School News

Southampton High School senior Luke Collum was recognized as the Rotary Student of the Month for April.

Collum is president of the Best Buddies Club, a member of the American Sign Language Club, and a co-founder of the Unified Sports Club. He also serves as captain of the varsity golf team and is a member of the varsity spring and winter track teams, as well as the cross-country team.

Outside of school, Collum is a member of the Southampton Fire Department Juniors program and Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance. He enjoys playing golf and working with children with special needs in his spare time. He plans to major in golf management at Penn State in the fall.

Rolfy Caal and Riplee Mercer, both seniors at Southampton, were recently recognized by the Parrish Art Museum with awards of excellence as part of the museum’s annual student art show in the 3D category. Caal submitted a yarn weaving, and Mercer’s piece was a wooden toothpick sculpture.

Southampton Elementary School held its annual Spanish spelling bee on March 29. Fourth grader Arely Flores and third grader Rafaell Caetano tied for first place and were awarded a medal and certificate.

Hampton Bays

Hampton Bays School District students competed in the 2019 New England School Scrabble Championship, held in Ridgefield, CT, on April 6 and 7.

Students competing included sophomore Holly Anderson, seventh grader Matt Papajohn, eighth grader Christian Pensa, and fifth graders James Maroulas and Sonny Scelfo. Homeschooled students John Hilbert and Taylor Tureski also competed.

Papajohn and Pensa finished second in the intermediate division and will continue on to the 2019 North American School Scrabble Championship in Philadelphia on April 27 and April 28.

Maroulas and Scelfo earned second place in the novice division and took home the high play novice division award with 41 points.

Springs

The Springs School will host a Superintendent’s Coffee Hour with Deb Winter on April 29 following Spirit Meet. All are welcome to attend. Springs School will also be closed for Spring Recess from April 19 through April 28.

Westhampton Beach

Westhampton Beach High School Science Research students presented their projects at the Long Island Science Congress competition at St. Anthony’s High School on April 10.

The 16 students had been working on their extensive research under the direction of science teacher Dr. Dianna Gobler with topics including microplastic accumulation in sediments and shellfish, the elemental composition of paleontological samples, and nicotine’s effect on the behavior of Caenorhabditis elegans. Results of the competition will be available in May.

Research students Jack Halloran, Evan Lockwood, Jane Paulson, Casey Gallagher, Jade Hawkesworth, and Matt Daleo recently participated in the Medical Marvels competition hosted by the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at Northwell Health in Manhasset.

As part of the competition, the students were challenged to find a solution to vaping in schools, a major health issue in New York State. The students, under the direction of Dr. Gobler, designed a plan that included infrared technology and microchips in student identification cards to reduce incidents of vaping in high-use areas.

Seventh graders at Westhampton Beach Middle School recently created original clay Imperial Eggs as part of a study of sculpture.

The students in Erin Jacob’s art class studied the historical beginnings of Fabergé’s famous Imperial Eggs and were then tasked with designing and constructing their own eggs that incorporated a theme, a stand, and an element of surprise.

Tuckahoe

Tuckahoe Common School District won the “Gold Tray Award” in the USDA Food’s “Show Us Your Tray Photo” contest with the meal of teriyaki chicken over noodles.

The school’s pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration is still open for residents of the district. For more information, call the district’s main office at 631-283-3550.

Riverhead

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association recognized Riverhead’s varsity teams of girls basketball, boys winter track, girls winter track, and boys bowling as Scholar-Athlete Teams.

Each team had cumulative averages above 90 during the winter athletic season. The varsity bowling and junior varsity boys basketball teams also earned team sportsmanship awards. A total of 85 student-athletes received individual scholar-athlete awards for maintaining an average of 90 or above, and 33 student-athletes earned individual accolades, including All-Country, All-League, and All-Conference.