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Please see the attached letter from Superintendent Dolan.

Online registration for the SCOPE Saturday Enrichment Program is now available by . 

The high school’s boys and girls cross-country teams recently traveled to Orlando to compete in the Disney Cross Country Classic, battling some of the best teams from around the country as well as the oppressive heat. Many of the Redmen athletes earned personal best times in the five-kilometer race at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. Guided by coaches John Reynolds and Ralph Tubello, both teams ran well and competed valiantly in their respective divisions, the girls team finishing fifth out of 12 and the boys team seventh of 13.

“Our Disney trip was an overall fun and athletic experience,” said fellow senior and girls team captain Christina Haig. “Runners had the chance to compete with top schools from around the country, encounter different athletic courses and adjust to running in the Florida climate. The team bonding that existed through the entire trip really made my experience 10 times more enjoyable. As captain, I can safely say that our cross-country team gained a sense of trust, acceptance and encouragement because of this opportunity.”

“It was a great experience,” said senior and boys captain John Leddy. “Obviously the parks were enjoyable, but I feel most of the value in the trip existed in the team bonding that we experienced. It was also beneficial to race with top-tier competition. As a senior and leader of the team, I feel like I really got closer to my teammates, and now I believe that the younger guys know what high-tier runners look like and hopefully they’ll be motivated to reach that level themselves.”

The East Islip Chamber of Commerce recently honored East Islip High School senior Heather McNamara and junior Ashley Rosenthal as Students of the Month. Both were chosen for their community service as well as the numerous afterschool activities that both students are actively involved in every day of the year.

McNamara, who will graduate next June, plans to major in special education and minor in sign language as part of her career goal of becoming a teacher. She is president of the Key Club and a member of the National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society and SADD Club. McNamara serves as an ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, helping grant wishes to six children to date, as well as the Kiwanis Club of the Islips, and as is a spokesperson for the New York Blood Center and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. She volunteers at the Hospitality Too Soup Kitchen at St. Anne’s Church in Brentwood.

Rosenthal, the webmaster for the school’s Key Club, also serves as treasurer for the Student Council and is a member of the Foreign Language Honor Society, Academic Club, Environmental Club, French Club, Interact Club, Leaders Club, Peer Club, STARS Club and Yearbook Club. She also tutors hearing impaired students in English and geometry at the Cleary School for the Deaf. 

Four outstanding student-athletes and team captains from the high school – Lindsay Guzzetta, Kendall Mittleman, Melissa Sconone and John Sidorski – signed national letters of intent on Nov. 21, committing to play lacrosse in college next September. The seniors were congratulated by Superintendent John Dolan and Athletic Director Stephen Restivo for their achievement, in front of their proud families.

Guzzetta, a midfielder, will play for Plattsburgh University, where she plans to major in health and wellness. Guzzetta, a member of the school’s Foreign Language Honor Society and Honor Roll, was named All-Division in lacrosse as well as All-County, All-Division and All-Tournament in field hockey.

Mittleman, who plays attack, will join the Drexel University team. She has been named All-County in field hockey and All-County Honorable Mention in lacrosse, and is the president of East Islip’s National Honor Society.

Sconone, who also plays attack, signed with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She plans to major in exercise and sports science. She has been named All-County and MVP, was a member of the Under Armour highlight team and a Newsday Top 100 Player, finished as one of the top 10 scorers in Suffolk County, and was nationally ranked by “Inside Lacrosse” at No. 25 and was the third ranked attacker in the 2019 class.

Sidorski, who plays attack and midfield, signed with Lehigh University where he plans to major in business. He was named All-County and All-League, a U.S. Lacrosse All-American, 2018 Attackman of the Year, a rising junior and sophomore All-Star, and a member of the Super 7 Champs team. He was nationally ranked by “Inside Lacrosse” at No. 33 in the 2019 class.

The high school gymnastics team finished the season as undefeated league champions, boasting a record of 6-0. East Islip was the only team in League II to qualify for the Section XI team championships, and after a tough, competitive meet, the Lady Redmen moved up to an exceptional fourth-place finish in Section XI.

All-League honors went to Allison DellOrto, Sofia Ferrezza and Sarah Vasquez. Four team members – Cassie Bergin, Nicole O’Connor, Evie Orlando and Isabella Procaccini – earned All-County status and qualified for the Section XI individual championships, hosted by East Islip. Bergin finished first overall and qualified to compete with the New York State team for the third time.

“Each and every one of our amazing student-athletes contributed to this successful season,” said coach Dennis Jones.

As part of learning about the tools and capabilities of Adobe Illustrator, students in Heather Toomey’s electronic illustration classes at East Islip High School recently created a mandala coloring book for a class project.

“I was really excited about this collaborative class project,” said Toomey. “Creating art and being able to share it with others is one reason why I love teaching art so much. Each student was able to create a beautiful work of art as an individual, and then as a group, we created something that others can use and enjoy. I would invite everyone to color in a page, photograph it and post it to social media with the hashtag #eiFineArts.”

Matthew Mahon, the student chosen for the cover artwork, said, "I was honored to be selected by my classmates.

“It’s nice that we got the opportunity to express our artistic creativity and share it with others so they can experience it too,” said student Alyssa Huss.

The Master Readers Book Discussion Club at the middle school held its first book discussion on Nov. 8, reading “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.” Now bigger than ever, the club and librarian Valerie Ware Comneck enjoyed a fun-filled meeting with a Dewey Library Scavenger Hunt, puzzles, riddles, Jeopardy and a lively discussion.

Eleven members of the high school’s Mock Trial team recently traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts with coach Patsy Lester to participate in the Angela R. Matthew High School Seminar Program at Harvard University.

The students attended two days of lectures and workshops with the Harvard Mock Trial team and competed in in two trials. Senior and team captain Meghan Walsh and sophomore Kate McGaugh were honored with Outstanding Witness awards for their performances, while sophomore Vince Papillo was recognized as an Outstanding Attorney.  Freshmen Emily Blair and Grace Gerondel were excited to compete in their first trials. 

“I learned so much and I hope we can come back next year,” said Blair.

Students in Kathy Carter’s music class at Timber Point recently learned about the human skeleton through music and movement. Rhythmic concepts were incorporated in the songs “Hello, Mr. Bones” and “Dry Bones,” accompanying the “Mr. Bone’s Cupboard” activity based on the David Pelham book “The Skeleton in the Cupboard.”

The high school’s Camryn Kreuscher was named county champion in the 50-yard freestyle at the Section XI girls high school swimming championships, held at Suffolk Community College on Nov. 3. She also earned a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Kreuscher is now ranked 10th in New York State in the 50-yard and 15th in the 100-yard. She will compete on Nov. 15 and 16 at the state championship in Ithaca.

Other members of the East Islip/Connetquot swimming team also found success at the county event. Kaila Ohara finished 12th in the 100-yard freestyle and 23rd in the 50-yard freestyle, Shannon Wodicka finished 19th overall in the 200-yard freestyle and 26th in the 100-yard freestyle, Rachal Romney placed 16th in the 100-yard freestyle and 28th in the 100-yard backstroke, Faith Calabrese placed 17th in the 100-yard butterfly and 22nd in the 100-yard backstroke, and Kelsy Kreuscher finished 19th overall in diving.

At the high school, an outstanding total of 40 current students were named AP Scholars for 2018 by the College Board. The Advanced Placement Program recognizes several different award levels for college-level student academic achievement on AP courses and exams.

Twelve students – Kristen Bayreuther, Marcela Gallardo, Steven Gieseler, Jonathan Guadagno, Shannon Hubany, Joshua Koretz, Stephanie Milito, Isabella Pasha, Maggie Ruland, James Smalley, Kenneth Terwilliger and Cole Zanni – were named 2018 AP Scholars with Distinction.  
Nine students – Zara Aziz, Jenna Buquicchio, Kyle DeLisi, Trevor Garnett, Kylie Goess, Victoria Keenan, Jolie Lenox, Shane McGarry and Natalie Stergakos – were named 2018 AP Scholars with Honor. 

Nineteen students – Kevin Coles, Emma Commisso, Natalie Davies, Allison Dell Orto, Nicholas Finger, Karina Gallagher, Thomas Gonzalez, Kiana Blandin, Nicole Catanzarite, Daniel Guthleim, Christina Haig, Robert Kelly, Madison Lane, Annie McLean, Fatima Reyes, Julianna Spina, Cassidy Stephen, Colin Tadlock and Logan Witte – were named 2018 AP Scholars. 

“We congratulate all 40 of our AP scholars for the results of their hard work and determination to achieve in the rigorous AP courses we offer,” said Principal Mark Bernard.

In advance of Veterans Day, students at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ and RCK had the chance to invite their family’s veterans to attend special celebrations on Nov. 9, featuring parades through the schools’ hallways, patriotic presentations and musical performances.

“This day has become my favorite day in East Islip,” Superintendent John Dolan told the assembled veterans. “Because of brave men and women like yourselves, we have great opportunities in this country to do wonderful things. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you do and all you’ve done, for being heroes and role models, and most of all, for being mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa. You deserve nothing but our love and support and appreciation.”

The middle school recently dedicated a memorial garden to students Kerri Becvar and Grace McDermott, who passed away in the last two years. East Islip’s For the Kids Foundation provided funding for the garden, and local Girl Scouts Ashley Flyntz and Morgan Lanberg donated their time to install it.

EI apparel can be purchased with access code EIADMIN18.

For the first Say Hello Day on Oct. 4, students and staff at each of East Islip’s four elementary schools were encouraged to reach out to someone that they did not know during the day, with the goal of fostering feelings of acceptance and inclusiveness. Everyone wore name tags to assist in easily making new friends while building a sense of community.

“It was fun to be able to say hi to everyone by name and set a positive tone for everybody in the school,” said Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Principal Deborah Smith. “It’s always a great day when you increase the number of people you were able to make feel good by simply sharing a ‘Hello!’ Our goal this year was to create a culture of connectedness. It was a fantastic day of demonstrating kindness to everyone.”

The high school earned All-State recognition by the New York State School Music Association for 13 student-musicians this year.

At this year’s All-State Music Conference, Alexandra Bertolini (soprano), Emily DaSilva (soprano), Karina Gallagher (alto) and Katelyn Spina (alto) will perform with the All-State Mixed Chorus; Victoria Tiernan (soprano) will perform with the All-State Treble Chorus; Liam Greene (French horn) will perform with the All-State Symphonic Band; Victoria Keenan (violin) and Alexandra Stewart (flute) will perform with the All-State Symphonic Orchestra; and Cassidy Triolo (clarinet) will perform with the All-State Wind Ensemble.

Additionally, Max Calarco (jazz trumpet), Luke Ferrari (tenor), Vincent Guiliano (bass clarinet) and Jason Novellano (alto saxophone) were chosen as alternates.

Students were selected after performing for an All-State judge at last year’s NYSSMA festival and their performance and application reviewed by a committee in Syracuse this past summer. The nine selected students will travel to Rochester, NY on November 29 to rehearse with the All-State ensembles, under the direction of selected university professors and professional conductors from around the nation. After three days of rehearsal with the finest musicians in New York State, their hard work will culminate with a performance at the historic Eastman Theatre in front of an audience of over 2,000 people.

“The All-State selection process is very intense and competitive,” said East Islip’s band director Christopher Neske. “Thousands of students across New York State audition for a very limited number of seats. To have nine students from East Islip selected to perform at the conference this year, along with four students designated as alternates, is not only a testament to these students’ incredible hard work and dedication, but also a recognition of the strength of our districtwide music program.”

Click to view an Inside Edition discussion on school bus safety with Suffolk Bus master instructor Frank Klein.

In conjunction with the district and the East Islip community, FTK is launching the #FromEastIslipWithHeart campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to gather items needed by the victims of Hurricane Michael and ship them down to the affected area. We all know we live in the most amazing community, let's share some of our kindness with those that could benefit from it. FTK is underwriting the cost of the tractor trailer to transport the donations to Florida. The tractor trailer will be parked in the high school parking lot during the second week of November. It will be open to accept donations on the following dates and times:

Tuesday, Nov. 6 from 4-7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 8 from 5-8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 10 from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

We are requesting the following items:
Bottled water, sunscreen, toilet paper, paper towels, dust masks, cleaning supplies, wipes, garbage bags and ziploc bags.

At the district’s Oct. 25 Board of Education meeting, three members of the eiMAPS organization – President Meghan O’Hara, Vice President Gigi Guiliano, Treasurer Mickey Neske and Correspondence/Membership Coordinator Maureen Meier – were recognized for the group’s continued support. The district’s art programs have been the recipient of nearly $25,000 in donations from eiMAPS over the past several years, including a Pearl drum set and other musical instruments, sewing machines, MacBook Pro computers, and the Picasso People program.

The eiMAPS parent organization, whose abbreviated name stands for East Islip Music and Arts Program Support, was initially developed in 2012 to preserve the art and music curriculum, and now continues its effort by donating items, assisting with field trips, distributing scholarships, and providing guest presenters and special programming. Recently, eiMAPs invited the district’s National Art Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society to its monthly meetings to incorporate student ideas, enhance community outreach, and support students’ vision and endeavors. 

“Our art and music programs, as well as our community, are looking forward to a bright future with such a caring and supportive organization as eiMAPS,” said Dr. Robert J. Wottawa II, the district’s director of art, ENL, music and world languages.