Carey students 'adopt' Marine unit in Afghanistan

Students at H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square have helped bring the comforts of home to a platoon of U.S. Marines - nicknamed the Raging Bulls - in Afghanistan.

In January, the school's student government "adopted" the platoon of Pfc. Chris Piccolo, son of former Carey English teacher Marialana Piccolo, and collected enough toiletries and snacks to fill 30 boxes to send overseas to Piccolo's platoon for Easter.

Junior Louie Cona suggested the adoption concept to Carey teachers in early December.

That time of year is difficult "as families are overtaxed with giving," said English teacher Dorothy Drexel, noting she was "hugely surprised" by the volume of donations. "It's nice to support someone we know."

Each class and club was asked to collect 30 items from a list that included shampoo, microwavable popcorn and fruit drink powder.

Shipping costs were handled by the Carey Dads Club, which helps fund school activities.

GARDEN CITY

$50,000 mentor grant

Garden City Middle School was among nine schools statewide to be named Effective Practices Mentor Schools by the state Education Department based on its support for special education. The school gets a grant of up to $50,000 and will mentor a school replicating its programs.

MASSAPEQUA

Promoting cancer walk

Sixteen students from Massapequa High School's fashion marketing classes recently designed a series of window displays at Westfield Sunrise Mall in Massapequa to help promote the Long Island 2-Day Walk to Fight Breast Cancer to be held June 5-6. Displays included mannequins sporting pink T-shirts, bags and balloons promoting the walk, school officials said.

PLAINEDGE

DUI and consequences

Plainedge High School juniors recently learned about the dangers of drunken driving in a lecture from Nassau County's district attorney's office.

The Choices and Consequences event included photos of local drunk-driving accidents, including a 2005 crash that killed 7-year-old Katie Flynn and a limousine driver on the Meadowbrook Parkway. In addition, students attending the junior prom received a "lifeline card" courtesy of King Kullen that includes phone numbers of local cab companies offering free rides home.

COUNTYWIDE

Epidemiology scholars

Six Nassau County students are regional finalists in the Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition, a health-research contest from the College Board and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. They will vie for college scholarships of up to $50,000 this week in Washington, D.C. Regional finalists are:

Cedarhurst: Puja Chabra of Lawrence High School; Franklin Square: Pegah Eftekharzadeh of Valley Stream North High School; Garden City: Jan Gong of Garden City High School; Jericho: Matt Lam of Jericho High School; Port Washington: Katelynn Catalano of Schreiber High School; Roslyn Heights: Kevin Young Xu of Roslyn High School.

Semifinalists who received a $1,000 scholarship were: Bellmore: Barri Bruno and Emily Mauser of John F. Kennedy High School; Cedarhurst: Neha Madhusoodanan of Lawrence High School; Old Westbury: David Skwiersky of The Wheatley School; Plainedge: Catherine Curran and Okadshi Thukral of Plainedge High School; Roslyn Heights: Max Blum, Brian Chen, Lauren Kobrick and Ariel Lefland of Roslyn High School.