Nassau: Wantagh, Sachem H.S. teams win LI Regional Envirothon

Teams from Wantagh High School and Sachem High School North in Lake Ronkonkoma took the top spots for Nassau and Suffolk counties, respectively, at the 2014 Long Island Regional Envirothon.

Students in the 16th annual competition took written exams and participated in outdoor challenges in aquatics, forestry, soil and wildlife. They also gave oral presentations on the topic of sustainable local agriculture.

Thirty-five teams participated in April at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in Wheatley Heights.

The two winning squads went on to compete at the state level last month at upstate Morrisville State College.

"I am extremely proud of the students," Wantagh team adviser Valarie Sebastiano said. "All five have a unique respect for nature and the environment, and act as role models for their peers and adults as well."

Wantagh's team members were Andrew Bloniarz, Julia Laibach, Emily Latif, Sophia Liu and Jaclyn Onufrey. Sachem's team members were Natalie DeQuarto, Charles Horn, Danielle Paynter, Grant Pham and Emily Watson. Each student received a $500 scholarship.

The local competition was coordinated by the soil and water conservation districts of Nassau and Suffolk counties.

HERRICKS

NY History Day

The Herricks school district had 12 winning projects -- the most of any local district -- in various categories of New York State History Day, a program sponsored by the New York State Historical Association.

The event encourages students to explore local, national and world history using libraries, museums and oral interviews.

The district's winning students were: Sahil Abbi, Sabreen Bhuiya, Angel Ding, Ravina Jain, Marielle Lenowitz, Dustin Liu, Lauren Paik, Neil Patel, Maisha Savani, Justin Senzer, Sachit Singhal, Ashley Skaria, Joshua Somrah, Vanessa Sun, Ashwin Viswanathan, Irene Yip and Gina Yoo of Herricks High School; and Prerna Chaudhary and Esme Chen of Herricks Middle School.

Other Nassau County winners were: Dean Elefante, Lawrence Froymovich, Jonny Miller and Rachel Miller of Woodmere Middle School; Nicole Orbuch of Jericho Middle School; Jahnavi Arora and Neena Patil of H.B. Thompson Middle School in Syosset; Anna Nardi of Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead; Gillian Polakoff and Jolie Schornstein of Hewlett High School; Madison D'Ambrosio, Donna Nazarian, Jared Rothstein, Harris Wekselblatt and Seung Min Yi of The Wheatley School in Old Westbury; and Chelsea Donohue of St. Dominic High School in Oyster Bay.

COUNTYWIDE

Scholarship winners

Twenty-seven Nassau County students were named winners of $2,500 scholarships last month by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

The students had the "strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies," the corporation said.

The winners were: Brian Keohane of Mepham High School in North Bellmore; Sam Lerner of Friends Academy in Locust Valley; Nathan Siegelaub of East Meadow High School; Allison Kornrich, Kara Kupferberg, Cristina Lai, Caroline Weinberg and Chae Rin Yoon of Great Neck South High School; Paige Varney of Hicksville High School; Ken Aizawa, Josh Han, Xingan Hua, Dohee Na, Amy Xu and Richard Zhang of Jericho High School; Joseph Cappadona of Lynbrook High School; Ryan Fleishman, Bryan Herbert and Stephanie Ying of Manhasset High School; Esther Chen, Justin Jun Hsuan and Rifath Rashid of Herricks High School; Marissa Colasacco of Oceanside High School; Allison Bichoupan and Joshua Loria of Roslyn High School; Reva Abrol of Syosset High School; and Ritwik Bhatia of Valley Stream North High School.

ISLANDWIDE

LI Quiz Bowl

Teams from Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale and Great Neck South High School took first place in the varsity and junior varsity divisions, respectively, of the Long Island Regional Quiz Bowl, held at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School.

The bowl is based on topics covered in academic areas and information that "some people might consider trivia," bowl officials said. Participating schools come together for five round-robin competitions during the school year. The two top schools from each region -- plus two wild card teams -- vied in the final tournament.

Runner-up teams in the varsity division were from Farmingdale High School, Roslyn High School and Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills.

Runner-up teams in the junior varsity division came from Kellenberg Memorial, Baldwin High School and Ward Melville High School in East Setauket.