From Lacrosse Victory To Teaching History

BY JASON WU OF JERECHO editors@antonnews.com

Michael Engelke took an interesting path to becoming an educator. After being admitted to college with a lacrosse scholarship, he worked in multiple summer camps where he discovered his passion for working with young people. Since history had always been one of his favorite subjects, he combined his two passions by becoming a social studies teacher.

Before coming to Jericho, Engelke had experience teaching in Brooklyn and Syosset, and for the past nine years he taught in Seaford. Engelke got his bachelor’s degree at Towson University and his master’s at Hofstra.

Three Syosset High School Students Qualify For National Math Olympics

Syosset High School students Maximus

Lu, 12, Katherine Li, 11, and Grace Lu, 9, qualified to participate in the Mathematical Association of America’s (MAA) USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO).

The USAMO is a six question, two-day, 9-hour essay/proof examination for qualifying students who excelled on the previous round of MAA exams, the AMC 10/12 and the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME). Only 558 students across the United States qualified to take this exam. A high score on this exam will qualify these students to attend the summer Mathematical Olympiad Program (MOP) at Carnegie Mellon University. The MOP program is a three week intensive camp that prepares students for the International Mathematical

Olympiad.

Maximus, Katherine, and Grace were among eighteen Syosset High School students to qualify to take the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME). To qualify to take the AIME, students must score in the top 5 percent of all students tested on the American Math Contest 12 or top 2.5 percent on the American Math Contest 10. The MAA’s American Mathematics Competitions program is a series of exams and curriculum that helps America’s educators identify and foster a love of mathematics in their students by building problem-solving and analytical skills in middle and high school students.

—Submitted by the Syosset Central School District

Jericho High School To Induct New Alums

The Annual Jericho High School Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held later this April at the Jericho Public Library.

The 2023 inductees are as follows:

Dana Arschin Kraslow

Class of 2005

Holocaust storyteller, 2X Emmy award winner

Robert Hahn

Class of 1970

Professor of Philosophy and Greek studies, author

Chris Kelly Class of 1992

Doctor, Chief of Pediatric Emergency medicine

Blake Zeff

Class of 1995

Filmmaker, journalist, political advisor

Congratulations to the inductees!

—Submitted by the Jericho Union Free School District

Engelke knew of Jericho’s extraordinary reputation, and is excited to be part of the Jericho High School faculty. “The reason why I decided to come here is that Jericho has a very good reputation in the educational world, being ranked one of the top public schools in the whole entire country. It has a reputation for commitment to high academic achievement from teachers as well as students,” he said.

Curriculum Associate for Social Studies, Business & Libraries Dr. Eric Sundberg was impressed with Engelke’s résumé. “Mr. Engelke stood out due to his experience with coaching students in research,” he said.

Engelke is dual certified which demonstrates his flexibility with different teaching methods. One of his proudest achievements is the leadership role he took in facilitating the establishment of the AP Capstone program in Long Island high schools.

Every teacher has their own unique ways of teaching students and Engelke certainly does as well. He believes that getting students excited to come to his class is one way to make learning fun and meaningful.

Junior Evelyn Z. admires Engelke’s classroom dynamic. She said, “I have always enjoyed Mr. Engelke’s class, and was energetic coming to his class due to the amount of energy Mr. Engelke gives.”

Engelke enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his friends who he has known since the sixth grade. True to his love of history, Engelke likes to travel all around the world. He has visited Tokyo, the Rainbow Mountains, and Machu Picchu. Closer to home he fondly remembers his cross-country trip that started on Long Island and ended in California after he visited 13 cities. When the weather turns too harsh for being outdoors, Engelke stated how he doesn’t mind staying home and watching some Netflix.

—Submitted by JerEcho