Bellmore, Jericho students earn New York State Science Congress honors
Bellmore and Jericho students took top spots in the New York Science Congress this year; winners of the L.I. Science Congress, above, competed in the statewide contest. Credit: Serena McCalla
Students from Bellmore and Jericho were among five statewide who received “highest honors,” which was the most prestigious achievement, at this year’s New York State Science Congress.
Tazbid Ajhor and Louis Romano of Grand Avenue Middle School in Bellmore and Natasha Kulviwat of Jericho High School took the top spots in the junior and senior divisions, respectively, of this year’s event, which was an adjudicated exhibit of science projects created by middle and high schoolers.
It was held last month at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology in Syracuse.
Ajhor and Romano’s project was titled “How Does Martian Regolith Simulant Affect the Plant Growth of Pisum Sativum in Contrast to Potting Soil.” Kulviwat’s project was titled “The Neurobiology of Suicide: Claudin-5 Is a Novel Biomarker of Suicide Pathogenesis.”
To reach the state level, the students were among the top-performing at this year’s Long Island Science Congress, which included more than 1,000 projects from 94 schools. It was held this spring at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station.
“Our presenters are showcasing experiments that they may have done at home or in school, while some have worked at professional research institutions and are competing on international levels,” said Andrea Beatty, senior division coordinator for the Long Island Science Congress.
Forty-six Long Island students were selected to advance to the state level based on their performance at the Long Island Science Congress.
The Roslyn and Manhasset school districts led the way with nine and six students having advanced, respectively.
SYOSSET/MEDFORD
LIRR safety contest winners
Students from the Syosset and Patchogue-Medford school districts were winners of a train safety contest coordinated by the Long Island Rail Road’s “Together Railroads and Communities Keeping Safe” (TRACKS) program, which is a joint venture between the LIRR’s Corporate Safety Department and the MTA Police.
Winners were Zoey Chiu of Syosset High School at the high school level, Alysiana Montanez of Oregon Middle School in Medford at the middle school level, and Uma Pal Hafeez of Village Elementary School in Syosset at the elementary school level.
This year’s participants designed activity books that were chosen based on clarity and creativity by a panel of LIRR safety liaisons.
DEER PARK
High school memorial garden
Deer Park High School recently unveiled a memorial garden to honor those with ties to the district who have died. It was spearheaded by senior Emily Franciscovich, who pursued the project as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award, which is the highest achievement attainable within the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Franciscovich said she was motivated to make the garden, which took nearly a year to complete, after the passing last year of two classmates.
“The meaning behind this project is to create a positive space to carry on their legacy,” Franciscovich said.
JERICHO
Prize for art of ‘unsung hero’
Jericho Middle School eighth-grader Chloe Hu won a $1,000 second-place prize in the eighth annual “ARTEFFECT” competition coordinated by the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. The competition challenged students to creatively interpret stories of “unsung heroes” through original artwork accompanied by impact statements.
Hu’s winning artwork, “Genius Inventor Behind Beauty,” combined pencil and digital art to celebrate Hedy Lamarr, an actress and inventor whose discoveries aided the allies in World War II and were the basis for modern-day Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
The piece is being displayed on the center’s website and in its Hall of Unsung Heroes in Kansas.
ISLANDWIDE
Broadcast awards at Hofstra
Hundreds of students from Long Island participated in this year’s Broadcast Awards for Senior High (BASH), an annual celebration of student broadcast journalism and video production, and first-place winners were chosen in nine categories, ranging from “best broadcast” to “most entertaining.” The event was held at Hofstra University.
Winners and their high schools were: Thomas DiSalvo, Greg Gallo, Ryan Marr, Nick Jimenez and Ruby Mattes, Wellington C. Mepham in Bellmore; James Sturek and Jason Vetrano, East Islip; Moyo Awolowo and Lindsey Blankenship, Hauppauge; Vincent Amato and Alexia Mellis, Manhasset; and Ansley Hanus, Jillian Kupecki and Sara O’Daly, Mattituck. Other winners were Long Beach High School’s TV production team, Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School’s POB Media Club, and Westhampton Beach High School’s “Hurricane Watch” broadcast.
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.
