School News for March 11, 2021

In continuing its mission to ensure the safety of students, the Southampton School District has teamed up with Suffolk County’s Stop Arm Camera program to retrofit its fleet of buses with cameras that aim to prevent drivers from passing a stopped school bus.

“Though it has been the law that it is illegal to pass a stopped school bus, too many drivers continue to do so,” said Samantha Saw, the district’s transportation supervisor. “This program will hopefully deter most drivers, as the fines are quite high.”

The automatic cameras are deployed on the arms of a bus’s stop sign each time the bus makes a stop. The cameras take a sequence of photos that are sent directly to the local police department. If caught on camera, a driver faces up to $250 for a first offense.

The free program was adopted by the Southampton Board of Education after the district was offered to participate by the Suffolk County executive’s office.

The Bridgehampton School has opened registration for prekindergarten, available to children who will be 3 or 4 years old by December 1, 2021, and live in the Bridgehampton School District. At this time, the district will accept the first 11 students who apply for the program. Pick up a registration packet at the school. If space allows, there is a chance the district will expand eligibility up to 18 students.

Contact Barbara Palermo with any questions at 631-998-1325 or bpalermo@bridgehamptonschool.com

Many years of an impressive and outstanding commitment to academics have paid off for Hampton Bays High School seniors Tara Lauther and Katerina Reich, who have been named the Class of 2021 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

Ms. Lauther has amassed numerous accomplishments throughout her high school career. Among her honors are the AP Scholar Award, Scholar-Athlete Award and Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizenship Award. She is president of the senior class and Leo’s Club, a member of the National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, select choir, choir, chorus mentoring program and Key Club, and active in her school’s theater program. Athletically, she participates on the varsity track and cross-country teams. Outside of school, she has volunteered in Peconic Bay Medical Center’s emergency room and taught a free virtual dance program to elementary school students.

As a student in the school’s science research program for the past four years, Ms. Lauther has decided to continue on that track by majoring in biology in college. She will also earn an associate degree in liberal arts from Suffolk County Community College this June.

Ms. Reich holds the prestigious designation of AP Scholar with Honor and is a member of her school’s National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, band, jazz band, select choir, Interact Club and thespian society. She also plays varsity tennis. Beyond the school walls, she is an accomplished pianist and has performed three times at Carnegie Hall in various piano competitions.

Having discovered a love of science through her school’s science research program, Ms. Reich plans to study neuroscience with a pre-med track in college this fall.

Westhampton Beach High School has announced Jacqueline Glaser and Jade Hawkesworth as its Class of 2021 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively. The two seniors earned the top spots in their class through their outstanding commitment to academics.

Ms. Glaser has achieved a number of academic accomplishments during her tenure at Westhampton Beach High School. She was named a National AP Scholar and AP Scholar with Distinction by the College Board for her outstanding Advanced Placement exam scores. She also serves as vice president of the school’s National Honor Society, a school representative for the League of Women Voters, a student liaison for the Key Club, captain of the varsity Quiz Bowl team, and facilitator for the mock trial and debate teams. In addition, she is a peer tutor for AP Seminar, Algebra I and geometry and a member of her school’s varsity volleyball team.

Outside of school, Ms. Glaser is a Girl Scout and holds a basic first aid certification. She also enjoys learning languages, including Spanish, German and French. She plans to study international business in college in the fall.

Ms. Hawkesworth has an equally impressive academic record. She is a National AP Scholar and a member of her school’s National Honor Society. In addition, she is the founder of Sunrise WHB, a climate outreach organization, as well as a member of the school’s Equity, Equality and Social Justice committee and a racial equality ambassador for Young Long Island for Justice.

Outside of school, Ms. Hawkesworth is a junior volunteer with the Westhampton Beach Junior Ambulance and holds CPR certification. She also volunteers at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital. She intends to study brain and cognitive sciences in college this fall.

Anna Romer’s students are continuing with their study of nonfiction in reading and writing. The children finished pieces to be typed up and “published.” Next week they will have a celebration in the classroom when they share their finished work.

They read “A Kids Book About Empathy,” by Daron K. Roberts. This book is part of a series of books about big ideas and concepts written for children. Students also read “Crow Boy,” by Taro Yashima. This book, written in 1955 and set in rural Japan, tells the story of a child who is very different from all of his classmates and is not treated with kindness.

Our Lady of the Hamptons in Southampton announced this week that if the school can “find” $100,000 in support during the month of March, that amount will be matched by an anonymous donor. This matching gift will go directly to the Morningstar Initiative and, in turn, to Tomorrow’s Hope, the foundation that subsidizes families in need of tuition assistance. Anyone interested in accepting this challenge should contact their pastor, or Sister Kathy. As of March 8, $21,250 has been raised.

The registration of new students for the school year beginning September 2021 is now open. Interested parents are urged to consult the Admissions and Principal’s pages at olh.org for exact details. While waiting list status is already operational, interested families are urged to contact the school immediately if interested in being considered. For more information, call 631-283-9140.

Students in Tuckahoe’s art classes have been working hard on expressing their creativity, while learning new digital creative tools. This year, students entered a number of artistic creations into the Parrish Student Art Exhibit, available for view Friday, March 12, through April 18.

Young artists at Tuckahoe School entered artwork created digitally and traditionally, both individually and collaboratively. First- and second-graders created a mural inspired by their art history study of Piet Mondrian connected to their work with geometric shapes, primary colors, and maps of the local community. Third-graders created a collaborative mural using Keith Haring and physical activity as inspiration. Middle school students created a mixture of traditional hands-on drawings and paintings and digital artwork. Seventh-graders Aubrie Dimon and Matheus Faria got to share their graphite self-portrait drawings while eighth-grader Marin Gilmartin submitted his painting. Finally, four eighth-graders — Sandy Campohermoso, Jamie Morales, Natalie Urbano, and Ashley Uruchima — were able to try new digital tools to create digital mosaics.

Emily Chuya of East Hampton has been named to Adelphi University’s fall 2020 dean’s list. Ms. Chuya was among a select group of outstanding students recognized by Adelphi’s deans of arts and sciences, education and health science, business, nursing and public health, social work and psychology for superior academic performance.

The University of Hartford has announced that Jennifer Calle of East Hampton has been named to its president’s honors list for fall 2020. The President’s honors list is made up of a select group of students who earned a grade point average of 3.75 or higher in the semester. This is the GPA that must be sustained over a full undergraduate career to qualify for a degree summa cum laude.

Patrick Gilbert, a junior communications major from Hampton Bays, has been named to the Le Moyne College fall 2020 dean’s list. To make the list, students must achieve a GPA of 3.5 or above.

Justin Hadix of Southampton was named to the fall 2020 dean’s list at New York Institute of Technology. Mr. Hadix was one of 463 New York Tech students recognized. To qualify for this academic honor, a student must earn a GPA of at least 3.5 and complete 12 or more credit hours without any incomplete grades.

Tate Webster of Sag Harbor was named to the fall 2020 honors list at Pomfret School. Taylor Thomas of Water Mill earned a place on the fall 2020 high honors list.

Jeter Fedi has been named to Purchase College’s dean’s list for the fall 2020 semester. Mr. Fedi is studying communication. Rosalind Carmichael of Amagansett also earned dean’s list honors. She is studying printmaking and media studies. Han Le and Steven Verdugo, both from East Hampton, were also named to the dean’s list at Purchase, where they are studying gender studies and cinema studies, respectively.

A number of local residents made the dean’s list at Rochester Institute of Technology for the 2020 fall semester. Undergraduate students are eligible for dean’s list if their GPA is greater than or equal to 3.40 for nine credit hours of traditionally graded coursework; they do not have any grades of “Incomplete,” NE, D, or F; and they have registered for, and completed, at least 12 credit hours. Locally, those students include Dan Caputo Rottmann of Quogue, who is in the physics program; Tyler Gitto of Hampton Bays, who is in the microelectronic engineering program; and Hannah Wagner from East Quogue, who is in the fine arts studio program.

Seton Hall University has announced that Andrew Wilson of East Hampton has qualified for the fall 2020 dean’s list.

SUNY Delhi has announced that Valerie Hartman of East Hampton has been named to the dean’s list for the fall 2020 semester. Ms. Hartman is pursuing a degree in nursing at the college. Jose Rosado III of East Quogue was also named to the list. He is pursuing a degree in criminal justice. Ginamarie Cappabianca, also of East Quogue, earned dean’s list honors and is pursuing a degree in nursing, as was Emily Lupercio Gonzalez of Wainscott, who is also pursuing a nursing degree.

More than 600 students have been awarded scholarships at SUNY Oneonta. The college’s scholarship funds total over $60 million and are the result of contributions from donors, corporations and foundations. It is the largest endowment among SUNY comprehensive four-year colleges.

Locally, Samuel Havens of Eastport was awarded the Jean Parish Scholarship for Art and Diego Martinez of East Quogue was awarded the Tucker Family Scholarship.