Great Neck South Middle School team wins regional Science Bowl
Matthew Tsui, Charlie Yin, Jansen Wong and Matthew Moy, members of Great Neck South Middle School 's winning Science Bowl team. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
A team from Great Neck South Middle School has been crowned champions of this year’s Long Island Regional Middle School Science Bowl.
The four-student team — Matthew Moy, Matthew Tsui, Jansen Wong and Charlie Yin — took first place last month against 18 other teams in the competition at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
They will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the national finals in Washington, D.C., on April 26-30.
“They’re a good bunch of kids and we’re very proud,” said Great Neck South science teacher Doris Stanick, who coached the team with fellow teacher Diane Caplain. Caplain added, “I think our team was very strong in math.”
The science bowl is a “Jeopardy!”-style competition consisting of a four-division round-robin format that features topics ranging from biology to chemistry and physics. The winning teams from each division faced off in a double-elimination series.
Second- and third-place place teams were from William Floyd Middle School in Moriches and Locust Valley Middle School, respectively. William Floyd’s team members were Brendan Bertos, Ian Hua, David Montenegro Jr., Adam Schultzer and Andrew Sweet.
The top 16 teams at the national level will win $1,000 for their schools’ science departments.
FARMINGVILLE
Happiness Club
Sachem High School East is one of 10 high schools nationwide chosen by the California-based nonprofit Project Happiness to receive a scholarship to establish a Happiness Club.
The club will use activities and strategies from the nonprofit’s “happiness handbook” and curriculum to support students’ efforts to build happiness habits, school officials said. The school was also visited by a television crew to film a program, titled “Discover Your Happy,” which aired last month on Discovery Education.
“This program will allow us to adopt a mindfulness program that will help students cope with stress while developing skills for self-reflection,” Sachem East Principal Louis Antonetti said.
COUNTYWIDE
Read Across America
Many local schools hosted reading-themed activities last month for the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day, which coincided with Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
In Bellport, special education students at Eastern Suffolk BOCES’ Brookhaven Learning Center dressed as characters from Dr. Seuss’ 1957 book, “The Cat in the Hat.” Teacher Maryann Glass also helped them make green eggs.
In Amityville, Northeast Elementary School hosted a Dr. Seuss Family Learning Night that consisted of games including “sight word bingo” and a word-themed bean bag toss. Children also made Dr. Seuss-inspired hats and took photos using Dr. Seuss-themed props.
In Ronkonkoma, more than 100 students from Connetquot High School visited children at Helen B. Duffield Elementary School to read Dr. Seuss classics.
ISLANDWIDE
Quill Awards
Thirteen Long Island students and one school newspaper were among the best-place winners of Quill Awards at Adelphi University’s 18th Annual Press Day, which attracted 290 local high school journalists.
Winners, their high schools and categories were: Aidan Fitzgerald, Chaminade, best feature article; Nicholas Plante, Chaminade, best news article; Sruli Fruchter and Joshua Samet, Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys, best page-one layout; Jeremy Koffsky, Davis Renov Stahler, best online writing; Kevin Li, Great Neck North, best layout; Rachel Schrelbstein, Jericho, best freelance work; Lily Wachtel, Jericho, best sports story or column; Marissa Marino, Kings Park, best illustration or cartoon; Andie Glanzer, Lynbrook, best opinion piece; Dustin Mandell, Lynbrook, most outstanding reporter; Mohammad Samroz, Sewanhaka, best editorial; Bryanna Singleton, Sewanhaka, best photograph.
Kellenberg Memorial High School’s The Phoenix won “Most Outstanding Newspaper.”
— 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.
'Let somebody else have a chance' Hundreds of Long Island educators are double dipping, a term used to describe collecting both a salary and a pension. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday investigative reporter Jim Baumbach report.
'Let somebody else have a chance' Hundreds of Long Island educators are double dipping, a term used to describe collecting both a salary and a pension. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday investigative reporter Jim Baumbach report.
