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Hauppauge High School

From left, Hauppauge High School seniors Vivian Derby, Melissa O’Connor and Jennifer Battaglia present their civic capstone project on the possibility of having off-campus lunch. Photo courtesy of Hauppauge School District

Hauppauge High School’s senior participation in government classes presented civic capstone projects, developing presentations around changes they would like to see in Hauppauge schools as part of their work toward earning the New York State Seal of Civic Readiness.

Students in Mr. Matura’s and Ms. Burkhard’s classes were tasked with selecting an issue that they were passionate about, aiming to bring positive change and improvement to their high school community. The process involved research, collaborative efforts within their groups and the creation of impactful presentations. The students invited members of the high school staff, administration and central office team to listen to their proposals for change and engage in dialogue. 

“From identifying critical issues to proposing thoughtful solutions, our students have demonstrated a level of civic responsibility that is truly commendable,” Matura said. 

“The presentations were informative and reflective of the students’ deep commitment to civic engagement,” said Director of Social Studies and World Languages Kelly Barry. “This assignment focuses more on the process than the outcome. It teaches our students to consider multiple viewpoints and gain an understanding of various perspectives on an issue. These skills will help our students succeed in any path they choose after graduation. We are proud of all of them. I am grateful for their teachers’ dedication to preparing them, guiding them through the process and teaching them how to advocate for positive change in the school community and beyond. We are incredibly grateful for the support and participation of our superintendent, Donald Murphy, and members of our central office team, as well as all of the administrators and teachers who took the time to listen to the student presentations.”

Hauppauge High School students host French exchange students, visiting Montauk Point Lighthouse during their stay on Long Island. Photos courtesy HSD

Several Hauppauge High School students in Christine Rigaud’s French class had the unique opportunity to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime exchange program. While a group of students from Angers, a city in the Loire Valley, France, visited Long Island, staying with Hauppauge students for 10 days, their Hauppauge counterparts will be going to Angers in November to stay with the French students and their families. 

Arriving on Oct. 9, the French students met their American hosts at Hauppauge High School before going home with the local families for the first time. The following day, students were given a welcome breakfast and tour of the school where they followed their exchange partners, going from class to class and at after-school activities.

Throughout the week, the students were taught a lesson on Long Island geography and historical points before visiting Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, home to President Theodore Roosevelt, and Montauk Point Lighthouse.

The exchange students even experienced an American Homecoming football game Oct. 14. During their remaining days exploring Long Island, the exchange students spent time with their host families, doing local activities such as Topgolf, bowling and even trekking into Manhattan for a Broadway show.

Their trip culminated with a few days in Manhattan, visiting Times Square, Grand Central Station, the American Museum of Natural History, Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial site, the Empire State Building and a tour of Columbia University.

On Nov. 4, Hauppauge High School students will visit the Lycée Mongazon school in Angers for the exchange. While there, they will attend classes, participate in a walking tour and scavenger hunt with their exchange partners and visit several castles and cultural sites. Then, they will head to Paris where they will visit the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Saint-Germain-des-Prés the Eiffel Tower, Les Champs-Elysées, L’Arc de Triomphe, travel the Seine River via boat cruise and more. 

“When the students participate in an exchange program, the rewards are infinite,” Rigaud said. “Using the language in real-life situations, learning firsthand about the culture, traditions and food, speaking with the locals, visiting historic sights and learning about the history are just a few of the benefits.”

She added, “The students become more mature and self-confident as they navigate new situations. They learn to see things from a different perspective and become global citizens who are more understanding and accepting of cultural differences. Every time I travel with them, I get to see things through their eyes. It’s an amazing experience.”

Rocky Point’s Ryan Meyers goes the distance. Photo by Bill Landon

It was a high scoring game when the Hauppauge Eagles swooped in for a road game against the Rocky Point Eagles in the season opener, but Hauppauge exploded in the second quarter and never looked back, securing a 61-22 victory in the League III matchup Friday, Sept. 1. 

John Margolies led the way for Hauppauge with three touchdowns along with a pick six for another score. Teammate Christian Russo had 185 yards rushing on 12 carries for three touchdowns of his own.

Rocky Point quarterback Jeremy Graham scored on a short yardage run and threw a pair of touchdown passes.

Hauppauge retakes the field Friday night, Sept. 8, when they’ll host Amityville at 6 p.m. Rocky Point travels to East Hampton the following day with a 2 p.m. start.

– Photos by Bill Landon

For the second straight year, Kings Park High School hosted the National Football Foundation’s Long Island Quarterback Challenge skills competition. 

The star-studded event, held Sunday, July 23, had no shortage of signal callers from the North Shore. And unlike last year when it was a boys-only event, the girls were also part of the fun.

Commack’s Jeremy Weiss, the reigning champion coming into this year’s competition, finished third this time. He was just behind Smithtown West’s Brayden Stahl, who finished in second place.

The 2023 overall winner was Mustafa Mozawalla of Syosset, who prospered in the classroom as well as the gridiron, completing each throwing drill with panache.

Players from Nassau and Suffolk, including from the Catholic leagues, were eligible to participate. Jake Fields from Smithtown East, Shane Kiernan of Miller Place and Kaeden West from Comsewogue were all part of the field of 16, who were put through their paces on the field as well as the film room.

In addition to second overall, Stahl won the award for accuracy and West had the longest throw of the day, launching a majestic rainbow that rang against the crossbar in the back of the south end zone. It measured 64 yards.

Former NFL quarterback Matt Simms judged the boys as they ran drills in anticipation, arm strength, touch, mobility and football IQ. One of the highlights of the day was when Mozawalla scrambled to his left and, while sprinting to the sideline, threw a 40-yard dart in perfect stride to his receiver who tapped his toes in the back corner of the end zone.

“That was a magnificent throw,” Simms said. “Probably one of the best in the two years since we’ve done this.”

Kiernan and Fields also looked very good in the mobility drills as well as quarterback progressions.

As the sport of flag football has exploded on Long Island, organizers smartly added a contest for the girls — seven out of the 10 contestants were from Suffolk, including Grace Gilmartin and Pixie Ryan, both from Northport, and Taylor Mileti of Hauppauge.

However, it was Jennifer Canarutto of Plainview-Old Bethpage in Nassau who took first prize. Canarutto, who led her team to an undefeated season as well as the New York State championship just two short months ago, beat Alexandra DaEira-Loccisano of Eastport-South Manor and Delaney Israel of Longwood, who finished in second and third place, respectively. 

Many familiar faces came down as receivers for the quarterbacks as Hauppauge Lady Eagles Stephanie Braun, Emma Condos, Meghan Goutink and Melissa O’Connor all caught passes for not only Mileti, but a few of the other contestants who were in need of targets.

Four Northport Lady Tiger pass catchers — Caitlyn Muzyka, Dana Restivo, Caitlyn Ryan and Jamie Weissman — braved the 90-degree heat to support Gilmartin and Ryan. Hauppauge’s head coach Steve Mileti watched his daughter Taylor from the press box as he served as color commentator on the live stream with Newsday’s high school sports editor, Gregg Sarra. Northport head coach Pat Campbell cheered on his sextet of athletes from the sidelines.

Muzyka was awarded “best receiver” on the girls side.

In total, eight quarterbacks and 18 receivers from TBR’s readership area competed on a long, hot, competitive and ultimately successful day.

Hauppauge High School seniors filed onto the field one last time as students on June 23.

The skies may have been cloudy but the Hauppauge Eagles were ready to soar and celebrate their graduation day.

Among the speakers at the ceremony were this year’s valedictorian, Connor Leddy, and salutatorian, Kaitlin Stephens.

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The Hauppauge Lady Eagles Flag Football opened their regular season on Wednesday, March 29, but not before they had a rainy scrimmage against Sachem North on Monday, March 27.

Hauppauge is led by Steve Mileti, who is the boys head football coach for the storied West Islip Lions. They dominated this scrimmage, scoring numerous touchdowns and enjoying long gains, all the while not allowing the Flaming Arrows much of anything on this cold, damp afternoon.

Hauppauge running back Meredith Terracciano had a long touchdown gallop, and wide receiver Sarah Dukofsky caught a bomb from quarterback Taylor Mileti, the coach’s daughter, for another score. Sachem never managed to reach the end zone.

Hauppauge’s season started officially Wednesday evening  on the road vs. Harborfields. The result was unavailable at press time.

All photos by Steven Zaitz

Hauppauge High School was the scene this past Saturday for over 200 girls who will participate in flag football this year.  Suffolk County footballers from as far away as East Hampton and Eastport-South Manor were put through their paces at eight different drill stations as they steam ahead toward opening day. 

A little closer to home, Northport, Huntington, Sachem East, Amityville, Patchogue Medford, and of course, host Hauppauge all threw, ran, stretched and caught passes from coaches.  Eagles Head Coach Steve Mileti ran the running back and flag-grabbing drill and Northport Head Coach Pat Campbell and Assistant Coach Perry Marinelli taught receivers how to catch the ball and run routes. 

There was spirit of team building as the groups, comprised of a mash-up of girls from the participating schools, rotated around in 10-minute shifts, laughing and getting to know each other along the way. 

The girls flag football season starts locally on March 29 when Hauppauge travels to Harborfields. Northport’s first game is on April 3 on the road against Half Hollow Hills.

Last Friday, June 24, Hauppauge High School seniors walked onto the field for the last time as students.

During the graduation ceremony, students and attendees were joined by Distinguished Alumni Speaker Paul Monusky from the Class of 1997, bottom left.

Monusky is an 11-time Emmy-winning senior producer/director for NFL Films. He got his start in broadcasting at the high school when he began taking TV production classes with Mr. Fran DePetris. He was also the editor-in-chief for the school newspaper during his time as a Hauppauge Eagle.

The Town of Smithtown Horizons Counseling & Education Center, Youth Bureau, and Smithtown Youth and Community Alliance are pleased to present a communication workshop for families with children in middle school or high school. This free event will take place in the Hauppauge High School Library, located at 500 Lincoln Blvd in Hauppauge, on Wednesday, February 9th, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In today’s technology driven world, face to face communication is not practiced enough. The workshop is a great opportunity for families to come together in an interactive setting to discuss ways they can strengthen their communication skills and overall relationships with one another.

“Effective communication skills need to be consistently practiced and reinforced, particularly within families. This workshop will give participants the chance to do that in a constructive way.” Janine Marc-Anthony, Smithtown Youth Bureau Youth Services Coordinator

The workshop will focus on communication through body language, active listening, tone of voice, “I” centered messages, and open-ended messages. Participants will have an opportunity to take part in hands-on activities that will help reinforce strategies they are learning throughout the event.

Registration is required in order to attend. Anyone interested can register on the Town of Smithtown website on the Horizons, Youth Bureau, and Youth and Community Alliance pages. Space is limited. Community service certificates will be given to students who attend.

 

The Hauppauge Eagles celebrated their graduation on the school’s football field June 25. 

Among the speakers were Principal Chris Cook, board of education member Michael Buscarino, Superintendent Dennis O’ Hara, valedictorian Melody Chang and salutatorian Alexander Vasilakopoulos.