School News

Southampton

Five members of the Southampton Union Free School District community were honored at SCOPE Education Services’ 18th annual School District Awards Dinner on March 18. Roberta Hunter, a school board member for nearly 13 years, received the School Board Service Award. Hunter, a member of the Shinnecock Nation, was the first Native American to serve on both the school board and the Southampton Town Board.

Susan Wright, assistant principal of Southampton High School, was given an Administrator Service Award. Jackie Lamb, a school monitor, Beatrice Rubsam, a senior clerk typist, and head custodian Polis Walker were presented with Support Staff Awards.

Band, choral, and orchestra students were selected to participate in the Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association All-County Music Festival, which was held at the high school on March 9 and 10.

The 30 intermediate and high school students earned spots at the festival based on teacher recommendations and their New York State School Music Association solo evaluation scores. In addition, two of the students, sixth-grader Charlotte Arnzen and sophomore Sofia Skoldberg, were named principal chair in their respective orchestras.

Southampton High School student Laine Yastzremski was invited to sing the national anthem before the Suffolk County Legislature at its regular meeting on March 5.

Sag Harbor

Sag Harbor Elementary School hosted its 23rd annual fifth-grade wax museum on March 8.

For the museum, students posed as influential people and stood as still as they could as if they were actual wax figures in a museum. The fifth graders dressed in costume and were surrounded by period artifacts to represent historical figures such as John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks, Pocahontas, Clara Barton, and many others.

The wax museum projects, which were a culmination of weeks of study in multiple disciplines, also included an accompanying acrylic painting.

Bridgehampton

Bridgehampton High School announces that James Fairchild will be valedictorian and Autumn Coffey the salutatorian, respectively, of the Class of 2019.

Fairchild took numerous honors and Advanced Placement courses. Fairchild has participated in varsity tennis, varsity swimming, and junior varsity basketball, as well as on the school’s robotics team and Future Farmers of America. He received the DAR Good Citizens Award and the President’s Education Award in recognition of outstanding academic excellence.

He also teaches coding to fourth and fifth-grade students and worked closely with South Fork Natural History Museum in guiding underclassmen in designing and constructing an educational aquaponics system. Fairchild was also named a Borlaug Scholar by Cornell University and had a research paper addressing food insecurities in Liberia published by the New York Youth Institute. He is a potential candidate for a Borlaug-Ruan International internship and would like to study computer science, business, or architecture.

Coffey took numerous Advanced Placement, honors, and college-level courses during her high school career and was named to the school’s high honor roll. Coffey is a member of the school’s robotics team and was honored as an Academic All-County student for basketball. She also is involved locally in the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center. Coffey plans on majoring in nursing.

The Bridgehampton High School robotics team will compete in two FIRST robotics regional competitions with the theme of “Destination: Deep Space.”

The first competition will be held at Hofstra University from March 27 through March 30 followed by the second regional competition in Quebec City, Canada, from April 2 to 7.

Bridgehampton’s Team Supreme (Team 5659) is coached by Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz and Ken Giosi, with Julie Burmeister and Jonathan Fletcher as mentors.

Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center

The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center is working in coordination with the Wellness Foundation of East Hampton to develop a pilot program, which will include several Saturday morning parent-child cooking workshops taught by a bilingual chef.

The center will also host a “Mommy and Me” program at the East Hampton Library, which aims to engage children in a meaningful learning activity as well as provide instruction and modeling for parents.

Springs

Springs School observed World Down Syndrome Day on March 21 by wearing crazy socks to show their support for those with the condition.

Hampton Bays

Emily Barnes, a seventh grader at Hampton Bays Middle School, was honored at a ceremony on February 26 for her essay placing first at the county level of the National VFW Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest.

During the ceremony, which was held at the Tordik-Diedrich-Duffield VFW Post 4927 in Centereach, Barnes received multiple proclamations for her 400-word essay themed “What Makes America Great.”

Eighth grader Elijah Amos of seventh grader Marilyn Ramos were recognized earlier this year for being named local contest winners.

Tuckahoe

Tuckahoe students in Mrs. Neill’s eighth-grade English class wrote business letters to the CEO of many companies. Many have received letters from the companies in return, including from Visa, Gap, McDonald’s, and Disney.

Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration for residents of the Tuckahoe Common School District is still open. For more information, call the district’s main office at 631-283-3550.

Westhampton

Westhampton Beach High School’s Virtual Enterprise team, Fresh Focus, landed a spot in the final round of the 2019 VE Social Venture Challenge and is set to compete on April 17 in New York City for a chance to win $10,000 to start a real business.

Students were required to create a business concept that has a social or environmental impact, submit an application and business proposal, and produce a one-minute pitch video. They were one of three teams to advance to the finals.

Fresh Focus team members Joe Commisso, Elena DeVita, Frank Lapinski, and Jack Meigel created a virtual business that sells stylish, reusable lunch bags made from recycled cork, which also meet TSA requirements and can easily fit under an airplane seat. The students brainstormed the idea after noticing that there were little to no fashionable options for lunch bags and they plan to market their product to female Millennials.

Mattituck-Cutchogue

Students at Mattituck-Cutchogue Jr./Sr. High School are working with younger students with special needs in June Hamilton’s seventh-grade class as part of an independent study and peer mentoring initiative.

Seniors Emily McKillop and Francesca Vasile-Cozzo are using the skills they acquire to establish a professional toolkit they plan to build upon as they enter the field of special education upon graduation.

Eighth-grade students Drew Hansen and Jenna Sledjeski also joined together to create a mentoring program, where they spent time with a seventh-grade student.

Riverhead

Riverhead High School announced the top 15 students of its Class of 2019.

The valedictorian is Joshua Caskie and salutatorian, Brittney Miller.

Caskie served as president of the student government and is a member of the National and Latin honor societies, Key Club, and Math Club. He is in the pit and chamber orchestras, as well as an AP Scholar with Distinction and a member of the bowling team. He plans on studying engineering in college.

Miller is a member of the National and Foreign Language honor societies, Council for Unity, and Key Club. She is also an AP Scholar with Distinction and serves as vice president of the student government. She plans on studying mathematics in college.

Besides Caskie and Miller, the other top students are Dominic Bossey, Julia Divan, Sarah Rempe, Kayla Kielbasa, Eric Behr, Yash Patel, Taylor McKnight, Lucy Dow, Krista Farrell, Stephanie Bak, Michael Cunningham, Regan Montefusco, and Sean Allen.

The Riverhead School Board recognized Paula Warner for her service to the district on March 12. Warner, who will retire after serving as a school bus driver for 23 years, was presented with a certificate of recognition and applauded for her hard work and dedication to the students of Riverhead.

The high school will present “In the Heights” on April 5 through April 7 in the middle school auditorium. The musical, which includes a cast and crew of 50 students directed by Dena Marie Tishim, tells the story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

Show times will be 7 PM on April 5, 2 PM and 7 PM on April 6, and 2 PM on April 7. Tickets are $5 for students and senior citizens, $10 for adults, and $12 at the door. To purchase, visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3933749.

The Aquebogue Elementary School raised $6000 for the American Heart Association through the AHA’s Hoops for Heart program.

The students obtained sponsorships to make as many jump shots as they could during a 30-minute “Super Shooter” Contest.

Students were trained in the fundamentals of basketball and received lessons on heart health and ways they can make a difference in the lives of those with heart conditions.

The Riverhead Middle School Blue Masques will present “Willy Wonka, Jr.” on March 29 and March 30 at 7 PM in the school’s auditorium. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults and can be purchased in the school’s cafeteria from 3 to 5 PM, or available at the door for $10 each.