William Floyd dominates at Youth & Government Conference

William Floyd High School's A.G. Chancellor was elected governor and Nicole Cervone was named a delegate during the YMCA Youth & Government Conference. Credit: William Floyd School District
William Floyd High School has continued its dominance in a state conference that challenges students to campaign, elect and then lead a simulated government inside the state’s actual legislative chambers.
Members of the school’s Youth & Government Club were elected to nine of the 12 leadership positions last month at the 80th Annual New York State YMCA Youth & Government Conference in Albany. This year’s event attracted some 500 students statewide.
The Mastic Beach-based high school also has taken a majority of the positions each of the past two years — being elected to 15 of 24 available leadership positions collectively.
“It is simply amazing how William Floyd continually outperforms their competition at this conference every single year,” William Floyd Superintendent Kevin Coster said. “It is also great to see so many students involved and passionate about taking an active role in leadership and learning about government and public policy.”
The school’s electees and their roles are: A.G. Chancellor, governor; Sarah Mazzarella, lieutenant governor; Matthew Schneider, president pro-tempore of the Senate; Numaira Khan, chief justice; Alexandria Willets, speaker of Assembly Liberty; Ryan Siegel, deputy speaker of Assembly Liberty; Evan Meinke, deputy speaker of Assembly Freedom; Ezekiel Torres, the attorney general; Kayla Guarino, public defender.
YMCA Youth & Government is a national program involving thousands of teens in state-organized model-government programs to help expose them to experiential civic engagement.
NORTH BABYLON
“Pennies for Patients”
Belmont Elementary School has raised $7,070 — a school record — through a “Pennies for Patients” campaign to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Long Island Chapter.
To raise the funds, the school held fundraisers for each week of March — such as “Cash for a Cookie,” in which kids donated $1 to receive a coupon for a free cookie from Panera Bread. Another activity was “Stuck for a Buck,” in which kids donated $1 to vote for which educator they wanted to see taped to a wall.
The classes collecting the most cash were rewarded with pasta and ice cream parties.
COUNTYWIDE
Best music communities
Twenty-two Suffolk County school districts are among 476 nationwide named this year’s Best Communities for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants. The designation recognizes efforts to ensure access to music learning for every student as part of the school curriculum.
Selected districts were Amityville, Bay Shore, Bayport-Blue Point, Commack, Comsewogue, Connetquot, Deer Park, East Hampton, Fishers Island, Half Hollow Hills, Huntington, Islip, Lindenhurst, Longwood, Miller Place, North Babylon, Northport-East Northport, Patchogue-Medford, Port Jefferson, Smithtown, South Country and Southampton.
In addition, three Suffolk County schools — Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School in Riverhead, Sayville High School, and Woodhull School in Ocean Beach — were among 188 schools nationwide to receive the SupportMusic Merit Award for demonstrating strong support for — and commitment to — music education.
ISLANDWIDE
Fab School Labs
The Northrop Grumman Foundation has launched a classroom makeover contest, Fab School Labs, that will make grants of up to $100,000 available to five middle schools. It is designed to drive student interest in science and technology by giving schools a chance to create their dream science or technology lab or classroom.
School officials can enter by visiting FabSchoolLabs.com, where they can submit an application, video and photos. Semifinalists will be chosen and their videos will receive online votes to assist in the selection.
The winning schools team up with the contest’s partner, Flinn Scientific Inc., to design a dream lab. The submission window is May 1 until June 17.
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