Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½

The middle school’s Master Readers Book Discussion Club recently hosted the first ever school visit for author Nicole Melleby, who recently published her well-reviewed debut novel, “Hurricane Season,” this May.

During the event, facilitated by middle school library secretary Christine Sciallo, who is Melleby’s aunt, the author shared her love of reading and discussed her writing process and publishing experiences with the students.

“The club loved the book and were able to express their reactions and thoughts to the author directly,” said school librarian Valerie Ware Comneck. “It doesn't get much better than that.”

High school students Jenna Bosco and Leah Neville were chosen for the 29th annual New York State Art Teachers Association Legislative Student Art Exhibition. Their work was exhibited in the Legislative Well in Albany’s Capitol Building.

“It was an honor to be exhibited in Albany with other cool art students,” said Neville. 

“I am so proud of Leah and Jenna,” said art teacher Heather Toomey. “They are creative and talented digital artists, and most of all, I have enjoyed seeing their amazing projects in all the different art courses they have taken over the years.”

Members of the high school’s Interact Club were recently honored by the Rotary Club of the Islips at the organization’s meeting at the Irish Coffee Pub, with Rotary Club President Dennis Ciano congratulating the students for their “service above self.”

Interact Club members perform community service activities and work with Rotarians to complete local projects throughout the year. This past school year, the students and Rotarians planted a vegetable garden at Brookwood Hall. Members of both clubs are tending the gardens and the vegetables will be donated to a local food pantry.   

Students in Lauren Ferlin’s AP Environmental Science class at the high school recently participated in the Seatuck Environmental Association’s bobwhite quail program. For approximately 23 days, the students monitored the progress of 12 quail eggs in an incubator, after which seven of the eggs successfully hatched. The quail were kept in the classroom during the next few weeks and brought home with students on the weekends. The quail were then returned to Seatuck for release. 

“In the wild, quail have very high mortality rates and this program gives the quail population a chance to be successful,” said Ferlin. “An additional benefit to the ecosystem is that quail eat ticks, so by reestablishing the quail population we are introducing a natural predator at Seatuck and the number of ticks will be reduced without the use of chemical pesticides.”

High school student Taylor Edel was recently recognized at the Huntington Camera Club’s 29th annual High School Photography Competition, with her
darkroom photograph earning an honorable mention. Edel’s work was selected from 1,262 entrants from 16 high schools across Long Island. 

Held since 1991, this Nikon-sponsored event honors outstanding high school photographers. Edel received a certificate, cash award and an Ambassador Coin keepsake medallion, created by Nikon to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the company. 

“The photo was taken from the first roll of film that Taylor shot last fall,” said photographer teacher Joy Taylor. “Her assignment was texture, and this print stood out to me immediately as an exceptional darkroom print. I loved the simple subject matter as well as the composition. The judges commented on the tonality and range of dark and light, and mentioned how Taylor was able to create a very successful print despite the difficulty of manipulating prints created in a traditional darkroom setting. I’m very proud of Taylor.”

“When I first took this photo at the beginning of the school year, I never imagined I would win a contest like this,” said Edel. “I’m very thankful to receive this honor.”  

Guided by teacher Hal Kench, the middle school’s Technology Club recently put the finishing touches on their bottle opener projects. Many of the students chose to use this project as a Father’s Day gift. The Tech Club provides students a chance to further their skills with hand tools and woodworking machinery including the router, miter saw, laser engraver, screw gun, drill press, and of course, a ruler and pencil.

The Board of Education and Superintendent John Dolan honored students, staff, community members and local businesses involved in the high school’s career development program during the June 13 Board of Education meeting.

Alexa Sortino, a Class of 2019 graduate of East Islip High School, has signed to join the cheerleading team at the University of Massachusetts this fall. She will major in communications.

“UMass has a good business school as well as a good cheer team,” Sortino said of her selection.

Sortino has been an East Islip cheerleader since age 6. The 2019 All-County athlete and Scholar-Athlete was twice a junior varsity team captain and earned the 2018 MVP award. As varsity cheer captain, she led the team to the UCA Nationals for the first time in East Islip history. She also served as an EICC youth league coach.

During her educational career at East Islip, Sortino was a member of the National Honor Society, served as secretary of the Foreign Language Honor Society and sang in the Honors Choir.

William Carpluk was selected as the Board of Education's new president for 2019-2020 during the annual reorganization meeting on July 2. Carpluk, who was first elected as a trustee in 2014 and served as vice president last year, replaces former President Christopher Zachry, who remains as a trustee.

Philip Montuori Sr., who served as Board president in 2015-2016, was named as vice president, and new trustee Christopher Nicolia joined the Board.

Fifth graders at John F. Kennedy and Ruth C. Kinney elementary schools took the next step in their educational careers in preparing for middle school, celebrating at two memorable moving up ceremonies, held at the high school’s auditorium on June 19 for RCK and June 20 for Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½. Hundreds of parents and family members were on hand to cheer as the students received congratulations as well as numerous academic and other awards.

“The moving up event represents the end of the children’s elementary education and the beginning of their secondary education,” said Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Principal Deborah Smith. “It was a joyous day of celebration and accomplishment of the final year at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½. We wish the children a fabulous summer and best of luck in East Islip Middle School, where we know they will continue to shine.”

“Over the past year here at RCK, I had the privilege of getting to know these fine young boys and girls,” said Principal Janet Jones. “They are an enthusiastic and inquisitive group of young minds, who I am sure will thrive in the middle school. I know they will take with them the virtues and character education that has been instilled in them here at RCK to help them grow to become productive members of society. On behalf of the entire RCK family, we wish them the best of luck in the years to come.”

The high school’s National Honor Society invested 55 members in a June 11 ceremony held in the middle school auditorium. Speakers included Co-Presidents Jolie Lenox and Kendall Mittleman.

Each member was required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of community service and collect the equivalent of $20 in donations, and each had to lead their own project in which the rest of the society participates in.

As a group, the EI NHS accomplished many things this year. They assisted the Science Honor Society’s blood drive, created a Safe Halloween event with the PTA and Key Club, supported the annual food drive, collected pillowcases and created dresses for young girls in Africa, participated in Christmas Magic, supported the high school SADD club’s fashion show, and ran numerous drives of their own ranging from hats and jeans to books and animal shelters. The NHS members also collected 12,200 water bottles and donated the $620 dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, teamed up with Keep Islip Clean to clean and landscape an area of Islip Terrace, and brought Mr. Hypno to the community for a fun night of hypnosis.

“These students worked tirelessly all year long, serving their community in many different ways,” said adviser Nicole Ingram. “The beauty of our investiture ceremony is that it recognizes the help that our members have had along the way. Each member chooses a mentor who has affected their lives along their journey. They write a letter to their mentor expressing their gratitude and why they were chosen. This is read out loud for the audience to hear, and there are many times when there is not a dry eye left in the house. It is truly a unique and special tradition that I am very proud to facilitate.”