Port Jefferson School District (PJSD)

The Port Report Connecting with the Port Jefferson School District Community

Volume 2, Number 11 April 2010

BOARD OF EDUCATION CREATES MEMBER HANDBOOK Noting that the Board of Education is subject to annual elections, and therefore experiences regular turnover in membership, the 2009-2010 School Board decided to create a guide for members that helps the Board team to become quickly oriented to Board work and to function as a corporate body. In the fall of 2009, the Board invited The New York School Boards’ Association to designate one of their staff members to lead a discussion on that topic with the Port Jefferson Board. Building on that experience, the Board created a three-member committee to study the workshop materials and create a Board Handbook outlining basic responsibilities and rules of operation of the School Board. By the end of June, the first edition of the handbook will be completed in time to assist new Board members taking office in July. Codified in the “2900 series” of the Board Policy book, the various guidelines, spelling out the critical processes of Board membership, will provide clear guidance for generations of Board members to come. Special thanks go to Lauren Hubbard, Elisa Scott and Mark Doyle for their diligence in seeing this project through. PJSD TEAMS UP WITH MSG VARSITY NETWORK Port Jefferson has joined the many districts featured on Cablevision’s MSG Varsity Network. The program,“MSG Varsity Outreach Program”, allows districts to showcase high school news, sports, information, entertainment, concerts, graduations, instructional goals, documents, and more to over 3 million Cablevision customers. News information is submitted through three media sources:

• Dynamic television channel featuring 24/7 coverage of hyper-local sports and activities (CHANNEL 14)

• Website destination for our school and region - Port Jefferson has its own online customized school page to showcase activities - http://www.msgvarsity.com/long-island/earl-l-vandermeulen-hs-port-jefferson

• Interactive television channel and video-on-demand featuring district events (CHANNEL 614)

PJSD will have the ability to telecast on MSG Varsity, and have student created content featured on-air and online. In addition, the MSG Varsity Outreach program will supply our district with the following financial support to help create and maintain content:

• A grant of $3,000.00 to help train and maintain our own interactive web-site for the school year of 2010-2011

• A grant of $3,000.00 to help train and maintain our own interactive web-site for the school year of 2011-2012

• Two $1,000.00 scholarships for 2009-2010 to be used towards an educational institution

• Two $1,000.00 scholarships for 2011-2012 to be used towards an educational institution

• Equipment – use of one video camera • Access to curriculum and training in multimedia creation and distribution

AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOL THEATRE And the nominees are . . . The Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council announced this week nominees of the Third Annual Student Theatre Arts Scholarship (STARS) Program Award. Thirteen ELVHS students have been nominated in nine categories for their performance or production work in school theatre. The STARS Awards recognizes student excellence in school theatre. Judges attend the productions of participating high schools located within the Town of Brookhaven and score students on a variety of skills. The top scoring students in each category are nominated. Port Jefferson productions that garnered nominations were “Macbeth” and “Once Upon A Mattress”. Congratulations to all the nominees: Alexander Steiner - Leading Actor in a Drama for the role of Macbeth, in “Macbeth” Ashley Ruggiero - Leading Actress in a Drama for the role of Lady Macbeth, in “Macbeth” Hayley Moir - Leading Actress in a Musical for the role of Princess Winnifred, in "Once Upon A Mattress” Dominic Famularo - Supporting Actor in a Drama for the role of Macduff, in “Macbeth” Michael Tessler – Supporting Actor in a Drama for the role of Banquo, in “Macbeth” Hannah Gross - Supporting Actress in a Drama for the role of Witch, in “Macbeth" Annie MacIntire – Supporting Actress in a Drama for role of the Lennox, in “Macbeth" Maya Mason – Supporting Actress in a Drama for the role of Witch, in “Macbeth" Hayley Moir – Supporting Actress in a Drama for the role of Lady Macduff, in “Macbeth"

Sean Swords - Lighting Design, “Once Upon A Mattress" Michael Sheinkopf - Program Cover / Poster Art, “Macbeth" Sean Swords - Stage Management, “Macbeth" Michaela Griffin - Outstanding Performance for Role of Servant, in “Macbeth”. This category was created to recognize a student who “shines brightly” in a role that is not eligible for adjudication in the leading or supporting categories. A formal awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, June 6, 3:00 p.m.,at the Shea Theatre, Suffolk Community College Selden Campus. 34 INDUCTED INTO NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY April 28th marked an evening of pride and celebration as 34 ELVHS students were inducted into the Port Jefferson Chapter of the National Honor Society Induction. The ceremonial keynote address was given by Port Jefferson Village Mayor Margot J. Garant, a 1982 graduate of ELVHS. Congratulations to the 2010 inductees: Maura Boehm, Allison Colyer, Drew Crovello, Ryan Elliott, Abigail Finer, Natalie Garland, Hannah Gross, Genevieve Hydek, Katherine Kaisier, Alexandra Kerestzes, Selina Koehnlein, Anisha Kolupoti, Anastasia Lennon, Michael Loper, Paige Lyons, Ann MacIntyre, Maya Mason, Ashley Melucci, Hayley Moir, Christa Pappalardo, Rachel Pastrich, Nathaniel Postol, Anthony Racanelli, Zachary Riis, Kyla Roeber, Alexa Sakovich, Katherine Shafer, Kurstyn Storms, Matthew Strauss, Emily Uldal, Nancy Valev, Allison Witrock, Maya Yergo, and Holly Zink. TRI-M MUSIC HONOR SOCIETY INDUCTION Seven ELVHS music students were inducted into the Tri-M Music Honor Society, Chapter 2172. The new inductees are Elizabeth Acampora, Thomas Aiello, Allison Cluett, Joey D' Auria, Abigail Finer, David Grier, and Christa Ghosio. Five seniors were also honored; Sam Agostino, Julianna Butera, Katherine Kaiser, Madeline Rosenberg and Lucienne Rosner, were acknowledged as lifetime members. In addition to outstanding musical achievement, students are selected into the honor society on the basis of five points of distinction: scholarship, character, cooperation, leadership and service. This special evening included an honors recital featuring performances by the new inductees immediately followed by a ceremony and reception. Congratulations to all of the new Tri-M members and lifetime members as well as their faculty advisor, Ms. Christine Creighton. STUDENTS QUALIFY TO PARTICIPATE IN 2011 NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Four high school students who took the Preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test met the requirements to participate in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program. With a selection index score of 201 or above, Abigail Finer, Anisha Kolupoti, Maya Mason, and Matthew Strauss, are among among the 50,000 highest-scoring participants of some 11.5 million program entrants. Semifinalists and Commended Students in the 2011 program will learn of their standings in September 2010 and at that time the school will be notified. LATIN STUDENTS COMPETE AT CERTAMEN On March 22, 2010, Latin students, accompanied by teacher Anne Algieri, competed with students from thirteen other schools in Nassau and Suffolk County in a Latin Certamen held at Stony Brook University. A Certamen is a fast-paced Latin contest testing students’ knowledge of Latin grammar, vocabulary, word derivations, Roman life, history, mythology, and literature. Each team (a maximum of four members) plays in the first two rounds against two other teams. The three teams with the highest cumulative scores advance to a final round to determine the winners. Students compete on the level of Latin in which they are enrolled. Ninth grade students Jonathan Chun, Todd Lewis, Jr., Constantine Spentzos and Dennis Walsh formed the Level Two Team with James Drueckhammer as an alternate. The Level Three Team was comprised of tenth grade students Ben Neiman, Michael McCarthy, Isabella Sanders and Isabelle Stark with Karin Holvik as an alternate. Congratulations to both teams who each garnered second place in this competition. GRADE 8 TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION RESEARCH Charles Bellino’s 8th grade Technology Education Research students competed at the annual Magnetic Levitation Vehicle contest held at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on March 24, 2010. Each student designed a vehicle with certain restrictions and specifications combining math, science and technology. A twelve page design portfolio was required with each design explaining how the vehicle was built, design problems, revisions, modifications, testing and analysis of the results. Kelli DiTomasso and Leah Neiman took first place in the Futuristic Category. Congratulations to the winners and all the students that participated in this challenging educational contest. ES & MS STUDENTS NAMED SUFFOLK ZONE WINNERS Fifth grade students Jillian Colucci and Sean Cavanagh and grade eight students Danielle Grier and Richard Antonacci are recipients of the 2010 Suffolk Zone Award. This award recognizes outstanding students in the field of physical

education. The elementary school and middle school physical education teachers nominated these students for their contribution to their physical education classes. Jillian, Sean, Danielle and Richard have proven themselves to be students with exceptional physical performance, scholastic ability and leadership qualities. Congratulations! MS STUDENTS PRESENT AT MODEL SCHOOLS TECHNOLOGY EXPO On April 16th, teacher Monica Consalvo and technology integration specialist Christine Austen accompanied 7th grade students Jeanne Goldstein, R.J. Parillo, John Howell, Joseph Sottile and Kristin Booker to the Model Schools Technology Expo held at Stony Brook University. The students presented their project entitled, Bedtime Buddies. This project allows reading to come alive for children who are in hospitals by providing them with a reading ‘friend’. Using FLIP cameras, the students recorded and made a video of their favorite children's books telling their new buddies about themselves. During the conference, the students showcased the project details with an in-depth PowerPoint and had audiences listen to their recorded books. This project is based upon the principle foundations of the “Roots and Shoots” program, founded by Jane Goodall. Bedtime Buddies allows students to become socially aware and connected to the world as a global community. According to “Roots and Shoots”, it puts the power into our youth.

GRADE 3 MARINE STUDY PROJECT The Grade 3 science studies on local salt marshes and the plants and animals that form this biome will be enhanced thanks to Port Jefferson’s Royal Educational Foundation and the Riverhead Foundation. The two organizations have formed a partnership that will expand learning beyond the classroom walls. The first phase of this project will bring our students to a local north shore beach for a clean up for the purpose of releasing a seal through the Riverhead Foundation. Prior to the seal release, students will receive a grade level lecture on marine animals of New York. A future phase of this project will involve tracking the movement of the released seals through electronic tagging. ES GARDEN CLUB PRODUCES GREEN THUMBS The elementary school Garden Club, run by co-advisors Ellen Boehm and Brian Kendrick, produces a program that celebrates the life cycle through plants. “Students learn to develop good planting soil, start seedlings, and grow several species of plants and vegetables,” explained Kendrick. “Students walk away with a real sense of accomplishment, pride and wonderful life skills,” added Boehm.

Through the club experience, students learn composting skills, as well as weeding and tending abilities. The group has worked with the local Suwasset Garden Club and has won Street Garden recognition. Plants are sold for a small fee to support the program for the following year. Many of the plantings on the elementary school grounds are the work of the Garden Club. Currently, fourth and fifth graders are working on refurbishing and beautifying the koi pond located in the garden court yard. PJSD DATES TO REMEMBER May 11 Budget Hearing, 7:00 p.m., HS auditorium May 18 Budget Vote and Board Election, 6 a.m. - 9 p.m., HS cafeteria

Click here to view the 2010 budget edition newsletter.

May 31 Memorial Day Observance – schools closed (special note: due to the use of a snow day, schools will be open on May 28.)

Be sure to peruse our school calendar for dates of award nights, concerts, and other end-of-the-year activities. Use the following link to ask questions, offer suggestions, and seek clarification on information. Link: ASK PJSD For more information on the PJSD visit our web site www.portjeff.k12.ny.us