A group of Huntington UFSD students is having a blast participating in Girl Scout Troop No. 49. The young ladies recently bridged to the Cadette level, but not before they all earned their Bronze Award.
Girl Scout Troop No. 49 includes Charlie Cassatto, Chelsea Gordon, Jamyn Husselbeck, Naomi Lyons, Riley Sullivan, Ruby Baliber, Samantha Muller, Sofia VanArsdale, Wynne Franciscovich and Zoe Selleri from Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School and Grayson Dunn from Woodhull Intermediate School. (Elwood Middle School’s Iman Qazi is also a member of the troop.)
“Making forever friends, saving the planet, standing up against stereotypes, using their powers for the greater good; that’s what being a Girl Scout Cadette is all about,” according to the organization. “Cadettes blaze trails in the wilderness, write and direct their own movies, express themselves with confidence, make delicious meals from around the world, and pick up practical life skills. Their curiosity and imagination lead the way as they try all kinds of new experiences.”
The Huntington Girl Scouts enjoy gathering for meetings and working together on special projects. Their efforts leading to receiving the Bronze Award is one such project that brought everyone satisfaction.
The Huntington students love participating in Girl Scout Troop No. 49 and are learning many worthwhile lessons along the way.
Donations to Huntington UFSD
The Huntington School Board accepted numerous donations to the district during their public meeting this past Monday night in Adam Spector Memorial Auditorium at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School.
The Huntington Booster Club donated $3,910 to the Huntington Highsteppers competitive dance team to fund choreography and music and costumes for competitions.
Huntington High School main office secretary Fran Cangemi donated a St. Regis grand piano to the district’s music department. The piano is valued at $3,000.
Liz Matthews donated 26 seat sacks to Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School. The items are valued at $215.68.
The Washington Primary School PTA donated $1,900 to offset the cost of upcoming field trips.
InstallNET International, Inc. donated $90,000 worth of furniture, including 400 KI Intellect 14 inch blue chairs, 300 KI Intellect 16 inch blue chairs, 40 KI Intellect desks, 10 Wisconsin Bench tall cabinets, nine Global gray lockers and one Jonti Craft single door cabinet.
Trustees Establish Health Services Rate
Huntington School Board members have approved the rate for health services provided by the Huntington School District to non-resident students attending St. Patrick’s School on Main Street in Huntington village. This year’s rate is $635.36. Huntington bills the home district of each St. Pat’s student at this rate.
The district calculated the rate based on its total expenses for health ($680,109), psychological ($541,637), social work ($211,440) and speech ($1,294,348) services. The $2,727,533 total cost of these services in 2015/16 is then divided by 5,098 students, which equals the combined amount enrollment of the Huntington School District (4,626) and St. Patrick’s (472). The rate setting process is in accordance with Section 912 of New York State Education Law.
Likewise, Huntington is billed for the health services provided to school age children residing in the Huntington School District who attend private and parochial schools elsewhere.
The Huntington High School Dispatch 2019-20
Huntington High School’s student newspaper, The Dispatch has a great group of staff members this year. Kiara Gelbman and Lucas Kelly are the publication’s co-editors in chief. Mr. Kelly is also doing double-duty and the layout editor. Daniela Ramos is the paper’s Spanish editor.
Contributors include Andrew McKenzie, Daniela Ramos, Emerson Forbes, Erik Flores Ryes, Erin Ye, James Kretschmer, Lucas Cirlincione, Luke Rinaldi, Nick Thompson, Olivia Perez, Patricia Campos Serpas, Ryan Porzio and Sophia Segal.
Science teacher Edward Florea is the paper’s faculty advisor. Interested in getting involved in the publication. Send a message to Mr. Florea at floreae@husfd.edu or hhsdispatch@gmail.com.
Motivational Speaker Rohan Murphy Visits
US Paralympian, wrestler and motivational speaker Rohan Murphy visited students at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School and Woodhull Intermediate School for separate inspirational presentations. The Huntington PTA’s Arts in Education program sponsored the visit.
Mr. Murphy was born with deformed legs, which doctors were forced to amputate when he was four years old. His parents were told he would need to be cared for 24 hours a day for the remainder of his life. He proved everyone wrong.
“What I remembered most was Rohan’s message about being inclusive, not exclusive,” Domenica Elgart said. “He said always try to be great, not just good.”
Mr. Murphy’s determination led him from being a team manager to winning All-League wrestling honors three times and being named All-County twice at East Islip High School. He walked onto the Penn State University wrestling team and graduated with three varsity letters.
“He was really determined, never gave up and kept trying,” Grace Oliva said. “He always stayed positive.”
Featured in Nike’s No Excuses ad campaign, in the pages of Sports Illustrated and on ABC’s 20/20 program, Mr. Murphy’s “No Excuses – Turning Obstacles into Motivation” presentation was very well received by sixth graders at Woodhull and the STEM school.
“Life is hard but not impossible,” said Sheily Corado Perez after the presentation. “Don’t make excuses for yourself.”
Funding for Arts in Education programs is provided annually by each school’s PTA unit. The district’s Office of Fine and Performing Arts and the PTA Council oversees the Arts in Education Committee.
“I learned from Rohan that anything you want to achieve is possible, you just have to work hard and never give up,” Jacinto Martinez said.
Huntington’s Arts in Education program is an integral part of the educational experience at all grade levels in the district. The arts provide an exciting, participatory approach to learning that enriches all areas of the school curriculum. The Arts in Education Committee researches and plans both cultural arts and exploratory programs that are linked directly to core curriculum concepts and skills. Students participate in a wide range of experiences, from seeing their own pieces of creative writing performed by professional actors and chatting with famous authors to working with real scientists and “meeting” characters from American history.
The Arts in Education program presents programs designed to enhance the study of children’s literature, the humanities, mathematics, science, fine and performing arts, health and character education. Some recent and reoccurring programs and artists have included Japanese Storytelling with Mime, Mask and Music with Kuniko Yamamoto, author Tracey Delio, Theatre Three presenting From the Fires – Voices of the Holocaust, and Shakespeare workshops by Stages on Sound.
