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Haley Olson. Photo from SCCC

Two Suffolk County Community College Computer Science students, Haley Olson and Joseph Hanrahan recently took top honors and a cash prize at the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) at Stony Brook University’s Sixth Annual Hackathon.

“I congratulate our students for excelling at this year’s Hackathon,” said Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Edward Bonahue. “Our students demonstrate year after year that they have the skills and training needed to succeed in demanding technology environments, and their accomplishments underscore the value of Suffolk County Community College’s education.”

Olson and Hanrahan created a game for the coding competition that utilized computer languages they learned on the fly.

“One challenge we ran into was not knowing JavaScript at all. It was a completely new language for us. HTML and CSS were relatively new to us too.  Also, we had to learn how to web scrape in order to get our NFT data for our project,” the pair wrote in their project description for their game, that “that informs the public about NFT’s as well as shows the shocking price tags.”

An NFT — non-fungible token — is a special kind of crypto asset in which each token is unique — as opposed to “fungible” assets like Bitcoin and dollar bills, which are all worth exactly the same amount. Because every NFT is unique, they can be used to authenticate ownership of digital assets like artworks, recordings, and virtual real estate.

Olson and Hanrahan’s game Guess the Most Expensive NFT involves a player choosing from among three random NFTs to guess which is most expensive. After finishing the game, the player can look at the information on each NFT via the links that appear under each picture.

Olson, of Port Jefferson Station, who will graduate in May with an Associates in Computer Science said the challenging part was learning the new languages. “We programmed using Java Script, HTML and CSS and learned how to create a web site, guessthenft.net,” Olson said. Olson previously earned a B.A. in actuarial science from SUNY Binghamton in 2020 and interned at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center last summer creating data visualizations for the radiology department’s finance manager.

Professor Bin Li had praise for the college’s program and students.

“Haley established a STEM students’ research club in the spring semester of 2022, and is serving as president of the club,” Li said, and explained that Haley and Joseph competed with 4-year college students and won the award for outstanding innovation in their project.”

“Our students have participated in Hackathon events hosted by Stony Brook University and won awards for three consecutive years,” Li said, “and several students are interned at top institutions, including 3DQI Lat at MGH, Harvard Medical School, Brookhaven National Lab.”

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Photo from RPSD

Rocky Point Middle School students continue to advocate and raise awareness for various causes, and, most recently, school social workers Jean Biagiotti and Tesia Brooks organized a Fun Day to recognize World Down Syndrome Day.

Students created colorful posters and decorated paper socks for their Lots of Socks campaign outside the cafeteria to promote public awareness of the genetic disorder. According to Brooks, the event was well-received by all and gave voice to and showed appreciation of those with Down syndrome.

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Photo from PJSD

The Port Jefferson Middle School Science Olympiad team came in third place at the Suffolk County Regional Division B Science Olympiad Competition, held at Candlewood Middle School in Dix Hills.

Students from grades 6 to 9 competed against 30 teams in events which tested their study skills in earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering and scientific problem-solving. The students did extremely well, receiving a total of 29 medals between the A, B and C teams. The Science Olympiad team will be competing on April 8 and 9, in the state competition at East Syracuse Minoa Central High School in Syracuse. The team is coached by Adam Bouchard, the middle school earth science and science 8 teacher. 

“Every student was highly motivated and showed a lot of hard work in preparing for their events,” Bouchard said. “It truly showed this year with the team’s all-around terrific performance.” Photo from PJSD

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Stacy Davidson, right, is donating prom dresses this year.

Stacy Davidson of Pattern Finders/Stacy’s Finds in Port Jefferson knows how unexpected expenses can be difficult especially during these unpredictable times. To help local families, she wishes to donate gowns and tuxedos to enable a wonderful experience for local seniors who might have to skip the event due to monetary issues. 

“My amazing customers always answer the call for a prom drive. Rather than limit the young ladies to the donated gowns, I will make my entire vast inventory of spectacular gowns and formal dresses  available for the girls to come to the shop and choose from. Fedora Lounge Boutique Hair Salon in Port Jefferson is one of the local salons donating hair styling for some of the girls and Give Kids Hope in the village will also supply the students in need,” said Davidson.

Located at 128 East Main Street, Port Jefferson, Pattern Finders is open Wednesday through Sunday. For more information or to make an appointment, please call 631-928-5158.

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Photo from PJSD

The Earl L. Vandermeulen High School Science Olympiad team participated in the New York State Science Olympiad competition at Lemoyne College in Syracuse on March 19 and 20. The team placed 20th overall out of 60 teams from throughout the state.

There were 23 events in various STEM and science-related topics. The top 10 pairs of students in each event earned a medal. 

Port Jefferson medal winners earned three state medals in bridges, forensics and remote sensing including 8th Place, Forensics – Gavin Onghai and Michelle Wu; 8th Place, Remote Sensing – Hugo Onghai and Benjamin Perez-Flesler; and 9th Place, Bridges – Teppei Fukuto and Riley Perrotta

“We continue to be impressed by our high school Science Olympiad students in their hard work and success,” co-coach Melissa Garcia said. 

Co-coach Amanda Brideson added, “We are exceptionally proud of our entire team for not only their academic achievements but also displaying excellent sportsmanship and kindness the entire trip toward other competing teams.”

In addition to Ms. Brideson and Ms. Garcia, chaperones Mr. Gregory Gorniok and Mr. Dannie Holland joined the students. 

With Port Jefferson pride, the team members congratulate competitors Ward Melville High School on their success and wish them all the luck at nationals. Photo from PJSD

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Photo from SWRSD

Encouraging the next generation of scientists, Wading River School’s Science Fair brought together a school community of scientific discovery and pure moments of fun.

While balloons, bubbles, plants, crystals, magnets, eggs and more may have played important roles in experiments, the action-packed, scientifically engaging event was all about the camaraderie and connections among the students as they explored their scientific interests and curiosities.

More than 100 young scientists participated, and Shoreham-Wading River High School students served as judges, noting that the steps of the scientific method were followed in each experiment.

Principal Mr. Louis Parrinello thanked all who made the Science Fair a tremendous success, including teachers, support staff, parents and chairpeople Mr. Mike Morano and Dr. Andrea Stadler. In addition to the top-level experiments of the students, highlights included Dr. Stadler’s exciting elephant toothpaste chemistry experiment and the Van de Graaff generator, an electrostatic generator that created some hair-raising moments. 

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After a two-year hiatus, the faculty of the Mount Sinai school district re-took the court. Photo by Bill Landon
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On Friday, March 25, the faculties of Mount Sinai middle and elementary schools took on their high school counterparts in a fundraising basketball exhibition. Billed as ‘The Battle of the Educators,’ the purpose of the fundraiser was to benefit the school district’s Booster Club. Almost two years since the event last took place due to the pandemic, the 19th edition of this local tradition was held before an enthusiastic crowd. There were T-shirt sales, halftime shooting contests and fun to go all around.   

 — Photos by Bill Landon 

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Photo from MCSD
Photo from MCSD

Students in Ms. McIntyre’s second and third period Computer Graphics 2 and College Computer Graphics classes at Newfield High School in Selden competed in the NHS Library Logo Design contest after learning about designing logos in class with librarian Ms. Cook. It was a very competitive contest filled with lots of creative original ideas. Congratulations to winner Daniel Savage, finalists Idania Nunez and  Brian Padilla Alvarado, as well as the students in both Computer Graphics classes. 

 

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Alexandra Kelly

By Rich Acritelli

In praise of Old Nassau we sing,

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Our hearts will give, while we shall live,

Three cheers for Old Nassau.

These hallowed words represent the proud alma mater of Princeton University, which has gained the academic and athletic talents of current Rocky Point student Alexandra Kelly and 2016 graduate Kyle Strovink. Both individuals will no doubt shine bright at the prestigious university. 

Graduating this year, Kelly is a humble, soft-spoken lady and dynamic soccer forward who helped the Eagles to a distinguished season. This all-county athlete was seen hustling up and down the field for her team, which scored many goals. 

Kyle Strovink

Once soccer ended, Kelly concentrated on her winter track season, where she’s been one of the leading triple jumpers and long jumpers on Long Island and in New York state. She placed fifth as a 10th grader in the state, but was unable to compete during her junior year due to COVID-19.

On March 5, this determined competitor took first place in the triple jump with a leap of 39-06.00 at the 2022 NYSPHSAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, Staten Island. She continued to do well at the New Balance Nationals, where she placed fifth at this New York City Armory event. 

Though recruited by Dartmouth, the U.S. Naval Academy and Stanford University, Kelly chose to attend Princeton this coming fall. 

Strovink is now in uniform as volunteer assistant baseball coach at Princeton, working with catchers and hitters. A graduate of Limestone University in South Carolina, this All-American high school baseball player and college standout now has the experience of working with ex-New York Yankee Scott Bradley. The former Major League ballplayer has been instrumental in mentoring the Rocky Point native who has coached his team in games against strong southern colleges.  

Strovink comes from a prominent North Shore athletic family. Older brother Brennan was an excellent athlete who now teaches physical education and is coaching baseball and wrestling at Patchogue-Medford High School. Father Eric was a baseball phenom at Shoreham-Wading River High School. This feared hitter played at Louisiana State University, C.W. Post and briefly for the Texas Rangers.  

Like his family, Kyle is interested in coaching baseball at the college level and making it his career. He has been connecting well with Ivy League ballplayers who have seen little time on the field over the last two years due to the pandemic. And while his team has a losing record this season, 2-13, the Tigers recently won a doubleheader against Towson, scoring 39 runs.

Strovink is looking forward to opening his team’s conference play against rivals such as Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale. 

The sky is the limit for these former Rocky Point Eagles who are now proud Princeton Tigers.

Author Rich Acritelli is a history teacher at Rocky Point High School and adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College.

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Photo from MPSD

The Miller Place School District recently celebrated the official book launch of “Peachy Keen,” a book written and illustrated by Science Club students from North Country Road Middle School about their adventures rescuing a local sea turtle. The book launch was the culmination of a year-long science club project in partnership with the NY Marine Rescue Center in Riverhead. Canon USA sponsored the Marine Center program and graciously covered the costs of printing 250 copies, which are on sale at the NY Marine Rescue Center, the aquarium gift shop and at the MacArthur Airport gift shop. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to supporting the work of the NY Marine Rescue Center.

“This activity is exemplary of the Miller Place School District’s mission to empower students to creatively put their classroom lessons into action and make the world a better place,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marianne Cartisano. “The entire school community is proud of what these students accomplished, and we are grateful to the NY Marine Rescue Center and Canon USA for providing our students with this life changing opportunity.”

The turtle, which the students affectionately named Peachy Keen, was released back into the ocean in August of 2021 at Tiana Beach in Hampton Bays. Since that time, students and marine biologists have been tracking Peachy Keen’s progress from Long Island down the East Coast to Northern Florida. The book, written and illustrated by the 17 students of the NCRMS Science Club, tells the story about the students’ experiences and the lessons they learned about marine mammals that inhabit NY waters and the importance of keeping beaches clean. It also includes photos of Peachy Keen’s rehabilitation and journey back to the ocean.

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