KP Students - National Recognition In 2013 National Spanish Examinations

Congratulations to several world language students from Kings Park High School who attained national recognition for excellent performance on the 2013 National Spanish Examinations.

Students from Kings Park High School earned a total of 2 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze medals along with 16 honorable mentions.  “Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, National Director of the Exams, “because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with over 156,000 students participating in 2013.”

Students from Kings Park High School have a long history of high achievement on these exams and were taught by Spanish teachers, Mrs. Mathie, Mrs. Buurma, Mrs. Catalanotto and Mrs. Cisternino.

The National Spanish Examinations are administered each year in grades 6 through 12, and are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

Reminder - Registration Open For Scope Summer Programs

Registrations are still being accepted for the SCOPE Summer Explorations and Music Program, and the SCOPE Summer Academic Enrichment Program. Registration and course information is available on the Commack Website. There are many new and exciting courses for our students to enjoy this summer! Please click the links below for all the details.

Summer Explorations & Music Program:

http://www.commack.k12.ny.us/ourschools/2013SCOPESummer.pdf

Summer Academic Enrichment Program:

http://www.commack.k12.ny.us/ourschools/SCOPE2013AcademicEnrichment.pdf

Smithtown Elementary Competes In Math Olympiad

Students from Smithtown Elementary competed in the Suffolk County Math Olympiad Tournament at Stony Pictured (l-r): Victoria Natale, Lara Cain, Joseph Dnaghy, Alexis Gil, and Brendan ViscountBrook University recently.  Led by their supervisor, Christine Pitrelli, students solved Olympiad style problems in a room filled with over 250 other bright minds from schools across Suffolk County.  There were 53 Math Olympiad Teams at the tournament, from fourth grade to sixth grade, representing the highest scorers from Olympiad teams this school year. In an individual competition, students solved ten complex problems, and the highest scorers had to compete in an intense “tie-breaker” round, where the first to answer the question correctly would earn their place based on the speed in which they answered the question correctly.

Victoria Natale, from Smithtown Elementary School placed 14th in this individual competition.  She answered nine out of the ten problems correctly and competed in the “tie-breaker” round, earning her place among the all-stars.

In addition to the individual competition, students worked as a team in another competition.  The team from Smithtown Elementary School, was comprised of five enthusiastic fifth graders: Lara Cain, Joseph Dnaghy, Alexis Gil, Victoria Natale, and Brendan Viscount.

These bright students placed third in the team competition, which was based on their combined individual scores and their points earned from the team competition.  It was a great accomplishment for these fifth graders, and their trophy will stand tall in our building showing the pride we have for our students in Smithtown.

Commack Students Present "Study Buddy" At NASDAQ

By Brenda Lentsch

Entrepreneur Students Present “Study Buddy” at NASDAQ

What’s your plan for your financial future? Commack High School sophomores Jotham Cohen, Michel Glass, Nayib Perez, and Max designed a mobile application that they hope will provide them with a foundation for theirs. The young men (Team Tech-Ed) entered their mobile application and accompanying website “Study Buddy” in the Junior Achievement competition in February.  The competition challenged the students to invent a product that aided in education. The team’s app would help students “study on the go.” Team Tech-Ed advanced to the finals, held on May 31, as part of an elite group of only 23 students that made it to the last round of judging.  The students were given the opportunity to present their business plan to judges at NASDAQ. More than 700 students from New York City and Long Island competed in the Junior Achievement contest and semi-finals.

Each Commack student received a $100 gift card and the opportunity to “network with high-end executives, and have the ultimate experience of NASDAQ itself,” said Sandra Braun, their teacher in the Entrepreneurship class at Commack High.

In photo, from left to right: May That, Nayib Perez, Michael Glass, Jotham Cohen, and teacher Sandra Braun at the Stock Exchange.

A 51st State? Kings Park Students Will Be There

Boys and Girls State 2013

(Standing L to R ñ Mrs. Karen Bahr - Guidance Counselor, Sydney Vignola, Patrick Shea, James Bushman, Mr. Lino Bracco-KPHS Principal)
The Donald C. Munro Post No. 944 of the American Legion, with the cooperation of Kings Park High School is proud to announce its Boys and Girls State Delegates for this year. Sydney Vignola was chosen as the Girls State representative for this year.  Patrick Shea was chosen as the Boys State representative and James Bushman was chosen as the alternate. 

The selection was based on; leadership, character, scholarship, loyalty, service, school, honesty, cooperation, maturity and a personal interview by representatives of the American Legion. The Legionís sincere interest in Kings Park students and their generosity is very much appreciated by the students, parents and school officials alike.

Boys State and Girls State will take place this summer. Our student delegates will join students from American Legion Posts throughout New York to form a mythical 51st State.  It will be a week filled with learning and the practical application of government and politics.  They will be involved in the formation of political parties, caucuses, conventions, platform development, campaigning and elections.  The government of this new state will begin at the local/town level, proceed to the county and finally to the state level.

Congratulations to our Boys and Girls State Representatives and a huge thank you to the American Legion for providing this unique experience.

Ashley Maikowski Wins Earth Day Poster Contest

Ashley, teacher, Amy Mazur (left), and Burr Principal, Rhonda Pratt.Ashley Maikowski, a student in Amy Mazur’s third grade class at Burr Intermediate School, was the winner of the Earth Day Poster Contest for NY State’s 5th Senatorial District.  Senator Carl L. Marcellino wrote, “Each entry from my District displayed tremendous originality and vision as well as obvious concern for the ecological future of our communities and our state. I am proud of your work and that of your classmates, and encourage you to continue to study and learn more about the serious challenges that face our environment.”

St. Catherine Partners With Local Schools For Career Exploration And Internship Program

Smithtown, New York—On June 3, 2013, St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center held its Health Care Career Exploration and Internship Program graduation ceremony for 28 students from Commack and Smithtown High Schools.  The 28 students received a half a health credit through participation in a 16-week lecture series in health care careers.  The students were given hands on experience, as well as industry information in various departments including nursing, pharmacy, dietary and laboratory, to name a few.

The Health Care Career Exploration and Internship Program initiated through a partnership with the Smithtown Industry Advisory Board to offer high school students the opportunity to earn credits while gaining hands-on experience. The program has grown to include Commack High School. “I am proud to share that previous students who graduated from this program not only got into the college of their choice, and some with scholarships, but it gave the students so much more confidence,” said Executive Director for Smithtown Schools Industry Advisory Board/ Work Experience Coordinator, Mary Pat Grafstein.

Commack High School student Melissa Montagnese gave a brief testimonial regarding her 16-week experience at the graduation ceremony. She said she was inspired by the instructors and will always remember the following words, “The only way you will get to do what you want to do is to be disciplined.” She expressed how much she gained from the program and plans to pursue a career in health care.

St. Catherine’s Director of Community Relations Heather Reynolds, who coordinates the program stated, “These students embraced learning about health care and the professionals who dedicated their time and talent to teach about their discipline has been an exciting collaboration between the medical center and the community high schools.” She added, “We look forward to continuing the partnership in the future.”

SHSE Students At Physics Bowl Competition

Smithtown High School East students competed in the Physics Bowl competition, a test of physics knowledge administered internationally between April 3rd and April 17th and sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).  This year there were 4300 students from 270 schools from the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, China, and Thailand.  The top five students from HS East, as a team, had a combined score that placed 2nd in the northeastern division of North America.

PHOTO CAPTION:  LEFT TO RIGHT: HS East Principal Ed Thompson, Brandon Cressi, William Engellenner, Caitlin McAnulty, Nicholas Behrje, Matthew McCreesh, Physics Teacher Jillian Winters 

Smithtown HS West Students Participate In Annual Campus Cleanup On Earth Day

Smithtown High School West celebrated Earth Day, April 22, 2013, with their 2nd Annual Campus Cleanup sponsored by the Ecology Club.  More than 200 student volunteers and 15 faculty members spent some of the cool, breezy day picking up garbage all around the campus.  Numerous clubs and athletic teams as well as independents joined in the efforts that produced 24 bags of garbage

Two in a Row for Commack Senior

Commack High School senior and science guru Trinity Russell was awarded second place for her project “A Study of Transposition Events of the Gypsy Retrotransposon in the Neural Cells of Drosophila Melanogaster and Its Relation to Neuronal Decline” at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, one of the most prestigious and competitive science and engineering events in the country. This was Trinity’s second time at the competition; last year she won a third place Grand Award, also in Animal Sciences.

Three Commack students were invited to the competition in Phoenix, Arizona: Trinity, Anthony Bisulco (Electrical Engineering - A Practical Notification System to Identify Incoming Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (sunspots)), and Joshua Zweig (Computer Science - Wireless Coordination of a Multi-Robot System via Fuzzy Logic Control).The six day competition showcased the work of more than 1,500 high school students from around the world. Students’ research, methods, and findings were presented to prestigious scientists and judges over the course of the week, as well as five thousand teachers, students, and families from the Phoenix area.

Trinity wrote a daily log describing each day’s activities that is posted on the Commack Website along with photos at www.commackschools.org/ISEF2013/dailylog.asp<http://www.commackschools.org/ISEF2013/dailylog.asp> . The students were accompanied by science teacher and mentor Dr. Lorraine Solomon. While most of the time in Phoenix was spent preparing and practicing, the students and Dr. Solomon also visited Chase Field for a baseball game, went hiking in the desert, went to a local gold mine and ghost town, and went on a boat tour around Canyon Lake.