Nassau: Uniondale show choir tops

Uniondale High School's show choir ruled the stage in a prestigious regional competition this month.

The 52-student group took first place over nine others in the regional level of the 2013 FAME Show Choir National Competition at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan.

The show choir is the only one in the tri-state area that will advance to the national finals in Chicago April 26-27.

"I couldn't believe how great of a performance we had. We were energetic and strong," said Lynnette Carr-Hicks, Uniondale's show choir director. "The other groups were great, but we had a little extra. I am confident this momentum will take us far in the nationals."

Uniondale's 30-minute performance was themed around Harlem's legendary Cotton Club of the 1920s and included songs such as Beyoncé's "Déjà Vu" and Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie," Carr-Hicks said. Eleven members of the school's jazz band accompanied the sequins- and suit-clad show choir.

Uniondale senior Cary Lamb took home the event's Best Stage Performance Award and received a $15,000 scholarship to attend Gillette College in Massachusetts.

"Being a part of this group has been a privilege, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunities it has brought my way, including this potential scholarship," Lamb said.

To fund the trip to Chicago, the show choir is holding a benefit at the school on April 12.

JERICHO

Medical Marvels

A Jericho High School team finished first and won an $1,800 scholarship earlier this month in the Medical Marvels competition coordinated by North Shore-LIJ Health System's Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. The competition challenged teams to devise a response plan to a potential medical outbreak and present their informational poster to judges.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK and Lindenhurst high schools were the runners-up.

LYNBROOK

Human Relations Day

Lynbrook High School recently held a Human Relations Day as part of an effort to inspire teens to make the world a better place, addressing topics ranging from bullying to drug abuse.

Keynote speakers were Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, and motivational speaker Pete Hawkins of Malverne, who was paralyzed in a car crash caused by a drunken driver in 1981. Representatives of the American Cancer Society and the Long Island Transplant Recipients International Organization also attended.

In other news, Waverly Park Elementary School teachers Shari Bowes and Jessica Kuehn received the September 11th Families Association's Tribute WTC Visitor Center Teacher Award for linking a unit on post-9/11 heroism to local community service projects that helped those affected by superstorm Sandy.

COUNTYWIDE

100th day of school

Dozens of local schools used the number "100" as a learning tool last month in celebration of the school year's 100th day.

In Bellmore, Charles A. Reinhard Early Childhood Center held an assembly in which kids sang songs about the number 100 and counted peers by intervals of ones, fives and tens. They also counted how many times in 100 seconds they could write their names and the alphabet and perform jumping jacks.

In Massapequa, kindergartners districtwide engaged in games and crafts, such as stringing together 100 pieces of cereal to create necklaces and building towers with 100 paper cups.

In Levittown, Summit Lane Elementary School kindergartners all walked a total of 100 steps to see "where they would end up," school officials said.

ISLANDWIDE

LI Youth Summit

More than 300 high school students across Long Island discussed solutions to local environmental, socio-medical and community issues earlier this month during the fourth annual Long Island Youth Summit at Dowling College in Oakdale.

This year's summit featured nine workshops on topics ranging from open space and water preservation to abuse of prescription drugs by teens.

"The purpose of the summit is to work with the brightest high school students to further their analytical and leadership abilities for the benefit of Long Island's future," said Nathalia Rogers, co-chair of the summit's steering committee.

Participating school districts were Amityville, Bay Shore, Brentwood, Comsewogue, Copiague, East Islip, Eastport-South Manor, Farmingdale, Half Hollow Hills, Kings Park, Levittown, Longwood, Middle Country, Patchogue-Medford, Port Washington, Sachem, Smithtown, Syosset, Three Village, West Islip and Westhampton Beach.