Robert Frost Middle School students got caught up in a competitive fever at their first spelling bee this spring, organized by ELA teacher Teri Vieira. A total of 41 students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades competed in classroom mini-bees before the winners moved on to the buildingwide competition. After 20 rounds, seventh grader Brent Ceballos was named the winner, with sixth graders Shayan Hassan and Nate Fahl as runners-up.  

Ceballos’ victory qualified him to move on to the Regional Spelling Bee, hosted at Milton L. Olive Middle School in Wyandanch on May 11 against other school winners from across Long Island. Ceballos made it to the sixth round of competition. 

Date Added: 5/24/2023

JQA’s ENL students had a great time at their recent annual ENL Family Night, filled with games, dancing, art and crafts, raffles and fun.

“We had a wonderful turnout and hope that the students enjoyed time with their classmates and friends,” teacher Vanessa Pizzo said. “It was a nice way to celebrate being halfway done with state testing.”

Date Added: 5/24/2023

JFK’s Golf Club was started last fall by fourth-grade teacher Zack King, intended an introductory program to the sport of golf. The club was composed of 20 boys and girls from third through fifth grade, and ran on Tuesday afternoons from October until May. As a culminating event, the club took a field trip to Top Golf Long Island in Holtsville.

“I grew up around the sport of golf and have worked at a country club in Westchester County during my summers since the age of 13,” King said. “Using the generous donations of 20 junior golf club sets, hitting mats and golf balls from Brae Burn Country Club, I developed a teaching program that taught the students the basics of the sport of golf, beginning with putting and progressing through the different clubs until we learned to hit the driver. We ended our season at Top Golf, where the students got to have a great time showing off all they had learned about golf through the year. My ultimate vision for this program is to grow interest in the sport and develop the district golf program.”

Date Added: 5/22/2023

Last summer, May Moore Primary School teacher Dana Grafstein joined a group of second-grade teachers from 40 different states in the U.S. for a postcard project to help students learn about each state. Using facts about New York, Grafstein typed up postcards to send out to the classes in each of the other participating states. After reading each postcard, Graftstein and her students pin the state on a map and attach the card.

“We have been receiving postcards over the past couple of weeks, and my students are so excited to learn about the states and what second-grade classes are like in different parts of the country,” Grafstein said. “Some of them are so different.”

Date Added: 5/17/2023