Deer Park High School juniors Kayla Cruz and Ava Sacarin recently won first place in the Medicine/Health category at the American Chemical Society’s Chemagination Competition, held on March 7 at St. John’s University in Queens. 

The competition challenges high school students to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for “ChemMatters,” a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. For this imagined article, the students must create a breakthrough or innovation in chemistry in one of four categories – Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Health and New Materials – that has improved the quality of people's lives from 2025 to the year 2050, including details on the development of their invention, the science behind it and how it would work in the future. Additionally, students are asked to design a cover for the magazine. Cruz and Sacarin’s project focused on contact lenses designed to detect glucose levels in tears and monitor the health of the wearers.

“These contact lenses would basically be another smart wearable, but to the next level,” Sacarin said. “I participated in Chemagination last year, but we didn’t make it to the final round. This year, I decided to participate again, and we got a little more involved with it and ended up winning first place, which felt really good.”

“Chemagination is a great idea to show the opportunities that science has for teenagers, because this competition was geared towards teenagers,” Cruz said. “Using your imagination, there’s so much in the medical and environmental fields that can be done with science, and I think that really is shown through Chemagination, because you have the motivation of the competition, and you also actually learn a lot through your project.”

“Ava and Kayla’s inspiring love of science and vision for the future were on full display in their very impressive showing,” science teacher Ed Libretto sad. “I have no doubt this is the first of many future accomplishments by these talented students.”

Date Added: 3/24/2025

Deer Park High School’s DECA club brought home five trophies after competing in New York DECA’s 65th annual State Career Conference. The 45 participating DECA members from Deer Park were among nearly 2,500 high school business students from across the state in attendance at the annual contest, held March 5-7 at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester.  

Trophy winners were Lauren Marable, earning first place in Principles of Marketing; Reza Zorakhsh, earning second place in Personal Financial Literacy; Syed Muhammad Hashmi, earning third place in Principles of Finance; Sidra Syed, earning third place in Food Marketing; and Ruby Kappel, earning sixth place in Apparel & Accessories Marketing. These five trophy winners earned the right to move on to compete in DECA’s International Career Development Conference from April 26-29 in Orlando, Florida.

Top 10 test winners were Abigail Cullen (Hotel & Lodging Management), Valerie Ponte (Human Resources Management), Jayna Singh (Quick Serve Restaurant Management) and Madison Griffin (Retail Merchandising); a Top 10 role play winner was Jaidyn Schabe (Personal Financial Literacy).

Seniors Shubat Alam, Gloria Min, Valerie Ponte, Hassan Rehman and Adib Shaikh were inducted into the New York DECA Honor Society; requirements for induction include three or four years of membership in the club, an 85 average in all classes, a 90 average in business classes and participation in at least one state conference.

Also, Deer Park High School’s school store received School-Based Enterprise Gold Level Re-Certification thanks to a proposal written by Gloria Min and Valerie Ponte.

“Congratulations to all of our students on a job well done,” Deer Park DECA adviser Gregory Menig said.

Date Added: 3/21/2025

Deer Park High School held its annual winter varsity sports awards night on March 12, hosted by Athletic Director Dominick Fontana. Dedicated members of nine successful winter athletic teams – cheerleading, kickline, boys and girls basketball, wrestling, boys bowling, boys swimming and diving, and boys and girls winter track – were presented with certificates and plaques recognizing Most Valuable Player awards, Coaches Awards, Spirit Awards and Scholar-Athlete awards.

Date Added: 3/20/2025

Deer Park High School students Christian McMillian and Alishba Syed attended the BOCES Long Island Regional Student Forum on Feb. 28, joining peers from school districts across Long Island for fruitful discussions on pre-chosen topics of importance to students.

“This year, we talked about the school environment, how we learn and what we do to learn,” said McMillian, a senior. “We also discussed mental health and academic pressure and how it affects students, what administration and teachers can do better, and how we deal with things. One thing I got out of it was what our school does well and what other schools don’t do. I think compared to other schools, there’s not much to complain about in Deer Park. It really showed me that our school does a great job in having a good school mental health environment and all the right facilities. That’s the big thing I really gained and saw from that event.”

Date Added: 3/20/2025

Deer Park High School recently welcomed eighth graders from Robert Frost Middle School for an engaging and informative Elective Assembly, designed to introduce them to the many opportunities awaiting them in high school.

During the event, students met with high school administration and guidance counselors, gaining valuable insights into their transition to ninth grade. They also enjoyed an exciting presentation by student representatives, showcasing a variety of extracurricular activities. High school teachers introduced the diverse elective course offerings, helping students explore their academic and creative interests for the upcoming school year.

In addition to these informative sessions, students had the chance to walk through the high school hallways, visiting key locations such as The Roost, auditorium, library and chorus room. This firsthand experience gave them a glimpse into their future school environment, building excitement for the next chapter of their educational journey.

“This event is a fantastic opportunity for our incoming students to experience the energy and excitement of Deer Park High School,” Associate Principal Dr. Dina Pannone said. “We want them to feel welcomed, supported and inspired as they take this important next step in their education. We look forward to welcoming the Class of 2029 to Deer Park High School!”

Date Added: 3/20/2025