Junior and senior science research students from the high school recently visited Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the only federal laboratory in the nation that conducts research and diagnostics on high-consequence foreign animal diseases.

Vaccines and diagnostics discovered and developed at the laboratory protect U.S. livestock from the accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal diseases that will seriously threaten livestock industries, food security and the nation’s economy. Plum Island is part of a network of laboratories under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. The U.S Department of Agriculture maintains an important collaborative relationship on Plum Island by providing diagnostics and research into animal diseases like African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease.

Meeting with scientific staff from DHS and the USDA who lead their respective fields in animal disease diagnostics and prevention, the West Islip students learned about the scientific and economic importance of the research that is performed on Plum Island.

Mary Berger and Pamela Hergerton’s kindergarten class at Oquenock recently helped spread kindness to the community by making Valentine’s Day gifts to be delivered to homes that receive Meals on Wheels.

The high school’s boys varsity bowlers recently completed a terrific season, culminating in the team’s qualifying for the Suffolk County bowling championships at AMF Sayville Lanes on Feb. 2.

In a return of a popular science initiative, West Islip students from kindergarten through eighth grade have been visiting the high school’s planetarium this year. Each grade experiences a customized planetarium program, guided by high school astronomy teacher Thomas Vitti.

“I feel truly blessed to be able to share with the West Islip community the wonders of the universe and to be able to use this planetarium to spark interest in our night sky,” said Vitti.

High school senior Anthony Cairo attended the Longwood School District’s annual legislative breakfast on Feb. 2. Local legislators, including State Sen. Phil Boyle, answering questions pertinent to education and the 2019-2020 budget process, and Cairo asked the legislators about the use of school buildings as polling places.

Six exceptional West Islip student-artists – Beach Street eighth-graders Emily Bahm and Skylar Zimmerly, Oquenock fifth-graders Lily Locovare and Hayden Wolin, and Bellew third-grader Quinn Butler and second-grader Aaron Williams – were recently selected for the 21st annual Colors of Long Island student art exhibit. Their work will be displayed at Stony Brook’s Long Island Museum from Feb. 22 through April 7. The West Islip students will also be honored at a reception for the artists on March 24.

High school divers Adriane Casey, Kevin Nelson and Kevin Kohloff placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the Section XI League 2 swimming and diving championship held at Hauppauge High School on Jan. 31. All three West Islip divers scored high enough to advance to the Section XI diving championship on Feb. 7.

Luna Pankratz, a second-grader at Oquenock, recently won second place in her age category for her recycling artwork in the 16th annual New York Recycles poster contest. Oquenock participated for the first time this school year in the competition, sponsored by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York Recycles Steering Committee.  

Pankratz was recognized by the NYSDEC for her award-winning entry at an awards luncheon concluding the New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling’s Annual Recycling Conference, held at the Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown. Her artwork will be featured in the 2019 New York Recycles calendar that is distributed statewide.

Ten exceptional West Islip music students - Delaney Bartling, Jillian Olfano and Francesca Tofano from Bayview; Erick Burciaga, Caitlin Fallon and Courtney Xippolitos from Beach Street; Anthony Pickering from Udall; and Jonathan Delanoy, Thomas Interrante and Sophia Randazzo from the high school – recently participated in the 14th annual Day of Horn, held by the Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association at Northport High School.

The event featured a master class and recital by a guest artist from the United States Marine Band as well as exhibits, rehearsals, clinics and performances.  

After their first meet of the school year, the eighth-grade current events team at Udall is ranked first in the nation, and the school’s seventh-grade team is ranked third nationally. In addition, four different seventh- and eighth-graders are either tied for first place or stand alone in first place.

Udall’s current events teams are made up of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. At meetings, students research and debate issues facing the nation and the world, such as global warming, new legislation and America’s relationships with other countries. Four times during the school year, the students take a test on current events, which is submitted to the National Current Events League. Udall is then ranked alongside student scores from across the nation.

“These teams provide the students with opportunities to voice their opinions on issues happening in their lives and back up their ideas with relevant evidence,” said Principal Daniel Marquardt.

Theresa Robertson’s students at Beach Street are using Flipgrid to record their own vocabulary videos. Each student takes 10 vocabulary words and creates a dialogue on a subject of their choice, then practices their writing skills in creating a script. Once it is rehearsed, the student records their dialogue.

“All of my students have access to see the resulting videos,” said Robertson. “It helps them to see the words utilized in different scenarios and in different parts of speech, and to gain a greater understanding of the words.”

Bayview’s PTA was recently named the 2018 Pick a Reading Partner winner for Suffolk County. The school’s theme, chosen by the PARP committee, was “Cruising Through a Good Book,” with the building transformed into a cruise ship.

Areas decorated included the main lobby (the departure dock and front of the cruise ship), gymnasium (the Lido Deck), library (the tropics), cafeteria (an underwater coral reef complete with sunken ship), kindergarten wing (the Arctic, complete with an upcycled “milk jug igloo”).  Each Bayview student was outfitted with a reading passport to inspire a reading journey, and staff wore cruise attire and sailor hats.

Bayview’s award-winning PARP program also included a book fair and the “Monster Hunt!” class assembly in the library, designed and implemented by author and performer Jason Edwards.

High school research students Evan Lam and Brett Powell recently participated in Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Partners in Science program, co-sponsored by the BNL Research Library and Eastern Suffolk BOCES School Library System.

The two students toured the National Synchrotron Light Source II, learning about the experiments that can be conducted there. During lunch, they had the opportunity to converse with BNL scientists, learning about what being a scientist entails. Lam and Powell were then able to access a wealth of scientific journals and references through the BNL digital library to conduct their own research.

High school junior Ryan Murphy and freshman Timothy Smith captured the Suffolk County varsity bowling doubles championship on Jan. 9. At the event, held at Sayville Lanes, Murphy and Smith competed against 90 other teams from 30 schools throughout the county.

In the preliminary rounds, Smith bowled games of 254, 210 and 255 and Murphy rolled games of 163, 191 and 208. Their combined score of 1,281 earned the pair a spot as third seed for the playoff rounds. In their first playoff match, they defeated second-seeded Connetquot, with Smith bowling an impressive 246 and Murphy bowling 239. In the final round, Smith rolled a 238 and Murphy a 184 to defeat the top-ranked Sachem pair for the championship.

The duo will now rejoin their teammates in a drive to lead West Islip’s team to place in the Suffolk County team finals in February.

“Congratulations to Tim and Ryan and coach Jim Farnworth on this impressive accomplishment,” said Athletic Director Tim Horan. “They may be the first West Islip bowlers to ever accomplish such a feat.”

Artwork from four West Islip students – eighth-graders Katie Callaghan and Abigail Narra from Beach Street, and freshmen Tyler Busching and Keirsten Nizen from the high school – was selected for the New York State Art Teachers Association’s 29th annual Legislative Student Art Exhibition. Their work will be displayed by NYSATA in Albany from Feb. 25 to March 7.

Senior football player and 2018 Boomer Esiason Award winner Mike LaDonna, along with some of the other top high school football players in the county, was recently invited to meet with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

In an effort to enlighten students about internet safety, Suffolk County Police Department Officer Sabrina Pitch recently visited Tricia Mileti’s health classes at Udall to teach them how to stay safe and treat others with respect while online.

Students in Edward Kozloski’s advanced automotive class at the high school recently had the opportunity to remove and then reinstall an engine after it was rebuilt in a 1964 Corvette. They also made repairs to the brakes, suspension and cooling system.

High school students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate/Creativity, Activity, Service program recently took a field trip in their own school. During the event, the students met with career coordinator Ryan Vollmuth to discuss how they can job shadow and find apprenticeships in the local area, with school social worker Robin Cutler to talk about community work, and with school nurse Sharon Kerrigan to learn about fields in medicine.

IB diploma candidates must complete an independent project that meets CAS requirements, which state that students will be creatively and actively engaged in servicing their community.

“The best way to get ideas and a plan of action for these projects is right at home,” said IB/CAS coordinator Virginia Scudder. “Many of the students do not realize all of the amazing resources right at their own door.”

Beach Street recently celebrated Global Diversity Awareness Month by encouraging students to take a diversity pledge during lunch periods. The students pledged to do their best to include others, make everyone feel welcome and stand up to people who intentionally make others feel unwelcomed.

Guided by adviser Francine Ahearn, the Diversity Club’s mission is to help build a culture of inclusion and connection in the school, so that students can celebrate their differences together. The club will continue to celebrate diversity this winter with a special assembly including guest speakers and performances.

An original music composition by Sophia Stehlik, a seventh-grader at Beach Street, was selected for the New York State School Music Association’s 20th annual Young Composer Honors Concert. This was the fifth consecutive year that she was selected for this honor, and during her first year, she was also the youngest student composer to ever be selected.

Stehlik’s work, titled “12 Seconds to Midnight,” was chosen from approximately 100 entries from across New York State. Her piece was performed in the Lilac Ballroom at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on Nov. 30. 

“This time was completely different, as I got to meet many more people and had more opportunities,” said Stehlik.

District Math Director Kathy Sapanski recently visited Oquenock, interacting with first-grade students and assisting them in solving math problems.

During the recent holiday season, students in Maria Lucie’s and Alissa Rush’s third-grade classes at Bayview collected and sorted more than 100 coats for needy children and adults, for donation to the CSJ Learning Connection in Brentwood.

“Part of the education process is doing good for others,” said Lucie. “Thank you to the Bayview community for helping us help others.”

In an innovative initiative, the district’s world language program connects high schoolers to their younger counterparts in Bayview, Manetuck, Oquenock and Bellew.

Senior students from the high school visit elementary classrooms once a week for 30 minutes to share Spanish, Italian or American Sign Language with the younger students. The seniors teach basic language concepts such as clothing, numbers, days of the week and items in a house, choosing a different category each week, mixed with seasonal activities and learning games.

“I had the same experience in elementary school and cherished it so much,” said senior Douglas Dillman, a member of West Islip’s International Baccalaureate program. “When I started learning foreign languages, I wanted to share so the younger students could take some of it and apply it.”

“The seniors do a great job,” said Manetuck fourth-grade teacher Mark Levine. “It gets my students excited about learning. It’s something new, and something the kids look forward to every week.”

More than 130 seventh- and eighth-grade chorus students at Beach Street gave a stirring performance on Dec. 18 at their annual winter concert to a standing-room-only crowd. The program featured a wonderful selection of holiday music and Broadway tunes as well as numerous soloists.

The high school debuted a Fall Colors photo contest this year, developed and administered by engineering technology teacher Ron Weber. The contest, which ran for six weeks, garnered more than 100 inspired student and teacher submissions representing the colors of autumn, with the top three photographs in each grade selected for recognition.

The winning freshmen Keirsten Nizen in first place, Olivia Marker in second and Alyssa Comolli in third. For sophomores, it was Stephanie Vanegas, Liam Joseph and Paige Clark in first, second and third, respectively. Juniors recognized were Olivia Keogan in first, Will Keenan in second and Marissa Gargiulo in third. The three winning senior photos were all by Kaya Konopa.

Students at Bellew created more than 300 handmade Christmas cards for American troops stationed in Langley Air Force Base in Virginia as well as recovering military personnel.

“This schoolwide project brought happiness and holiday wishes to those that serve,” said Principal Rhonda Pratt.