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East Islip High School's Key Club will hold its annual talent show from 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11. Tickets are a $5 suggested donation.

The club has raised thousands of dollars over the years for charitable causes, and the talent show extravaganza is a big part of this fundraising tradition, having served to obtain donations for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, the Red Cross and even various members of the East Islip community who are facing financial crisis due to mounting medical bills.

The club has raised thousands of dollars over the years for charitable causes, and the talent show extravaganza is a big part of this fundraising tradition, having served to obtain donations for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, the Red Cross and even various members of the East Islip community who are facing financial crisis due to mounting medical bills.

"Our Key Club is always looking for ways to help in our community as well as looking at problems that face our world," said teacher Daniel Falkman, the club's adviser. "This year’s show will be memorable because we are raising money, as well as donating my ponytail to Locks of Love for the third time."

Students interested in performing can sign up in front of Room 262.

Recognized for their hard work and musical skills, 22 elementary and middle school students from East Islip were chosen by the Suffolk County Music Educators Association to perform in this spring’s All-County Concerts.

Selected from Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ were Julianna D’Addario (chorus), Ryan Flad (band), Lexi Hernandez (chorus) and Ella Tantillo (orchestra).

From Ruth C. Kinney Elementary School, students chosen were Lucas Aparicio (band), Allyson DeLorenzo (chorus), Kirsten Sorbi (chorus) and James Terhune (orchestra).

Middle school students chosen by SCMEA included All-County Band selections Ella Micalizzi (flute), Cierra Stephens (flute) and Damon Swinson (French horn); All-County Chorus selections Emily Blair (soprano), Ryan Canarozzi (baritone), Timothy Hogan (baritone) and Stephen Law (baritone); and All-County Orchestra selections Ryan Auffant (trombone), Michael Baldino (trumpet), Caleigh DiBenditto (cello), Robert Finn (tuba), Chiara Mosca (viola), Keira Tantillo (violin) and Brandon Zane (bass).

Tonight's capital improvement bond tour has been rescheduled to 8 p.m.

Working to offset some the costs of the upcoming senior prom, East Islip High School’s Class of 2018 hosted a successful Paint Night fundraiser on March 8. More than 70 community members turned out in support of the senior class, enjoying a night out painting wood plank signs with their friends and families.  The event was organized by Class of 2018 co-advisers Kate Boucher and Shannon Behrhof.

Four talented young artists – Kaylin Cuba, Jenna Donnelly, Bobby Heller and Cassidy Stephen – from the high school were chosen for Nassau Community College’s 20th annual Arts and Science Fair. The program offers an opportunity for art students across Long Island to have their work showcased in a gallery as well as participate in the competition. This year’s theme was “Education...Liberation,” asking students to examine the role that education has played in their lives and reflect on how it opened new doors for them.

Heller and Stephen represented East Islip for the computer graphics category of the competition, while Cuba and Donnelly were chosen for the photography category of the competition. Only two entries per category for each Long Island high school are entered.“I am proud of my electronic illustration and photography students who were chosen to represent East Islip in this showcase,” said their teacher, Heather Toomey. “I am so excited to be teaching electronic illustration this year. Creating art on the computer is one of my favorite mediums in the art, and the entire class did an excellent job on this project. I selected Bobby’s piece to be printed large and displayed in the front lobby because he chose a powerful symbol of freedom and liberty. He created a wonderful visual interpretation using typography in Adobe Illustrator. This was also a great opportunity to showcase his work in a contest and exhibition at Nassau Community College with the themes of education and liberation.”

“A couple of years ago I didn’t even know I was good at art or even interested in it, and now I am hanging one of my works up in the school and exhibiting at a college,” said Heller. “It is an honor.”

“I was excited to have the opportunity to show my computer art in this competition at Nassau Community College,” said Stephen.

Said Cuba, “I was really honored that Mrs. Toomey picked me to be a part of this competition and exhibit.”

Juniors Julia Bocamazo and Julianna Spina represented East Islip as members of the Section XI girls bowling team that won the state title this month. The team – also featuring Hannah Manetta of Comsewogue, Taylor Eggert of Kings Park, Rachel Hines of Longwood and Amanda Naujokas of Sachem – featured the six student-athletes with the highest averages in Suffolk County. Bocamazo finished with a 222.2 average, while Spina finished with a 218.1 average.

High school freshman and All-County gymnast Cassie Bergin was named to the 2018 Newsday All-Long Island gymnastics team in a March 23 ceremony. Bergin, who recently earned a third-place finish in balance beam while competing at the New York State girls gymnastics championships, was one of only five student gymnasts to earn All-Long Island status.

“Congratulations to Cassie for being selected and honored from a group of over 1,000 athletes,” said coach Dennis Jones.

Due to road conditions and continuing snow accumulation, East Islip schools will be closed today, Thursday, March 22.

Please be advised that we will be having a two-hour delayed opening for tomorrow, Thursday, March 22, for all schools.

Last year, second-graders at Connetquot made “birthday boxes” for the Birthday Wishes organization, donating birthday items for homeless children who cannot afford their own birthday parties. These brightly wrapped “birthday in a box” packages are filled with everything necessary for a great birthday celebration.

This year, the entire school got involved. A total of 32 birthday boxes were donated from Connetquot’s kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade classes. The boxes will be distributed to needy families along with a bag of wrapped gifts for the birthday celebrant.

Sydney Berni, a second-grade student in Melissa Love’s class said of the experience, “I liked making the boxes because it helps others.”

High school student-athletes Colin Cross, Logan Martenson and Will Tricarico – all members of East Islip’s junior varsity hockey team – participated in the Suffolk County High School Hockey League’s All-Star Game, held on March 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Due to the uncertainty of tomorrow’s forecast, please be advised that as always, we will make a decision regarding school closures with the health and safety of our children and employees first.

If the weather and forecast in the morning of March 21 is conducive for school and the weather changes once our students have arrived, we may be forced to cancel afterschool activities and/or end the school day early. If that should occur, we will be sure to give you notification as early as possible.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Parents and students in grades K-12 are invited to East Islip's first annual STEM/Robotics Night, which has been rescheduled to April 23. It will be held at the high school from 6:30-9 p.m. The original date of March 21 was canceled due to weather.

The keynote speaker will be Kenneth White, director of Brookhaven National Lab Office of Educational Programs and co-chairman of the Long Island STEM Hub. He will give a presentation in the high school library at 6:30 p.m.

Students are invited to interact with high school and middle school robots that will be set up in the cafeteria along with elementary STEM projects. Fourth-grade science fair winners will display their winning projects, and high school science research students will be in attendance to discuss their research projects.

The high school celebrated P.S. I Love You Day with positivity and teamwork on Feb. 9, sponsored for the second consecutive year by the school’s student council, with help from members of several other clubs including STARS, Key Club, Gay-Straight Alliance and the literary magazine. In preparation for the event, East Islip students cut out purple hearts that were displayed in the main lobby, and made hundreds of purple ribbons that were distributed to students and staff.

“It was our goal to have as many clubs as possible come together to make this a success,” said adviser Jessica Pignataro. “We hope to make it bigger and better every year.”

In 2010, P.S. I Love You Day was started by West Islip teenager Brooke DiPalma, following the tragic suicides of her father and a senior at her school. The event is held annually on the second Friday of February to promote positive messages of love, acceptance and community, symbolized by the color purple.

In attendance was Islip Town Councilman Steve Flotteron, who spoke with the students about the day and his personal connection to the DiPalma family.

With enriching demonstrations of French, Italian and Spanish language and culture, as well as American Sign Language, the high school celebrated Foreign Language Week in the school’s library during the week of March 5.

Tuesday was American Sign Language Day. Students wore T-shirts with sign language messages, signed popular songs in ASL, taught basic signs and the alphabet, and played fun games with visiting fourth-graders from Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½.

For Spanish Day on Wednesday, students watched a Foreign Language Honor Society presentation in the library about the roots of flamenco dancing and how it inspired Irish step dancing. They then moved into the school’s Forum for a live performance by senior Kathryn Bingham, an accomplished Irish step dancer who competes nationally and was honored with first place in a recent competition.

“Kathryn has been dancing for 15 years, and her love of dance was evident as she danced the entire day and encouraged her peers to participate by inviting them on the stage to learn intricate dance steps,” said teacher Lisa Rapiejko.

For Thursday’s French Day, French Club members presented a French cabaret where they sang popular French songs, and Italian Day on Friday found the school’s Italian students demonstrating the tarantella dance, discussing famous singers and songs from Italian culture and teaching some basic vocabulary in Italian.

“Our students certainly enjoyed learning about different languages and cultures through engaging, fun-filled activities,” said Rapiejko.

In the event’s annual poster contest, sponsored by Dr. Janet Hiller, first place went to Joelle Tomossone, second to Emily Alexander, third to Shannon Wodicka and honorable mention to Kelli Karlin. This year’s theme was “Languages: Windows to the World.” Dr. Hiller, the district’s retired world language chairperson, provides the winners with bookstore gift cards.

The high school’s annual musical, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” will be presented on March 22, 23 and 24, beginning at 7:30 p.m.  Sunday performance at 2:00 p.m.
 
“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is a comedic, interactive whodunit mystery musical that allows the audience to take part in the action and become the ultimate detectives. The show is based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel of the same name. In the small town of Cloisterham, England, the young and charming Edwin Drood has been mysteriously murdered. But by whom? His leering rival, John Jasper? The infamous purveyor of opium and vice, Princess Puffer? The mysterious Landless twins, newly arrived from a distant land? Or someone else even more dastardly and villainous?

Dickens passed away before he was able to reveal the culprit. Rupert Holmes’ award-winning musical solves this predicament by asking the audience to not only choose which character is the murderer by putting it to a vote, but settling up who the mysterious detective and the love duet are, too. Every night could have a different conclusion!

The cast of “Drood” includes Kyle Westgate-Addessi (The Chairman), Andrew Timmins (John Jasper), Karina Gallagher (Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood), Victoria Tiernan (Rosa Bud), Sara Rapuzzi (Helena Landless), Stone Locke (Neville Landless), Katelyn Spina (Princess Puffer), Jake Acocella (Mr. Crisparkle), Sebestian Ovalle (Durdles), Michael Silva (Bazzard) and Kieran Tohill (Deputy).

Tickets are $12 and available at 631-224-2145.

High school freshman and All-County gymnast Cassie Bergin competed in the New York State girls gymnastics championships, held March 3 at Cold Spring Harbor High School, and placed third on balance beam at the with a score of 9.55. This was Bergin’s second stint on the state team; she previously was a member of the Section XI state girls gymnastic team as a seventh-grader.

Works by two exceptional high school student-artists – Hailee Cornell and Julia Desiderio – were recently chosen by the Suffolk County Art Leaders Association for display at this year’s All-County SCALA/BACCA Art Show Exhibition. The annual exhibition was Open to high school students in grades 9-12, the annual exhibition was presented at Old Town Hall in Babylon during February.

“The SCALA show was an astounding experience,” said Desiderio, who attends Joy Taylor’s photography class. “I was honored to be chosen and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to see the perspectives of each contestant. I am proud to have received this opportunity.”

Cornell, who is enrolled in Heather Toomey’s electronic illustration class, said, “It was an honor to be chosen for the exhibition, and with my new experiences in digital arts, I am able to express myself more every day.”

“I am so proud of Hailee for her work in electronic illustration,” said Toomey. “She is an excellent student and exceptional artist. She deserves the honor of being chosen for the SCALA show and have her artwork hung with the best art students around Long Island.”

Two heroic educators at Timber Point were honored for their recent first aid actions during a March 8 Board of Education meeting. Both successfully performing the Heimlich maneuver, kindergarten teacher Michele Brodtman saved a child who was choking on a Fruit Roll-Ups snack, while paraprofessional Deborah Keating saved a child who was choking on a chicken nugget during lunch.

“Both children were saved due to these amazing women jumping into action, responding to the situation without hesitation,” said Timber Point Principal Danielle Naccarato.

Also recognized during the board meeting were students who were selected for the Long Island String Festival Association and the three winners of the middle school's annual spelling bee.

Displaying a growing mastery of technology skills, middle school students recently held a demonstration of the school’s VEX-supplied robotics program, which debuted this year. This new robotics class, which is made up of seventh- and eighth-graders, meets every other day under the direction of technology teacher Hal Kench, working to perfect the skills needed to operate these machines. Both grade levels learn to work together as a team in order to successfully complete each task.

For the demonstration, the students brought their VEX robots to the middle school’s professional development room to show how they operate and what each robot has to do in order to complete its mission, lifting four colorful blocks and moving and placing them on the opposite square tile. The students then taught district administrators – including Superintendent John Dolan, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Personnel Paul Manzo, East Islip Middle School Principal Mark Bernard, and East Islip High School Principal William Brennen – how to use the robots.

“This was a true STEM event, showcasing how these students have begun to learn about building robots, and coding and programming them,” said Technology Director Israel Malinowitzer. “The adults also had a great time and tried competing with one another to see who could get all four blocks into one square tile.”

Support the high school's annual SADD/PTSA Fashion Show, to be held Thursday, March 15 at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Legislator Tom Cilmi and Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. will host Operation Safe Child at the Islip Public Library on March 31. Please see flier for details.

The high school's varsity bowling team, a perennial powerhouse under coach Bob Cheadle, finished off another season in style, being named Suffolk County champions and earning second place in New York State on March 10 in Syracuse. It was the Redmen’s second consecutive county championship – a rare feat – and its fourth in the last six years.

For the county contest, team members included seniors Justin Orobello (237.33 average in six games), James Spina (213 in six games), Eric Tadler (224.6 in five games) and Anthony Valente (245 in one game); junior Aaron Rice (213 in five games); sophomore Sonny Pico (233.67 in six games) and freshman Joe Zagari (290 in one game).

Fourth- and fifth-grade students from Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ and RCK participated in school-level competitions for the 32nd annual Town of Islip Sharpshooter Basketball Contest.

Sponsored since 1993 by the Islip Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Islip Elks, the Sharpshooter “Just Say No to Drugs” program offers local students the challenge of scoring as many baskets as possible in one minute, improving their skills in basketball while providing an alternative to drug abuse.

Earning first place for Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ at the school level were fourth-graders Carley Amato and Jayden Dell Isola, and fifth-graders Kenshin Brown and Emily McIntee.

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ runners-up were fourth-graders Kiera Bloch and Niko Meyers, and fifth-graders Ethan Benardos, Jordan Maloney and John Talt.

Earning first place for RCK at the school level were fourth-graders Jayden Maitre and Brianne Martin, and fifth-graders Thomas Costerelli and Stephanie Nunez.

RCK runners-up were fourth-graders Dylan Bayer, Grace Micali,  Matt Pesfield and Reese Varani, and fifth-graders Kara Marshall, Ryan Parker, Jaden Schmidt and Maddalena Toto.

The first-place winners from each school moved on to compete in the final round of the town-wide contest, held on March 3 at East Islip High School.

Students from the high school’s Interact Club recently partnered with One Warm Coat to hold a coat drive in the high school. Guided by adviser Lisa Rapeijko, more than 70 coats were collected and donated to Long Island Cares for distribution to Long Island residents.

“There is a real need for coats in our local community, and One Warm Coat’s program made it easy for us to make a difference,” said Autumn Nelson, the Interact Club’s co-president. 

“We had a goal of collecting 30 coats, and we doubled our expectations,” said Courtney Herrera, also a club co-president.

“Our students enjoy helping others in the community and appreciate knowing their efforts will ensure that coats are given to any person in need, without charge, discrimination or obligation,” said Rapiejko.

As part of a recent unit on life in Colonial New York, fourth-graders at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ gathered information on the activities that Colonial-era children played to pass the time, using nothing but sticks and rocks. While investigating these pastimes, the students were also figuring out how to “unlock” an “escape box” that each learning team was assigned.

The students also learned about the many jobs – such as butchers, bakers and candlestick makers – that existed during the time period when the state’s early settlements were founded, and collected information regarding the geography of New York State in this interactive multi-sensory lesson incorporating the “escape room” concept.

Eighth-graders Ameer Basher, Jake Kilrain and Damon Swinson were chosen to attend the 13th annual Suffolk County Music Educators Association Day of Horn, held recently at Northport High School. The three young middle school musicians participated in clinics and rehearsals with acclaimed guest artists, culminating in an evening concert featuring the students as part of a giant horn ensemble.

Please view the attached letters from Superintendent John Dolan and the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association.