School Notebook: Great Neck, Harborfields teams win LI Envirothon

Teams from Great Neck South High School and Harborfields High School in Greenlawn are the champions of this year's Long Island Regional Envirothon.

Great Neck South and Harborfields placed first among teams in Nassau and Suffolk counties, respectively, during the annual competition that was held at the Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts in Wheatley Heights. The schools also had the second-place teams in each county.

The competition asked participants to take written exams and engage in outdoor challenges in the fields of aquatics, forestry, soil and wildlife — as well as make oral presentations on a current issue, which this year was waste management.

For winning, each student received a $500 college scholarship.

"This is the cumulation of hundreds of hours of studying beyond their normal classwork for the pure enjoyment of learning science," said Great Neck South's team adviser, Andrew Tuomey.

Harborfields science research teacher Michael Pinto added: "In preparing for this competition, students get to critically think about how to address the real-world environmental problems that our society faces."

Great Neck South's team members were Keon Woo Oh, Amit Saha, Lauren Siong Sin, Matthew Tsui and Jansen Wong; Harborfields’ team members were Isha Dave, Anya Glass, Chris Qi, Alison Ryan and Luke Zhang.

The regional event was coordinated by the Soil & Water Conservation Districts in Nassau and Suffolk counties. 

BALDWIN AND FREEPORT

Problem Solvers

Teams from Meadow Elementary School in Baldwin and Freeport High School were first-place winners this spring in a statewide competition coordinated by the nonprofit New York Future Problem Solving Program, which strove to stimulate critical and creative thinking skills while helping students develop visions for the future.

Meadow won the Community Problem Solving category for making podcasts, posters and public services announcements to help students understand the risks of social media. The school also won the junior division of the Presentation of Action Plan category for a video skit on mining and the junior division of the Global Issues Problem Solvers category for proposing solutions to future employment changes in mining.

Freeport placed first in the middle and senior divisions of the Presentation of Action Plan category and the middle division of the Global Issues Problem Solvers category.

COMMACK

Mock trial courtroom

Commack High School has announced the construction of a mock trial courtroom designed to bring "real-world learning opportunities to its students and expand career readiness options," the district said.

The courtroom, which will likely be constructed in summer 2023, was made possible through a $100,000 state grant secured by Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport).

"We are excited to embark on this incredible programmatic milestone for our district," said Jordan Cox, executive director of curriculum and instruction for Commack School District. "These funds will help us create a facility where students will apply what they learn in the classroom in an authentic experience."

EAST MEADOW

New principal

Danielle Lasher has been appointed principal of Meadowbrook Elementary School in East Meadow. She replaced Kelly Di Scalfani, who retired.

Lasher previously served five years as an assistant principal at Woodland Middle School in East Meadow and has been an assistant principal at the Quest to Learn School in Manhattan.

"I am excited to join Meadowbrook as its principal because it enables me to work with students at a critical point in their development during which they are discovering what it means to be learners and who they are as individuals," Lasher said.

SOUTH HUNTINGTON

'Autism Can Do'

Thomas Albero, a senior at St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, has been named the first-place winner of the 4th Annual Autism Can Do Scholarship from Farmingdale-based John's Crazy Socks in conjunction with Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism and the workforce solutions company Rangam. The $5,000 scholarship, which received more than 200 applicants, was open to students with autism residing in Canada and the United States.

For winning, the socks that Albero designed will be produced and sold in the online store for John's Crazy Socks.

"I am so honored, and this will make a difference," Albero said about winning. "I don't let people's perception of special-education students define me; I know we have infinite possibilities."

ISLANDWIDE

Science fair winners

Eleven Long Island students were first-place winners in various categories of this year's middle and high school science fairs coordinated by the South Asian American Women's Alliance.

First-place winners at the middle school level were Allyson Hsieh and Sarah Phinney of Garden City Middle School and Salvatore LoBrutto of Grand Avenue Middle School, in Bellmore, while first-place winners at the high school level were Rebecca Alara of Walter G. O'Connell Copiague High School, Harrison Weinburg of Great Neck South High School, Jack Voelker, Adam Yeo and Dylan Yoon of Manhasset High School, Alexandra Shapiro and Chloe Zhai of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, and Camryn Neches of Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington. 

The high school winners received $250, while the middle school winners received $150.

— MICHAEL R. EBERT

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.