Twenty Long Island students have been named first-place winners for researching local, state, national or world history.

The New York State History Day competition, held last month at SUNY Oneonta, included hundreds of projects statewide based on this year’s theme of “Rights and Responsibilities in History,” according to competition officials. The research was conducted by individuals or groups using archives, libraries, museums and oral history interviews in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website.

This year’s winning projects tackled topics ranging from American impositions on rights and sovereignty in Hawaii to the challenge to uphold children’s rights and the medical responsibility faced by late pediatric cardiologist Helen Brooke Taussig, according to competition officials.

Long Island’s first-place winners and their schools: Saira Chabria, The Wheatley School in Old Westbury; Eli Berman, Alex Bornstein, Bram Feldman, Siggy Simon and Azi Verschleiser, Hebrew Academy of Long Beach; Eliana Lau, Herricks Middle School; Rania Gupta, Wayan Lin, Lucy Liu, Joshua Ninan, David Noh, Dianne Noh, Aneek Patel, Sanika Patel, Max Peng, Gauhar Rana and Zain Uttamchandani, Herricks High School; and Jianna Anand and Nathan Chen, Jericho Middle School.

Each category’s first- and second-place winners are eligible for the national competition in College Park, Maryland, June 8-12. To reach the state level, the students first competed in the Long Island History Day contest at Hofstra University in Hempstead in March.

“The quality of work and commitment from our Long Island teachers, advisers and students never disappoints,” said Allison Sobel, the regional coordinator for Long Island History Day.

DIX HILLS

Speech, debate winners

Anyaa Sachdev and Téa Shouldice of Half Hollow Hills High School East in Dix Hills were Long Island’s sole first-place winners last month at the New York State Forensic League Championship. They were named state champions in the varsity Lincoln Douglas debate category and varsity extemporaneous speaking category, respectively.

This year’s competition included over 1,000 students from 77 schools statewide competing in 17 categories at the Bronx High School of Science, according to the league.

The league’s goal is to “develop articulate adults who revere truth” through speaking based around forensic activities.

ISLIP

New ‘Wind’ phone

The Eastern Suffolk BOCES Islip Academic Center has added a wind phone for students “grappling with the loss of a loved one,” according to the center.

Wind phones are disconnected rotary phones in which individuals can “call” their deceased loved ones. The center’s phone is located in an outdoor area and includes a wooden table and a bench built by its carpentry students, school officials said.

“It doesn’t matter if the recipient is deceased, no longer speaking to you, or any other number of scenarios,” Assistant Principal James Muller said in a statement. “It’s a healthy way to talk through your emotions.”

ISLANDWIDE

Councils of Excellence

Student governments from Eastport-South Manor Junior-Senior High School, Bellport High School, John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore and Westbury High School have been named National Councils of Excellence by the National Association of Student Councils — with the latter three receiving gold-level status for meeting “additional criteria,” according to the association.

The designation recognizes student governments that demonstrate “leadership, service and activities that positively impact their school and community,” according to the association. John F. Kennedy’s activities, for example, included a “Dancing With the Teachers” event that raised more than $14,000 for charities, school officials said.

“They don’t just talk about making a difference; they actively create it,” Brad Seidman, the faculty adviser for John F. Kennedy’s student government, said in a statement.

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.