A year of hard work most certainly deserved a celebration and Huntington High School’s tenth annual science research program symposium provided the setting for one.
The evening drew a large crowd of parents, teachers, administrators and friends of the students who all went far beyond the regular classroom experience. The symposium kicked-off with displays of this year’s projects and continued with PowerPoint presentations by seniors culminating their studies in the program.
The teenagers stood near their project presentation boards, ready, willing and able to field whatever questions were sent in their direction. The projects and the displays were quite impressive, showing a wide variety of research interests and noticeable depth of study.
Superintendent James W. Polansky, Principal Brenden Cusack and Assistant Principal Gamal Smith and Director of STEM Jill N. Johanson were all on hand for the festivities, which played out in the two high school cafeterias.
SEARCH program participants were also in attendance with their projects for the first time. The youngsters presented impressive work on their own respective display boards.
This year’s high school science research program enrolled 85 students. Teachers Lori Kenny, Dame Forbes and Deborah Beck taught classes.
“This year has been extra special because our new director helped to incorporate the students from the younger grades,” said Mrs. Kenny, who heads the research initiative. “I have a true belief that peer mentoring and scaffolding through the schools will allow students to explore and develop higher levels skills for career and college readiness skills. True passions for science and other skills have been born in this program as well as a devotion to helping their peers. It was a true joy to see the interactions among the grades and the celebration of our devoted seniors who I will dearly miss.”
The group of seniors included Nikki Jacobus, Tyler Gerbavsits, Kyle Chin, Matt Giamo, Aidan McCooey, Nolan Piccola, Sebastian Stamatatos, Josh Yanuck, Bella Annunziata, Adina Kirkland, Katie Seccafico, Charlotte Brosoff and Timothy Low.
The seniors stood before a crowd of about 125, describing their progression through the program and giving an overview of their research. They ended their respective presentations by announcing their college plans and career interests as the research program’s teachers sat nearby.
The passion of program participants was evident. Many of the underclassmen have already identified their research interests for the 2018/19 school year and have laid out plans to work alone or as a member of a team.
Cornell University bound senior Nolan Piccola served as the evening’s master of ceremonies. He was the science research program’s lead intern this year and he also engaged in his own high-end research.
“Participating in the program was an amazing experience,” Mr. Piccola said. “I learned so many new skills regarding scientific research and ways to integrate my learning into my interests of writing. Although I didn’t know what to expect at first, I have no regrets taking this course.”
The evening included the presentation of the coveted 2018 Giraffe Awards. Mrs. Kenny spent some time in Africa and fell in love with giraffes, hence the name of the science research program’s annual awards.
Giraffe Awards went to freshmen Tess Stanley, Valerie Rogel and Andrew McKenzie; sophomores Claudia Villatoro, Hannah Avidor and John Segreti; juniors Michael McCooey, Samuel Roberts and Emma Grassi; seniors Charlotte Brosoff, Nolan Piccola and Nikki Jacobs.
The Giraffe Award for the Best Overall Project went to the research team of Bryce Vitulli, Ryan Knowles and Madelyn Kye.
A variety of refreshments and desserts were available to the crowd, which sat attentively throughout the symposium. Students were dressed attractively and the senior presenters were particularly articulate, especially when striving to simplify difficult scientific research topics for the crowd.
“We’ve had a great year and we appreciate the support of the district and of our parents,” Mrs. Kenny said. “With more than 70 of our research students returning next year we are very excited about the future.”
