10 LI students win honors at NY Science Congress
Eighth-graders Emma Jones, left, and Elianna Rivera with science research teacher Carol Simowitz. Credit: East Meadow School District
Ten Long Island students were among those winning highest honors, high honors or honors this month at the New York State Science Congress.
This year’s competition included dozens of students statewide presenting poster-style projects at the University of Buffalo. To reach the state level, local students first vied in the Long Island Science Congress at St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington.
Those winning highest honors and $500 were Chapin Zerner of Commack Middle School and Giselle Raquinha of South Woods Middle School in Syosset. Winning high honors and $250 were Elizabet Isayeva and Jacob Sabu of Hewlett High School and Aman Amjad and Roney Biju of Woodland Middle School in East Meadow. Those winning honors and $100 were Aashini Shah of W. Tresper Clarke High School in Westbury and Aryaram Anand, Evan Ni and Rohan Surana of Commack Middle School.
Other local students who reached the state level and their school districts were: Hadi Aziz, Timothy Langone and Alex Negrin, Bellmore-Merrick; Emma Jones and Elianna Rivera, East Meadow; John Li and Karen Li, East Williston; Hanxuan Kuang, Great Neck; Nicholas Barshay and Jalaj Mehta, Hauppauge; Yanni Akhavan, Sophia Giordano and Lesly Honore, Hewlett-Woodmere; Ishan Gurnani, Amber Patrick and Harsha Venkatesh, Jericho; Daniela Andrade, Lawrence; Joshua Kapilian, Long Beach; Kate Weseley-Jones, North Shore; Maxwell DeBrino, Northport-East Northport; Matthew Friedman, Oceanside; Jina Yom, Plainview-Old Bethpage; Hammad Izhar, Sewanhaka; Sydney Bracht, Sidney Davis and Lexington Zografakis, Smithtown; and Nicos Prokopiou, West Islip. Christopher Koch of St. Anthony’s High School also advanced.
The event was sponsored by the Science Teachers Association of New York State.
EAST MEADOW
State champs
W. Tresper Clarke High School placed first statewide last month in the New York State Mock Trial Tournament in Albany, defeating Regis High School in Manhattan in the finals.
This year’s fictional case consisted of a civil plaintiff suing a county for false imprisonment in connection with a robbery and slaying at a convenience store. To reach the state level, W. Tresper Clarke won Nassau County’s regional championship.
Judging was based on factors ranging from strength of cases to knowledge of legal proceedings. The state competition was sponsored by the New York State Bar Association.
COUNTYWIDE
Writing recognition
Eighteen Nassau County students received certificates honoring their writing skills from the National Council of Teachers of English.
Those receiving certificates for superior writing, which is part of the council’s achievement awards in writing, and their school districts were: Talia Rosen, East Williston; Adi Sragovich and Ann Zhang, Great Neck; Simran Bansal, Jericho; Susan Wu, Manhasset; Jillian Goldberg, Scott Magid and Sarah Wang, Syosset; and Joseph Campbell and David Manikas, Valley Stream Central.
Students receiving certificates of recognition, which is part of the council’s Promising Young Writers program, and their school districts were: Yuna Ahn, Carly Fan, Ethan Jiang and Mika Langel, Great Neck; Joanne Li, Jericho; Ian Bifet, Lynbrook; and Mir Zayid Alam and Taylor Fox, Manhasset.
ISLANDWIDE
Reward Schools
Twenty-nine Long Island high schools were among 185 statewide named Reward Schools by the New York State Education Department for high academic achievement or the most progress with minimal gaps in student achievement between certain populations of students.
Local high schools receiving the designation were: Bayport-Blue Point, Bethpage, Earl L. Vandermeulen in Port Jefferson, East Meadow, Elwood-John H. Glenn, Evergreen Charter School in Hempstead, Garden City, Great Neck South, Half Hollow Hills East in Dix Hills, Harborfields in Greenlawn, Herricks, Jericho, John F. Kennedy in Bellmore, Locust Valley, Lynbrook, Manhasset, Massapequa, Mount Sinai, North Shore, Northport, Plainedge, Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK, Roslyn, Sayville, Shoreham-Wading River, Smithtown West, South Side in Rockville Centre, Syosset and Wantagh.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
