Great Neck South, Sachem North teams win LI Envirothon
This Great Neck South High School group took the top spot among Nassau County teams in this year's Long Island Envirothon: Jansen Wong, left, Jennifer Wang, Joelle Siongsin, Annie Dai and Julia Gorenstein. Tom Huang is not pictured. Credit: Sharon Frost
Teams from Great Neck South and Sachem North high schools are champions in a local environmental competition for the fourth consecutive year.
The two teams placed first in Nassau and Suffolk counties, respectively, out of 32 teams in the 21st annual Long Island Envirothon, held at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration.
The competition asked participants to take written exams and engage in outdoor challenges in aquatics, forestry, soils and wildlife. The students also gave oral presentations on a predetermined topic, which this year was "Agriculture and the Environment: Knowledge and Technology to Feed the World."
The winning team members each received $500 and all-expenses-paid trips to compete last month at the state level in Geneva. Neither team placed among the top groups statewide.
"Students in Great Neck take academic clubs very seriously and hold each other accountable to learning their part and contributing to the team's success," Great Neck South's team adviser Andrew Tuomey said.
Sachem North's regional team was Emily Gelardi, Kaya Monolt, Alena Thotam, Caitlin Tucker and Catalina Vera. In addition, Samantha Watson competed at the state level because Thotam could not attend.
Great Neck South's regional team was Annie Dai, Julia Gorenstein, Tom Huang, Joelle Siongsin and Jansen Wong. Jennifer Wang competed at the state level because Huang could not attend.
In North Bellmore, sixth-graders in Saw Mill Road Elementary School's anti-bullying group recently spearheaded the creation of a kindness tree, which consisted of paper handprints and clouds with messages about kindness. Sixth-grader Kayleigh Fitzpatrick wrote an anti-bullying poem that served as the tree's centerpiece. Credit: North Bellmore School District
The regional event was coordinated by the Soil & Water Conservation Districts in Nassau and Suffolk.
BELLMORE/HEMPSTEAD
Irish writing contest
Will Barlowe and Madeline Finelli of Wellington C. Mepham High School and Aly Jeffrey of Sacred Heart Academy won first prizes in the Irish Cultural Society of the Garden City Area's 2019 Martin J. Kelly Writing Contest. They each received $200.
Students and staff at Rushmore Avenue Elementary School in Carle Place presented a check for more than $5,600 to Chris Prendergast of Miller Place last month during his 22nd annual ALS Ride for Life. ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Credit: Carle Place School District
The contest asked students to write interior monologues from the point of view of an Irish soldier fighting in the British army in World War I. More than 500 entries were received.
Second-place winners, who each received $150, and their high schools were: Angela Dattona, Sacred Heart; James Fisenne, Wantagh; and Ariana Zanelli, MacArthur. Third-place winners, who each received $125, and their high schools were: Alexa Gallo, Sewanhaka; Megan Hegarty, Sacred Heart; and Jennifer Lizares, Wantagh.
COUNTYWIDE
George Farber Awards
Twelve Nassau County students were named winners of George Farber Outstanding Student Awards by Nassau BOCES for their "talent, commitment, honesty, diligence, compassion and high moral standards," the organization said.
Winners and their school districts were: Jared Bey, Freeport; Len Wilson, Hempstead; Gianluca Romeo, Island Trees; Kamari Young, Lawrence; Milagros Coria, Lynbrook; Adianna Valentine, Massapequa; Matthew Schweizer, Oceanside; Oneil Burke and Joshua Vijayarajah, Sewanhaka; Elizabeth Robinson, Valley Stream Central; and Wilfredo Fuentes, West Hempstead. Diego Santana of Roosevelt, who attends Nassau BOCES' Adult Learning Center, also won.
ISLANDWIDE
Scholarship winners
Twenty-six local students are among more than 3,500 high school seniors nationwide named recipients of college-sponsored scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corp. The awards provide $500 to $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.
Winners and their high schools are: William Dean and Colin Dunn, Chaminade; James Smalley, East Islip; Isobelle Lim, Great Neck North; Emily Gao and Jay Lin, Great Neck South; Morgan Novikoff, Half Hollow Hills East; Cayla Moy, Herricks; Rohil Agarwal, Hicksville; Kristen Saban, Jericho; Benedict Reilly and Kendrick Tak, Manhasset; Kyle Ednie, Wellington C. Mepham; Jack Candiotti, Oceanside; Amelia Medved, Our Lady of Mercy Academy; Avery Girsky, Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK; Sohum Sheth, Sayville; Dylan Ross, Smithtown East; Catherine Eng, Smithtown West; Alison McWalters, South Side; Christopher Ammann, St. Anthony's; Brianna McCartney, Wantagh; and Leah Cussen, Ward Melville.
Other winners from Long Island are Mariana Knaupp, a home-schooled student from Huntington, and Robert DeSena of Manhasset and Christian Morales of New Hyde Park, who attend Regis High School in Manhattan.
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.
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