School Notebook: LI students named to All-National Honor Ensembles

Twenty-three Long Island students are among 550 nationwide named to this year's All-National Honor Ensembles by the National Association for Music Education.

The ensembles — which include a jazz ensemble, mixed choir, guitar ensemble, symphony orchestra and concert band — will perform at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, from Nov. 25 to 28. Selected students had qualified for their state-level honor ensemble program and were chosen through an audition process, the association said.

Long Island's selectees and their high schools are: Anna Grottola, Connetquot; Elizabeth Choi, Elwood; Anthony Malizia and Eric Sattler, Farmingdale; Omeed Tartak, Great Neck; Grace Kang, Herricks; Marie McCumiskey, Kellenberg; Alexandra Hong, Manhasset; Christian Scala and Jenny Testaverde, Massapequa; Hanah Leventhal, North Shore; Matthew Orgel, Plainview-Old Bethpage; Joshua Vogel, Rocky Point; Benjamin Shaposhnikov, Sanford H. Calhoun; Anthony D'Amore, Smithtown East; Sami Ahn and Gabrielle Bieder, Syosset; Maxwell Fisher and Megan Neuman, Walt Whitman; Lauren Leonardi, West Islip; Comeragh Sheehan, Westhampton Beach; Camellia Ye, Wheatley School; and Zachary Neikens, William Floyd. 

"I am honored to have been selected," said Westhampton Beach High School senior Comeragh Sheehan, who was one of 122 instrumentalists selected for the symphony orchestra. "It is a great opportunity to represent my school."

AMITYVILLE

High school expansion

Amityville Memorial High School hosted a groundbreaking ceremony last month for an expansion project that will see the building double in size.  The work is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2020-21 school year, when the district's ninth-graders will move from the middle school to the high school, school officials said.

Among other things, the expansion will include a gymnasium with locker rooms, science labs, classrooms and added cafeteria space. The work is the marquee project in a $69.9-million bond approved by voters in 2016.

"We've needed this space for a long time, and a lot of great changes are about to begin because of this," Amityville Superintendent Mary T. Kelly said.

LAKE RONKONKOMA

Peer mentors

Sachem High School North's Peer Mentor Club has expanded to include a homeroom element in which members are introduced to freshman and sophomores to develop new relationships and provide academic advice. The expanded efforts range from team-building activities to group discussions designed to help new students become socially acclimated.

The school's 200-member Peer Mentor Club, the largest statewide, is professionally trained each year through the New York State Mentoring Program to provide one-on-one assistance to fellow students, school officials said.

"Our job as mentors is to help new students make connections in the building as they begin high school," said Mike Pellomo, a senior.

COUNTYWIDE

Bullying prevention

Area schools hosted activities last month designed to teach kindness and respect in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Month.

In Amityville, more than 300 students at Edmund W. Miles Middle School signed anti-bullying pledges in which they vowed to speak up if they see bullying occur. They also received "No Place for Hate" bracelets and promised not to use their phones or computers to spread hurtful messages about others.

In Deer Park, John F. Kennedy Intermediate School fifth-graders made signs to remind themselves that their school is a "bully-free zone," school officials said. Pupils were also presented with weekly challenges to show kindness to a friend, family member or someone they don't know.

In West Babylon, South Bay Elementary School third-graders read the children's book "The Juice Box Bully," created a paper chain with thoughts on bullying, and discussed the different roles people play in bullying.

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.