School News for June 17, 2021

The Solemn Liturgy and Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2021 at Our Lady of the Hamptons Catholic School took place at the Basilica of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on Friday, June 11. The Mass was celebrated by Fathers Steven Maddaloni, Michael Vetrano, Janusz Lipski and John Wachowicz.

Thirty-nine graduates were presented by Principal Sister Kathryn Schlueter, CSJ. High honors, for a 95-percent cumulative average, were awarded to Maxine Boeding, Sean Collier, Abigail Curran, Willow DuBrovin, Christian Duggal, Patrick Kamm, John Leonard, William O’Leary, Sofia Patrone and Chase Rodriguez. Honors, for a 90-percent cumulative average, were awarded to Victoria Alvarez, Kathryn Grace Blangiardo, Mackenzie David, Juliette Gleason, Gianna Mielnicki, Jacob Rodriguez, Brynn Thayer and Jacob Warden. Perfect attendance awards were given to Mackenzie David, Willow DuBrovin, Seraphia May and Daniel Naranjo. General excellence awards were given to Maxine Boeding and Patrick Kamm with Maxine Boeding also given a medal of distinction for religion and English. William O’Leary earned the medal of distinction for social studies; Chase Rodriguez for science; Chrostian Duggal for mathematics; Patrick Kamm for Spanish; Seraphia May for dance; Mackenzie David for art; Jack Loenard for music and John Leonard for technology. The Charles Raav Scholarship was awarded to Jacob Rodriguez and the Catholic Daughters of Americas Award was given to Donna Alvarez. The McCauley Award for Christian Leadership was given to John Leonard.

The registration of new students in the 4-year-old preschool program at St. Rosalie’s campus in Hampton Bays for the September 2021 school year is now open. Interested parents are urged to consult the admissions and principal’s pages at olh.org.

As the East End enjoyed the first hot days of the season, Sag Harbor’s Pierson High School Interact Club was busy in the gardens at the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center, replacing invasive plants such as garlic mustard and mugwort with common garden pollinators swamp milkweed, blue lobelia and purple coneflower.

“The students are passionate about helping to protect our beautiful coastal environment, so they were eager to volunteer at the museum,” said Sue Denis, Pierson health instructor and adviser to the Interact Club. “Several parents joined the students, and everyone enjoyed working together outdoors for the first time in weeks.”

The club also participated in the Great East End Clean-Up and removed trash from Cilli’s field. On June 9, the group will meet at the Sag Harbor Garden Center to create a raised-bed garden for the children at The Retreat shelter.

On Friday, June 11, the students and staff of Raynor Country Day School hosted its annual Field Day celebration. This year, the school’s theme coincided with the upcoming Olympic games. Each of the classes were selected to represent an Olympic country. The children and staff dressed in their team’s color and created a team flag of their country, as well as individually crafted flags for each athlete.

On Field Day, the morning kicked off with a parade of countries during the Opening Ceremony. Immediately following the parade, two representatives from each grade were selected to run the torch throughout the campus. During the torch relay, children from prekindergarten through sixth grade worked cooperatively to demonstrate the Olympic spirit. Once the athletes reached the center of the village, the torch was lit and the games were underway.

Students competed in nine Olympic events which featured soccer, track-and-field, basketball, discus, shot put, hurdles, 50-yard dash, ring toss, corn hole toss, and an obstacle course. After the individual events, the students and staff enjoyed a pizza luncheon, a visit from the ice-cream truck, and a dance party. Toward the conclusion of the day, the sixth-grade seniors competed against the staff in a highly competitive game of kickball. In the final inning, the students narrowly defeated the staff with a comeback kick.

At the end of the day, each class was presented with an Olympic medal.

On the sunny afternoon of June 7, Southampton Elementary School held a ceremony to dedicate a new piece of playground equipment to the memory of longtime teacher Liz Hague.

The $22,000 piece features several benches, tabletops and an awning to provide students with a shady spot to sit, read and chat. It was made possible through four years of fundraising efforts by the school’s PTO.

“The piece was chosen to represent Liz’s love of reading,” said Principal Dr. Jaime Bottcher.

During the dedication, speakers recalled fond memories of Ms. Hague, who died in 2015. She was remembered as a teacher who loved her students and would do anything for them.

Thirty-one Southampton Intermediate School students were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society during a candle lighting ceremony on June 2.

To be eligible for membership, the students were required to maintain a GPA of 90 or better; meet the standards of leadership, service, citizenship and character; and maintain their standing on the Principal’s List.

The inductees included eighth graders Angelina Beard, Kaelyn Hite and Amanda Koszalka; and seventh graders Valentina Alvarez-Rivera, Christopher Amado Rodriguez, Nathaniel Barbour, Tracy Barros, Lana Bohn, Sadie Chaleff, Emma D’Italia, Colin DeLalio, Isabella Dunkirk, Hewitt Dunne, William Dupree, Alexander Franklin, Dylan Glanz, Margaret Glanz, Alexandra Gonzalez Hernandez, Ethan Heuer, Mariely Isalde Gonzalez, Melissa Lopez Silva, Thomas Lubbe, Morgan Mayo, David Morales, Steven Morales, Riley Moredock, Ana Ochoa Moranchel, McKenzie Osborne, Beatriz Pariz, Jack Pazera and Ava Rosalia.

Southampton High School oceanography students have stepped up to become positive influences in the community by leading a variety of community service projects after being inspired by co-teachers Kimberly Milton and Heather Haux.

Ms. Milton and Ms. Haux challenged their students to get involved and make a difference after spending a year becoming “ocean literate” and learning about nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to ocean advocacy.

Students jumped into action. Two organized a beach cleanup at Cooper’s Beach and spoke before the Southampton Village Board to request permission to hold their event on June 12. Other students designed awareness about litter cleanup, reef-friendly products, improving access to residential fishing licenses, supporting shark conservation efforts and helping at local shellfish hatcheries. Several students have also started teaching awareness lessons to elementary and intermediate school students.

“We were looking for a way to empower students with meaningful action, and this was the most logical path to follow,” Ms. Milton said. “I’m pleased we found a way to do more than simply teach. The students are now leading.”

Bridgehampton High School Class of 2021 valedictorian Zoe Lucas was among Suffolk County’s highest-achieving students who were honored by school district superintendents, administrators and parents during the recent Suffolk County School Superintendents Association virtual viewing event.

Congratulating the students on their outstanding achievements were members of the SCSSA Board of Directors and keynote speaker and well-known author Jon Gordon.

Zoe, who plans to major in mathematics when she enters the freshman class at Stony Brook University, was honored with a certificate of recognition and several gifts including Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, The Places You’ll Go,” and Mr. Gordon’s signature positive leadership book “The Energy Bus.”

Bradley Toole of Southampton has been named to the spring 2021 dean’s list at Buffalo State College. Anna Stiansen and Dylan Abbott, both of Hampton Bays, also earned dean’s list honors.

Victoria Velazquez of Hampton Bays, was among 5,300 students conferred degrees from the University of Iowa. Ms. Velazquez was a student in the College of Law whose program of study was law. The degree awarded was a Juris Doctor.

Miller Croke of Southampton and Jackson Motz of Water Mill both earned dean’s list recognition from the University of Iowa for its spring 2021 semester. Mr. Croke is majoring in English and creative writing and Mr. Motz is majoring in English.

James Madison University announced this week the following students who graduated during the May 2021 commencement exercises. Casandra Dipierdomenico of Eastport graduated with a degree in communication studies. Hailey Ciolino of East Quogue graduated with a degree in architectural design. Kristen Dillon of East Quogue graduated with a degree in hospitality management. Laura Zaweski of Hampton Bays graduated with a degree in accounting.

Bailey Grant from East Hampton has been named to the dean’s list at James Madison University for the spring 2021 semester. Ms. Grant is majoring in international affairs.

Enola Mercer of Southampton, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree during commencement ceremonies in May 2021 at the University of Vermont. Cybele Adamcewicz, of Montauk, Danielle Futerman, Lily McGintee and Abby Nanci-Ross, all of East Hampton, earned Bachelor of Science degrees from the university, with Ms. Nanci-Ross also awarded dean’s list honors.