School Days

Hampton Bays School District

Four performing groups from Hampton Bays Middle School won first-place awards in the Music in the Parks competition held in Pennsylvania’s Hershey Park in May.

The winning groups included the school’s seventh-and eighth-grade band, chorus, jazz band, and Harmonizers. In addition, the seventh-and eighth-grade band was awarded a Best Overall Middle School Band trophy, and eighth grader Samantha Coulton took home an award for Best Overall Vocalist for her solo during a performance with the Harmonizers. Each student group performed three songs while competing against nine schools from across the country.

This is not the first time that Hampton Bays musicians have earned awards at a Music in the Parks event. Last year, the Harmonizers won a first-place award and the jazz band earned a second-place trophy. This is the first year, however, that all of the school’s performing groups took home first-place trophies.

Riverhead Central School District

The Riverhead High School Class of 2018 yearbook was distributed on May 31. The 200-page compilation was the result of hours of work by a 22-member yearbook class taught by Alyssa Bergstrand.

The process to release the full-color publication started on the first day of school, with students working continuously to select designs and images, write captions, proofread content, and take more than 7000 photos.

The theme of this year’s book, “Get Out There,” encourages students to explore everything the world has to offer while remembering where they came from, explained Bergstrand. The yearbook also includes a special new addition: a two-page photo spread based on the school district’s new social media campaign, #ThisIsRiverhead. The spread features some of the seniors’ favorite moments from the school year.

Riverhead High School musicians recently performed in front of international audiences at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL. As part of the Disney Performing Arts program, members of the high school wind ensemble, chamber choir, chamber orchestra, and jazz ensemble made memories by performing as they experienced the excitement and pride of a Disney tradition.

As part of its Parent University series, the Riverhead Central School District hosted an informative “Pathways to Success” night on May 29 at Riverhead High School. During the event, families obtained tips, guidance and key ideas to form a plan for student success. The evening included informative sessions on high school course offerings, career exploration options, counseling and support available to students, and a special presentation for families and students in grades six and up.

It also featured a community book giveaway from the Riverhead High School Parent Teacher Student Organization and Riverhead Central Faculty Association, as well as activities for students in grades K-5 in the areas of STEM, music and the arts, and world languages. The Parent University series aims to connect parents with school and community resources and provide them with helpful information for their children’s academic journey.

Riverhead High School’s talented thespians have been recognized with Teeny Award nominations by East End Arts for two productions, The Little Mermaid and Rent. The nominations came after a judging process that included 16 East End high schools. Among the nominations for The Little Mermaid are Isaac Kulp in the role of Sebastian and Ethan Lucas as Prince Eric for Best Lead Actor; John Yaiullo for Outstanding Performer in a Play or Musical as King Triton; Jason Rios for Outstanding Playbill and Poster Design; Evelyn Kennedy for Technical Recognition; and Lily Kutner, Jessica Murgolo, and Sofia Sabalja-Reid for Outstanding Choreography.

For Rent, Meghan Schlicting was recognized with a nomination for Best Supporting Female in her role as Maureen, while Sabalja-Reid was nominated for Outstanding Performer in a Play or Musical in the role of Dance Captain. The 16th annual Teeny Awards ceremony, complete with a red carpet, took place on June 3 at Longwood High School.

Southampton School District

The Southampton School District appointed Jeanne-Marie Mazzaferro as director of pupil personnel services, effective June 29.

Mazzaferro, a Riverhead resident, joins Southampton from the Riverhead Central School District, where she has served as assistant director of PPS/special education since 2017. Previously, she served as principal of Riverhead’s High School Summer School and as a literacy coach and reading specialist since 2004. Prior to her employment in Riverhead schools, Mazzaferro held the position of special education teacher in the Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District since 1995.

In addition to an impressive professional-development teaching and presentation schedule on the district level, Mazzaferro has made presentations to the National Council of Teachers of English, Long Island Connected Teachers, the New York State Reading Association, and at the National Literacy Coaching Summit.

Mazzaferro holds a bachelor’s degree in education from SUNY Plattsburgh, with a focus on special and elementary education. She also holds a master’s degree in education from Dowling College, with a focus on reading and special education, and obtained certification in educational leadership from Stony Brook University.

“I am committed to building relationships, supporting learning, and collaboration,” said Mazzaferro. “I look forward to being part of the diverse learning community and being able to utilize my strengths to enhance Southampton’s common goal of learning as a way of life.”

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nicholas Dyno added, “We are very fortunate to have found such a qualified candidate for this position. The board of education and I look forward to working with Ms. Mazzaferro in achieving our district’s instructional goals.”

Southold Union Free School District

Last week, Southold High School students got a crash course in how to stop life-threatening bleeding, thanks to thed program. Nationally registered paramedic Colby Rowe of Stony Brook Medicine partnered with Eastern Long Island Hospital’s Director of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Lawrence Schiff to coordinate the program.

Both Rowe and Schiff are highly experienced in emergency medical services. Rowe is not only an NRP, he is also the Stony Brook Trauma Center Education & Prehospital Outreach Coordinator. In addition to being ELIH’s Director of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Schiff is also the regional director for EMS on the North Fork. Together, they equip attendees with a certain set of skills that medically untrained individuals may need to employ in the event of a life-threatening bleed in an emergency situation.

The duo was assisted by two physician’s assistants who work in the ELIH Emergency Department, Chris Edelstein and Suzan Bignami. Thanks to invaluable efforts made by Steven Flanagan and David Gamberg of Southold School District, Edward Boyd of Southold EMS, and Sergeant William Brewer of Southold Police Department, Schiff and Rowe were able to educate more than 300 students over the course of two days. d was launched in October of 2015 by the White House. The Department of Homeland Security’s official website describes the program as “a national awareness campaign and call-to-action. During Wednesday’s program, Rowe and Schiff showed students how to use their hands, dressings, and tourniquets to stop uncontrolled bleeding.