School News

Southampton

Southampton Elementary School preschoolers and third graders recently culminated a yearlong Book Buddy Program with a reading celebration that included dancing and ice pops.

Spearheaded by teacher Tracey Koszalka, the program allowed third graders to read to their preschool partners on a weekly basis, as well as play board games and make crafts together.

Third graders recently learned about the cultural heritages of their classmates as part of a social studies project, as well as studying their own cultural backgrounds.

The Garden Club wrapped up the school year by creating a nutritious meal from the garden produce. Under the direction of club adviser Colleen Henke, the students grew a variety of vegetables and microgreens in the school’s outdoor garden and indoor tower garden.

Sag Harbor

Pierson Middle School eighth graders participated in a moving up ceremony on June 20.

Hannah Tuma, the valedictorian for the Class of 2019, spoke to the students and advised them to challenge themselves, step outside of their comfort zones, and embrace opportunities ahead. Eighth graders Chloe Lucyk, Meredith Spolarich, and Emily Squires also spoke at the ceremony. The students later received moving up certificates.

The Sag Harbor fifth grade class celebrated moving up to Pierson Middle School on June 21.

Students shared their favorite memories of elementary school during the ceremony. Sag Harbor Elementary School Principal Matthew Malone and Assistant Principal Betty Reynoso presented the fifth graders with their certificates.

Westhampton Beach

Donning white and green caps and gowns, members of the Westhampton Beach High School Class of 2019 marched through the halls of their former elementary school on June 24 to reminisce about their early school days and to provide inspiration to current students.

As they took the traditional senior walk, the elementary students cheered, clapped, and held up signs of congratulations. They marched with colorful banners that showcased principles they had learned through the program, which aims to teach students to understand and practice the “seven habits of happy kids” based on Stephen Covey’s books “The Leader in Me” and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” as well as Sean Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids.”

Westhampton Beach Elementary School second graders closed out a yearlong recycling campaign by presenting a donation of $466.55 to the Westhampton Beach Historical Society on June 24.

The students, who recycled more than 9000 water bottles, chose to assist the historical society after a field trip to its headquarters earlier in the school year.

Hampton Bays

Two Hampton Bay High School seniors signed letters of intent during an information ceremony on June 19.

Helen Benenaula will be attending Five Towns College to play soccer, and Maryrose O’Connell will be heading to SUNY Cortland to run track.

Thirty-two Hampton Bays Middle School students were recently honored as scholar-athletes.

To attain this recognition, the students were required to maintain a 90 or above average for the first three quarters of the 2018-19 school year. A full list of honorees is available on the district’s website at www.hbschools.us.

Riverhead

The Riverhead Class of 2019 received their diplomas during the district’s annual commencement ceremony on June 26.

The ceremony commenced with a flag salute led by the NJROTC and student-musicians sang the national anthem and “We Can Dream” by Pinkzebra.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Aurelia Henriquez, High School Principal Sean O’Hara, valedictorian Joshua Caskie, and salutatorian Brittney Miller also spoke during the ceremony.

“We made it to the end together,” said Caskie. “Savor your memories and never forget our home.” He advised his classmates to always consider both sides of an argument, look deeper than the surface, and be open-minded.

The ceremony also featured words from Olivia Bozuhoski, who spoke about the history of the Class of 2019, student government president Michael Cunningham, and Dominic Bossey, who presented the class gift.

The graduates were then called to the stage to receive their diplomas and the official designation of Riverhead Central School District alumni.

Riverhead High School seniors Eric Behr and Yash Patel recently finished in the top five at the second annual Long Island High School Engineering Design Challenge at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.

Under the direction of teacher Luke Ferland, the students built and programmed an autonomous boat that could sense nitrogen levels, mark areas of high pollution, collect data, collect solid pollution on the surface of the water, and attempt self-rescue. The students designed the boat using AutoCAD, cut parts using a laser cutter, outfitted it with myriad sensors, custom 3D-printed parts, and used an Arduino microcontroller and Raspberry Pi computer to control the boat.

Pulaski Street School sixth grade students in Chris Malanga’s class recently constructed their dream bedrooms using “SketchUp,” a 3D modeling computer program.

The students were required to stick to a budget to design a 120-square-foot bedroom, complete with to-scale furnishings. Prior to the assignment, they worked on basic computer skills, video game design, and coding.

The Riverhead Central School District Board of Education bid farewell to retiring employees and congratulated 15 educators on receiving tenure at a meeting on June 25.

Aquebogue Elementary School Principal Phil Kent, teaching assistant Linda Sadowski, and bus driver Bruce Gutschow, who are retiring, were presented with honorary plaques by Susan Koukounas, president of the board.

The board also officially granted tenure to were Jacqueline Andrejack, Danielle Burdo, Daniel Casamassa, Jennifer Crosby, Amelia Estevez-Creedon, Theresa Gerber, Jacqueline Gormley, Frank Krupski Jr., Michelle Lia, Jaimie MacDonald, Michael Mihaley, Ines Robinson, Rafaela Vasquez, Brittany Vlacci, and Charles Zilnicki Jr.