Floyd H.S. runner-up in state mock trial tourney
An 11-student team from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach proved itself in a court of law last month by taking second place at the 2010 New York State Mock Trial Finals in Albany.
The competition - hosted by the New York State Bar Association - required high-schoolers to act as the prosecution or defense in a fictional case involving a Wall Street hedge fund manager accused of running a Ponzi scheme.
To reach the state level, Floyd first defeated East Islip High School to win the Suffolk County title in April. The team then beat W. Tresper Clarke High School in Westbury at the regional championships for its seventh Long Island title in 12 years.
"The kids worked extremely hard," said William Floyd's mock trial coach Bill Hennessy. "This year, we got them to perform more and act out more - adding sizzle to the steak."
William Floyd's winning team members were seniors Malea Otranto, Anthony Hernandez, Jamie Molfetto and Diana Ozoria; juniors Catie Ryan and Logan Murphy; and freshmen Melissa Dubois, Erin Engelmann, Dakota King, Chelsea Smart and Emily Vigliotta.
"We were the dark horses," said Otranto. "We lost a lot of seniors last year and had inexperienced freshmen. We just worked and worked and put in a lot of hours."
A student team from James Madison High School in Brooklyn took first place overall in the state championship.
Apple Exemplary Program
Bay Shore High School is one of 38 schools nationwide named an Apple Exemplary Program for the 2009-10 school year based on "educational programs that are model implementations of Apple products."
The school's efforts include a multimedia program in which students produce DVDs issued to more than 1,500 attendees at the Annual Bay Shore-Brightwaters Community Summit.
New superintendent
Lois Favre has been named superintendent of Bridgehampton School District, effective July 1. She will replace Dianne Youngblood, who is retiring. Favre is the assistant superintendent for instruction and curriculum of upstate Lakeland Central School District, which she joined in 2005. She also spent four years as the director of pupil personnel services for special education at upstate Monroe-Woodbury Central School District.
4th at science symposium
Alexis Tchaconas, a senior at Commack High School, recently won fourth place in the 2010 Long Island Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, a competition at Stony Brook University in which students submit research in the sciences, engineering, or math. She received $500 for her project, "A Genetic Investigation of Autism."
Tchaconas - along with four winning students in Nassau - won an all-expenses-paid trip to compete at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium last month in Maryland.
Young Artist filmmakers
Amanda Garelick and Victoria Pirulli, seniors at Half Hollow Hills High School East, won best in show last month in the 14th annual Long Island's Best: Young Artists at the Heckscher Museum, a two-week exhibit that featured art by Long Island high-schoolers. Their short film, "One In a Dozen," illustrated the stereotypical role of a housewife.
Melissa Semder of Sachem High School East in Farmingville and Frank Notarbartolo of Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station were also among the top finishers.
COUNTYWIDE
Recognized for their skills
Thirty-three Eastern and Western Suffolk BOCES students finished in the top three in various categories at the 2010 New York Leadership Conference & Skills Championship in Syracuse hosted by SkillsUSA, a nonprofit that prepares teens for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations. Winners were:
Bellport: Samantha Cachia, Michelle Camarco, Chelsea Cassara, Christian Cobo, Ashley DeJesus, Freddy Delgado, Snyder Derival, Thomas Duffy, Angelica Knuppel, Maybeth Koehler, Gina Marie Martuscello, Jelayr Miller, Amy Monaghan and Nathanael Santillana of Brookhaven Technical Center; Northport: Jessica Abbott, Sara Carrieri, Nicole Drzal, Amanda Geschwind, Angela Jaworowski, Stephany Mejia, Jennifer Rosati and LaShonda Russell of L.A. Wilson Career & Technical Center; Oakdale: David Fried, Brittany Guendel, Angelina Perry, Nicole Piazza, Albairis Ramirez and Jillian Smith of Edward J. Milliken Technical Center; Riverhead: Elizabeth Appleby, Natashia Brown, Kayla Gabelman, Nicholas Pendelton and James Pisano of H.B. Ward Technical Center.
ISLANDWIDE
Merit scholarships
Seventeen Long Island seniors were among about 2,800 winners nationwide of college-sponsored scholarships by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. ranging between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years. Suffolk winners were:
Dix Hills: Michael Perri of Half Hollow Hills High School West; Huntington Station: Sara Ging of Walt Whitman High School; Kings Park: Robert Pond of Kings Park High School.
'Need to step up regulations and testing' "Car fluff" is being deposited at Brookhaven landfill at a fast clip, but with little discussion. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie and Newsday investigative reporter Paul LaRocco have the story.
'Need to step up regulations and testing' "Car fluff" is being deposited at Brookhaven landfill at a fast clip, but with little discussion. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie and Newsday investigative reporter Paul LaRocco have the story.
