Erin Ye has been named valedictorian of Huntington High School’s Class of 2022. Luke Rinaldi is this year’s salutatorian. They will both give addresses at Huntington’s 161th commencement exercises on Friday, June 24 at 6 p.m. at Blue Devil Stadium.
Presidential Honors
Third graders at Maplewood Intermediate in the South Huntington school district recognized Presidents Day with presentations about American presidents. They dressed in costumes, had class “Secret Service” agents, and provided information about former presidents. Board of Education President, Nicholas Ciappetta, was welcomed to the presentation by the class’ “secret service,” along with Superintendent Dr. Vito D’Elia, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Gayle Steele, and Maplewood Principal William Hender.
Harborfields school district photo
Harborfields Playfest
Harborfields High School students recently presented PlayFest, a four-play theater event involving students from all grade levels.
PlayFest serves to highlight students’ creative talents, including giving them the chance to be their own writers and directors.
The freshman play was “Assessments, Alibis and Acquaintances” by Amelia Freiberger, the sophomore play was “Soup King” by Peter Hoss, the junior play was “Thanksgiving Dinner” by Adelina Slansky, and the senior play was “The Hallifax Hoax” by Moore Theobald.
Each grade level also created posters and playbills.
Competitive Cheerleading Rules
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association has approved a capacity limit at its Competitive Cheerleading State Championships scheduled for Saturday, March 5 at Gordon Fieldhouse on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
The limit of 400 means that no spectators will be allowed but that athletes will be able to compete without having to meet Covid-19 vaccination standards.
Whitman Student Joins Research Program
Walt Whitman High School sophomore Andrew Lorente’s proposal on brown tide in the Great South Bay has been accepted into Barcode Long Island, and he will continue the next steps to completing this research.
The Barcode Long Island program by the DNA Learning Center is in collaboration with Stony
Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the American Museum of Natural
History. It invites high school students “to gain an intuitive understanding of the
crucial interdependence between humans and the natural environment.”
This program allows students to explore the biodiversity of Long Island through DNA barcoding,
providing proper training and materials to assist the students in their research.
Lorente’s proposal included the presence of brown tide in the Great South Bay, and suggestions
to prevent brown tide. His next steps include collecting algae samples from the Great
South Bay and identifying species that cause this brown tide. He will then isolate and identify the
algae at Whitman, extracting their DNA and barcoding them to confirm the specific species.
Administrator of the Year
Joe Monastero, executive director of instructional and administrative technology in the Cold Spring Harbor School District, has been selected by the members of Western Suffolk BOCES School Library System Council as the 2021-2022 administrator of the year.
He was nominated by Lloyd Harbor Elementary School library media specialist Whitney O’Donnell, West Side Elementary School library media specialist Erica Fraiberg and Goosehill Primary School library media specialist Marissa Urso.
Monastero was recognized for his commitment to the growth of the district’s school libraries by promoting and providing financial, staffing and guidance support, and leadership to the district’s library programs.
The award presentation will take place on May 12 at the 7th Leadership and Information Symposium Celebrating Our Successes.