Ward Melville High School in East Setauket and Great Neck South Middle School were champions of this year’s Long Island Regional Science Bowl — with Ward Melville taking the title for the third consecutive year.

The teams, which now advance to the nationals, took the top spots among high school and middle school groups, respectively, in the “Jeopardy!”- style competition. Contest topics included biology, chemistry and physics, according to Brookhaven National Laboratory, which hosted the competition in late January.

Both teams were awarded all-expenses-paid trips to compete in the National Science Bowl near Washington, D.C., from April 24-28.

“I couldn’t be prouder of all their hard work, determination and dedication,” Ward Melville coach Philip Medina said of his team. “While each member has honed their skills in a particular specialty area, they have excelled as a team because of their support for one another.”

Ward Melville’s team members are Harry Gao, Sean Skinner, Gunes Sunar, Anna Xing and Jason Yin.

Great Neck South’s team members are Austin Chen, Leeann Lee, Nathan Li, Ryan Tsai and Zale Zhang.

The runner-up teams at the high school and middle school levels were from Great Neck South High School and Hunter College Middle School in Manhattan, respectively.

FLORAL PARK

NASA TechRise

A Sewanhaka High School team is one of 60 winners nationwide in this year’s NASA TechRise Student Challenge, which asked students to create experiments that autono-mously operate and collect data from the edge of space. For winning, the team received $1,500 to build its experiment for an assigned spot this summer on a NASA-sponsored high-altitude balloon.

Sewanhaka’s project is titled “C.R.A.T.E.R.S.,” which stands for Cosmic Radiation Across Two Energy Resistant Substances. It aims to evaluate how well different lightweight materials can protect humans and equipment from radiation exposure, school officials said.

LEVITTOWN/
PLAINEDGE
Schools of Character

Jonas E. Salk Middle School in Levittown, Eastplain Elementary School in Plainedge and Plainedge High School are among 98 U.S. schools named State Schools of Character by the nonprofit Character.org.

Selected schools met standards outlined in Character.org’s 11 Principles Framework for Schools, which range from identifying a set of core values to engaging families in those principles. They also underwent on-site visits.

“Each of these schools . . . have put into place an initiative that equips and empowers their staff to reinforce and model a range of positive core values,” Character.org president Arthur Schwartz said in a statement.

ISLANDWIDE

Education Partners

Twelve people and three organizations are to receive Education Partner Awards by Nassau BOCES for “profound effects on public education in Nassau County,” the agency said.

Winners are Renee Blumstein, president, Informed Decision Services; Mindy Davidson, vocational rehabilitation counselor, Nassau BOCES; Charmise Desiré, school board trustee, Uniondale school district; Thomas Dolan, retired superintendent, Great Neck school district; John Fretz, virtual teacher, Nassau BOCES; Ashlee Fucarino, student, Nassau BOCES Long Island High School for the Arts in Syosset; Christine Kavanagh, teacher’s aide, Nassau BOCES; Robert MacKay, instructor, Nassau BOCES; Joanna Malament, associate director, Nassau BOCES Department of Special Education; William Monahan, program developer, Nassau BOCES; Diane Provvido, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and technology, Oceanside school district; and Lawrence Zaino Jr., school board president, Carle Place school district.

The winning groups are The Joel Foundation, Hangout One Happy Place in Baldwin and the Long Island Association.