; Jericho; Division Avenue and General Douglas MacArthur in Levittown; Manhasset; Earl L. Vandermeulen and Paul D. Schreiber in Port Jefferson; Roslyn; Smithtown East; Smithtown West; The Stony Brook School; and West Babylon.

GLEN HEAD/ LYNBROOK

Distinguished Diamond Club

The Key Clubs at Lynbrook High School and North Shore High School in Glen Head were among four statewide recently recognized as Distinguished Diamond-level clubs, the highest achievement possible.

The groups, which were honored by the New York District Key Club, were selected for their community service efforts during the 2023-24 service year. North Shore’s efforts, for example, included members volunteering more than 965 hours for the NOSH food pantry in Glen Cove and raising more than $4,600 for charities.

“The Key Club is very grateful we were able to receive recognition for the work the entire club has accomplished,” said North Shore’s club adviser, Julia Salat.

MOUNT SINAI

New principal

Christopher Elsesser has been appointed principal of Mount Sinai Middle School, effective July 1. He will replace Elizabeth Hine, who is retiring.

Elsesser, a 2002 graduate of Mount Sinai High School, is an assistant principal at Smithtown High School West. Before that, his educational experience includes working as a high school business education teacher in Smithtown.

“I hope to use a combination of my professional knowledge and personal experiences as an alumnus to inspire every student to live their dreams and uphold the proud tradition of Mustang pride,” said Elsesser, referring to the school’s mascot.

WESTHAMPTON BEACH

Book collection

Westhampton Beach High School sophomore Ava Failla recently spearheaded a collection of more than 1,300 books for Book Fairies of Long Island, a nonprofit that distributes books to low-income communities on Long Island.

To collect the books, Failla approached the principals of the Quogue and Westhampton Beach elementary schools and received approval to set up donation boxes in the school lobbies.

“Growing up, I had a lot of nice books and I wanted to help make a difference and provide books to underprivileged children,” said Failla.

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.