Issue 1 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Perspectives The Principal's N ewsletter A Message from Dr. Woodberry Hello High School East Community, It is hard to believe we are in the 3rd quarter of the 15-16 school year. It has been a great year so far at HS East. This issue highlights some of the meaningful accomplishments of our students in various areas. I am extremely proud of each of them. As you read through the pages, you will see that our students are truly benefiting from their experiences here at East with our remarkable faculty and staff! Although we are entrenched in the current school year, we are already preparing for the upcoming one as well. Students have been presented with electives, received recommendations from their teachers, and are meeting with their counselors to finalize their class requests for 2016-2017. Student course selections will be available to view on the Parent Portal of Infinite Campus as students meet with counselors. Parents should speak to students about their meetings with counselors and check the Parent Portal to review course requests with students. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact the Guidance Office to speak to a counselor. Requests to change a course will be considered until March 4th. As always, we thank the Board of Education, the Superintendent, Central Office Staff, the High School East PTSA, and of course, the parents of our community for making it possible for us to provide the best educational experience for our exceptional students. Remember: Respect, Responsibility and Excellence! - J. A. Woodberry, Principal
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Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
Thunderbirds Soar During Winter Season This winter season provided Thunderbird fans the opportunity to see history being made in the form of broken records and unprecedented success. First, the Girls Indoor Track team set four HSE records this season. Mary Chimezie set the County Meet record in the 300m dash in 39.94 seconds and the school record in the 55m dash with a time of 7.46 seconds; Maira Gomis broke a 10 year old Hills East record with a jump of 16'8"; Jenna Bottone broke a nine year old school record in the 1000m with a time of 3:10.73; and our 4x800m relay team of Olivia Teng, Madison Ciuffetelli, Katrina Barry, and Jenna Bottone established the school record at 10:20.86. The Boys Fencing team brought home the Suffolk County championship for the first time since the team was established nine years ago. The Girls Fencing team also saw great success and captured the regular season league championship and won the Long Island championship. The Boys Swimming team secured its 10th consecutive Suffolk League I title and won the Suffolk County championship as well, trumping second place 516-234. Alex Park won the 200 Yard Individual Medley and the three relay teams each took 1st in their events. HSE swimmers Alex Park, Tyori Wyche, and Kabir Randhawa will be representing the district at the State meet. Wrestling had another great year on the mats, qualifying 11 wrestlers for the county championships, and junior Philip Spadafora has advanced to the State meet. Girls Basketball returned to the playoffs and received a 10 seed in the Section XI Tournament after finishing the season with a league record of 8-6. After defeating West Babylon, Boys Basketball made it to the second round of the postseason. The boys finished 7-7 in the league and were led by senior captain D?Nathan Knox. -submitted by Mr. Kindelmann
Honors for Hills East's Fall Teams The NYSPHSAA bestowed honors on many Hills East teams for their work during the fall season. Sport smanship Commendat ions Schol ar-At hl et e Team Awards JV Girls Volleyball
Girls Cross Country
Boys Cross Country
Varsity Girls Volleyball
Field Hockey
Football
Boys Golf
Boys Soccer
Girls Soccer
Varsity Girls Tennis
Girls Swimming
Girls Tennis
JV Football
Boys Volleyball
Girls Volleyball
Girls Gymnastics
Varsity Girls Cross Country 2
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
2015-2016 Wi nter Sports Snapsh ot 3
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er Half Hollow Hills High School East
When Physics Meets Philanthropy Ever since the dawn of man, he has wondered about how the universe works. Imagine an ancient person wondering if that bright shiny thing above him will come back after it has gone away. This is perhaps the first phenomenon that man sought to explore and explain in a way that made sense to him. Man also likes to model these phenomena, usually mathematically, so that predictions can be made about the future behavior of physical objects. This is the basis of physics. In AP Physics C, one of the topics we study is the study of rolling. We have all seen rolling spheres, rolling wheels, etc., but how many of us have wondered just what is rolling and what causes it? Rolling is actually fairly complex as it is a combination of linear and rotational motion, just as projectile motion (which Tom Brady is expert at) is a combination of motion along two axes. Lessons on linear velocity, angular velocity, inertia, and mass help students understand why a can of pie filling rolls farther than a can of juice. You'll have to donate next year to find out for yourself! A great thing about physics is that we are able to take learning out of the classroom and into the ?real world?. As a way to test students?knowledge of this topic in a practical way, the Can-Rolling Contest is done by AP Physics C students here at HS East every year. The idea is that students bring in cans of food that are chosen so that they will roll straight and far. The cans are rolled down the same ramp and onto the hallway floor. The student whose can rolls the farthest is eligible to win the secret grand prize. In order to garner the grand prize, that student has to write up a short paper describing why his/ her can rolled farther than the other cans. This year?s winners were Theresa Bitetto in period 4/ 5 and Maurice Grossman in period 7/ 8. This contest is also used to teach some social responsibility as the cans are then donated to the St. Hugh?s Parish Outreach Center?s Food Bank in Huntington Station. A big thank you goes out to the IPC program and Wendy Rocco who also contributed cans to the contest and food bank. Also, thank you to Dr. Woodberry, Mr. Rendon, Mrs. Trotter, Mr. Kindelmann, and Mr. Pugliese for supporting our students. -submitted by Mr. Grunbeck
S'Wonderful! S'Marvelous!! The HSE Players present the Tony Award winning musical Nice Work if You Can Get It. Set on Long Island during Prohibition, the show is a hilarious romp of mistaken identities, bootlegging, and love. With a score by American composer George Gershwin, the show is filled with memorable songs from the Great American Songbook. Join us in the Eugene Orloff Auditorium on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 7:30pm. - submitted by Dr. McRoy 4
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
Another Successful Year at the Suffolk Math Tournament This is an exciting year for High School East?s Mathletes Club! On January 8th, the club brought home more awards than ever before from the annual Suffolk Math Tournament, including a top scoring individual at each grade level and a top scoring team in both the lower (9th/ 10th grade) division and upper (11th/ 12th grade) division. Individual winners were Jared Bank who placed 5th among ninth graders, Ryan Li who placed 4th among tenth graders, Rinni Bhansali who placed 2nd [as a ninth grader!] among juniors, Anton Wu who placed 1st [with a perfect score, no less!] among juniors, and David Morales who placed 5th among seniors. Of the 24 schools that attended from 20 districts, Jared Bank, Ray Chang, Kaitlyn Hoxha, Ryan Li, and Aaryav Nagpal finished 3rd out of 26 teams in the lower division. Rinni Bhansali, David Morales, Brian Rhee, Raymond Weisbrot, and Anton Wu placed 1st out of 49 teams in the upper division, outscoring the second place team by a margin of 28 points! This year marks several milestones for some of our club members, including Brian Rhee and Anton Wu?s third consecutive year of being on a top scoring team. This is also Anton?s third consecutive year as a top scoring individual. Perhaps the most remarkable accomplishment comes from one of our youngest participants, Rinni Bhansali, who has been attending the tournament since 6th grade and is now well on her way to being a legend with the potential for an unprecedented number of tournament wins: 4 consecutive years of wins with 3 years left of high school to go! Congratulations to these incredibly talented individuals and to all the dedicated club members for continuing to show up each week to do their best. A special thanks goes to Brandon Baraban and Gary Chen for volunteering their time to help out at the tournament behind the scenes.
North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad On January 28th, students from High School East and High School West participated in the open round of the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad at Farmingdale High School. They applied logic skills to solve linguistic puzzles during the 3-hour competition. We await the results to determine whether anyone will be invited to the invitational round scheduled for March 10, 2016. - both articles submitted by Ms. Suarez 5
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
Capturing the Senior Experience A fairly new program has surfaced in High School East?s wide selection of classes, and it?s called Senior Experience. This class is an innovative new form of learning that is centered around hands-on experience. It is comprised of a schedule in which two days a week students attend an internship of their choosing and on the other three days, the students participate in an interdisciplinary English and social studies class that focuses on current political issues. Class discussions are rooted around modern novels, plays and nonfiction books. Senior Experience does not have a traditional curriculum, and the course morphs as history forms around us. The class discussions and debates are intelligent and involved, during which the teachers treat participants as equals and students feel their opinions are taken seriously. The course?s format is heavily based on that of a college environment. Also, this is a class in which seniors will finally be able to learn skills that are vital to life in the real world such as doing taxes, paying bills, budgeting, and preparing for college. Senior Juliana Jacobsen commented, "No more wondering if you?re learning something that you?ll ever use in life." One of Senior Experience?s other central components is field trips to enhance that ?hands on? motif. Previous trips include taking a New York City food tour, going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and (the one that seems to be the fan favorite) participating in a business lesson at Skyzone. There is such an immense variety; there?s really options for everyone! Many seniors currently taking this course had never been on a high school field trip before, so it has really granted many students the opportunity for that unique and defining experience. Students take great pride in their internships as well. There are so many lessons that one can never learn in a classroom or a lecture. It?s that raw experience that really teaches how it feels to be in a certain field of work. The interns receive great amounts of social and emotional knowledge in addition to the technical experience. The sky's the limit when it comes to choosing internships. Mr. Cappiello, the internship manager of Senior Experience, is very willing to help those who struggle to find an internship, encounter difficulty in their internships, and everything in between. Overall, the benefits of taking Senior Experience are great in number. It is weighted as an honors class too, so students will be earning honors credit while having a great time in an interesting, engaging, and unique atmosphere. The class is very inclusive, even for those who are shy, and students feel they end up much like a family. Overall, Senior Experience is not an opportunity to be missed. -submitted by Juliana Jacobsen and Katherine Smith
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Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
Senior Experience Takes Big Lessons from The Big Short The class left at 9:30 to head over to United Artists theatre for an early showing of The Big Short. Prior to seeing the film, they were learning about the problems of income inequality and how the 2008 financial crisis had affected the inequality of today. The Big Short was the perfect film to see because its plot focused around the discovery of holes in the strategies of the big money-making companies that eventually led to the collapse of the country's economy. The movie may sound like a boring documentary, but was in fact a very interesting and awesome movie. The actors in the film were incredible, and their characters actually connected us to whatever was happening in the film. Probably the best aspect was that the movie explained economic terms in funny ways, like having celebrities explain them to the audience in little sections that would break the fourth wall, or by having Ryan Gosling?s character describe complex topics with comical analogies. This helped bring life to the film and made it really worth seeing, not only as an educational experience but as a fun field trip. - submitted by Nicco Mazziotto
Bouncing and Business On January 27th, the Senior Experience class had the opportunity to go to Skyzone in Deer Park, New York. It's an indoor trampoline warehouse with activities such as trampoline dodgeball and trampoline basketball. It's currently celebrating its one year anniversary, so this location is fairly new. As the students arrived, the excitement started to build and soon after, they began their trampoline adventure. The day was broken into an hour of free jump and an hour of learning about business and marketing. Students were offered intense activities on trampolines such as dodgeball, slam dunking, and flipping. These led up to an informative hour of learning about business in which the Skyzone employees discussed some of their marketing strategies. Students later had the chance to create their own themes, and they proposed ideas such as offering Disco Fridays, connecting slides to various levels of trampolines, and incorporating yoga. This trip was educational and interesting, truly the most efficient way to learn--giving students hands-on experience with business strategies while combining an opportunity for them to relax and blow off some steam. Overall, it was a day that the Senior Experience Class will remember! - submitted by Ellary Mischel 7
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
Cl ass of 2016 Seni or Banq uet
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Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
Peer Ambassadors Spread the Keys to Kindness On Friday January 29th, the Hills East Peer Ambassadors gathered to spread the word about bullying. Students passing by the table set up near the West Gym were able to learn about how widespread bullying truly is and the terrible impacts it has on kids each year. For example, approximately 22% of students report being bullied during the school year, and only 36% of all bullying victims report it. The Peer Ambassadors organization not only educated peers about these problems, but also gave them the opportunity to pledge to stop bullying by establishing a fun and healthy school environment. Students signed keys which represented the ?keys to kindness.? These keys will become a part of a larger art sculpture, created by Ms.Norris? art classes. The sculpture will signify the support shown by the academic community to help inspire change and stop bullying. Peer Alliance Day was fun for all and an amazing way to spread a great message! Thanks to all who showed their support! - submitted by Akash Patel
Science Research Students Dominate Symposium Earlier this school year our Science Research program submitted 11 student projects to the Long Island Regional Junior Sciences and Humanities Symposium (JSHS). These projects were reviewed among all other Long Island submissions and approximately 90 semifinalists were selected and invited to present at York College. From our original 11 projects, 9 were selected to present at the regional level on February 7. High School East's Shiv Patil placed 3rd in his category at the regional level! Additionally, 11 Long Island student projects were named as Finalists for finishing either 1st place or having the top second place score in their category. All 11 of these projects are invited to compete against each other at York College on February 27th. From that group, the top five projects as determined by the judges receive an all-expense paid trip to the National JSHS to be held this year in Dayton, Ohio from April 27-30, 2016. Congratulations to Brian Rhee for being one of the final 11 projects competing for a spot to the National JSHS! -submitted by Dr. Lake
Vargas to Represent East in State Assembly Hills East junior Jaileen Vargas was selected to attend PR/ HYLI (Angelo Del Toro Puerto Rican/ Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute) as a delegate. She will travel to Albany with other high school students from around the state to participate in a mock assembly session in the NYS Assembly Chamber and have the opportunity to interact with state legislators. In addition, students are committed to attend three full-day sessions in addition to the weekend event at the State Assembly. Jaileen has enjoyed the program so far, and she believes that "it's great to meet students from Nassau and Suffolk and share this experience." 9
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2016 DECA SUFFOLK COUNTY REGIONAL COMPETITION AWARD WINNERS! The Hills East DECA Business Club once again shined at the Regional Competition at Suffolk Community College. The students' hard work and dedication to the club certainly paid off; the team had 47 award winners! Students competed against every school in Suffolk County in a variety of business topics through tests and role play events. Some topics included: finance, sports marketing, accounting, marketing management, and job interviewing. The team will have 36 students representing High School East at the DECA State Competition in March. Congratulations to the winners, and the entire club, for a job well done. - submitted by. Mr. Cappiello 1st Place Samta Abrole Nolan Berkenfeld Jesse Blatt Skyler Sands Brandon Sekler Jack Wang 2nd Place Nicholas Ferranti Justin Fuchs Drew Jacovsky Victoria Jin Dahlia Koppell Matthew Shumer 3rd Place Brooke Blumberg Zachary Homler Bailey Kaston Chad Katzelnick Dylan Keane Dean Schmigelski Parker Siegel
Top 10 Winners Matan Baram Ashley Blatt Andrew Dholakia Benjamin Ferbin Evan Fermoselle Alec Friedman Rachel Gassler Matthew Goetz Max Goldberg Casey Goldstein Samantha Hammer Zachary Jenkin Jacob Kaufman Noah Kaufman Zachary Leff Ryan Lelis Rishi Nangia Cynthia Pang Ashley Rodriguez Eric Rothman Samantha Rothman
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Harrison Rubin Logan Rudman Michael Sivin David Targett Jacob Tawil Michael Weisman Andrew Zegans
Honorable Mention Zachary Berlin Jared Breakstone Sanjana Devjani Nicole Hecker Bailey Klein Jamie Kreinces Rebecca Raphaelson Max Wells Andrew Yanover
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
Rising Business Stars
Seniors Practice Financial Literacy
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is the largest career student organization in the world. Each year, FBLA helps over 250,000 members prepare for careers in business. The mission of FBLA is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs. FBLA programs focus on leadership development, academic competitions, educational programs, community service, and awards & recognition. The HSE business students participated in the FBLA District S1 Competition on January 15, 2016 on the LIU- Post Campus. This year, 18 HSE business students participated in the event.
The senior experience internship students have recently began a fantastic interactive budget challenge simulation through H&R Block financial. The challenge shows students what it is like to properly budget, and plan for life after college. The simulation lasts for a three month period, and allows students to take control of all aspects of their financial decisions. From credit cards, to car insurance, to planning for retirement, students have the ability to control all aspects in this simulation. Samuel Ferbin, a senior in the class, observed, "It is a very accurate and hands-on simulation that taught me how to budget my money."
- submitted by Ms. Southard FBLA 2016 Winners Sport s Market ing 1st Place
Benjamin Ferbin
The H&R Block financial simulation also offers scholarships for top winners, and it allows the students to receive more information after the simulation is over on such topics as opening their own bank accounts, and saving for the future through H&R Block.
Ent repreneurship 4th Place
Ashley Rodriguez
Job Int erview 4th Place
Natasha Bajaj
Market ing 4th Place
Overall, it is a great way for the students to learn more about business and finance, and, possibly most importantly, helps them to improve their own financial future.
Bradley Weltmann
Account ing 1 5th Place
"When my students come to me and say, 'My car insurance bill is due next week, and I don't have enough money to pay it!' I know that they are getting a taste of the real world," says Mr. Cappiello. "The next step is to properly teach them how to budget, and save for bills and those types of situations. It is a skill they need to master before they graduate college."
Jacob Sycoff
-submitted by Mr. Cappiello
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Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er
Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Half Hollow Hills High School East
HSE Young Scientists Dominate Competition The Hills East Science Olympiad teams had a tremendously successful day at the Eastern Long Island Regional competition. They competed at Brentwood High School, facing 47 teams from 26 schools drawn from across Suffolk County. East's three teams earned 30 medals in 19 of the 23 events and placed 4th, 7th and 30th overall, which means that they will be heading to the State competition for the tenth consecutive year. They also had several strong performances from underclassmen, who will be added to the State team and should enable the team to perform up to its historical standard. Students who placed in the Top 10 of their respective events are listed below. Rachel Anszelowicz Edward Li Viren Sabhnani Rinni Bhansali Ryan Li Jason Wang Aaron Charlack George Misthos Ishan Sethi Joshua Feig David Morales Hyunsu Shin Daniel Giaime Isaac Morales Michael Wolf-Sonkin Cassandra Grello Aaryav Nagpal Nathan Wolf-Sonkin Evan Huang Cynthia Pang Jacob Wolf-Sonkin Victoria Jin Shiv Patil Anton Wu Anna Lando Nathan Perfetti Jiachen Lee Ravjot Sachdev
Architecture Club Goes To Signal Hill Architecture Club joined with Mrs. Giammalvo?s 4th grade class at Signal Hill on February 1 to collaborate on an experimental woodblock car project. Architecture Club Vice President Kelli Jablon organized an activity in which club members designed prototype cars that propel forward using sails that catch wind created by standard box fans. Club members cut the woodblock cars into triangular shapes and then drilled multiple holes in the top of each car to prepare for the 4th graders to experiment with inserting one or more sails. Club members worked together with the 4th graders to design sails that would effectively harness the wind force and propel the cars forward. Each car was presented to the groups as a bag of parts consisting of a triangular wood block, dowels to hold the sails, railroad board for the sails, two metal axles, four drilled wheels and erasers to hold the wheels in place. Michael Lehmann, Amman Malik, Mary Bekheet, Matthew Gillam, Daniel Meltzer, Sam Messinger, Jared Meltzer, Hallie Dale, Sabrina Goldman, Melissa Peralta, Matthew Pam, and Tarin Sussman-Kim all worked closely with group of two students to come up with successful designs for both the sail shape and car assemblies. Austin Holzer, Joseph Tantillo, Matthew Pam, Seth Kunoff and Michael Daleo organized the race car test area and set up a track marked with ruled lines to measure distance. Mrs. Giammalvo?s students enthusiastically tested their cars with various sail combinations to see which one was most effective. Seth Kunoff designed a lab-style worksheet for each group to document their experiment and ultimately calculate their cars' speed based on time and distance covered. Our HSE Architecture club members worked for several months preparing the cars and organizing this successful learning experience. Club advisor Ms. Mead beamed, "I was proud to see our HSE students encouraging and leading the 4th graders toward success, while providing an enriched learning experience. -submitted by Ms. Mead
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Issue 3 | Volume 8 | 2015-2016
Perspect ives - The Principal's Newslet t er Half Hollow Hills High School East
A w ards and Honors
Great j ob by al l f or demonstrati ng th e v al ues of Hi gh Sch ool East!
High School East junior Sophia Lettieri has been named the 2015-2016 Suffolk Region Reflections Contest winner for Literature. Her short story will advance to the New York State Competition.
Maurice Grossman and Gibran Boyce have been selected as the Students of the Month for December 2015. Thank you for demonstrating respect, responsibility, and excellence.
Jamyr Mayard and Anthony Calos were selected as January's Students of the Month. Their actions exemplify the values of our building!
Hills East is proud to announce that Zachary Baumgartner, Cassandra Grello, Brian Rhee, and Ravjot Sachdev have been named Finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program.
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