Nassau students compete in Arts Alive LI poster contest

More than 170 Long Island children found artistic inspiration in their surroundings to enter the Long Island Arts Alliance's Arts Alive LI 2014 poster contest.

The 10 winning posters are on display until Oct. 26 at the Long Island Children's Museum, on Museum Row in Garden City. The contest challenged participants to create art in response to the question, "What place on Long Island inspires the artist in you?"

This is the first year that the contest's winning posters are being displayed in the museum, said Theresa Statz-Smith, the arts alliance's executive director. They are featured as part of the third annual Arts Alive LI Arts Month, which ends Oct. 31.

"It is our hope that many of our region's talented student artists will view this as an opportunity to participate in Arts Month and be featured in their first museum exhibition," Statz-Smith said.

The grand-prize winner was Audrey Zhang, a sixth-grader at Island Trees Middle School in Levittown. She received an Apple iPad mini and a $500 gift card, both donated by Bethpage Federal Credit Union.

The contest's first-place winners were Ellie Park of Brooklyn Avenue Elementary School in Valley Stream, Michael Dominguez of Stewart Manor Elementary School in New Hyde Park, and McKensi Pascall of Connetquot High School in Bohemia.

Second-place winners were Mindy Leu of Waverly Park Elementary School in Lynbrook, Yashmita Logaraj of Pines Elementary School in Hauppauge and Naomi Ruffalo-Román of Selden Middle School.

Third-place winners were Kathryn Fligstein of Northport Middle School, Alexandro Vasquez of Connetquot High School and Sude Maris, a home-schooled student from East Moriches.

VALLEY STREAM: STEM fellowship

Melissa Hayden, a technology teacher at Valley Stream Memorial Junior High School, was one of 50 educators nationwide selected for a fellowship focused on incorporating techniques in science, technology, engineering and math — also known as STEM — into lesson plans.

The fellowship from Siemens Foundation and Discovery Education explored topics ranging from digital storytelling to project-based learning.

The weeklong program was held over the summer at the Siemens STEM Institute outside Washington, D.C.

COUNTYWIDE: Education Partners

Nassau BOCES is accepting nominations for its ninth annual Education Partner Awards, which recognize individuals and organizations that have made an impact on public education in Nassau County.

Nominations — for students, educators, school board members and organizations — may be made at nassauboces.org. The deadline is Nov. 3.

Winners will be announced in January and honored at a March 25 gala.

"Just like Nassau BOCES, the awards program is open to people from all walks of life, and we welcome nominations that reflect this diversity," Nassau BOCES Deputy Superintendent Robert Hanna said.

ISLANDWIDE: Achievement scholarships

Nineteen Long Island students are among about 1,600 African-American high school seniors nationwide named semifinalists for 2015 National Achievement Scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

About 800 scholarships worth about $2.5 million will be given in the spring based on academic achievement, community service and scores on the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, among other factors. Finalists for the scholarships will be named in late January.

Semifinalists were selected from more than 160,000 students nationwide who entered the 2015 National Achievement Program.

Local semifinalists are: Amityville: William Wolfe-McGuire, a home-schooled student; Baldwin: Malika Elmengad, Shenyece Ferguson, Sarah Paul, Jalyn Simmons and Keenan St. Clair of Baldwin High School; Copiague: Christine Franco and Yohannah Franco, both home-schooled students; Dix Hills: Iriowen Ojo of Half Hollow Hills High School West; Glen Cove: Blake Woods of Glen Cove High School; Glen Head: Daniel Bonitto of Long Island Lutheran High School; Hicksville: Abiola Adedeji of Holy Trinity High School; Long Beach: Vanessa Tate of Long Beach High School; Manhasset: Brianna Taffe and Taylor Wilson of St. Mary's High School; Mineola: Reginald Verrier of Chaminade High School; Uniondale: Brandon Kinsler of Kellenberg Memorial High School; and Valley Stream: Kayla Diedrick and Charles Luca of Valley Stream Central High School.