9 Long Island teams qualify for Virtual Enterprises International competition

Nine Long Island teams will put their proposed business plans to the test in a nationwide contest after advancing through two rounds of competition.

The students were among 133 groups from 84 local schools to showcase their businesses during Virtual Enterprises International’s Long Island Regional Conference and Exhibition, which was held at Long Island University in January. Forty percent qualified for the semifinals, which were held in February via Zoom.

The nine teams are now among 40 across the country to qualify for the national level at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan on April 11-12.

“Every year, we are excited to see the level of detail, understanding and passion these student-run firms bring,” said Virtual Enterprises International’s president and chief executive, Tom Smith. “This year is no exception.”

Long Island’s qualifying teams and their high schools are Gimme Golf, Comsewogue in Port Jefferson Station; Greenprints, John F. Kennedy in Bellmore; Hive, Huntington; Nutri-Shore, Plainedge in North Massapequa; R&R Solutions, Smithtown West; RenewU, Hewlett; Smart Scents, Syosset; Soteria, Westhampton Beach; and Spike, Huntington.

Huntington was the only local high school with two qualifying teams. The school’s Hive team proposed an app in which teens could find local job opportunities, while the school’s Spike team proposed a sustainable drinkware company that could detect common spiking drugs.

“Unfortunately, each had a member that fell sick the day of the event and two students had to fill in at the last minute,” said Huntington teacher Paige Tyree Furman, who leads the school’s Virtual Enterprise program. “Watching both firms handle a difficult situation with such flexibility, determination and grace was one of the highlights of my career.”

ELMONT

STEAM Night

Dutch Broadway Elementary School recently held its first annual STEAM Night in an effort to foster a love of science, technology, engineering, art and math.

The evening included nine stations for families to engage in educational hands-on activities, such as constructing towers out of plastic cups and navigating a drone obstacle course.

“STEAM Night is aimed at igniting curiosity and passion for these fields among students and their families,” said Principal Cynthia Qasim. “The goal is for students to realize they can become scientists, engineers and mathematicians.”

FLORAL PARK/MINEOLA

TechRise winners

Teams from Sewanhaka and Chaminade high schools are among 60 nationwide named winners of NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge. The teams will launch their proposed science experiments this summer on one of two commercial suborbital flight platforms: a high-altitude balloon or a rocket-powered lander.

Sewanhaka’s project focused on using sensors to identify safe landing zones for spacecraft, while Chaminade’s project focused on creating an infrared sensor to measure the intensity of a rocket’s flame.

Each team received $1,500 to build their experiments and technology support from Future Engineers, an online platform that hosts innovation challenges.

NORTHPORT

Art contest winners

Northport High School senior Faith Hoerning won first place at this year’s All-County Art and Senior Scholarship Show, coordinated by the Suffolk County Art Leaders Association. Hoerning, who won $750, submitted three colored pencil pieces.

Maddie Tomei, of Commack High School, placed second and Emma Novak, of Bayport-Blue Point High School, placed third. They won $500 and $250, respectively.

Other winners, their high schools and their categories are:

Denilson Manuel Berrios Gutierrez, Amityville, digital media; Maia Schnaider, Half Hollow Hills West in Dix Hills, best in show; Shayna Siegel, Half Hollow Hills West, video animation; Anthony Papa, Lindenhurst, mixed media; Kyle Manzo, Mount Sinai, photography; Julianne Mata, Patchogue-Medford, drawing; Frida Baru Ramirez, Riverhead, 3-D art; and Kassidy Hunt, William Floyd in Mastic Beach, painting.

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.