Chaminade, Center Moriches named LI Envirothon champs, LI schools and students win character awards, and Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. and Floral Park Memorial win Fed Challenge

Teams from Chaminade High School in Mineola and Center Moriches High School took the top spots for Nassau and Suffolk, respectively, in this year’s Long Island Regional Envirothon.

Chaminade and Center Moriches bested 32 other teams to place first in the spring during the annual competition. Participants took multiple-choice exams in the fields of aquatics, forestry, soil and wildlife, and delivered five-minute oral presentations on the topic of “renewable energy for a sustainable future.” The contest was held in April at the Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts in Wheatley Heights.

Each winning team member received a $500 college scholarship. The teams also advanced in May to the New York State Envirothon at SUNY Cortland, where Center Moriches placed 14th and Chaminade placed 23rd out of 41 teams statewide.

“This year’s teams were an exceptional group and showcased a passion for environmental education that bodes well for the future of Long Island’s unique ecosystems,” said Derek Betts, district manager for the Nassau County Soil & Water Conservation District, which coordinated the competition with its counterpart in Suffolk.

Chaminade’s team consisted of students Dylan Boutin, Anthony Cacamese, Quentin Castellano, James Germano, James McKeever and John Pelan. Center Moriches’ team consisted of Alex Babzien, Maddie Chernis, Brendan Connelly, Hayden Jakubowski, Daniel Jergens and Robert Sims.

BETHPAGE/PLAINEDGE

Schools of Character

John H. West Elementary School in Bethpage and Plainedge Middle School are among 73 schools nationwide designated 2024 National Schools of Character by the nonprofit Character.org.

Selected schools had to meet standards laid out in Character.org’s 11 Principles for Schools, which include creating a caring school community where everyone feels they belong, engaging families and communities as partners in the school’s character initiative and fostering students’ character development.

“Each of these schools has put in place a comprehensive approach to help students understand, care about and consistently practice the character strengths that will help them flourish in school, in relationships, in the workplace and as citizens,” said the nonprofit’s president, Arthur Schwartz.

FLORAL PARK/COLD SPRING HARBOR

Fed Challenge

Teams from the Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. and Floral Park Memorial high schools were among 12 named 2023-24 winners of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s High School Fed Challenge, a competition that asked students to write podcast scripts reflecting their research on this year’s theme, “economics of work.”

Cold Spring Harbor’s paper was titled “Tipping Culture: A Comparative Analysis,” while Floral Park’s paper was titled “The BTS Effect: Growing South Korea’s Economy and the Workforce Both Indirectly and Directly.” BTS is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010.

Their papers will be published this summer in the Journal of Future Economists.

NASSAU COUNTY

George Farber Award

Seventeen students have received George Farber Outstanding Student Awards from Nassau BOCES for demonstrating “a variety of remarkable attributes,” including compassion, diligence and honesty, the agency said. The award is named for the former Nassau BOCES board president.

Winners and their school districts are Jose Duran Tatis, Bethpage; Christina Augustin, Shane Liebler and Thomas Shaw, East Meadow; Devin Postullo, Jason Yanez Ramirez and Austin Velasquez, Hempstead; Alexandra LaPlaca, Hicksville; Danielle Miranda, Levittown; Madison Rivas, Port Washington; Zueriella Predestin, Sewanhaka; Ava Pacicca, Syosset; Justin Cardona, Uniondale; Henny Needelman, Valley Stream Central; and Elvin Reyes, West Hempstead.

The following students also received awards: Danny Paz, a student at the Nassau BOCES Adult Learning Center in Levittown, and Estephany Rivas, a student in the Nassau BOCES Adult Education program.

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

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.