Huntington School News
The Nassau and Suffolk art communities are still talking about Huntington High School’s breathtaking 32 Best in Show awards at the Long Island Media Arts Show at Five Towns College in Dix Hills.
Huntington photographers won a stunning 20 Best in Show citations. Jane Donovan (eight), Zachary Burden (five), Sarah Mosden (three), Kaitlin Dayton (two), Grace Dreusike (one) and Ismael Martinez (one) all won Best in Show honors.
Huntington’s graphic designers won 10 Best in Show Awards, including four each by Ekaterina Koulakova and Aaron Feltman. Justin Meyer and Kathryn Hajny captured one Best in Show citation each.
Huntington also garnered a pair of Best in Show awards in the high-powered video category. Samantha Carroll and Olivia Liepa were both recognized for their outstanding short films.
Several other Huntington students presented their work at the show, which featured many of the top young artists on Long Island.
Upcoming BOE Meeting
The Huntington School Board will hold a public meeting on Thursday, April 24 at 8 a.m. in the superintendent’s conference room located in the district office wing of Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School. The purpose of the meeting is to vote on the Western Suffolk BOCES administrative budget and to vote for two Western Suffolk BOCES trustees.
Donations Accepted
Huntington High School parent Deborah Robbins has donated a full-sized violin with an estimated value of $400 to the music department.
The Telecom Pioneers Patchogue Club donated a 9x12 foot carpet depicting a map of the United States to Southdown Primary School.
The Huntington School Board accepted the donations with “appreciation.”
New STEM Coach
Huntington School Board members have appointed Gail Bennington to serves as the part-time STEM coach at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School. She replaces Rae Montesano, who was elevated to the principal’s position.
Ms. Bennington holds BA (geological sciences) and MA (secondary education) degrees from Hofstra University, where she also completed her school administrator certification requirements.
Prior to coming to Huntington, Ms. Bennington worked as a science curriculum coordinator in Garden City, as a science administrator in Central Islip, as a curriculum director of math and science in Lawrence, as an interim middle school principal in Plainview-Old Bethpage and as a substitute teacher in Rockville Centre. She has been an adjunct instructor at Hofstra since July 1998.
District officials reviewed 62 applications and interviewed five candidates prior to recommending Ms. Bennington to the Huntington School Board for appointment.
“Jump into Spring” at Washington
The Washington Primary School student leadership team sponsored a “jump into spring” collection for the Helping Hand Rescue Mission on Broadway in Huntington Station. Students collected items related to baskets that were distributed to children aged 3-12 at a Mission celebration in April. The items include empty baskets, artificial grass for the baskets, jellybeans, chocolate bunnies or chocolate eggs, stuffed animal rabbits and marshmallow PEEPS.
2014 Homecoming Date Moved
Huntington High School’s Homecoming Day festivities will be held on Saturday, September 20. (The event had been tentatively scheduled for October 11, but was moved to accommodate those taking the SAT that day.) The afternoon will feature a football game between the Blue Devils and powerful Miller Place. A pep rally is being planned for Friday afternoon with float building activities set for Friday evening.
The traditional Saturday evening Homecoming Day dance is being moved to Thursday night from 6-9 p.m. after student leaders voted to make the change. It is hoped that moving the dance to a weeknight, attendance will surge.
“There have been a few recent pieces in the media about the ‘the death of the high school dance’ and how schools all over the country have been canceling dances due to poor attendance and social media pulling kids to other places,” said teacher Anthony Troffa, who serves as Huntington student government advisor along with faculty colleague Fred Bisogno. Besides a fun night for students, the dance is an important fundraising activity for the student government, which uses the monies to support a host of initiatives throughout the year.