School Notebook: Sayville's 'future city' named regional winner
A Sayville Middle School team won first place in the regional level of this year's Future City Competition. The team members post with their model and technology teacher Jeffrey Goodman, far left, with science teacher Lindsey Loscalzo. Credit: Sayville School District
A 23-student team from Sayville Middle School has taken the top spot in a regional competition that challenged them to imagine, research and design a city of the future.
This year's Future City Competition, which had a theme of "A Waste-Free Future," tasked teams with using the principles of a circular economy to create a futuristic city that "continuously reuses and repurposes waste," school officials said.
Participating groups were required to build a scale model from recycled materials, write a 1,500-word essay, record a seven-minute video presentation, and meet with judges for a live question-and-answer session.
"This year's team incorporated the circular-economy principle into every aspect of the city's design that represented Sayville in the year 2122," said Sayville technology teacher Jeffrey Goodman, who advises the team with science teacher Lindsey Loscalzo.
The Sayville future city included a pneumatic waste-collection system that ran underground and "whisked trash off" to be recycled or composted, school officials said. It also featured such futuristic transportation solutions as automated self-driving cars and a "hyperloop" to connect long distances.
National winners will be announced in late March. The competition is a program of DiscoverE, formerly known as the National Engineers Week Foundation.
BALDWIN
In Commack, North Ridge Elementary School students created a "Kindness Makes Us Bloom" bulletin board filled with positive messages as part of the school's Winter Wonderland Week, a week dedicated to spreading kindness and celebrating winter. Credit: Commack School District
School of Character
Brookside Elementary School is one of three schools statewide — and 68 schools nationwide — named a 2022 State School of Character by the nonprofit Character.org. The designation makes the school eligible to be named one of the nonprofit's 2022 National Schools of Character in May.
To get selected, Brookside met standards that are articulated in Character.org's 11 Principles Framework for Schools, which range from providing students with opportunities for moral action to engaging families as partners in the character-building effort. They also underwent on-site visits and interviews.
"I am so proud of the work our entire school community engages in daily to ensure our students are celebrated, supported and nurtured," said Brookside Principal Unal Karakas. "This, in turn, will better prepare our students to be successful in colleges, careers and in their lives."
In Bellport, barbering students in James Ricciardo's class practiced everything from twist braids to creative fades at the Eastern Long Island Academy of Applied Technology Gary D. Bixhorn Technical Center. Here, student Michael Thomas performs a classic straight-razor shave on classmate Sebastian Aiello. Credit: Eastern Suffolk BOCES
FLORAL PARK
Fun Run
John Lewis Childs Elementary School recently raised more than $22,000 as part of a Boosterthon fundraiser that culminated with a Fun Run, which challenged children to crawl, hop, run, skip or walk backward for 35 minutes. The event was held on an LED-lit track in the school's gym and included everything from an inflatable tunnel to high-energy music.
To raise the funds, students solicited pledges from family and friends based on their participation in the run. The money collected will help pay for various activities at the school.
"I could not believe the success we had this year," said the school's principal Susan Fazio. "We not only surpassed our goal, but raised the most money we ever had since we started this a few years ago."
In West Babylon, students at Forest Avenue Elementary School recently learned about William Kamkwamba, an African man who created a wind turbine out of junkyard materials to bring electricity to his village in the country of Malawi. They then worked in small groups to create posters depicting William's mission to save his village from drought. Credit: West Babylon School District
HUNTINGTON STATION
New principal
Michael Duggan has been appointed principal of Henry L. Stimson Middle School in the South Huntington School District. He replaced Edwin Smith, who is the now the district’s director of personnel.
Duggan most recently served as an assistant principal at South Side Middle School in Rockville Centre since 2019, and before that he was an assistant principal at a high school in the Bronx. He has also been an aquarist for the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn and a staff biologist at Coral World in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"The South Huntington School District is very fortunate to have Mr. Duggan as the new principal of Stimson Middle School," said South Huntington Superintendent Vito E'lia. "We look forward to supporting Mr. Duggan in his new tole as the leader of our middle school."
In Rocky Point, third-graders in Rebecca Pagnotta's class at Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School participated last month in a gender-reveal party to predict the sex of a baby calf they adopted through Discover Dairy, a cross-curricular educational series. Credit: Rocky Point School District
WYANDANCH
Peer-to-peer mentoring
Wyandanch High School has launched a new peer-to-peer mentoring program in which members of the school's Kappa League Club have been working with boys in the district's Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School. The Kappa League is a program that focuses on the educational, occupation and social guidance of male students.
The first meeting — which was held last month in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. Day — included such topics as how to step away from a potentially violent interaction, being respectful to authority figures and the appropriate use of social media.
"The young men at MLK were inspired and are excited to continue the partnership," said Martin Luther King Principal Monique Habersham.
Second-graders at Centre Avenue Elementary School in East Rockaway used magnetic fishing poles to "fish" for questions as part of a math review activity. The fishing poles were provided through a grant by the East Rockaway Education Foundation. Credit: East Rockaway School District
ISLANDWIDE
Chinese New Year
Many schools celebrated Lunar New Year earlier this month with educational events and activities held in recognition of the "Year of the Tiger."
In Carle Place, kindergartners at Cherry Lane Elementary School participated in a parade in which they marched around the building with large three-dimensional dragons created by each class while also holding noisemakers and listening to traditional Chinese music.
Children at Goosehill Primary School in Cold Spring Harbor participated in activities ranging from marching in a "tiger mask parade" to dancing with their own dragon creations while watching a film on traditional dragon dances.
In Hicksville, orchestra students at Burns Avenue Elementary School performed a concert for their fellow classmates and staff for the first time in two years. Credit: Hicksville School District
In Huntington Station, Washington Primary School students and their loved ones learned how to make Chinese fried rice during a "family fun night" via Zoom.
In Locust Valley, second-graders at Ann MacArthur and Bayville primary schools learned the art of calligraphy during a videoconference with teachers from a school in Taiwan via Google Meet.
In North Babylon, Parliament Place Elementary School's English as a New Language students crafted tiger-themed Chinese lanterns and learned how various animals earned their place in the Chinese zodiac during a reading of the folk tale "The Great Race."
In Valley Stream, children at Clear Stream Avenue Elementary School learned why years are named after different animals in the Chinese zodiac.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
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.
