At Deer Park’s June 18 Board of Education meeting, the district honored numerous impressive student achievements and said farewell to longtime Superintendent Eva Demyen, who is retiring.

The evening began with a performance of a song by Robert Frost students from Rachel Burkel and Stephanie O’Connell’s classes and the Friends of Frost Social Club, which was dedicated to Demyen, along with the screening of a film on Frost’s BandAid Project and the presentation of a certificate to Frost student Stephanie Sheeler.

Next up was recognition of JFK’s Math Olympiad winners by adviser Lisa Baker. The 21 students honored were Danny Alvarado-Valle, Vincent Cacciola, Arianna Chowdhury, Emily Dong, Katherine Flores, Adam Hassanin, Adan Herrera, Ethan Nelson, Cristian Miller, Gianna Montes, Nobin Nath, Dave Osorio Lara, Mollie Pellicano, Frankie Pisano, Jaidyn Schabe, Jayna Singh, Allessandra Tejero, Arib Uddin, Hailey Weisse, Eshan Zaman and Ali Zorakhsh.

Ashley Rosenberg, the district administrator for ENL and world languages, then presented the winners of the 2019 Grand Concours National French Contest, an annual competition sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Middle school honorees included bronze medalist Anabelle Thelisma and honorable mention winners Emily Kleiber, Alexis Lazarte, Eadie Liu, Adithan Omprakash, Ayesha Shaukat and Anthony Vasquez; while high school honorees were gold medalist Saima Hoque, silver medalists Victoria Egan and Bartlett Polster, bronze medalists Kristin D’Souza, Sameer Riaz, Naomi Sauveur and Diondra Talleyrand, and honorable mention winners Rebecca Fox and Esteysy Yanes Amaya.  

Business-minded high schoolers participating in the DECA club were then presented with certificates by adviser Gregory Menig.

Closing out the evening and the moving tribute to Demyen’s remarkable career, Town of Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer presented her with a proclamation presentation.

The Falcon Friends Club at JFK hosted a buddy bench dedication ceremony on June 19, joined by administration, staff, parents, Board of Education members and representatives of club sponsor Realty Direct NY.

Falcon Friends, a new club at JFK, was guided by two co-advisers, art teacher Briana Nussbaum and special education teacher Joseph Verdicchio. The organization’s goal is to bring students of differing abilities together to build friendships and appreciate each other’s differences. Over the course of the year, students were able to collaborate, problem solve and build meaningful friendships. Members of Falcon Friends worked hard on designing and painting the bench during club time.

During the ceremony, fourth grader Glenn Calautti and fifth grader Mackenzie Rubinstein unveiled the bench. Following the reveal, fourth graders Nadia Elsergany and Gina Garcia spoke about the purpose of the bench and how it will help students to make new friends at JFK.

“The Falcon Friends Club built friendships and relationships as we worked toward a common goal of constructing our buddy bench,” Verdicchio said. “I am honored to see the teamwork and effort that was shown throughout the project.”

“It was such a privilege to work with these students,” said Nussbaum. “Their empathy and compassion towards one another is so admirable. I am proud of their hard work.”

Deer Park’s May 28 Board of Education meeting was dedicated to recognizing and rewarding personnel, including newly retired, tenured and appointed administrators, teachers and staff. Also honored were those reaching milestones in years of service.

Superintendent Eva Demyen began the evening with recognition for school physician Anthony Donatelli, who was recently inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame, and JFK cafeteria aide Shalay Rutherford, who saved a student from choking by using the Heimlich maneuver. 

Those retiring included both Demyen herself, who was lauded by incoming Superintendent James Cummings, and JFK Principal Susan Bonner. Other new retirees congratulated included teachers John Abeltin, Francis Amendola, Paula Behrens, Cheryl Bica, Debra Bradbury, Aida Buckley, Eve Deitch, Cindy Jewell, Patricia Kurman, Jean Ludlow, Iris Marchon and Joanne Pendzinski; and non-instructional employees Rosalyn Baskin, Ann Castagna, Patricia Collins, Mary Galea, Richard Miller, Pearl Rogers and Philip Russo.

“They’ve honed the skills of thousands of students,” said Demyen. “I couldn’t be prouder to be retiring at the same time as such a fine group of people.”

Recognized for their years of service were Robert Frost teaching assistant Phyllis Otto for 35 years; Jack Lovascio and Laurie Schwartz for 30 years; and Laurie Blank, Ann Bullis, Gary Fricke, Steven Jaklitsch, Deana LaPlaca, Krista Militello, Joseph Orecchio and Rosanna Shooshtary for 25 years.

“It takes a lot to devote so much time and energy to one place and one job and I commend them highly for that,” said Demyen.

Congratulated for receiving tenure were ESL teachers Joseph Buscarino and Lisa Kiernan and guidance counselor Rachel Glaubach of Deer Park High School; art teacher Michelle Sarco of Robert Frost; ESL teacher Kimberly Essig and elementary teacher Luisa Moynihan of JFK; and special education teacher Alannah Boccard and teaching assistants Erebuni Babakhanian-Gonzalez, Danielle Calandra and Jennifer Paduano of May Moore.

“It’s no easy task getting to this point, so I want to congratulate every single one of you receiving tenure,” Demyen told the proud educators.

New appointments included Jay Murphy as district administrator of technology, Philip Paniccia as principal of May Moore and Jack Bixhorn as associate principal of Robert Frost.

The night ended with a welcome to incoming Board of Education trustee Jerry D. Jean-Pierre.

The district’s annual STE@M Expo, held at the high school on the night of May 21, featured an exciting exhibition of student-created works and events from Deer Park’s science, technology, engineering, arts and math programs. Families visiting to vote on the budget enjoyed a variety of displays from live string music and theater to science fair projects, dragster races and art displays.

 

The district has named Marilin Gutierrez as an associate principal for JFK, replacing Kelly Benson, the incoming principal. Her appointment is effective July 1.

Gutierrez previously served for 11 years as an elementary classroom teacher, in the Copiague School District for nine years and Brentwood School District for two years. A resident of Amityville, she earned her bachelor’s degree in education from St. Joseph’s College, her master’s degree in education at St. John’s University, and her school building and school district leadership certificates from Stony Brook University.

“My goal is to ensure that all children are treated fairly and provide them with a safe and nurturing learning environment to help them grow academically, socially and emotionally,” said Gutierrez.