Brentwood H.S. savors marching band win

Brentwood High School has marched its way into the record books.

The school's Green Machine Marching Band beat out six other schools statewide last month to win first place in the Large School 2 Division of the 2010 New York State Field Band Conference Championships held in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University.

The 144-student ensemble scored 90.20 and finished ahead of upstate Lancaster High School, which scored 89.75. Before reaching the state level, the Green Machine went undefeated at six local competitions in September and October.

"We went in very poised, and the kids were confident and focused," said Joel Ratner, music coordinator of Brentwood Union Free School District. "We didn't take for granted that we'd win, because there were some very top bands."

The band's show - titled "The Aviatrix: A Salute to Amelia Earhart" - consisted of the classical songs "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" by John Coolidge Adams and "To Tame the Perilous Skies" by David Holsinger. The students marched holding colored flags, rifles and sabers to reflect the mood of the music.

To prepare for the performance, the band attended a four-week music program in July as well as a five-day band camp in August. The group also practiced three afternoons a week and on Saturdays since the start of the school year.

Brentwood also won state titles in 2006 and 2007 in the Large Schools 3 Division.

"The show was very challenging and we took it by storm," said senior Jackie Langella, one of the band's three drum majors, along with classmates Estaphanie Gutierrez and Eric Delgado. "I feel like it was the best performance we've done. There was lots of emotion."

Malverne High School won first place in the competition's Small Schools 3 Division.

COMMACK

Educator of the Year

Carolann Lally, an art teacher at Indian Hollow and North Ridge primary schools, was named 2010 Art Educator of the Year for Suffolk County by the New York State Art Teachers Association based on her "outstanding contributions to the field of art education."

Lally, who joined the district eight years ago, is a certified adjudicator for the association's Portfolio Project, an initiative that allows students to submit portfolios of their artwork for assessment. She also frequently submits student art into local and state shows and exhibits.

HUNTINGTON

Publishing center

James. H. Boyd Intermediate School in the Elwood Union Free School District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month to unveil a renovated Publishing Center where students can "perfect the art of writing and become certified authors," district officials said.

The center - which includes new computers, a copy machine and a book binder - will be integrated into the curriculum and is open to students during their free time. At the ceremony, Boyd students were lectured on the importance of good writing by Elwood-John H. Glenn High School senior Claudia Geib, who has self-published two fiction books.

"We want to create writers who write so well readers don't want to put the story down," said Boyd Principal Sharon McCabe.

MASTIC BEACH

Literally making news

Twenty-five students at William Floyd High School are delivering district news with a twist of humor this school year in "Update News," a program modeled after the venerable Weekend Update skit on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." The four-minute episodes are posted weekly on the district website and topics range from college visits to blood drives to school events.

The program is a revival of a show created by William Floyd students in 1979 that aired on a Town of Brookhaven cable channel, school officials said.

COUNTYWIDE

Bully prevention

Dozens of schools throughout Suffolk County recognized National Bullying Prevention Month in October with programs designed to educate families on the dangers of bullying.

In West Babylon, the high school hosted a seminar for parents in which Suffolk County District Court Judge John Iliou, a West Babylon graduate, and Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Michael Ross shared tips on how to identify whether a child is being bullied. They also explained the dangers of sending explicit photos and how they can be turned into "weapons" against the sender.

In South Huntington, Walt Whitman High School and its PTA held a forum to educate parents and students in grades 6-12 about safe uses of the Internet as well as the importance of applying parental controls on social-networking websites.

In Sayville, Suffolk County Police Det. Rory Forestal spoke to parents and students about how cyberbullying is becoming a "cultural crisis," school officials said.

ISLANDWIDE

Math Scholars

Seventy-five students have been named Long Island Young Scholars of Mathematics by the Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students at SUNY Old Westbury. Honorees are among the top 0.1 percent of math students in grades 5-10. The scholars were determined based on an exam given in May. Suffolk County winners were:

Bayport: Natalie Mottl of Bayport-Blue Point High School; Commack: Erica Slepian of Commack High School; Lindsay Eller, Scott Massa and Ryan McCaffrey of Commack Middle School; Dix Hills: Bailey Liao of Half Hollow Hills High School West; Kory Fitzgerald and Liana He of Candlewood Middle School; East Setauket: Serena Zhao of Laurel Hill School; Hauppauge: Joseph Roberti of Hauppauge Middle School; Holtsville: Cynthia Brand of Sequoya Middle School; Huntington: Miranda Nykolyn of Woodhull Intermediate School; Huntington Station: Tyler Conforti of Jack Abrams Intermediate School (since closed); Medford: Brian Roberts of Oregon Middle School; Middle Island: Bailey Gorman of Longwood High School; Jakub Wlodek of Longwood Junior High School; Maciej Wlodek of Longwood Middle School; Nesconset: Erica Slota of Great Hollow Middle School; Northport: Eric Inkelis of Northport High School; Sayville: Lara Hirsch and Matthew Tomku of Sayville Middle School; Shoreham: Christine Joseph and Jaclyn Lasita of Shoreham-Wading River High School; Smithtown: Eda Algur of Smithtown High School West; South Huntington: Julie McDonald of St. Anthony's High School; St. James: Devin Cornacchio of Nesaquake Middle School; Stony Brook: Yiran He of R.C. Murphy Junior High School; West Babylon: Thomas Iliou of West Babylon Junior High School.