You are currently browsing the archives for May, 2013.
On Wednesday night I attended the 5th annual science symposium at the High School. Over sixty students were on hand to explain their science research projects. I was very impressed with all of the projects and more importantly all of the students. Everyone was able to describe their experiments and conclusions. Shout out to Scott Shannon- the lone Physics experiment- and his love of space. Kudos to Dr. McGlade-McCulloh and all of her research students
Nothing epitomizes a school system more than induction into the National Honor Society. The four pillars of the society – Character, Leadership, Scholarship, Service are the backbone of every school. On Monday May 20th I attended the High School ceremony organized by advisor Eileen Burke. The senior inductees read a short blurb about every new inductee in the junior class. On Wednesday May 29 I attended the national Junior Honor Society inductions at the Middle School. Almost 100 7th graders were able to gain admittance into the society. Kudos to Mrs. Milberg and Mrs. Palumbo on a very nice ceremony. Congratulations to all of our new inductees
One of the pillars of our mission statement is to ‘contribute positively to a global society’- I can think of no better example than our Student Service Center at the HS. On Wednesday May 22 they held the 29 annual recognition awards for student participating in service projects. It was my pleasure to attend and recognize our students. In addition to all of their schoolwork these students recorded the following hours of service- Lina Kim 150 hours, Ana Cueter 140 hours, Marissa Karasz 130 hours, Charlotte Ring 115 hours, Jennifer Godinho 85 hours. Special thanks to Mrs. Regan and Mrs. Burke for making it all happen.
Grease was unbelievable! Mineola’s first 8/9 musical was a roaring success. The next wave of talent to hit the High School stage was very impressive. The T- birds (Ryan Sellinger, Jake Siegfried, Zach Sloan, Theo Bischoff) and the Pink Ladies (Kristina Shevlin, Kayleigh Bugalla, Jillian Palma and Felicia Villa) showcased some great voices and better dance moves. I think newcomer to the HS Brittanyann Hernandez was type cast as Sandy and Jake Gorman played a great Danny Zucco.. Erin Talty and John Collins played great ‘goodie two shoes’. Joe Tullo’s voice filled the theater as Vince Fontaine. And of course our Frankie Avalon had nothing on our own teen angel. The whole vibe of show resonated the fifties. I was particularly impressed with the wonderful supporting cast that included the wonderful diversity that makes the HS special. Kudos to MR. DeLuca on yet another wonderful production.
PS. My apologies for the delayed post.
This morning Mr. Pereira told me I had to watch Janet Ribando’s senior project. WOW. What a fantastic documentary about this year’s seniors. It warmed my heart to hear and see our students speak about their HS experience. Just another example of why Mineola is so special. Nice work Janet! BTW- Could have done without the ‘trashing’ the school comment.
Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpv7E5uECqg
Believe it or not, we are in the final WEEKS of the school year. For our graduating seniors, this is the busiest of times, but also the most rewarding of times. Together with their parents, friends and teachers, seniors celebrate the end of 13 years of dedication to their education with prom, awards/scholarship breakfasts, final concerts and of course, graduation. I wanted to give everyone a chance to get to know two of the many exceptional students in our district, who also happened to be graduating as this year’s valedictorian and salutatorian.
Valedictorian Sujith Maracheril is an AP Scholar with Distinction as well as a National Merit Semifinalist. He is president of the Science Honor Society, captain of the Brainstormers challenge team and a member of the National Honor Society, Mathletes and Student Service Center. Sujith also participates in spring track, plays the violin for the school orchestra and has taken advantage of the district’s science research program. He plans to major in pre-med in the fall at CUNY Sophie Davis Biomedical Education.
Salutatorian Julianne Falotico has been named an AP Scholar with Honor, received the 2012 Fairfield University Book Award, and has been named All-Conference and All-Class for basketball, All-Class for soccer and Academic All-American for girls lacrosse. A scholar-athlete, she is also a member of the National Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Leadership Council, Literary Society, Athletes Helping Athletes, SADD and the Lunch Bunch, in addition to serving as president of the Key Club and vice president of the Red Cross Club. She is undecided on her major, but will be attending Colgate University in the fall.
I would like to congratulate all of our seniors for their accomplishments. I look forward to spending some last moments together at the upcoming awards ceremony.
Boys Lacrosse yesterday made history! It has been a long time since we have won a first round playoff in boys Lacrosse. Timmy Gil was on fire with 5 goals and John Clancy was a rock in the net. Next up- Cold Spring Harbor at Hofstra next Tuesday at 5:30. Great Job boys!! Look forward to the next match.
I have been served a cease and desist order from Mr. DeMarino’s union over certain comments. I have been instructed by legal counsel to remove them from the blog.
I understand that there is a rumor floating around that the Winter Guard is being dismantled. That is not true. The Board and I are proud of the guard’s accomplishments and have supported the growth of the program over the last 10 years. I was the principal of the HS when the guard started. Like every successful program there are dedicated people that are the driving forces behind the success- the director, his assistants and most importantly the students involved. Sometimes over the course of time a change is needed to continue to grow the program. I would analogize it to a professional sports team that changes managers. Sometimes the team needs a new person at the helm; a fresh set of eyes to change the tone and performance on the field. Whether or not that will happen is yet to be decided. But no team or program is defined by one player or coach. Success is a collective endeavor defined by the whole group. We will continue to support the Winter guard as well as the Rockettes as we do all of our student programs.
Congratulations to the HS Math teachers, Mr. Desire, and Mr. Escobar. Yesterday’s Newsday ran Regents Diploma rates for the entire County. Mineola HS fared very well particularly in the Advanced regents diploma percentage. In order to receive an advanced diploma a student must pass trigonometry (Integrated Algebra Trig). Mineola’s rate of 65% ranks us in the top 25% of the county. Ahead of Districts like Hewlett-Woodmere, North Shore, Oceanside and Port Washington. This doesn’t occur by accident; it has been a HS goal for some years. The fruits of the labor are paying off. Kudos to all those involved.