Huntington School Briefs
The Washington Primary School PTA will hold a Family Night with the Ducks on Saturday, May 11 at Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip. The Long Island Ducks will play the Somerset Patriots. First pitch is slated for 7:05.
The Washington PTA has secured a block of tickets priced at $11 each. Parking is free. A Grucci fireworks show will follow the game. An RSVP by Friday, April 5 is requested. Contact Shari Harris at (631) 351-4919 for more information.
Superintendent at NAACP Meeting
Huntington School District Superintendent James W. Polansky spoke at last week's meeting of the Huntington chapter of the NAACP. Several dozen local residents attended the meeting, which was held in the South Huntington Public Library's auditorium.
Mr. Polansky fielded questions about the district's graduation rate, the percentage of minority graduates going to two and four year colleges, full-day kindergarten, the STEM program planned for Jack Abrams School, community use of district buildings and grounds, drugs in the schools, budget issues and related items.
Southdown Science Fair Draws Entries
This year's Southdown Primary School Science Fair drew more than more than six dozen entries. Teachers Hildi Stanford and Soraya Triessl coordinated the event. Each class submitted a group experiment/project. Many individual students also entered projects into the competition.
"This year we received over 70 projects, each one creative and unique," Southdown Principal Michelle Marino said. "The children were so proud to explain their experiment and it was clear that they not only had a wonderful time, but learned a tremendous amount as well."
The first place finisher at each grade level will advance to the Brookhaven National Lab's elementary science fair later this spring. "I'm certain that our projects will be well received," Mrs. Marino said.
The top grade level honorees included:
Kindergarten
Emma Glazier: The Falling Race: Which ball falls faster? The big light ball or the small heavy ball?
1st Grade
Ethan Goleski: Oobleck: Is it a Liquid or a Solid?
2nd Grade
Michael Mugno: What Color Marker Runs the Most?
3rd Grade
Zoe Dumas: Can Our Eyes Fool Our Taste Buds?
4th Grade
Harrison McKenna: How to Entertain Your Dragon.
Fretz Retirement Party
A retirement party will be held in honor of Joan R. Fretz, Huntington School District director of fine and performing arts on Wednesday, June 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Head of the Bay Club in Huntington Bay. A flyer with complete details is expected to be available soon.
iGame4 Fitness at Flower Hill
The Flower Hill School PTA sponsored a visit from the iGame4 fitness program to the school gym over a recent two-day period. "Our students had a terrific time learning how video games can be used in conjunction with a fitness program," Principal Marlon Small said.
Students rotated through 15 separate activity stations during their schedule physical education classes. Each station features an oversized screen, projector, video game system and an active video game. "It was a huge hit," Mr. Small said.
The program "promotes physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle among children by integrating active video games into the physical education and health curricula," according to a iGame4 brochure. "iGame4 uses the motivation of active video games to encourage fitness among children and create positive behaviors that extend beyond the classroom. The iGame4 fitness program improves endurance, flexibility, balance and the overall health of children. The results from the heart rate and calorie counting data tracking devices we use prove that the classes are not only fun, but challenging, too."
HHS Shines in NHD
Five Huntington High School students are headed to the National History Day state finals in Cooperstown. They qualified at the regional championships at Hofstra University.
Huntington School Board members honored the teenagers during a meeting of the trustees last Monday evening in the Jack Abrams School auditorium.
Competing in the group performance category, Huntington's Julianna Barca and Gabriella Mandriota won first place for Going Steady: A Post-War American Phenomena.
Huntington's Molly Brambil, Megan Healy and Caitlin Yabroudy captured second place in the group website category for their sensational research on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire as a Turning Point for Worker's Rights.
Many other Huntington students also participated in the regionals, with several winning special awards. Over 500 Long Island students advanced through local competitions to reach the regional championships.
"I am very proud of all of our students who participated at Hofstra," said Lauren Desiderio, a Huntington social studies teacher who is the school's National History Day faculty advisor. "Once again, the high caliber projects our Huntington students submitted stood out to judges, teachers, fellow competitors and parents alike as some of the most creative and well-researched among the competition."
Huntington won three special awards in the regional competition for: Women's History ("I Love Lucy" group documentary by Emily Maggio and Natalie Lanzisero), Civic Activism ("The Jungle" group website by Nina Cartwright, Alex Koumas and Sabrina Palacios) and African-American History ("The Tuskegee Experiments" group documentary by Emily Saltman and Alyson Baker.)
"Through the hard work and dedication of our students, Huntington continues to be recognized as one of the elite programs on Long Island that participates in this prestigious competition," Mrs. Desiderio said.
Mrs. Desiderio thanked department colleagues Peter Crugnale, Jason Gould and Kenneth Donovan "who have helped me mentor students and develop the National History Day program within their classrooms."
HHS Alum Passes Away
Huntington resident Craig T. Nugent, a 1972 alumnus of Huntington High School passed away on Tuesday February 12. 2013. He was 58. Mr. Nugent leaves behind his wife, Cindi and son, Craig, Jr.
Visitation was held at Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home in Glen Cove. A funeral Mass was offered at St. Patrick Church in Huntington with interment at St. Patrick's Cemetery.
Mr. Nugent and his fellow Huntington Class of 1972 members participated in the school's 111th annual commencement on Sunday, June 25, 1972 at 3 p.m. Clifford Murray was the school's principal at the time.
Mr. Nugent worked as a comptroller.
College Office Stays Busy
The Huntington High School College Office is staying very busy this year. The number of students submitting applications and the amount of applications processed has soared.
A total of 271 students have applied to one or more colleges this school year. The College Office has processed 1,982 applications as of early March. Last year a total of 1,474 applications were processed for 229 students.
Projected 2013/14 Enrollment
The Huntington School District is projected a 2013/14 enrollment of 4,366 students or five more than the current school year. The enrollment at Huntington High School is projected to rise from 1,296 to 1,309. J. Taylor Finley Middle School's enrollment is expected to slightly drop, going from 679 to 666. The enrollment at Woodhull Intermediate School is projected to drop from 672 to 671.
Enrollment at Flower Hill (up 18 students to 432), Southdown (up five students to 447), Jefferson (up one student to 421) and Washington (down 18 students to 420) primary schools is expected to remain fairly constant.