Olivia Lopera and Lyndsay Mavrich, both athletes on the girls varsity bowling team, finished the season as two of the top six bowlers in Suffolk County, earning them spots on the Section XI All-Star team.
Mavrich finished fourth overall with a season average of 204, while Lopera finished first overall with a new Suffolk County and Long Island record high average of 228.
The Section XI All Star Team finished second at the NYSPHSAA state championship tournament, held on March 8 in Syracuse.
The two students and their coach, Harold Cooley Jr., were honored at the Board of Education’s March 12 meeting.
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Girls Bowling All-Stars Shine
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'West Side Story' Tickets Available
Tickets are now available for this year's high school musical, "West Side Story." Presented by the For the Kids Foundation and the East Islip Music Department, the musical will be performed on Thursday, March 26; Friday, March 27; and Saturday, March 28, all at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 and can be ordered with the below form.
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Dental Visit Promotes Smiles at JFK
East Islip Dental representatives visited JFK’s Cafetorium on Feb. 11 to promote healthy smiles, providing oral hygiene instructions and gifting the students with toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and educational materials.“Early intervention with education for students, plus basic oral hygiene supplies, can make a difference now and in the future,” said Principal Aileen O’Rourke.
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District Dancers Make Green Scene
Dancers and bagpipers made a green scene in East Islip on March 16, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day one day in advance. Timber Point hosted a special set of Irish-themed performances in the school’s cafeteria, including a demonstration of Irish step dancing by four students from the district.
JFK fourth-graders Izzie Lemke and Rhiannon O’Boyle, RCK fourth-grader Reese Clark, and Timber Point second-grader Abby Lemke performed five dances for the school and taught volunteers how to step dance.
The dancing display was followed by a performance of traditional Irish music on bagpipes and drums by four members of the Suffolk County Police Officers Emerald Society Pipe Band. “The students really enjoyed the performances by the step dancers and the pipe band,” said Timber Point Principal Lisa Belz. “It was nice to be able to expose the students to a piece of the Irish culture.”
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Second Budget Presentation Posted
The East Islip School District's second 2015-2016 budget presentation,
presented at the March 12 Board of Education meeting, is available to
view.
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The Magnificent 17: All-State Students Honored
The high school garnered 17 All-State student selections this school year by the Suffolk County Chapter of the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education. The student-musicians, who performed at the NYSCAME/SCMEA All-County Concert last Nov. 21 at Half Hollow Hills High School East in Dix Hills, were honored by the district at a March 12 Board of Education meeting.
Named to the All-State Orchestra were seniors Doug Keller (trombone), Valli Mani (flute), Nicholas Pepino (horn) and Carolyn Sidoti (violin); and juniors Laura Coffin (oboe), Sarah Commisso (violin), Harrison Gieraltowski (clarinet) and Jake MacMorris (tuba).
Named to the All-State Band was senior Krista Cook (clarinet).
Named to the All-State Mixed Chorus were seniors Joseph Janover (tenor), Faith Penny (soprano), Samantha Sampollo (alto), Sam Sharkey (tenor) and Alyssa Stephens (soprano); and junior Jonathan Coffin (bass).
Named to the All-State Women’s Chorus were juniors Emily Fishman (soprano) and Danielle Pafundi (soprano).
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Artist of the Week: March 16, 2015
John F. Kennedy Elementary: Fourth-graders Lauren Holmes and Melissa Mirabelli ("Imagine a Night Surrealist Scenes”)
Ruth C. Kinney Elementary: Fourth-graders Erin Kroupa and Madison Lozyngier (“Spirit Anima Bust”)
Timber Point Elementary: First-graders Kayla Varga, Michael Donlin and Keira Bloch ("3D Paper Bald Eagle Sculptures")
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Superintendent Search Community Forum on March 24
The East Islip Board of Education will hold a Superintendent Search Community Forum on March 24 at 7 p.m. in the Early Childhood Center at 1 Craig B. Gariepy
Ave. in Islip Terrace. Please see the attached flier for more information.
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Esteemed Elders Gala Event on April 1
See the attached flier for information on the Esteemed Elders Gala Event, to be held from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1 at the Early Childhood Center at the district office. Admission is $8 and RSVP is due by March 26.
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Focus on Friendship at JFK
Through the school’s Book of the Month Club, JFK highlights a different character trait each month. For February, the entire school read the book “The Piano” by William Miller, and focused on the character trait of friendship. Students in each class were recognized for displaying outstanding friendship qualities, and Student Friendship Stars were recognized on the character trait bulletin board in the main lobby; all received an acknowledgment letter from Principal Aileen O’Rourke along with a character pencil and special gift.
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Rare Disease Day Connects Schools
In a joint awareness effort that spanned Redmen Street, the high school and middle school recognized Rare Disease Day on Feb. 27.
At the high school, the student council and Girls Leaders Club organized the day’s activities, purchasing special T-shirts for the event to benefit the NBIA Disorders Association. Numerous students clad in the Rare Disease Day shirts celebrated in the auditorium during homeroom with Kyle Engblom, a sophomore at the high school who has a rare disease known as FAHN-FA2H. According to guidance counselor Jessica Pignataro, Engblom sees Rare Disease Day as an opportunity to raise awareness and share his story.
Meanwhile, in the middle school, where Rare Disease Day was first recognized several years ago while Engblom was attending, students and staff wore white in support of the Ronald McDonald House. During the week of Feb. 23, middle schoolers were educated about families and children living with rare diseases and medical conditions, and collected pantry wish list items for the Ronald McDonald House, an organization that provides comfort and shelter to families experiencing the pain of having a sick child in a local hospital. “Our focus for Rare Disease Day was to raise awareness and increase acceptance,” said school social worker Alison Johnstone.
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Track Stars Finish Big at Cornell
High school track stars Katharine Newhoff and Faith Penny enjoyed an outstanding finish to their seasons, both earning All-State status at the New York State Track and Field Championships, held on March 6 at Cornell University in Ithaca.
Penny, the new state champion in high jump, finished in first place for all high jumpers, earned her All-State recognition for the third consecutive year.
Newhoff finished in second place for all race walkers in all of New York State public schools and state federation schools, narrowly missing being state champion by three seconds.
The two students and their coach, Mike Drozd, were honored at the Board of Education’s March 12 meeting.
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Unite for the Fight on March 30
See the attached flier for information on the Unite for the Fight: Communities Against Substance Abuse Forum, which will take place on Monday, March 30 at Hauppauge High School.
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Speed and STEM at MS
Seventh-graders in Hal Kench’s middle school technology education classes recently completed their CO2 dragster activities, which involved miniature racing cars propelled by a carbon dioxide cartridge.
David Gomez took top honors with his car by hitting the highest speed of 57 mph. “David’s car was lightweight and extremely aerodynamic, two very important properties for a fast car,” said Kench.
The CO2 dragster project served numerous STEM-related educational functions, according to Kench, starting with learning about basic hand tool and machine safety. “Those are things that will come in handy throughout everyone’s lifetime,” he said.
Additional concepts and skills that the students learned included scientific concepts like Newton’s laws of motion, forces, friction, inertia, mass and acceleration; technology skills such as technical drawing, CAD, specifications and tolerances; engineering concepts like design, prototyping, analysis, production and improvement; and math elements like measurement, calculation and comparison.
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Mock Trial Team Visits Courthouse
Members of the high school’s mock trial team and their adviser Patricia Lester visited the Alfonse M. D’Amato U.S. Courthouse in Central Islip on March 12, a visit arranged by East Islip mock trial alumnus Kevin Yim.
Yim, of East Islip’s Class of 2006, earned his undergraduate degree at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts and his Juris Doctor degree at Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia. He passed the New York State Bar Exam and was hired as a clerk by Gary R. Brown, a federal magistrate judge for the Eastern District of New York.
Since earning his law degree, Yim has been eager to help out with East Islip’s mock trial team. After regularly attending the team’s practices on Saturday mornings, he facilitated the visit to the court with Judge Brown. While there, the students were able to watch a portion of a civil rights trial and meet with the judge in his chambers. The judge invited the students into his courtroom and listened to an opening statement by Elizabeth Loizides and a closing statement by Joe Teknus. Brown offered helpful advice and feedback to the students on the mock trial problem they will be using in this year’s state tournament. “The visit was a great success and all of the students felt they benefited from the experience,” said Lester.
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Hoops Were in the House at MS Tournament
The middle school hosted a “Hoops for the House” three-on-three charity basketball tournament on March 19 to support the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. Planned by the middle school’s student government and Girls Leaders Club, with teacher and basketball coach Chris Padgur serving as master of ceremonies, the event also served to kick off the school’s March Madness Spirit Week.
A total of 91 students on 24 teams participated, raising $220 in charity funds through dollar entrance fees and snack sales. Each member of the winning Hornets team – Brendan Cox, Matt McHugh, Adonic Nunez and Ryan Spatola – received a $10 iTunes gift card as a prize.
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Special Community Forum Meeting Tonight
A special community forum meeting will take place tonight, March 24, to discuss the profile of the next superintendent of schools. The community forum will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the district office.
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The East Islip Big Egg Hunt Begins Saturday
The East Islip Big Egg Hunt begins on Saturday, March 28 and runs through April 28. Participating stores will “hide” the eggs until their secret date to display them publicly. The first East Islip student to see an egg will be recognized on the certificate accompanying the egg and will get a small gift/treat from the store it is found in. See list of participating stores below.
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Artist Goes for Gold with ‘Yukon’
Nicholas Dahill, a senior in Dan Figliozzi’s Advanced Placement drawing portfolio class at the high school, submitted his digital drawing “Yukon” to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this past December. Awards were recently given to students across the country, and Dahill was recently named the recipient of SAWA’s prestigious Gold Key Award.
Dahill is an active participant in the school’s art department, taking additional drawing and electronic illustration courses. “Being in a community of people with similar interests is an inspiring and positive experience, where I’ve made many great friends,” said Dahill.
He continues to hone his skills in these courses in preparation for collegiate study, and has received feedback from numerous top art schools. “I aspire to pursue illustration or game art in college and hope to one day get a job in the game or comic book industries,” said the senior.
Dahill’s drawing “Yukon” is a self-portrait of the artist wearing the hide of a bear. “Through the use of delicate line work and saturated color gradients, he conveyed the importance of embracing what you are passionate about,” said Figliozzi, who noted that Dahill is continuing to explore this idea in the body of work he is developing for the concentration section of his Advanced Placement drawing exam.
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Artist of the Week: March 23, 2015
John F. Kennedy Elementary: Fourth-graders Robert Graziano and Nicholas Wodicka (“Cherry Blossoms”)
Ruth C. Kinney Elementary: Fourth-graders Rhiannon Donahue, Alexandra Edwards, Shannon Kennedy and Raymond LaRocca (“Spirit Animal Bust")
Timber Point Elementary: Second-graders Eric Ritter and Haley Trifaro ("AAA Traffic Safety Poster Contest")
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