Nassau students study ways to reduce pollution on Long Island

Students at Nassau BOCES' Doshi STEM Institute are striving to reduce the long-term environmental and biological impacts of pollution on Long Island.

The 48 students teamed up as part of an ongoing project to study heavy metals in the local environment and gauge their impact on living organisms ranging from oysters to insects.

They undertook experiments last school year to study plant and sea life at Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve in Lloyd Harbor and at a superfund site in Glen Cove where the federal government is cleaning up hazardous waste. They will present their research later this year to an audience of parents, principals and superintendents.

"This project gives our students a glimpse into real science," said Jennifer Galasso, a STEM instructor at the school in Syosset.

To better analyze their findings, students visited Brookhaven National Laboratory, where they used the National Synchrotron Light Source, a facility that produces X-ray beams and other light wavelengths to study various materials and biological structures.

They are comparing their research with data taken at Peconic Bay and Shinnecock Canal by Shelter Island and Southampton high school students.

"It's really interesting discovering the pollutants and figuring out how they affect us," said Meghan Girdhar, a Doshi student and freshman at Hicksville High School. "Once you know what's there, you can determine where it comes from."

LONG BEACH: Tribute to orchestra teacher

Students at Long Beach High School's winter concert honored the late Felicia Wilson, who taught orchestra there for two decades before her death last year from leukemia.

The students shared memories of Wilson, presented her family with a plaque and dedicated a mural in her memory. The mural, in the school's music wing, features the silhouette of a violinist, with vivid colors shown coming from the instrument.

The design was developed by senior Laura Capozzi, who painted the mural with four classmates.

BELLMORE-MERRICK: Genocide survivor

Students at Wellington C. Mepham High School in Bellmore and Sanford H. Calhoun High School in Merrick recently learned about the horrors of genocide during a visit from Johnson Mutibagirana, a Rwandan who survived the genocide committed by Hutu extremists against his Tutsi tribe in 1994.

Mutibagirana, 29, was only 9 when he witnessed his mother executed with 40 Tutsi neighbors. His father was killed in another province during the 100-day genocide campaign that claimed the lives of nearly 1 million Tutsi tribe members.

The survivor told the teens he has let go of the anger over his parents' murders. He now is studying law on a full scholarship at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

NASSAU COUNTY: Hispanic heritage

Six Nassau County students were winners in the seventh annual Hispanic Heritage Month Essay Contest sponsored by Cablevision's Optimum Community and Olympusat, a provider of Spanish-language channels.

The contest asked students to name a Latino with whom they would choose to spend a day.

At the middle school level, Great Neck South eighth-grader Kristin Hon won the grand prize: a $2,500 scholarship. Great Neck South seventh-grader Shin-Young Park placed first, and Garden City eighth-grader Erika Rooney took second place.

At the high school level, Westbury senior Danielle McDougall won first place, while Garden City junior Esteban Ortiz and Great Neck North junior Julia Rietbroek placed second and third, respectively.

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