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Harborfields high school

Harborfields seniors given the green light

by Press Release - July 2, 2021

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The Harborfields High School Class of 2021 were celebrated by family, friends, community members, faulty, staff and administrators at the school’s graduation ceremony on June 26. As the graduates processed on the field in the classic Harborfields green and white, joined by Principal Timothy Russo, Superintendent of Schools Rory Manning and members of the board of education, the crowd cheered enthusiastically.

“Much in the same way your family has cared for you, we have also,” Manning said. “The staff of Harborfields has been your second family for the last 13 years and we selfishly don’t want you to go, and why would we? You proved to the world that you were capable of the unimageable, and despite countless odds against you, you thrived.”

Principal Timothy Russo initiated a special tribute to Gabby Cava, a beloved member of the Class of 2021 who passed away in January 2020 from cancer. Gabby’s family was in attendance to accept the first diploma from Russo.

Before continuing presenting diplomas to the graduates, Russo took some time to commend the Class of 2021 for their perseverance and ability to succeed in the face of huge challenges.

“You are an incredible group who will be missed by many as you go onto achieve whatever greatness is coming your way,” he said. “Your enthusiasm, kindness and respect for Harborfields has led us through a challenging year, and I thank you for being the young men and women you are.”

Harborfields Tornadoes blow out Port Jeff Royals

by Bill Landon - May 5, 2021

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The Harborfields Tornadoes peppered the net early and often in their season opener at home against Port Jefferson winning the Division II contest, 16-2.

It’s been 23 months since either team has seen action, but Harborfields seamed crisp and up to the task leading by two goals two minutes in. The Royals struggled to keep the ball upfield when Harborfields senior attack Leah Hansen’s shot found its mark to put her team ahead 3-0. Harborfields sophomore Sia Markowski scored as did teammate Marina Bergin for a six-goal lead. With 13 minutes left in the half Hansen struck twice more for an 11-goal lead and with it a running clock.

Sophomore Julia Schiliro stretched the net for Harborfields two minutes later before Port Jeff senior Claudia Kountsantanou, took the goose egg off the scoreboard for the Royals. Teammate Katelynn Johnston’s shot found the back of the net a minute later to trail 12-2 at the half. Harborfields flushed their bench the rest of the way for the win.

Seniors start new tradition at Harborfields High School

by TBR Staff - October 30, 2020

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The threat of rain could not stop Harborfields High School’s Class of 2021 from waking up more than an hour before classes began on Oct. 23 to watch the sunrise alongside their fellow seniors.

The socially distant gathering, coordinated by the student government, marked the high school’s first ever “Senior Sunrise,” starting a new tradition at Harborfields High School.

Following the postponement of homecoming, the event was the first opportunity of the 2020-21 school year for seniors of different cohorts and virtual learners to connect as a class.

Senior Class President Melina Sandel said, “It’s a great opportunity for us to reconnect after such an abrupt end to last school year. “It was great seeing all of our friends from different cohorts.”

Photos courtesy of Harborfields Central School District

Harborfields girls basketball edges Bay Shore, 45-41

by TBR Staff - December 13, 2018

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By Bill Landon

The Harborfields girls varsity basketball team traveled to Bay Shore for a nonleague match where the Tornadoes squeezed out a 45-41 victory Dec. 7.

Senior Casey Nickerson led her team in scoring with 17 points that included three treys, while senior Celia
Argiriou tacked on 12, and senior guard Colleen Dwyer banked 9 points for her team.

The Lady Tornadoes will be back in action Dec. 13 as they host Eastport/South Manorville at 6 p.m.

Rain can’t dampen spirit of Harborfields graduates

by Sara-Megan Walsh - June 26, 2018

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Harborfields High School’s Class of 2018 didn’t let a little rain put a damper on its commencement ceremony June 23.

Senior members of the high school choir performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the start of the ceremony, which was followed by words of encouragement and lessons from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Francesco Ianni. He spoke to the graduates about the importance of time and to have character and determination in everything that you do.

Salutatorian Sarah Katz also addressed her fellow graduates, calling the Class of 2018 a family and acknowledging the greatness within them.

“Sitting among this great crowd are great minds, leaders, soldiers, musicians, doctors, writers, dreamers and people who I believe can change the world or at least light the spark that does,” Katz said.

Valedictorian Emma Johnston also focused Harborfields’ being a tight-knit community and class, adding how moving to the district changed her life.

“I learned that Harborfields is truly a magical place,” Johnston said. “It is a place of support and mass synergy and it is a place where every walk of life can come together as a community to bring out the best in each other.”

Class president Christopher Burney spoke about his time in the district and wished his fellow graduates the best while encouraging them to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way. Featured speaker Casey Sturm, English teacher, addressed the graduates while speaking about when he was in their shoes as a Harborfields High School student.

“I can’t wait to see how you change the world,” he said.

Principal Timothy Russo presented each graduate with an evergreen tree, symbolizing the foundation and roots of their support system.

“Let this be a reminder to you of Harborfields and what you’ve meant to us,” Russo said.

Before the presentation of diplomas, Russo took a special moment to honor Maggie Schmidt, a member of the Class of 2018 who passed away in June 2017 after her courageous battle with cancer. The Schmidt family was present to accept her diploma on her behalf.

Huntington hosts 5K run to support organ donations

by Kyle Barr - May 3, 2018

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Pushing through the early morning cold and rains on Sunday, Huntington residents raced to support organ and tissue donations.

“I think we did fantastic for a first time run,” said Michele Martines, run organizer and mother of a heart transplant recipient. “For the cause, we’re going to save some lives.”

Roughly 130 runners helped to raise nearly $5,000 for LiveOnNY, a nonprofit association dedicated to recovering organs and tissues for transplants in the New York metropolitan region, at the 5K Race to Save Lives held April 29 at Harborfields High School. The event was sponsored by Simply Fit Health and Wellness gym, which has locations in Centerport and Huntington, Huntington Hospital and several Huntington Town officials.

The event recognized two donor recipients including Councilman Mark Cuthbertson’s (D) son, Hunter Cuthbertson, who had to receive a bone marrow transplant in 2017, and Martines’ son, Christian Siems,who celebrated the third year after his heart transplant April 25.

“A lot of people don’t know about organ transplants, that or they have misconceptions and they just assume things.”
Christian Siems

Hunter Cuthbertson was diagnosed with aplastic anemia during a precollege physical in 2016. Aplastic anemia is a failure of the bone marrow to produce the necessary amount of red blood cells. Though the chance of finding a perfect match in bone marrow with a relative is only 25 percent, the younger Cuthbertson found that his brother was a perfect match.

“I was elated when I learned he was a match, I dropped to my knees and I was crying,” he said. “But he’s one of the lucky ones. The other 75 percent need to go the unmatched registry. The larger the registry the larger the chance that someone’s going to get saved.”

He underwent a week of chemotherapy before having a bone marrow transplant performed in March 2017.

Siems learned his heart was beginning to fail before he turned 21. He had an external defibrillator installed and tried to move toward college, but after getting progressively more tired and sick he was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center where he was told he would need a heart transplant. Luckily for Siems in just six months he received a call that they found a donor.

“I’ve known [Siems] since I’ve moved here, and it’s been hard watching Christian go through what he has,” Joe Bertolini, Siems’ neighbor and overall winner of the 5k, said. “He’s come to talk to us at our school about what he’s been through. It’s inspirational.”

Siems has taken up publicly speaking about the need for organ donors to local schools and community organizations.

“Only about 32 percent of New Yorkers are registered to be donors, in some states its over 56 percent.”
Karen Cummings

“A lot of people don’t know about organ transplants, that or they have misconceptions and they just assume things,” he said. “I go out there and talk to kids, the next generation and I educate them on what it is, and not to be scared of it. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give.”

Despite the two young men’s luck in finding donors, they are not the average case. New York State is currently ranked last in terms of number of residents who are registered as organ donors, according to LiveOnNY’s website. There are currently 9,359 people waiting on organ donations in the state.

“Only about 32 percent of New Yorkers are registered to be donors, in some states its over 56 percent,” Karen Cummings, a public and professional education specialist for LiveOnNY said. “We are the fourth fastest growing registry, but New York is still at the bottom of the list.”

A number of people who raced were the recipients of organ or tissue donations. Huntington resident Hal Strauss, who in August 2017 collapsed as he was doing his regular bike exercise. He was rushed to Huntington Hospital where he learned he needed a new liver.

“You just wait by the phone,” Strauss said. “I was able to get my organ in seven months, but I’m an anomaly. For other people it can take years.”

New York residents can register as organ donors whenever they visit the DMV, register to vote, register for health insurance through the health benefits exchange or
online at LiveOnNY’s website

Huntington officials host 5K Run to Save Lives

by Sara-Megan Walsh - April 27, 2018

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Event will be held April 29 at 8:30 a.m. at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn

HunterCuthbertsonwithSiblings_Cuthbertson Family — Hunter Cuthbertson, center, with his siblings while hospitalized for his bone marrow transplant in 2017. Photo from Cuthbertson family

Huntington residents are being asked to lace-up their sneakers for a 5K race aimed at raising awareness that April is National Donate Life Month.

Town of Huntington council members Joan Cergol (D) and Mark Cuthbertson (D) are co-sponsoring the first 5K Run to Save Lives April 29 at Harborfields High School along with Simply Fit Health and Wellness gym, which has locations in Centerport and Huntington. The event aims to raise awareness for the importance of organ and tissue donation, an issue that hits close to home for Cuthbertson.

The councilman’s son Hunter said he was surprised when blood tests came back abnormal during his routine precollege physical in 2016. The younger Cuthbertson said further testing led him to be diagnosed with aplastic anemia, or bone marrow failure, an affliction causing his body to not produce enough blood cells.

“They said I could try to go back to school, but I would need a bone marrow transplant at some point,” he said.

“Nationally, 23 people die every day because they don’t receive an organ.”

– Christian Siems

Luckily for the councilman’s son, his younger brother was tested and wound up being a perfect match, despite just one-in-four odds. He underwent a week of chemotherapy before receiving his bone marrow transplant March 21, 2017.

“My treatment went really well,” the younger Cuthbertson said. “But it was really a perspective changing experience.”

He has since become a strong supporter of bone marrow donor drives, encouraging others to get tested to see if their tissue could be a potential match. Representatives from LiveOnNY, a nonprofit association dedicated to recovering organs and tissues for transplants in the New York metropolitan region, and Be the Match, a 501(c)(3) organization that matches patients with marrow donors, will both be at the April 29 event to encourage people to sign up.

“I think everyone who has the time to get their cheek swabbed, which takes 15 seconds, should do it,” he said. “Even if you are not the match or don’t have the time to do it today, a couple years down the road you might be the match to save someone’s life.”

Cuthbertson is one of the two individuals who will be recognized at the 5K race alongside Christian Siems, a 2012 Harborfields High School graduate. Siems said he considers himself one of the lucky ones. It was during one of the school’s annual blood drives that a nurse detected an issue with his heart.

“When she listened to my chest, she said, ‘You have a heart murmur,” but I hadn’t been diagnosed with a heart murmur; I got it checked out,” Siems said, indicating he later went for testing to St. Francis Hospital. “It was probably one of the scariest days of my life.”

Christian Siems. Photo from Michele Martines

Siems learned that his heart was starting to fail before age 21. He underwent surgery to have an internal defibrillator implanted and attempted to move forward with his plans to attend college.

But when Siems started feeling constantly tired, was pale, struggling to walk and even having difficulty talking, he was rushed to Huntington Hospital. Doctors had him airlifted via helicopter to cardiac specialists at Westchester Medical Center who informed him he would need a heart transplant.

“I was told I had to sit in the hospital and wait for a heart,” Siems said. “It could have been six months; it could have been a year.”

Doctors decided to risk performing an open-heart surgery to install an assistive device that would allow Siems to wait for his much-need transplant at home. He received a phone call after only six months that a donor was found. Siems celebrated the third anniversary of his successful heart transplant April 25.

“Nationally, 23 people die every day because they don’t receive an organ,” he said. “In New York, if you get too far out [on the list] a lot of times a doctor will tell you to move to another state to get an organ faster.”

New York state also has the third-lowest donor registration rate in the country, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a section of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“There’s no general knowledge about organ donation out there,” Siems said. “A lot of people don’t know what it is, there’s a lot of myths and misconceptions.”

He encouraged local residents to come to the event and learn more about signing up to become an organ donor. Race registration costs $25 for adults and $10 for students. All proceeds will go to LiveOnNY. Register online at www.LivingSimplyFit.com/5k.

Harborfields students choose to unite, instead of walking out

by Sara-Megan Walsh - March 16, 2018

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HFcommUNITYSummit_Twitter — Harborfields High School held a student-organized HF commUNITY Summit as an alternative to National Walkout Day March 14. Photo from Twitter.

Harborfields students came together to share their feelings on school shootings and gun violence Wednesday, rather than walking out.

Harborfields High School hosted a student-organized HF commUNITY Summit in the gymnasium at 10 a.m. March 14 rather than participating in National Walkout Day, a planned demonstration in which students across the United States exited schools in protest.

“Our schools are very safe and not just because we have enough security guards, cameras or buzzers,” said Superintendent Francesco Ianni in his March message to the community. “Our schools are safe because we believe in the importance of letting children speak about their feelings and emotions as a result of the events that surround us. We are always there to support and guide our students in appropriate freedom of expression.”

Harborfields principal Timothy Russo said the schoolwide event was scheduled after he was approached by many students who expressed a desire to “do more than simply walk out of a building and congregate somewhere,” in an undated letter to the community. Student organizers led the summit that allowed any students to publicly speak about the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida Feb. 14 that killed 17 people and the ensuing, heated national discourse.

“No one should feel so unsafe in a place of such community and security,” said student speaker Sophia Braunstein. “Regardless of what political ideology you stand for, I think we can all agree that America has a problem.”

Braunstein, a senior, remembered how she was in seventh grade when the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings occurred that killed 20 children and six adults in 2012.

Harborfields senior Sophia Braunstein speaks at the schoolwide rally March 14. Photo from Twitter.

“I was left with a fear that never left,” she said. “The day after the Parkland shooting, that same feeling resurfaced and my anxiety grew so bad I asked my mom several times to leave school.”

Braunstein said even she could see the differences in the national discussion in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, where the victims were elementary school students, compared to Parkland’s high school students who are utilizing social media to call for change.

“For students in Harborfields who feel discouraged by adults saying you shouldn’t have a voice, or we don’t know what we are talking about, don’t be,” Braunstein said. “History repeats itself.”

She cited the leadership shown by the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African-American students who, escorted by federal troops, led the desegregation of public schools at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957. Braunstein’s comments also touched on college students impact on public opinion of the Vietnam War in the 1960s.

“We can be and will be the generation that can say we ended mass shootings in America,” she said.

Olivia Espinoza, a student at Harborfields, said she really enjoyed hearing the passionate speeches from her peers Wednesday.

“This rally showed a beautiful side of our generation that isn’t afraid to stand up for what we believe in, contact our local senators, participate in protests and marches, and make a difference in the world,” Espinoza said. “I am confident we are on the road to change.”

Harborfields school administrators were not immediately available for comment on the event.

HF tornadoes breeze through graduation

by TBR Staff - June 27, 2017

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Dressed in green and white cap and gowns, Harborfields High School seniors made their way across the high school gymnasium and received their diploma on June 24. The celebration, which traditionally takes place outdoors, was based inside due to inclement weather but did not dampen the spirits of the proud graduates.

Family members, friends, staff, board members and administrators gathered for the momentous occasion which marked the end of an era for retiring Board President Nicholas Giuliano and a first for Harborfields High School Principal Timothy Russo and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Francesco Ianni.

The stands of the high school gymnasium were filled with anticipated guests as the graduates made their entrance to “Pomp and Circumstance” by Sir Edward Elgar, played by the high school band. The ceremony kicked off with the Pledge of Allegiance, a performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” from the senior members of the high school choir and the Alma Mater.

Russo welcomed those in attendance and Dr. Ianni addressed the graduates. During his speech, he gave special recognition to the board president for his commitment to the board of education for the past 15 years.

“Mr. Giuliano, this is your class,” he said. “The students that you see in front of you were in Washington Drive Primary School when you started and they were the direct recipients of the many decisions that you and the board made during your time at Harborfields. What you have in front of you is one of the best graduating classes that Harborfields has to offer.”

Russo also commended him for his consistent direction and support in the district. He proudly presented him with the first diploma of the ceremony.

Salutatorian Ishaan Lohia addressed his fellow graduates and offered a humorous speech about his high school experience and what he learned over the years, while class president Sean Tully wished his classmates the best of luck in their future endeavors.

In addition, valedictorian Casandra Moisanu spoke to the Class of 2017, reflecting back on their high school years, their outlook for the future and the strong connections made within the graduating class.

“I want everyone to remember that no matter where we end up, we are still an HF Family,” she said. “I know we would all like to see each other succeed and I trust that we will be there for each other in the future.”

Voted on by the graduates, featured speaker and social studies teacher Daniel Greening offered his best wishes, while Russo shared his own praises and encouragement. To leave the students with something to hold onto, Russo gifted each of them with an evergreen tree to help them remember their roots.

Harborfields high school adds to its leadership

by Victoria Espinoza - June 28, 2016

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Christopher--Patronaggio-HFw — Christopher Patronaggio was appointed assistant principal at Harborfields High School last week. Photo from Harborfields school district

Harborfields has found the last piece to its administrative puzzle, after shuffling the staff last year when Superintendent Diana Todaro announced she would be retiring in 2017.

Christopher Patronaggio was appointed assistant high school principal at a board meeting last Wednesday, replacing Timothy Russo, who was recently promoted to principal.

He is currently the administrative dean at Walt Whitman High School in the South Huntington Union Free School District, and will officially take over the helm at Harborfields on Aug. 1.

Patronaggio lives in Nassau County with his wife and 2-year-old son, but said the family plans to make the move to Stony Brook in the near future.

“I am excited to be able to create lifelong relationships with our students and families, and assist in providing anything they need to be successful in all aspects,” Patronaggio said in an email. “In doing so, they know that I am always here for them and my door is always open. It excites me to be a part of a community that continues to produce remarkable students which progresses into productive young adults.”

He said he was able to meet the staff at Harborfields High School last week, and it only made him more enthusiastic to officially take his post in August.

“It made me… excited to begin my career at Harborfields just seeing how passionate and caring they are,” he said. “The Harborfields school district is among the best out there so I am thrilled to become part of the Harborfields family. They have a proven record in providing an unbelievable educational experience for students, which prepares them to face their future endeavors. That is a testament to the unbelievable parents and staff that help make the community such a wonderful place.”

Patronaggio joined the South Huntington team in 2015, and said he learned how to build successful and meaningful relationships while there.

Aside from working in administration, he has also coached basketball and baseball and volunteers for the Special Olympics.

“My variety of experiences — from being a coach, adviser and mentor to many — will help continue to guide our students to make the most out of their experience,” he said. “My experience working with a wide variety of diverse learners can help guide instruction and provide resources to students’ individual needs.”

Patronaggio earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics with a concentration in adolescent education, followed by his master’s in adolescent special education from St. Joseph’s College. In 2013, he received his certificate of advanced studies in educational leadership from the College of Saint Rose.

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