School Notebook: Students win in Congressional App Challenge

Long Island students are among about 275 winners of a national competition that challenged them to code original applications.

Annie Qiu, a sophomore at Syosset High School, and Alexander Wiegand, a junior at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville, were winners for the 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts, respectively, in the 2022 Congressional App Challenge, an initiative of the Congressional Internet Caucus and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Qiu’s app, Cholesterol Ease, was designed to help people decrease cholesterol in their diets. Wiegand’s app, RateMyDrive, was designed to evaluate the performance of new drivers to help them improve their driving skills.

The annual challenge, which this year received a record 2,707 submissions, is intended to inspire youth to pursue careers in computer science.

“Even though people may know that cholesterol may be dangerous for them, they don’t know the extent to which they, themselves, can take steps to lowering their cholesterol right from their own home through opening an app,” Qiu said.

Wiegand said: “As a 16-year-old who is learning to drive, I want to help other students my age improve their driving skills so that the roads we all drive on are safer in the future.”

Other local winners included Westhampton Beach High School junior Rowan Tiska, who collaborated on an app with students in California to win for that state’s 17th Congressional District. Their app, BerrieBasket, was designed to help farmers sell their produce online.

Winners are invited to showcase their apps this spring at the #HouseOfCode festival in Washington, D.C.

COLD SPRING HARBOR

Fitness center

Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. High School recently held a ribbon cutting for a new fitness center, which features items including interior turf and exercise equipment with QR codes for “instant tutorials.”

The equipment and flooring was financed by community donations and fundraising efforts by the school’s Seahawks Athletic Booster Club that collected $250,000. Remaining costs were funded by a bond approved in 2019.

“I’m so grateful to embrace this new facility, which will benefit the health and wellness of students for years to come,” said the school’s athletic director, Mike Bongino.

EAST SETAUKET

Science Bowl

A Ward Melville High School team bested 23 other local teams to take first place in this year’s Long Island Regional Science Bowl, a fast-paced question-and-answer competition held last month at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The team of Michael Melikyan, Ben Proothi, Rithik Sogal, Anna Xing and Benjamin Zhang went undefeated in its first four round-robin matches and in the double-elimination finals beat a team from Great Neck South High School.

The team has qualified for an all-expenses-paid trip next month to compete in the National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C.

FLORAL PARK

NASA TechRise winner

A Sewanhaka High School team is among 60 winners nationwide in this year’s NASA TechRise Student Challenge, which asked students to design an experiment to be tested on a suborbital flight.

The team, whose experiment was titled “Gravitational Acceleration at Increasing Altitudes,” received $1,500 to build their experiment as well as an assigned spot to test it this summer on a NASA-sponsored high-altitude balloon flight.

“Through opportunities like TechRise, young people are deepening their passion in science and technology, preparing to be the future innovators and pioneers who help humanity soar to new heights,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson.

HEMPSTEAD

New principal

Teresa Prendergast has been appointed principal of Sacred Heart Academy, an all-girls college-preparatory school, effective in August. She will replace Jean Amore, who is retiring.

Prendergast is currently superintendent of the Great Neck School District. She has also been assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Garden City School District.

Prendergast said that, for her, “Empowering young women as they develop into confident leaders and contributing members of their communities and faith resonates deeply.

ISLANDWIDE
Go APE art exhibit

Eight Long Island students won Awards of Excellence in the Art League of Long Island’s 16th annual Advanced Placement Exhibit, “Go APE,” which consisted of artwork by 136 students from across Long Island. Their pieces were displayed last month at the league’s Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery in Dix Hills.

The award winners and their high schools were: Isabella Guido and Jasmine Luo, Commack; Lauren Holmes, East Islip; Anna Limb and Gianne Shin, Manhasset; Jessica Johnson, New Hyde Park; Bridget Caulfield, Northport; and Noor Nadeem, Mount Sinai.

“These artists astounded, amazed and inspired us at the Art League of Long Island,” said the league’s executive director, Marianne Della Croce. “We look forward to the future of the visual arts with these young people at the forefront.”

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.