LI Regional Science Olympiads name winners
A team from Syosset High School won first place in the Nassau East Regional Science Olympiad, which was held last month at Division Avenue High School in Levittown. They are pictured here with the team's adviser, Mildred Castaneda. Credit: Syosset Central School District
Teams from Syosset, Kellenberg and Ward Melville high schools have taken the top spots in this year's Long Island Regional Science Olympiads.
A total of 127 high school teams participated in one of three local competitions: the Nassau East, Nassau West and Eastern Long Island regionals. The three first-place teams, along with 16 other top-performing teams, have qualified for the state tournament in Syracuse on March 13-14.
Thirteen high school regionals were held statewide with teams competing in 23 events, including "Disease Detectives," "Geologic Mapping" and "Ping-Pong Parachute." One event, titled "Sounds of Music," challenged students to take a test on the physics of sound and build an instrument.
"I'm extremely proud of my team; this particular group is very self-motivated and ambitious," said Jenny Serigano, who coaches the Ward Melville squad with Mark Suesser. Of the importance of Science Olympiad, she said: "It opens the door to students seeing what they want to specialize in when they get older."
In addition to Syosset, Kellenberg and Ward Melville, other teams qualifying for the state tournament come from Bayport-Blue Point, Chaminade, Commack, Division Avenue, Great Neck South, Half Hollow Hills, Hauppauge, Hicksville, Islip, Jericho, John F. Kennedy, Manhasset, Roslyn, Earl L. Vandermeulen, Wantagh and West Babylon high schools.
The top two teams at the state level will advance to the national tournament in North Carolina on May 15-16.
WEST HEMPSTEAD
In Malverne, students at Maurice W. Downing Primary School engaged in team-based activities last month during Global School Play Day, which attracted more than 560,000 participants worldwide. Credit: Malverne School District
PAES Lab
West Hempstead School District recently held a ribbon-cutting to unveil a new PAES Lab, which will serve as a simulated work environment for students with specific learning needs. PAES stands for practical assessment exploration system.
The lab covers five different areas of industry: consumer service, processing and production, construction and industrial, business marketing and computer technology. There are six levels to each industry, and students progress by completing assigned tasks that become more in-depth as they move from level to level.
"Students who participate in PAES may exit high school on a different pathway, therefore they use the lab for job training," lab supervisor Sheila Dempsey said.
In Manhasset, Munsey Park Elementary School recently welcomed guests from the community for a special event called "Guess Who's Coming to Read?" Assistant principal and volunteer fire chief Brian Nolan wears his firefighter suit and brought hats for kids as he read Loren Long's book "Otis and the Kittens," which is about working together to help others. Credit: Manhasset School District
COUNTYWIDE
"Souper Bowls"
Many local schools put a charitable twist on Super Bowl LIV by helping feed the needy through "Souper Bowl" food collections.
In Massapequa, Alfred G. Berner Middle School collected hundreds of food items for the YES Community Counseling Center by having students place donations into the box of the team they felt would win the game: the Kansas City Chiefs or San Francisco 49ers.
In North Bellmore, Saw Mill Road Elementary School hosted a similar competition over a three-week span that collected more than 500 food items for the Bellmore-Merrick Community Cupboard.
In Baldwin, Steele Elementary School collected 338 cans of food for nearby Church of St. Christopher.
ISLANDWIDE
Virtual enterprise finalists
Ten local virtual enterprise teams were named finalists at the 2020 Long Island Regional Conference and Exhibition, which attracted more than 100 teams to LIU Post in January. They now advance to the Long Island Business Plan Competition held at American Portfolio Financial Services in Holbrook on March 10.
Finalist teams and their high schools are: SuppLI, Baldwin; EcoVibe, H. Frank Carey; HEMPIRE, East Islip; ReStyle, George W. Hewlett; BioSol, Huntington; VenueFox, Wellington C. Mepham; Apex Auto and Air, Miller Place; MentorMeeter, Syosset; Kyoto, Walt Whitman; and Monenti, Westhampton Beach.
To become finalists, the teams submitted written business plans and delivered oral presentations on their simulated business. Five winners will advance to the national competition held this spring during Virtual Enterprise International's Youth Business Summit 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.
