Perspectives Volume 2, Issue iii March 19, 2009

A Special Message from Dr. J.A. Woodberry, Principal

HALF HOLLOW HILLS

HIGH SCHOOL EAST

PRINCIPAL’S

NEWSLETTER

The Insider’s View:

• HSE at Carnegie Hall

• DECA on a Roll!

• Academic Team meets

The Challenge

Inside this issue:

Courtyard Art Installation

3

HSE’s Speedy Six 5

Science Olympiad 6

Trivia Challenge Winners

7

District E-Mail Alerts

8

HSE Names Top-20 Scholars for Class of 2009

One of the great milestones of the school year comes when High School East names its Top-20 Scholars. The Class of 2009 adds a fresh set of faces to the outstanding tradition of academic excellence established by Thunder-birds in years past. Here are our Top-20 Scholars: Julia Goldberg—Valedictorian and National Merit Scholarship finalist, Kristen Fletcher—Salutatorian, Kristin Diamandis, Brittany Dryer, Samuel Edwards, Herman Gill, Samantha Goetz, Kevin Kong, Sander Kravet, Brett Morris, Alyssa Petersel, Jared Saunders, Benjamin Schapira, Daniel Schiraldi, Nicole Smolenski, James Troise, Omar Waqar, Logan Weissler, Garrett Young, and Nancy Zhang. We congratulate these students, their families and teachers for all of their hard work. Their efforts have laid a strong foundation on which they will build a golden future!

We are nearing the final stretch in a year that seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. Spring sports season is underway. Students are registering for AP Examinations. National Honor Society selection is taking place. The incoming grade 9 parent orientation is approaching, and seniors are even being measured for caps and gowns! Before we know it, we will be deep into final exams and seeing another spectacular class off to flourish beyond the halls of High School East. As the year draws to an end, I thought it appropriate to use my space in this issue to share information with you about the wonderful people with whom I work every day. Of course it is an honor to work with the students of this com-munity, and I express that on every occasion I have the opportunity to do so. In this instance however, I am referring to the teachers of High School East. I have the pleasure of working with some of the best educators on Long Island and perhaps in the nation. Our teachers are brilliant, knowledgeable in their content areas, creative, and hard-working. They routinely go beyond what is mandatory to stimulate and inspire our students to reach their potential. Above all else, they care about our students and exhibit this through all that they do in the classroom, during their non-teaching time, and in extracurricular activities. This issue is full of examples of students excelling in several areas of school. Realize that behind most of these accomplishments is a club advisor who spends every day after school with her students, a teacher who stays up way past his bedtime to ensure that all of his notes and important information are on his eBoard, or a teacher who reads and re-reads a student’s college essay. There is not enough space to describe all of the ways High School East’s teachers and staff contrib-ute to our students’ success and to making this school a great place to be. The teachers to whom I refer exhibit respect, responsibility, and excellence every day. They are fine models for our students and exemplars for others in the profession. I am sure the people of this community appreciate the work our teach-ers do. Students, make sure you thank a teacher for all that they do for all of us. Best wishes to everyone for a strong finish to the third quarter!

Chelsea Birns and Peter McNierney, both juniors at High School East, competed with some of Suffolk County’s best artists in the Michael J. Grant Campus of Suffolk County Community College Arts and Humani-ties High School Arts Competition. Chelsea and Peter are both studying Advanced Placement Studio Art with Ms. Kim Norris. The lessons they’ve learned about how color and composition convey emotion have helped both students stand out among their peers.

High School East Artists in Juried Competition

Chelsea’s painting, Fear of the Dark, used harsh light and deep shadow to convey a child’s anxiety when the world he knows is cloaked in darkness. Peter’s drawing ...And Eve Wept, captures the remorse and shock felt by the biblical character Eve after she has tasted the for-bidden fruit. In his drawing, the Garden of Eden has faded into a green blur as a lone Eve contemplates her sin. Congratulations to Peter, Chelsea and Ms. Norris for showing the rest of the county the great work that happens at High School East.

Give Us the Space and We’ll Make Art!

An arc of bland wall-space behind the lecture hall is being converted into a classic school spirit mural by members of the art department and some of their most talented students. With a contemporary Thunderbird logo designed by Mr. Ben Wiley and classic varsity-letter styling precisely drawn by Ms. Marianne Mead, High School East will enjoy this vibrant symbol of school spirit for years to come!

High School East’s art history scholars, led by Ms. Ally-son Uttendorfer— their tireless muse, created a unique piece of pop art in the eastern courtyard. As if shot through the sky by Elvis in a Robin Hood costume, this Pop Art–inspired sculpture utilizes found ordinary ob-jects. The use of found objects in art began with the Dada movement, but gained new meaning in the 1950's. Jasper Johns, a contemporary Pop Artist who utilizes the icon of a target to convey his own personal insecurities, serves as our inspiration. He was literally targeted by society for showcasing his views through his art. This theme has transcended into the lives of high school stu-dents who are often restricted by society, preventing them from expressing themselves freely. Therefore, we introduce our postmodern interpretation of a target. The Target is filled with student messages, where they anonymously expressed a hope, dream, or secret. Thanks to Ms. Uttendorfer for her contributions to this item.

Ms. Uttendorfer and Art History Students Hit the Bull's-eye

Symphonic Band Puts on Airs at Carnegie Hall

High School East’s Symphonic Band lived up to its level-six gold rating as it performed in front of an enraptured full-house crowd at Carnegie Hall on February 10th. Led by Mr. Robert Belanich, all 100 members of the band played with precision and finesse on one of the world’s great concert stages. The set consisted of Robert Pearson’s Palomar Sym-phonic March, Alfred Reed’s A Festive Overture, and Clare Grundman’s transcription of Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide. The Symphonic Band’s performance was part of the Four Winds Best Bands International series and also featured bands from Johnstown High School, Hewlett High School, Baldwin High School, and the Hewlet-Wantagh Festival Winds.

HSE DECA Team’s Stunning Victory at Regional and State Contests

High School East DECA teacher, Mr. Joseph Cappiello sent over 50 students to January’s Suffolk County Regional Business Championship contest. According to their website, DECA is “an international association of high school and college students studying marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing.” The students of High School East embody the spirit of entrepreneurship and combine it with hard work, youthful optimism and creativity. Forty-five of our students won their individual and team competitions to achieve champion status. Here are their names: Scot Abrahamson, Greg Albanese, Syed Ali, Alex Aronson, Mike Balot, Anthony Bavaro, Dylan Berkenfeld, Schuyler Berland, Jesse Bierman, Brett Cohen, Jacob Dorfman, Meg Edelman, Brandon Ehrlich, John Franco, Max Gevirtz, Joe Giordano, Alexa Goetz, Max Gold, Adam Haiken, Jaclyn Kaufman, Sander Kravet, Sachin Kumar, Mikaela Kur, Christian Laskaros, Justin Levin, Joshua Majewski, Timsi Muttreja, Adam Needleman, Kevin Oh, Karishman Sabhnami, Jon Scharf, Sanam Shah, Brandon Siegenfeld, Rebecca Simon, Navriti Sood, Marc St. Gourdin, Mason Thorbjornsen, Laura Vavoules, Jake Weil, Mike Winter, and Dana Zarett. Eight students also took runner-up prizes: Brandon Azus, Mike Denino, Austin Geller, Cory Padell, Danielle Spano, Max Truen, Nicole Vanella and Jake Weinstein. The DECA team also had a fantastic trip to the state championships in Rochester, NY earlier this month. By the time all was said and done, High School East had 3 state champions and 6 of the Top-10 spots. Karishma Sahbnami and Alexa Goetz won the championship for financial analysis management. Aneesh Shah won top honors for Marketing Management. Jake Weil, Zach Goodman, Brian Farello, Scott Abrahamson, Jessi Bierman, and Dylan Berkenfeld all placed in the top ten in their categories. Congratulations to all of our students for this fine achievement. Special thanks are also due to Mr. Cappiello for pro-viding the inspiration, guidance, and expertise that made such a remarkable win possible!

Four members of East’s Academic Team competed on News 12 Long Island’s widely watched quiz show, The Challenge. Dan Schiraldi, James Troise, Sonia Bansal, Olivia Wang, and Samantha Weinberg felt the heat of the lights as they faced off against their counterparts from Sachem High School North. News 12 anchor and quizmaster, Scott Feldman fired out challenging questions about history, arts and literature, science, and math. The fabulous 4 were supported in the audience by fellow team members, family, and their academic leader, Mr. Patrick Breig. Although the team did not win, Dan, James, Sonia, and Olivia gave maximum effort in rep-resenting High School East. Congratulations to our newest television personalities!

Hills East Academic Team Makes T.V. Debut on The Challenge

East’s Six Streak Past Suffolk, Set Sights on State

The Suffolk County Winter Track Championships proved to be a golden opportunity for six of High School East’s quickest team. Farath Raphael, Carly Emmer, Brittany Parrott, Morgan Donovan, Jessika Kagan, and Joanna Troetti blew away the field as they took the county title in the 4x200 meter relay Section XI Championships. Farath won the Section XI championship in the 55-meter hurdles. Farath has also earned All-American status at the March na-tionals! All of the girls represented East at the state championships at Cornell University. All track and field athletes know the value of conditioning, discipline, and drive, but relay teams must have something more. Each member must know how she fits into the team’s overall strategy and have an intuitive sense of how to interact with her partners. From the opening gun, through the baton passes to the final charge for the tape, the HSE team has shown that they have internalized the lessons learned in practice and in the heat of competition. Best wishes to the team and to their coaches Ms. Beth Zebuth and Ms. Laura Anderson.

High School East Dominates Science Olympiad

On Saturday, February 7th the High School East Varsity Science Olympiad team defeated 43 other teams from 27 schools from across the county to win the Eastern Long Island Regional Competition, held here at High School East. This win is especially momentous since it is HSE’s first Olympiad victory since 1999 and only its second in history. Mr. Thomas Page led his squad through their paces as they contested other powerful teams from throughout Suffolk County. Mr. Glen Cochrane also played an instrumental role in the team’s victory. Mr. Page and his team wish to thank his fellow science teachers, the custodial staff, the High School East administration, Mr. John O’ Farrell and all of the district administrators as well. Our students earned eight gold, six silver, and fourteen bronze medals - many students won multiple medals for their diligence and excellence! While the victory was certainly historic, it was decisive as well. The High School East teams unseated longtime champion Ward-Melville High School by outscoring them 121-85. From the staid disciplines of cell biology and herpetology to the riotous excitement of “SumoBots”, East’s medalists showed the rest of the field how it’s done! Here are our medalists: Sonia Bansal, Will Chan, Will Choi, Sam Edwards, Carly Emmer, Russell Fein-stein, Kristen Fletcher, Ashton Hsu, Brett Norris, Dan Park, Rohit Ramani, Elissa Warmbrand, James Song, Olivia Wang, and Nancy Zhang. Congratulations to all!

HSE Trivia Challenge Supports United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk County

Ms. Matoula Lykos, Ms. Corrienne Jackson, and Ms. Susan Damato helped plan and run a very successful Trivia Chal-lenge competition in support of United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk County. UCP is an advocacy organization devoted to advanc-ing “the independence, productivity, and full citizenship of people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.” The Suffolk County UCP chapter is one of 100 affiliated branches that operate throughout the United States. Each year United Cerebral Palsy provides support to over 30,000 Americans. While UCP does focus on people who are diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the majority of their clients are affected by other developmental and physical disabilities. Like any not-for-profit organization, UCP derives a large part of its support through the charitable work such as that done by the teachers and students at High School East. Students gathered in the math wing to compete for bragging rights in the Trivia Challenge. In teams of three and four, students wrestled with a 100-question exam that tested their knowledge of geography, current events and popular culture. While the trivia teams wracked their brains to find the winning answers, Ms. Lykos circulated through the rooms offering en-couragement and fortifying snacks. She also collected $1,300.00 from the competitors that was donated to United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk County. At the end of the day, one team stood out above all others. Operating under the fierce and mysterious name of Team Kill-Shark, Jonathan Franco, Jessica Golden, Rachel Gerber, and Brandon Ehrlich showed their mettle as trivia mavens. Students and teachers alike were proud of their work and honored to have helped one of our area’s most worthy service organizations!

The UCP Suffolk Health Center in Central Islip

Brandon, Jessica, Rachel,

and Jonathan—HSE’s Ulti-

mate Trivia Team!

High School East 50 Vanderbilt Parkway Dix Hills, NY 11746

Produced by: Edward M. Cannone Assistant Principal

Phone: 631-592-3128 Fax: 631-592-3121

E-mail: ecannone@hhh.k12.ny.us

HALF HOLLOW HILLS

HIGH SCHOOL EAST

PRINCIPAL’S

NEWSLETTER

Signs of the Future at High School East

High School East

Visit Our Website:

www.halfhollowhills.k12.ny.us

Parents can subscribe to the district-wide email system to receive email updates, emergency an-nouncements, news of weather related closings, delayed openings and other important information. Those with children already in college may already be familiar with similar systems used by top uni-versities around the country. Signing up is easy:

• Go to the district’s homepage at www.halfhollowhills.k12.ny.us

• Look in the right-hand column under Announcements and scroll down to the bot-tom of the page. Click on the line that says “Subscribe to the District Email Notification System”.

• The email notification page will pop up. Click on the blue word Subscribe.

• Follow the directions on the next page that pops up, fill in the information, and hit subscribe.

• You’ll go to another page where you can fill in your username, set a password, and even enable the system to send a text message to your mobile phone.

• Once you’ve completed the process, you will receive a confirmation email to ensure that you are in the system.

Once you’re done, you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you’ll never be out of touch with your child’s school system.

Sign-Up Online for Vital District News Via E-Mail!

A new lawn sign for High School East has been the main project for our School Based Management Team and is now close to becoming a reality. In order to raise the final funds needed, we are asking for donations through our “buy a brick” campaign. The bricks cost $50 each and may be engraved with names of up to 13 characters. They will become part of a landscaped walk-way around the lawn sign. The sign itself will be state of the art LED with text and graphics. If you are interested in helping us update our sign and con-tinue to beautify our school, please see the attached flyer—donate and feel great!