School News

Southampton

The Rotary Club of Southampton recognized senior Kelly Nano-Miranda as the Rotary Student of the Month for March.

Nano-Miranda is an AP scholar, a member of the National, Spanish, and Art honor societies, and co-president of the Class of 2019. She is also a member of several school clubs, including Natural Helpers, the Art Club, yearbook, the Varsity Club, and Junior Statesmen of America.

Outside of school, Nano-Miranda enjoys art, sewing, and fashion design. She is considering attending the University of Delaware and plans on majoring in fashion marketing and merchandising in the hopes of creating her own diversity-focused clothing company.

The Southampton school district was honored with a Best Communities for Music Education designation from the NAMM foundation for the fourth consecutive year.

The district earned the recognition for providing access to music education to all students, partnering with the community, innovating collaborations including music integration, providing performance opportunities in and out of school, and adhering to the state and national standards. Southampton is one of just 500 school districts across the country to receive the award in 2019.

Southampton High School’s National Honor Society held its annual Trivia Night to benefit its senior scholarship fund on March 21.

Thirteen teams competed in 10 rounds of trivia, grouped by categories ranging from “Harry Potter” to food, and state capitals. The top three teams were MGB, the Hatricks, and the Tanks. The event raised $200.

Southampton Elementary School recently partnered with Every Child Safe to offer a free two-part workshop that aims to prevent bullying, sexual abuse, and physical abuse.

Through the program, parents and caregivers were provided with evidence-based techniques to prevent child abuse and bullying, and were encouraged to attend a second session with their children to practice those skills and open the lines of communication.

Louis Beekman, a Southampton resident, family violence advocate, and licensed child sexual abuse prevention trainer, developed the program with Dr. Elissa Brown, a childhood trauma expert. The pair will soon be providing additional workshops in Southampton.

Hampton Bays

Hampton Bays High School will hold its sixth annual Science Research Symposium on Wednesday, April 17, at 6 PM in the school’s auditorium.

High school science research students, under the direction of Dr. Stephanie Forsberg, the science research teacher, will present their findings on a wide variety of topics such as influenza and the alpha-gal syndrome. A representative from Plum Island will give the keynote address, and community members are invited to attend.

Hampton Bays Middle School inducted 22 eighth-grade students into the National Junior Honor Society on March 28 during a candlelight ceremony. To be eligible, students are required to have a cumulative average of 92 or better and meet the standards of leadership, service, citizenship, and character.

The students inducted were Elijah Amos, Deykel Berrocal, Isabelle Caine, Sophia Corredor, Christian Cruz, Lauren Emiddio, Zoey Engeldrum, April Feliciano, Zachary Himelfarb, Kenneth Lainez, William Mendel, Max Mielenhausen, Jamison Moore, Aidan O’Brien, Lillian Patek, Christian Pensa, Amy Prado, Brianna Quiros, Sofia Solano Cruz, Liam Sutton, Haley Weissbard, and Dante Zangrillo.

The middle school’s community garden program was recently awarded a $1000 grant from Slow Foods East End and the Josh Levine Foundation to make repairs to the garden and the greenhouse, which are located on the school grounds.

The community garden, now in its ninth year, features 21 beds that are used by the middle school and elementary school classes, as well as community members. The garden’s produce is used in the schools and also donated to area food pantries.

Sag Harbor

Members of Pierson High School’s Model United Nations club joined 3000 other students from across the globe in New York City for their third National High School Model UN conference, from March 1 to March 4.

During the educational opportunity, Pierson’s team “represented” Japan during the small conference simulations, which included the Crisis Committee, the Historical Crisis Committee, and the Security Council. The conference dealt with situations the actual UN faces, and students were even called out of their hotel rooms at 1 AM for “emergency sessions.”

Pierson’s club also met with one of the Japanese delegates to hear his account of Japan’s role in the many UN committees. Afterward, the students discussed relevant topics such as conservation of indigenous languages and ways to provide economic incentives in developing countries.

The students also sat in the UN General Assembly room to hear Browne Sanders, the new head of UNICEF America, discuss her career and the importance of the UN as the largest protector of children in the world. Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under the Obama administration, reiterated the importance of individual action and a life serving others during the closing ceremonies.

Izzy Culver and Olivia Corish, seniors at Pierson, received Best Delegate awards for exemplary work on their committees.

Montauk

Montauk first graders had a field trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden on April 2. The school also hosted the PTA Multi-Cultural night on Friday, April 5. There will also be an East Hampton High School Ambassador Program Fair on Friday, April 12, at 1:40 PM.

Springs

The Springs School District had several staff members honored at the SCOPE awards, including Assistant Principal Christine Cleary, junior high English teacher Adam Osterweil, teaching assistant Lilliam Flores, and school board president Barbara Dayton.

Kate Rabinowitz and Rameshwar Das from the Anna Lytton Foundation received the Community Award.

Tuckahoe

Fifth-grader Zebediah Ryan of Tuckahoe had a Skype conversation with Congressman Lee Zeldin on March 14, in which he asked the congressman about his favorite school subject, how being a veteran has affected his life, and what he feels are the most important issues facing eastern Long Island today. To see the interview, visit tuckahoecommonsd.com.

Military Recognition

Three East End school districts have teamed up to co-host a ceremony that will pay tribute to graduating seniors entering the military through enlistment or a commission to an academy. The event will be held on May 31 at 9:30 AM at the Hampton Bays High School.

Sponsored by the Hampton Bays, Southampton, and Westhampton Beach school districts, the formal recognition will include school leaders, local officials, and representatives from area American Legions and Veterans of Foreign War Posts. Each of the students’ families will be presented with a blue star flag.

A breakfast buffet prepared by students of the Hampton Bays Culinary Arts program will be offered before the ceremony.

The idea to host an East End event came from a similar event created by the Our Community Salutes organization, a nonprofit that began hosting thank-you events after its members realized they didn’t have an opportunity to say thank you to a young service member who was killed in action.