Sachem North team shines in LI Envirothon

A team from Sachem North High School in Lake Ronkonkoma won first place among Suffolk County schools at the Long Island Regional Envirothon for the fifth straight year.

The envirothon, an environmental education competition for high-schoolers, consists of exams and outdoor challenges in aquatics, forestry, soil, wildlife and an oral presentation on groundwater, each worth up to 25 points. This is its 12th year.

More than 35 Nassau and Suffolk teams competed last month at the Usdan Center for Creative and Performing Arts in Wheatley Heights.

"These are very motivated students that are all passionate about the environment," said Sachem science teacher Colleen Lohr, who is the team's co-adviser with Jaime Bhalla. To remain competitive each year, Lohr said, they purposely stagger the ages and grades of teammates to let older students mentor younger ones.

Sachem North's cumulative score of 112.3 was just ahead of teams from Sayville and Mount Sinai high schools, which took second and third, respectively.

The Sachem team - Anne Liberti, Sharon Luebs, Jessica McGlinchey, Ruchi Shah and Jessica Thomas - will vie next month in the New York State Envirothon in Keuka Park upstate.

"We plan to study a lot the next few weeks and just do our best," said Thomas, a senior.

For reaching the state level, each team member received a $500 college scholarship and a Canon digital camera from Canon, a corporate sponsor. Sachem North also received a Canon printer/copier.

COMMACK

History Day star

Meaghan Mahoney of Commack Middle School won third place last month in the Junior Historical Paper category of the 2010 New York State History Day. The Cooperstown-based competition - sponsored by the New York State Historical Association - promoted the exploration of local history.

Mahoney was the sole Suffolk student to win in any category.

DIX HILLS

'We the People' winners

A 25-person team from Half Hollow Hills High School East won the Northeast Regional Award earlier this month at the national finals of "We the People: The Citizen & The Constitution," a contest consisting of mock congressional hearings on U.S. Constitution topics held in Washington, D.C. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

The team was selected for having the highest cumulative score of all 50 teams during the competition's first two days.

PORT JEFFERSON

Odyssey of the Mind

A team from Our Lady of Wisdom School is one of three in the state to reach the 2009-10 world finals of Odyssey of the Mind, a competition in using creative techniques to solve problems ranging from building devices to interpreting literature. The members of the team are Michael Caruso, Rebecca Heerbrandt, Nicholas Jack, Matt Mahoney, Kelsey Preston, Mary Kate Saladino and Christian Weigs.

The competition is administered by New Jersey-based Creative Competitions Inc. Finals are slated to start Wednesday at Michigan State University.

ROCKY POINT

New superintendent

Michael Ring has been named superintendent of the Rocky Point school district effective July 1. He will replace Carla D'Ambrosio, who is retiring after 16 years in the district. Ring has served as district assistant superintendent for finance and operations for the past two years and worked in the Connetquot Central School District teaching social studies and a "gifted and talented" program.

COUNTYWIDE

Top science projects

Eight Suffolk County students were named winners earlier this month in the 2010 Elementary School Science Fair at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The fair featured nearly 550 science projects from students in grades K-6 from 118 schools. Winners were:

Bayport: Bridget Fabiana of James Wilson Young Middle School; Kings Park: Christopher Scoleri and Nicholas Tournour of Fort Salonga Elementary School; Middle Island: Emily Horan and Zain Khan of Coram Elementary School; Sayville: Jenny Philbin of Cherry Avenue Elementary School; Shoreham: Brandon Safranek of Miller Avenue Elementary School; West Babylon: Olivia O'Hara of John F. Kennedy Elementary School.

ISLANDWIDE

National Merit scholars

Thirty-six Long Island students were among 2,500 teens nationwide last month to win $2,500 scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. They were evaluated on academic record, difficulty of subjects and leadership in the school community. Suffolk County winners were:

Dix Hills: Matt Miecnikowski of Half Hollow Hills High School East; Lennie Zhu of Half Hollow Hills High School West; East Setauket: Shelby Lin of Ward Melville High School; Greenlawn: Elliot Feld and Christopher Price of Harborfields High School; Huntington: Rebecca Silverman of Huntington High School; Port Jefferson Station: David Lawrence of Comsewogue High School; St. James: Francis Pinter and Lucas Spangher of Smithtown High School East.