Kristin Kelly has been named an assistant principal at the high school, replacing Danielle Mammolito.

Kelly came to West Islip this year from Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, where she served as social studies chairperson. She previously worked as a social studies teacher at Beach Channel High School and Hempstead High School. She served as social studies instructional coach for the latter, leading the department through several shifts in practice in curriculum and instruction.  

A Massapequa resident, she earned her bachelor’s degree in history, master’s degree in secondary education, and certificate of advanced studies in educational leadership from Hofstra University. Kelly considers herself a “forever learner,” and has begun an educational and policy leadership doctorate program at Hofstra.  

“I am truly grateful to the district and community for trusting me with the honor of serving as West Islip High School’s new assistant principal,” Kelly said. “In the spirit of facing challenges and embracing new experiences, I wanted the chance to assist in leading a building through the unchartered waters of hybrid learning to ensure students are provided a rich, rigorous and meaningful learning experience. If we want our students to value the art of learning, we to need to demonstrate our love and willingness to learn, try new things and challenge ourselves in new ways.  My words at home echo my words at work in that I strongly believe we need to demonstrate the act of being a forever learner in order to create forever learners.”

A total of 10 terrific high school student-musicians were recently selected for this year’s New York State School Music Association All-State Festival. Chosen were Hallie Huners , Sophia Lopez, Jake Siffert, Kyle Tran and Karina Vartanian for the All-State Mixed Chorus; Andrew Palmer for the All-State Symphonic Band; Alexa Camillery and Lindsey Pritchard for the All-State Treble Chorus; and Matthew Cammarano and Eve Castonguay for the All-State Wind Ensemble. Although NYSSMA will not be able to assemble the All-State students in Rochester this year, they will rehearse and record a virtual All-State Concert in December.

“Congratulations to these 10 accomplished musicians,” said Eric Albinder, the district’s director of art and music education.

Fourth graders in Kelly Parson’s class at Oquenock have been studying different features of the Earth such as plate movement and resulting earthquakes. They then discussed the qualities of buildings and how they can be made earthquake-proof.

Parson challenged the students to create an earthquake-proof structure at least five inches tall, using toothpicks and marshmallows. Once the criteria were met, each structure was placed in an “earthquake simulator” and shaken vigorously. Students were then asked what they could do to improve their structure and make it stronger.  

Seventh graders in Deborah Pulitano’s social studies class at Udall recently worked on the annual Native American project, researching a specific piece of Native American culture such as religion, food, hunting, traditions or clothing. The students then were asked to write an essay and create a Google slideshow to present their findings.

Udall’s library media specialist, Denise Lamattina, joined the class to introduce students to the importance of using quality sources, discuss the use of citations and illustrate how easy citing sources is using Noodletools.