School News

Montauk

Montauk Public School eighth graders took part in the World Climate Strike. They walked the perimeter of the building during their earth science class with the message “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” Student council elections were also held, and students were congratulated who chose to get involved. Bus drills were also completed, and videos are available to see emergency standards. The district announced a lock down drill is coming soon, and the first of a required four will soon be announced.

Bridgehampton

Recent Bridgehampton School graduate Michelle Lopez Paucer received a Suffolk County Department of Labor Youth Award for her commitment to students during the summer in the district’s extended school year program. She was honored at a recent ceremony by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

“On behalf of our school community, we thank and congratulate Michelle for her commitment and participation in this employment experience opportunity that will help develop essential and valuable skills to benefit her in the future,” principal Mike Miller said.

After reading Ruth Krauss’s perennial favorite “The Carrot Seed,” Bridgehampton kindergarten students took a tour of the school’s garden to look at the carrot plants. Their curiosity was piqued when they made the connection that carrots grow under the surface of the dirt.

The district proudly recognizes Luis Chitop Paredes for earning a spot on the Pierson/Bridgehampton boys soccer team. New to the school, the junior leads the players in scoring with four goals and was instrumental in the team’s first win against Port Jefferson.

“Luis is a leader by example,” said coach Peter Solow. “He has brought a great work ethic to practice since day one and the team feeds off his energy. With that type of dedication, he will continue to improve on his skills.”

Southampton

Southampton High School students had a blast launching small rockets September 17. The lesson, led by science teacher John Walsh, aimed to engage astronomy students in space exploration.

“I think kids have an inherent interest in space travel, so I try to infuse NASA missions into the curriculum as much as possible,” Walsh said. “After all, the only way we can get astronauts into space is with rockets.”

Tuckahoe

Tuckahoe students in Mrs. Neill’s eighth-grade English classes are making a difference in their community. After reading “Do Something,” Annie Hattrick came up with a plan to do just that.

Her plan was to clean up garbage during a day at the beach. She went to Shinnecock East County Park with Surfrider Foundation. She even brought some family members along. After the cleanup, she filled out a sheet detailing the items she found, which included bottle tops, old socks, and gloves. After a few hours, the volunteers met in the parking lot and poured the garbage into another bucket to start sorting. In the end, Annie’s family picked up eight pounds of waste.

Hampton Bays

Hampton Bays High School juniors and seniors explored a variety of college options during a fair held at the school September 24.

Before attending, students heard from guest speaker Robert Pertusati, associate dean of admissions at Stony Brook University, who discussed the admissions process. Afterward, the upperclassmen spoke to college representatives about campus life, academic offerings, and financial aid.

The event featured more than 100 colleges and universities from across the country, as well as representatives from the U.S. military.

Forty Hampton Bays seniors also had the opportunity to tour four State University of New York schools — University at Albany, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Cortland, and Binghamton University — during the week of September 23.

“The trip really resonates with students,” said Eric Ferraro, the district’s executive director for instruction support services, adding six graduates who took the tour currently enrolled at Binghamton University. “Many recent graduates have shown a significant interest in the schools that they visited on this tour.”

A similar, out-of-state tour is planned for juniors in the spring.

Westhampton Beach

Westhampton Beach Elementary School students raised more than $19,000 for their school through their fourth annual Hurricane Fun Run September 19.

As part of the PTA-sponsored event, students gathered pledges to run laps on the high school football field. All funds raised will go directly toward cultural and academic enrichment programs at the elementary school.

Westhampton Beach High School student Kay Horak has been selected as a semifinalist in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. The senior, who intends to pursue a science-related field in college, is president of the Key Club and a member the National Honor Society and jazz ensemble. She also participates in her school’s theater productions and volunteers at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge.

Eight seniors were also recognized as commended students as a result of their scores on the qualifying exam. The students — Sofia Brixius, Sophie Cline, Kathleen Kelly, Eric McBride, Jocelyn McNamara, Nicholas Murphy, Siobhan Pesce, and Pierce Rosen-Keith — are among 34,000 students nationwide to earn this distinction and be recognized for their “exceptional academic promise.” In recognition of their exceptional achievement on national AP exams, these nine students, along with 76 others, have earned the title of advanced placement scholar.

In total, 40 students were named AP scholars, 19 earned the recognition of AP scholar with honor, and 26 were named AP scholars with distinction, of whom four were also honored as national AP scholars.

Those students include Alex Alford, Lola Anderson, Clayton Arcuri, Jessie Boskamp, Molly Brennan, Andrew Caponi, Ian Chitty, Christopher Daleo, Rieve Delisle, Ellen Floegel, Miranda Forney, Danielle Freda, Casey Gallagher, John Hoffman, Cooper Kim, Elizabeth Knierieman, Matthew Leotta, Alicia Linder, Evan Lockwood, Hade Lopez, Kieran Lynch, Aaron Manowitz, Kellen Meade, Marley Merrihew, Emma Monastero, Dylan Nijankin, Mario Ortiz, Emma Payes, Niall Regan, Mia Seitles, Marley Slotkin, Isabelle Smith, Julia Smith, Avery Solomon, Coady Sumwalt, Isabella Tobin, Natalia Vega, Emily Vignieri, Julia Weeks, and Courtney Wenzel.

For scholar with honor, students recognized for this distention include Emily Arpino, William Barr-Forget, Sofia Brizius, Tristan Coen, Jennifer Curran, Halle Dixon, Luke Farnan, John Halloran, Jade Jackey, Joshua Kaplan, James O’Neill, Jane Paulson, Edona Popi, Gage Rubio, Grace Schmelzer, Alexandra Schurek, John Shannon, Emma Strebel, and Hanna Tufano.

The scholar with distinction award required that students obtain an average score of 3.5 on all AP exams and grades of four or higher on five or more of those exams. Horak, Cline, Kelly, McBride, McNamara, Murphy, Pesce, Rosen-Keith Jasmine Agme, Jacob Croce, Richard Federico, John Paul Ferrantino, Rachel Frank, Jacqueline Glaser, Yunushan Gulsen, Jade Hawkesworth, Jake Hoffman, Donovan Kerns, Matthew Lambert, Kathryn Massey, Jason Montagna, Spencer Moyle, Ellen Murphree, Rose Peruso, Ashley Steedman, and Sophie Waszkelewicz achieved this feat.

Ferrantino, Horak, Kelly, and Pierce Rosen-Keith, and were named national AP scholars for receiving an average score of four on eight or more exams.