The Roslyn School District | Points of Pride 2008-09

The members of the Roslyn High School Class of 2009 received their diplomas at the schools' 103rd commencement exercises, held at the Tilles Center on Friday, June 26. Congratulations to our graduates!

Every month during the school year, the Roslyn Rotary Club honors a Roslyn High School student who has performed exceptional service to the community. The Student of the Month is invited to attend a Rotary luncheon, along with his or her parents and a member of the faculty who has worked closely with the student. Members of the Rotary Club pay tribute to the student's accomplishments and devotion to service.

The Roslyn Public Schools joins the Roslyn Rotary Club in commending these students for their exemplary commitment to community service.

Roslyn High School Junior Kevin Xu was one of the six students in New York State to win accolades in the senior division of the 2009 New York State Science Congress held in Albany on June 13. Kevin’s project on disparities in breast cancer care won an Honorable Mention and was the only behavioral science project to place at the competition. Geetika Rudra, a junior who did a project on the efficacy of political fear appeals, was also a finalist in the New York State Science Congress. Both students were mentored by Dr. Allyson J. Weseley.

It has been a big month for Kevin. His last project, “The Effect of Differences in Victims Wealth and Nationality on Altruism,” conducted with Sarah Cha when the two were in Dr. Weseley’s research seminar as sophomores, was recently selected to be featured as a model paper in a book on teaching high school students to conduct research.

The final days of the school year also brought good research news to Matthew Glickman, a senior whose in-house project on leadership won Highest Honors in the Otto Burgdorf Competition sponsored by the New York Biology Teachers Association.

Three Roslyn High School seniors — Chelsea Jurman, Allie Kornstein and Stephanie Wang — were selected as recipients of a 2009 National Merit Scholarship. The students were initially designated as semifinalists from a pool of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program. They advanced in the competition to become finalists, and continued in the competition to be named winners, each earning a $2,500 scholarship.

Four Roslyn High School students — Trisha Nussbaum, Geetika Rudra, Jourdan Urbach, Stephanie Wang — spent the week of May 11 at the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Reno, Nevada. More than 1,500 students from approximately 50 countries attended this year’s ISEF, the largest annual science competition for high school students. While only the top quarter of projects at the fair win Grand Awards, all four of the Roslyn students earned this distinction.

Trisha won a 2nd Place Grand Award in the Behavioral and Social Science Category as well as the 1st Place Award from the American Psychological Association for her study on the impact of context on the learning of vocabulary words. Stephanie and Jourdan both won 3rd Place Awards in the category of Medicine and Health. Stephanie’s work, which also won her a 3rd Place Award from the American Physiological Society, was an in vitro study that could ultimately lead to a way to reduce the damage caused by stroke. Jourdan researched ways to promote greater myelination of neurons in order to combat the effects of multiple sclerosis. Geetika’s experiment on the efficacy of political fear appeals netted her a 4th Place Grand Award in the Behavioral and Social Science category.

“Coming from Long Island it’s incredibly difficult to qualify for the fair," said Dr. Allyson Weseley, Roslyn's Coordinator of Secondary Research. "Their outstanding performance once there makes clear just how good their work is.”

Girls' Lacrosse Wins Conference Championship

The girls' varsity lacrosse team earned its first-ever conference championship for Roslyn High School. Led by coaches Michelle Crennan and Colleen Schmitt, the team compiled an 11-1 league record and an overall 13-3 season record. The girls will advance to the playoffs beginning Monday, May 18.

International DECA Winners

Roslyn High School students Sam Heyman and Aaron Levine competed in DECA’s International Career Development Conference on April 28 in Anaheim, California. After finishing in first place at the State Career Conference in Rochester, New York, they went on to compete at the international level. Sam and Aaron won at the preliminary round of competition to advance to the international finals. In the final round, Sam and Aaron placed in the top 10 overall internationally in the Entrepreneurship category.

Roslyn DECA Advisor Phyllis Granat also attended the International Career Development Conference along with student Katie Goldman who took part in the Senior Management Leadership Conference.

Young Investors Win it ALL!

The recent decline in the stock market did not stop the students at East Hill School and Harbor Hill School from investing wisely. Over the past four months, groups of 4th and 5th graders have been participating in the Stock Market Game along with students from other Long Island schools. The students were selected to participate in this enrichment workshop led by their teacher, Miss Falcone. Their motto: "Buy low, sell high."

After a bumpy road of ups and downs, two Roslyn teams placed 1st and 2nd out of 80 participating teams. The first-place team comprised East Hills 4th grade students Joseph Cinque, Azad Ebrahimian and Stephen Schwartzberg. Harbor Hill 5th graders Alexa Buchbinder, Eryn Lipetz, Ilana Margulis, Lindsay Princer and Emily Rosenbaum took second place.

Students in Practice-A-Thon for Charity

The elementary instrumental music students in both Harbor Hill School and East Hill School, along with the orchestra students of the Roslyn Middle School, participated in a Long Island Cares Practice-A-Thon for the month of March. Students obtained sponsors and kept a daily log of minutes practiced for the month. Sponsors pledged to donate a dime, nickel or as little as a penny for each minute a student practiced. The money collected went directly to the Harry Chapin Food Bank to help Long Islanders in need of assistance.

Students strengthened their practice habits while helping those in need. Even the smallest contribution makes a difference, and in total all three buildings collected $1884.38. The teachers whose students were involved in this charitable event are Jackie Martin from Roslyn Middle School, Kathy Miller and Laura Fratti from Harbor Hill School, and Frank Cifali and Iris Ziporkin from East Hills School.

43 Win Medals at Long Island Math Fair

Forty-three students from Roslyn Middle School and Roslyn High School won medals at the Long Island Math Fair at Hofstra University on Friday, May 1. These are the students, their grades their subjects:

157 Are Inducted in Foreign Language Honor Society

Roslyn High School held its first Foreign Language Honor Society Induction ceremony on Tuesday, April 28. Honor Society recognizes students who have excelled in a foreign language for a minimum of three years. The students who were inducted had shown a commitment to language and exemplify the values and expectations of the Foreign Language Honor Society. The students will volunteer time to different services and activities inside and outside of the school community. The following students were inducted:

Roslyn High School music students were recently awarded certificates for their participation in the New York State Schools Music Association Winter Conference held last winter in Rochester, New York. The music students study under the direction of Brad Frey, Michael Coffey and Pat Patterson. Pictured are Jenna Winston, All State Chorus; James Kim, Symphony Orchestra; Lindsay Meyer, All State Chorus; Trisha Nussbaum, All State Chorus; and Scott Schlacter, Band Alternate, with Principal Kevin Scanlon and Assistant Principal Jay Pilnick.

Twelve Roslyn High School students have been named Regional Winners in an Army-sponsored research competition known as Ecybermission. The students competed in four teams of three students each. The Beauty Sleepers team of Lila Olman (Captain), Catherine Halpern and Margaret Wu won 2nd Place overall and will each receive a $3000 scholarship. Michael Cervia (Captain), Ben Kornick and Brian Suh (Econfidence 101) won the Team Collaboration Award; each will receive a $2000 scholarship. Danny Pollack (Captain), Michael Lustrin and David Orent, the Fertilizer Fanatics, were recognized by the Innovation, Originality, and Creativity Award and will also receive $2000 scholarships. And a last set of $2000 scholarships will go to Louise Wang (Captain), Aspen Wang and Megan Davis (Yummy Fat 1) in the category of Application of Science, Math, and Technology.

After completing a project for their first-semester Introduction to Research classes taught by Mr. Bill Marvin and Ms. Andrea Pearlman, students were given the opportunity to continue their work. In the second semester, students worked independently under the guidance of Coordinator of Secondary Research, Dr. Allyson Weseley. The team projects focused on a wide range of topics from health to entertainment. Each team was assigned an experienced research student as a "buddy". "These student-buddies (Rachel Bass, Chelsea Jurman, Stephanie Wang and Kevin Xu) were tremendously helpful to the younger students; we could not have done it without them" commented Dr. Weseley.

"While the external recognition the contest offers is wonderful, we're hoping the second semester experience will pay off by providing the students with a better understanding of research methods and igniting a passion for the research process," said Dr. Weseley.

Students who qualified for the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program with Director of Guidance Art Mandel.

Fourteen Roslyn High School students have qualified to enter the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program based on their perfomances on the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The students are Joshua Cohen, Olivia Conetta, Alexa Dambra, David Eisner, Zachary Goldsmith, Leeor Golos, Samantha Halpern, Brian Jeong, Elena Latzen, Lindsay Mandel, Jessica Margulis, Max Rubin, Geetika Rudra and Kevin Xu. The students are among the 50,000 highest-scoring participants of 1.5 million program entrants.

Roslyn School District English Chairperson Barbara Arnold accepted the Outstanding Achievement for 12th Grade award on behalf of Roslyn High School at the Poet Laureate Award Ceremony held April 25, 2009. Three Roslyn High School students who had won awards in the Nassau County Poet Laureate School Poetry Contest are ninth-grade student Evelyn Weinstein and seniors Stephanie Wang and Sunjae Park. These students have been published in "Young Voices – An Anthology of Poetry by Nassau County Students."

3rd Place Winner in National Epidemiology Research Competition

Roslyn High School senior Chelsea Jurman was awarded thrd Place in the Robert Wood Johnson’s Young Epidemiology Scholars (YES) Competition, an honor that carries a $20,000 college scholarship. Nearly 550 students submitted research papers to this year’s contest. Sixty — 10 from each of six region — were invited to spend the weekend in Washington, DC where they presented their research to panels of distinguished judges.

Chelsea was announced as one of the 12 National Finalists at a dinner at the National Academies of Science on Saturday, April 18 and then presented again on Sunday. “My region had so many other interesting projects, so I was really surprised and excited to be given the opportunity to present my research again as a national finalist," said Chelsea.

Chelsea’s study looked at how parents may play a role in underage drinking. She surveyed high school juniors and seniors and found that drinking was directly related to their perceptions that their parents drank when they were underage, a sense that their parents were permissive about alcohol consumption, and inversely related to beliefs that their parents monitored their whereabouts.

Kevin Xu, a junior, also competed in the Regional Finals of YES. Kevin won a $2000 scholarship for his work on factors related to breast cancer standard care. Kevin worked with the American Cancer Society to survey breast cancer survivors and found that those who had seen female oncologists were more likely to receive treatment considered standard care. In addition, Kevin found that patients who played a larger role in discussing their treatment plans with their doctors, reported lower levels of anxiety about their health.

Kevin was inspired by the weekend he spent in Washington, DC. “Above all, YES was such a phenomenal learning experience for me; it gave me new perspectives on both my own research and the field of epidemiology in general. I hope to expand my project and return again next year!”

Both students were mentored by Dr. Allyson Weseley, Roslyn High School’s Coordinator of Secondary Research. The school has had one of the 12 National Finalists in each of the past five years of the YES Competition.

Senior Wins Major Scholarship Honors

Roslyn High School senior Jourdan Urbach has earned a number of major scholarship awards:

National Coca Cola Scholar: Jourdan earned a $20,000 scholarship as one of 52 national scholars chosen from approximately 75,000 applications this year. Some 252 finalists from every state in the country were selected to attend a special program in Atlanta from April 2-5 based on academic excellence, school involvement and community leadership. Jourdan said that the entire weekend award ceremony and interview process in Atlanta was a phenomenal experience, and that he is deeply gratified to have been among those selected to receive this important award for college.

AXA Achievement Scholarship: In association with U.S. News & World Report, Jourdan will receive a $25,000 scholarship to the college of his choice, along with a new laptop. He and the other nine national winners (from a pool of more than 3 million seniors) were honored for their remarkable academic accomplishments and national leadership in the May 2009 issue of US News & World Report.

Toyota Community Scholars Program: This $20,000 scholarship was awarded to only 12 students selected as National Winners out of 8,000 nominated students with the highest academic, leadership and service records in the nation. There were also 88 Regional Winners who will receive a $10,000 scholarship to the college of their choice.

Claes Nobel Scholarship: Established by a senior member of the family that created the Nobel Prizes and founder of The National Society of High School Scholars, these awards are given to students believed to have an extraordinary future. Jourdan was selected for a $5,000 scholarship from among 12,000 applicants for excellence in academics, leadership and service to the nation, and is invited to the NSHSS recognition ceremony in Washington, DC on June 19 in the U.S. Senate.

Four Earn Trip to International Science & Engineering Fair

One quarter of the top 16 prizes at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair on March 23 were won by students from Roslyn High School, earning the four a trip to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, Nevada in May.

Jourdan Urbach and Stephanie Wang won both slots in the Medicine and Health Category, and Stephanie was named Best in Category. Trisha Nussbaum and Geetika Rudra garnered two slots in the Behavioral and Social Science Category, with Geetika earning Best in Category honors. At the week-long international fair, these four students will compete for thousands of dollars in scholarship and prize money, meet experts in their fields, and mingle with students from 40 countries.

“I couldn’t be happier with their performance!” said Dr. Allyson J. Weseley, Roslyn’s Coordinator of Secondary Research, who served as the four students’ school research advisor.

Geetika's project looked at the influence of political fear appeals on people's perceptions of candidates. Trisha ran two experiments, one at Roslyn High School and one at Cornell, that showed that students learned and retained vocabulary better when they encountered words in a story about a familiar character than when they studied from a list. Jourdan did his research at Stony Brook, where he developed a way to promote increased myelination of neurons in order to combat multiple sclerosis. Stephanie's research, conducted at the Feinstein Institute, investigated a way to reduce the negative effects of stroke.

Three other Roslyn High School students also won accolades at LISEF. Rachel Bass clinched a 2nd Place Award for her project on stereotype threat; Matt Glickman grabbed 3rd Place with a study of student leadership; and Sam Vitello earned an Honorable Mention for his work on how political candidates can defend themselves against attacks. In addition, Geetika, Matt, Sam, and Trisha all won an award sponsored by the American Psychological Association, and Stephanie's work was recognized by the U.S. Air Force.

Underdog Bulldogs Fight to the Buzzer in L.I. Championship Game

The Boys' Varsity Basketball team's cinderella season came to an end on Friday, March 13 as East Hampton successfully defended its Long Island championship title with a 57-48 win over the Bulldogs at SUNY Farmingdale.

Roslyn's players showed the same determination they displayed in their Nassau County championship victory over a more heavily favored South Side team two weeks earlier. Down by double digits to East Hampton through much of the second half, the Bulldogs electrified an enormous crowd of Roslyn supporters in the fourth quarter when they stormed back and cut the lead to only three points with less than two minutes left in the game. The turnaround began when Jordan Richman coolly sank four consecutive free throws after a personal and technical foul call against East Hampton. Then Roslyn made several clutch baskets, including two three-pointers by George Beamon, Long Island's leading scorer this season, to bring Roslyn within striking distance. But a strong East Hampton team held off the surging Bulldogs down the stretch to earn their second consecutive L.I. Class A title.

The Bulldogs' Nassau County championship was the first ever for the Roslyn boys. Congratulations to Coach Jeff Risener and the entire team on a memorable season. It was a great ride!

5th Place Winner in the INTEL Science Talent Search

Roslyn High School senior Chelsea Jurman was named the 5th Place Winner and was awarded a $25,000 scholarship in the prestigious INTEL Science Talent Search (STS) on Tuesday, March 10 in Washington, DC. "I feel really honored to have won, and the week down in DC was an incredible experience," said Chelsea.

Chelsea¹s project examined factors associated with underage alcohol consumption, which is described in an earlier story about the announcement of Intel semifinalists.

Although the selection of the 40 finalists is based on a research paper they submitted as well as a lengthy application that includes a set of essays and teacher recommendations, the determination of the top 10 Winners is based primarily on a series of interviews they have with panels of scientific experts. "The purpose of the interviews is to see how scientifically they think, to gauge their promise to become a 'creative scientist'," explained Dr. Allyson Weseley, Roslyn High School's Coordinator of Secondary Research.

Chelsea worked hard to prepare for the finals. In addition to creating two new poster boards for the competition, she practiced answering the kind of questions students are rumored to encounter in their finalist interviews. Chelsea also prepared by meeting with several of the high school¹s teachers to brush up on her math and science knowledge. "There¹s no substitute for effort," said Dr. Weseley, "and Chelsea¹s one of the hardest workers I¹ve ever worked with."

Chelsea has been accepted to Yale University but has left her applications in at several other schools.

Roslyn last placed in the top 10 of the Intel STS in 2001 when Johanna Waldman won 7th Place for her study on cheating. She is the sixth Roslyn student overall to have been a winner in the contest, which was formerly known as the Westinghouse competition.

Roslyn DECA Students Shine at States

Roslyn High School DECA students, chaperoned by Jeri Malloy and faculty advisor Phyllis Granat, at the State Career Development Conference.

Fourteen Roslyn High School DECA students participated in the State Career Development Conference in Rochester, New York from March 4 6 and competed in various events.

Sam Heyman and Aaron Levine placed first in New York State in the Entrepreneurship Team Written event category. They will be attending the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California to compete at the national level in April.

Five students placed in the top ten in the state in their competitions: Josh Freeberg and Zach Solomon in Financial Analysis Team Decision Making, Josh Blank in Human Resources, Karen Lam in Job Interview, and Gabriella Kaplan in Hotel Management.

Student Will Be Published in Medical Journal

Roslyn High School senior Stephanie Wang is the lead author of an article that will be published in the next issue of Biochimica et Biophyica General Subjects. Stephanie¹s article details the work she did with Weng-Lang Yang, Ph.D. last summer at the Feinstein Institute for medical research at North Shore-LIJ.

The article, entitled, ³Circulating Hormone Adenomedullin and Its Binding Protein Protect Neural Cells from Hypoxia-induced Apoptosis,² examines ways to reverse the effects of a lack of oxygen to the brain. Stephanie and her mentor, Dr. Yang, demonstrated that the combination of this hormone and its binding protein can reduce the rate of cell death in the brain that occurs under conditions like stroke.

Stephanie¹s work on this project has already been recognized. She was a Finalist in the Siemens Science and Technology Competition and a Semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search. “It’s an immense honor to be published in a peer-reviewed journal as a high school student,” said Dr. Allyson Weseley, Roslyn High School¹s Coordinator of Secondary Research.

Roslyn High School's Forensic Debate, Congress and Speech Club is proud to announce that 17 students have qualified for the New York State Forensic Tournament in Albany this April. The students are Taha Adib Speech; Rebecca Allen - Speech; Josh Cohen Speech Captain; Olivia Conetta Congress Captain; Matt Glickman Congress; Gabrielle Goldstein Speech; Jeff Gottlieb Speech; Sam Hoffman Speech; Kamala Iodice Speech, Alex Jafari Congress; Danielle Lefland Speech; Mike Lustrin - Congress, Samantha Schwartz Speech Captain; Corey Steinfast Speech, Sam Vitello Congress Captain; Evelyn Weinstein Debate; and Matt Wolfson Speech.

These talented students have competed at regional tournaments in a challenging and prestigious league, said Forensics Advisor Jeri Malloy. At these tournaments, many exceptional awards were won, such as 1st place trophies by Rebecca Allen Original Oratory, Matt Glickman - Congress, Sam Hoffman Duo Interpretation, Samantha Schwartz Duo Interpretation and Evelyn Weinstein Debate, and two 1st place trophies were awarded to Josh Cohen and Jeff Gottlieb in Duo Interpretation. Gabrielle Goldstein Varsity Oral Interpretation and Corey Steinfast JV Oral Interpretation won 2nd place trophies, and Danielle Lefland - Declamation and Sam Vitello - Congress took home 3rd place awards. 4th place trophies went to Taha Adib Varsity Oral Interpretation and Kamala Iodice JV Oral Interpretation and 5th place to Olivia Conetta - Congress. Roslyn also earned 2 coveted team trophies, one in Congress and one in Speech.

In addition, two award-winning speech members branched out and successfully wrote and published their own speech pieces. Last summer, Sam Hoffman wrote a humor piece titled "iWant" which was accepted by Mushroom Cloud Press. This season, Speech Captain Josh Cohen wrote three duo scripts, "Virtually Dateable", "Kid in Control" and "The Audacity of Nope", all three of which were also published by Mushroom Cloud.

Roslyn High School's Emily Lipari ran to victory at the New York State Track and Field Championships at Cornell University on Saturday, March 7. She captured the 1,500-meters in 4:32.59, a personal best time. She is now state champion in this event and Federation Champion based on this weekend¹s meet — her first state championships in the winter track season. Emily is the defending state champion in the 5K, which she won in 2007 and 2008.

Five Roslyn High School students in the Class of 2009 who had been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program last September have all qualified as finalists. They are now eligible for Merit Scholarships that will be awarded this spring to students across the country.

The five students, pictured here with Roslyn High School Principal Kevin Scanlon, are (left to right) Jourdan Urbach, Ariel Pick, Stephanie Wang, Allie Kornstein and Chelsea Jurman.

Roslyn High School students Stephanie Wang and Sun Jae Park have been selected as finalists in the Nassau County Poet Laureate contest. They will be recognized at an awards ceremony on April 25 when gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention winners will be announced. Both Stephanie's poem, "Deep Sea Fishing", and Sun Jae's poem, "Twilight" will be published in a collection entitled "An Anthology of Poetry by Nassau County Students".

Stephanie Wang also had her poem, "Beyond Here" published in Teen Ink Poetry Journal, Winter ¹09. Stephanie and Sun Jae are both in the English Independent Study program under the guidance of Daniel Jamieson.

Roslyn Student Wins Long Island Brain Bee

Anouva Kalra-Lall is presented with the winning trophy in the 10th annual Brain Bee by CW Post Provost Dr. Paul Forestell.

Roslyn student Anouva Kalra-Lall won first prize in the 10th Annual Brain Bee at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University on February 21, 2009. She competed against 30 other students from high schools all across Long Island. Anouva will be traveling to the National Brain Bee at the University of Maryland in Baltimore on March 20-21.

Long Island high school students were invited to compete in the annual Brain Bee, a challenging academic contest that tested their knowledge of the human brain. The National and International Brain Bee are part of Brain Awareness Week with a goal to motivate youth to learn about the brain and pursue careers in biomedical brain research in the war against mental retardation, cerebral palsy, spinal-cord injury and other brain disorders. Anouva has conducted research on Parkinson¹s disease at the SUNY College at Old Westbury Neuroscience Research Institute for two years. She also has been accepted for an intern position at Cold Spring Harbor labs.

Varsity Bowling Team Finishes as Conference Champs

The Roslyn High School varsity boys¹ bowling team had an outstanding season, finishing as Conference 1 champions with a 12-0 record. They led the conference throughout the season and put together a remarkable record of 117 wins with only 15 losses. They finished first in the standings with an 88% winning average.

The ³Bulldog Keglers² consisted of captain Drew Sloyer, Peter Kim, Andrew Kim and Sam Kaplan and were coached by Mel Levitan. Going into the final week of play, Roslyn led the conference in high team average, high team series, and high games. Individually, each of our team members had outstanding games. Drew Sloyer¹s high game was 233, Peter Kim¹s high game was 215, Andrew Kim rolled a 255 and Sam Kaplan posted a 215. In addition, both Drew and Andrew earned All-Conference honors.

Students Recognized at Nassau Math Tournament

Roslyn High School students earned recognition at the Nassau Mathematics Tournament on February 6 at SUNY Old Westbury for placing within the top 10 in their respective categories.

Individual results: In the lower division, ninth grade: Danny Pollack, third place; Evan Schneider, seventh place. Tenth grade: Brian Chen, first place. In the upper division, eleventh grade: Max Rubin, ninth place. Twelfth grade: Stephanie Wang, seventh place.

Team results: The lower division came in third place; the upper division came in seventh place.

Students Advance in Science & Engineering Fair

Eight Roslyn High School students performed outstandingly at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair on February 10. Rachel Bass, Matt Glickman, Chelsea Jurman, Trisha Nussbaum, Geetika Rudra, Jourdan Urbach, Sam Vitello and Stephanie Wang all advanced to the second round. While only 25 percent of the projects in the fair advanced, 80 percents of the Roslyn students advanced. In March, the eight students will compete in Round 2 of the fair to determine who will represent Long Island at the International Science and Engineering Fair later this year.

Student Places in New York Times Ford Photography Contest

Roslyn High School sophomore Nicole Bacharach won 2nd place in the New York Times Ford Hispanic Heritage Photography contest. Students were asked to submit a photo and a composition of a person, place or event that is representative of their Hispanic culture and heritage and made a significant impact within the community or their life. Nicole chose her grandmother as her subject, and as a result she will receive a $1,000 bond for her 2nd place win.

Jourdan Urbach, a Roslyn High School senior, is one of three national winners of the American Academy of Neurology¹s Neuroscience Research Prize. Jourdan submitted his paper, "The Effect of Extracellular Signaling Molecules on Oligodendrocytes: Differentiation, Morphology, Proliferation, and Survival." He has been invited to present his research at the 61st Annual Meeting of the AAN in Seattle in April, and will receive a $1,000 prize.

Jourdan's project focuses on how to reverse the demyelination of neurons that results from multiple sclerosis. Myelin is a fatty substance that encases many neurons and aids in swift communication. When myelin degenerates, neurons' ability to send messages is impaired. Jourdan spent four years in a lab at Stony Brook University working under Dr. Holly Colognato and two summers in a lab at Harvard University under Dr. David Hafler. In the project he submitted for the competition, Jourdan combined work from the two labs, creating an immunomodulator and laminin cocktail that has been shown to promote greater differentiation, maturation, and proliferation of myelin-creating cells in vitro.

The award was established to encourage high school students to do research on the brain and nervous system.

The Roslyn High School Chapter of the National Honor Society inducted 80 new members into its ranks this year in a special induction ceremony on February 4, 2009. The students are:

In addition, the Honor Society bestowed an honorary membership on Dr. Mira Martincich, Roslyn's Director of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation, who is retiring at the end of the school year after 32 years as a teacher and administrator in the district.

They found that Roslyn teens were more sympathetic to Indonesian victims of a mudslide than to American victims. Interestingly, students expressed high levels of altruism in all conditions but also a tendency to blame the victims for their misfortunes. Kevin and Sarah completed the project in their sophomore year as part of their Behavioral and Social Science Research Seminar class. They were encouraged to submit the paper by their teacher, Dr. Allyson Weseley.

The Roslyn Schools are sending four students to the Long Island String Festival Concert. These students were selected to participate in the Nassau elementary concert, which is being held at West Hempstead High School on Sunday, March 1. Nathan Yang, violin is from Harbor Hill School; Cassandra Chan, violin; Eric Liu, violin; and Anvit Kalra-Lall, viola are all from the Roslyn Middle School.

At its January 29 meeting, the Board of Education honored Susan Katz Richman, who has been the volunteer advisor to the Roslyn High School Mock Trial Team for 20 years. Ms. Richman is a judge, former prosecutor, and a leader in the Nassau County Bar Association. She spoke in glowing terms about the dedication and skill of Roslyn's Mock Trial students, many of whom have gone on to have distinguished careers in the law.

Mock Trial Team Volunteer Advisor Susan Katz Richman is flanked by (from left) Roslyn High School Dean of Students Colleen Grady, Faculty Advisor Sophie Kim and Mock Trial Team Captains Allie Kornstein and Chelsea Jurman.

12/30/09

One of Roslyn's Four Semifinalists in Prestigious Intel Science Talent Search is Now a Finalist

Roslyn High School senior Chelsea Jurman has been named one of this year¹s 40 Intel Science Talent Search finalists. Only four are from Long Island, and Chelsea is the only finalist from Nassau County.

As a finalist, Chelsea will receive a $5000 scholarship and a new laptop computer. For the next and final round of competition, Chelsea will travel to Washington, DC for the Science Talent Institute in early March. There, she will have the opportunity to compete for up to $100,000 in scholarship money and to display her work to the public at the National Academy of Sciences.

For the second year running, Roslyn High School students nabbed four of the 300 coveted semifinalist spots in the Intel Science Talent Search. In addition to Chelsea, Trisha Nussbaum, Jourdan Urbach, and Stephanie Wang were among 59 Long Island seniors to be recognized in this competition. Only two Long Island schools had more than four semifinalists.

Chelsea studied the relationship between teens¹ perceptions of their parents and the teens¹ use of alcohol. For her in-house project under the supervision of Roslyn¹s Research Program Coordinator Dr. Allyson Weseley, she surveyed approximately 125 juniors and seniors and learned that teens who believed their parents drank underage were more likely to drink and be accepting of underage drinking than their peers. In addition, Chelsea found that teens who reported their parents monitored their behavior were less likely to drink and that those who viewed their parents as more supportive were less accepting of underage drinking.

Trisha submitted a series of two experiments to the contest that compared different ways students could learn vocabulary words. In her first experiment, conducted at the high school, Trisha randomly assigned students either to study words from a list, from a narrative about an unfamiliar character, or from a narrative about a familiar character. She found that students who were exposed to the narrative outperformed those who studied from a list and that the students who read the narrative about the familiar character performed best of all. Trisha then replicated her experiment at Cornell University over the summer, under the guidance of Dr. Shimon Edelman. The replication supported her earlier results and also showed that the beneficial effect of reading a narrative about a familiar character was maintained over the course of a week.

Jourdan¹s research focuses on how to encourage greater myelination of neurons in order to combat the devastating effects of Multiple Sclerosis. His project is the culmination of 4 years of work in a Stony Brook laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Holly Colognato. He also spent two summers in Dr. David Hafler¹s lab at Harvard, working with immunomodulators. In his INTEL STS project, Jourdan combined work from the two labs, creating an immunomodulator and laminin cocktail that has been shown to promote greater differentiation, maturation, and proliferation of myelin-creating cells in vitro.

For her project, Stephanie investigated the possibility of using a peptide (AM) and its binding protein (AMBP-1) to prevent cell death in the brain due to lack of oxygen. Such a condition results from stroke, and Stephanie¹s project could lay the foundation for potential medications that would prevent some of the severe brain damage caused by stroke. Stephanie did her work at the Feinstein Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Weng-Lang Yang.

1/16/09; updated 1/29/09

Roslyn Basketball Player is Named Player of the Week

Varsity basketball player George Beamon was named Newsday's Athlete of the Week the week of January 16. He is the leading scorer among all of the high school basketball players on Long Island.

Bulldogs Shine as Roslyn Hosts 1st Psychology Fair

Competitors, judges, and observers packed the Roslyn High School Social Studies Center on Friday, January 9 for the first Long Island High School Psychology Fair. Roslyn students excelled at the competition, earning three Best in Category Awards and two Honorable Mentions.

Rachel Bass was named best in the Social Psychology category for her project on the impact of stereotype threat on performance on vocabulary tests. Kevin Xu won first place in the Health Psychology category for his work on how the gender of an oncologist affects patient care. Chelsea Jurman was awarded an Honorable Mention in that category for a project that looked at factors influencing teens¹ likelihood to drink alcohol. First place in the Political and Economic Psychology category went to Geetika Rudra, who looked at the impact of fear appeals on people¹s voting intentions, and Matthew Glickman earned an Honorable Mention for his work on factors associated with student leadership.

The fair was the concept of Dr. Allyson Weseley, Roslyn High School¹s Coordinator of Secondary Research. Working with research teachers from Great Neck South , Lawrence and Plainedge, she planned and organized the event. Students from across Long Island were invited to submit abstracts of their research projects for consideration. Each abstract was sent out to three judges who blind-reviewed them; the students with the top 30 abstracts were invited to present at the fair.

Roslyn High School had six students qualify for the fair: Rachel Bass, Matthew Glickman, Chelsea Jurman, Geetika Rudra, Samuel Vitello, and Kevin Xu. For the fair, each student prepared an 8-minute Power Point presentation delivered before a panel of judges, their peers, and guests. Following the presentation, the students fielded questions from the judges. Students were evaluated based on the quality of their presentation and their ability to answer the judges¹ questions.

Enthusiasm about the fair ran high among students, their research advisors, and judges. With increasingly large numbers of Long Island students vying for a limited number of spots in research competitions, the new psychology fair is a welcome addition. "It was a lot of work, but it went off without a hitch," commented a relieved and pleased Dr. Weseley. "Everyone was terrific the participants, our judges, our student helpers. Now all we have to do is figure out how to make the fair even better next year."

RHS Students Score High in National Financial Literacy Challenge

Students in Roslyn High School¹s investments classes participated in the U.S. Department of the Treasury¹s fall 2008 National Financial Literacy Challenge, an initiative recommended by the President¹s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. Eleven students scored in the top 25th percentile and received certificates of recognition, and one student scored in the top one percentile and has won the National Financial Literacy Award. The eleven students are Zachary Blank, Christopher Decarolis, Trever Faden, Bobak Jahani, Henna Kamdar, Matt Lerman, Marc Levin, Lawrence Rosenblum, Spencer Schwartz, Seth Sterneck, and Ryan Weber. The winner of the National Financial Literacy Award is Bobak Jahani who will receive a medal. Their teacher is Sallykaye Kaufman.

2 Honored As Outstanding Physical Education Students

Roslyn High School seniors Julie Clark and Jake Rosenblum were honored by the Nassau Zone of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (NYS AHPERD) as the Outstanding Physical Education Students of the Class of 2009. The criteria for this prestigious award include exceptional performance in physical education, scholarship, community service, and leadership qualities. The awards were presented at the NYS AHPERD dinner at the Crest Hollow Country Club on Monday, December 15, 2008.

Mock Trial Team Takes First Place

The Roslyn High School Mock Trial Team took first place in the annual Wheatley Mock Trial Tournament, hosted by the Wheatley School on December 4. Under the enthusiastic leadership of captains Allie Kornstein and Chelsea Jurman, and the supervision of Mock Trial Teacher-Coach Sophie Kim, the 14-member team has had a successful season thus far. They are currently preparing for the Nassau County competitive rounds of the annual statewide mock trial tournament, set to begin in February.

Student's Poem Published On Line

Roslyn High School tenth grader Julia Edelman recently had a poem published on line at www.TeenInk.com. Her poem, entitled, ³Circus, Circus, ² was inspired by the struggle to overcome corruption and the difficulty of looking within oneself to take the first step towards change and revolution.

Athletic Director Honored

Roslyn's Athletic Director Dr. Mira Martincich has been selected to receive the 2008 Presidential Citation Award from the Nassau Zone of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. The award is presented annually to an individual in recognition of his/her educational contributions to students, school district and community.

11 Are Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program

Eleven Roslyn High School students have been named Commended Students in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are Samantha Batel, Caralyn Friedman, Rachel Goldenberg, Michael Makowsky, Gena Olan, Rebecca Pritzker, Scott Schlacter, Jason Schneider, Justin Shapiro, Scott Sherman, and Anvita Vivek. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by Principal Kevin Scanlon to these scholastically talented seniors.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2009 competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students place among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2009 competition by taking the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

Roslyn High School Student in National Hispanic Recognition Program

Roslyn High School student William Mayorga was recently recognized as an Honorable Mention in the 2008-09 National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP). The NHRP was initiated in 1983 to identify outstanding Hispanic/Latino high school students. This year, the NHRP is recognizing nearly 5,000 students, selected from a pool of over 200,000 students who took the 2007 PSAT/NMSQT/PAA and identified themselves as Hispanic.

Middle School Student is Named Math Scholar

Ross Kaplan, a student at Roslyn Middle School, is among the 75 students this year to be named Long Island Young Scholar of Mathematics by the Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students at SUNY College at Old Westbury. He has been accepted by the Institute to pursue mathematics and science studies.

To qualify for this honor, the 75 students who were selected for the Institute¹s three divisions, each consisting of 25 participants, competed against 800 of the top ranking students nominated from school districts on Long Island. Selection by the Institute implies that astudent is among the top one-tenth of one percent in math of all students on Long Island in his or her grade. Acceptances are based on five criteria: a rigorous entrance exam, nomination, school transcript, recommendation of student¹s last math teacher and a brief statement written by the student.

The Institute is supported by SUNY College at Old Westbury, the Nassau County Mathematics Teachers Association, the Suffolk County Mathematics Teachers Association, the Nassau County Interscholastic Mathematics League, the Nassau County Association of Mathematics Supervisors, and the Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools.

A total of 58 students from the Roslyn Schools were selected to participate in the 2009 Nassau Music Educators Association All County Music Festival to be held at the Tilles Center in January. The students from East Hills School, all fifth graders, are Daniel Chai, orchestra, violin; Ethan Chan, orchestra, violin; Deborah Chun, B-flat Clarinet, Band; Bryce Small, chorus; Titus Sung, orchestra, cello; and Ian Warshawsky, orchestra, viola.

The students from Harbor Hill School, who are all fifth graders, are Anna Ben-Levy, chorus; Jacqueline Cotumaccio, chorus; Shira Eisenberg, chorus; Alexa Schaffer, chorus; Hannah Werner, band, trombone; and Nathan Yang, orchestra, violin.

The students from Roslyn Middle School are Bilal Ahmend, grade 8, band, French horn; Zachary Ben-Levy, grade 7, chorus; Elizabeth Berger, grade 8, chorus; Gina Casali, grade 8, chorus; Hardy Chen, grade 6, band, snare drum; Tamilyn Chin, grade 8, orchestra, viola; Sarah Chun, grade 6, orchestra, violin; Dylan Cohen, grade 8, chorus; Jonathan Goldberg, grade 8, chorus; Joshua Goldenberg, grade 7, chorus; Melissa Goldstein, grade 8, chorus; Amanda Goodman, grade 6, chorus; Camille Hazel, grade 6, orchestra, viola; Diana Jeong, grade 6, orchestra, cello; Anvit Kalra-Lall, grade 7, orchestra, viola; Peter Pak, grade 8, orchestra, snare drum; Daveen Rim, grade 6, chorus; Shoshana Rosenstein, grade 7, chorus; Alanna Schaffer, grade 8, chorus; Billie Solomon, grade 6, chorus; Isabel Strobing, grade 8, band, oboe; Nicole Sweet, grade 8, chorus; Brandon Tepper, grade 6, chorus; Justin Tepper, grade 8, chorus; and Lindsay Wolfson, grade 8, chorus.

The students from Roslyn High School are Kevin Chen, grade 9, orchestra, viola; Tom Eyerman, grade 12, mixed chorus; Rachel Goldenberg, grade 12, band, B-flat Clarinet; Katie Goldman, grade 11, mixed chorus; Zachary Goldsmith, grade 11, band, trumpet/cornet; Samantha Halpern, grade 11, band, trumpet/cornet; Anouva Kalra-Lall, grade 11, orchestra, viola; Richard Ke, grade 9, orchestra, viola; James Kim, grade 11, orchestra violin; Peter Kim, grade 12, mixed chorus; Nancy Liu, grade 9, orchestra, viola; Katelyn McNelis, grade 9, chorus; Lindsay Meyer, grade 11, mixed chorus; Trisha Nussbaum, grade 12, mixed chorus; Max Rubin, grade 11, mixed chorus; James Rubinowitz, grade 12, mixed chorus; Scott Schlacter, grade 12, band, snare drum; Jenna Winston, grade 11, mixed chorus; Margaret Wu, grade 9, band, flute; Kevin Xu, grade 11, orchestra, cello; and Se-Young Yoon, grade 10, orchestra, violin.

Eleven Roslyn students have been selected to participate in the Long Island String Festival Concert at Island Trees High School on Sunday, November 16. The students are Benjamin Kim, cello from Roslyn Middle School; and Roslyn High School students Kevin Chen, viola; David Hur, violin; Anouva Kalra-Lall, viola; Richard Ke, viola; Bo-Huyn Kim, violin; Nancy Liu, viola; Sarah Pak, violin; Alex Wu, violin; Kevin Xu, cello; and Se-Young Yoon, violin.

Stephanie Wang Named Regional Finalist in Siemens Competition

Stephanie Wang, a Roslyn High School senior, was recently named a Regional Finalist in the prestigious Siemens Competition, a national science, math, and technology contest for high school students. Stephanie¹s project entitled, The Novel Property of the Circulating Hormone AM and Its Binding Protein: Neuroprotection in Hypoxia, looked out how the protein combination AM/AMBP-1 can help reverse neuron damage caused by a lack of oxygen.

Over 1200 projects were submitted to the Siemens Competition this year, and Stephanie is one of five individuals and five teams who will compete in the New York Regional Finals Stephanie describes herself as ³blown away² by the news of her finalist status. ³We are so proud of and happy for Stephanie,² says Dr. Allyson Weseley, the coordinator of Roslyn¹s research program and Stephanie¹s school research advisor. ³She was tireless in her efforts in the lab, and we are delighted to see her hard work pay off.²

Stephanie conducted her research at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research where she was mentored by Dr. Weng-Lang Yang. Her work has far reaching implications for people who suffer from brain hemorrhage and stroke. ³The protein combination of AM and AMBP-1 provides a potential gateway for new medications to treat brain trauma and stroke by rejuvenating neural cells after severe brain damage,² she explains.

Stephanie will next attend the Regional Finals at Carnegie Mellon the weekend of November 14-16 where she will have the opportunity to compete for up to $100,000 in scholarship money.

The Roslyn Marching Bulldogs competed in Syracuse on October 26 at the New York State Field Band Conference State Championships. They finish Band championships 2008

ed fourth in their division, Small School 2, with an impressive score of 81.25. Under the direction of Mr. Pat Patterson, the Marching Bulldogs impressed the large crowd at the Carrier Dome, including over 100 Roslyn parents, with their show "Zarabanda".

The 124-member band, which moved up to a more competitive class in the N.Y.S.F.B.C. only last year, has markedly increased the difficulty of its routines. Led by their Drum Majors, all the elements of the marching band combined beautifully. This year’s show included more-challenging marching formations, a larger pit with new instruments, a graceful colorguard and a show-stopping drumline. The success of the Marching Band is due to the dedication of Mr. Patterson and his staff, all the hard work of the Marching Bulldogs and the support of the parent organization, the Roslyn Band Fans, and the Roslyn Public Schools.

157 Roslyn High School Students Are AP Scholars

One hundred and fifty-seven current students and recent graduates at Roslyn High School have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program (AP) Examinations. The College Board's Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school, and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on student's performance on AP exams:

• 10 Roslyn High School students qualified for the National AP Scholar Award by earning an average grade of 4 or higher on a 5-point scale on all AP Exams taken, and grades 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams. These students are Jennifer Batel, Austin Bernhardt, Elyssa Goldberg, David Herzka, Jenna Kahn, Brittany Katz, Samantha Lefland, Alex Pascale, Benjamin Wasserman and Jonathan White.

• 52 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. These students are Rachel Abeles, Evan Babazadeh, Parisa Bagheri, Jennifer Batel, Melanie Beatus, Austin Bernhardt, Dara Bernstein, Pooja Bhardwaj, Lauren Borowick, Danny Buslik, Samantha Cheirif, Robert Dambra, Zack Fiddle, Brandon Florio, Madeline Friedman, Elyssa Goldberg, Amy Greenfield, Elizabeth Greenwald, David Herzka, Adam Ilowite, Michael Jacobson, Chelsea Jurman, Jenna Kahn, Brittany Katz, Ilana Kersch, Samantha Lefland, Jacob Levy, Matthew Luchs, Shella Marder, Sanam Mechkat, Pegah Moosazadeh, Jennifer Nauheim, Nissa Ostroff-Moskowitz, Alex Pascale, Ariel Pick, Samuel Radutzky, Amy Ramirez, Marvi Rizwan, Amanda Ryman, Brian Sherwin, Aaron Shipper, Sarah Sincoff, Jacqueline Slatky, David Sloane, Daniel Swerdloff, Chelsea Taitelman, Sara Tazari, Jourdan Urbach, Bradley Wasser, Benjamin Wasserman, Jonathan White and Boyoung Yoon.

• 40 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. These students are Alexander Abedine, Thomas Anesta, Amanda Bader, Hallie Bendell, Andrew Catalano, Lisa Cervia, David Chase, Julie Clark, Emily Crane, Amanda Czik, Alexander Damianou, Yun Deng, Scott Floam, Caralyn Friedman, Matthew Gold, Alex Goldklang, David Hollander, Vasilie Ketsoglou, Daniel Kolitz, Joanne Lee, Alexandra Levitt, Rebecca Lomazow, Michael Makowsky, Rajaa Mourabet, Gena Olan, Ana Perlstein, Thomas Pfrang, Rebecca Pritzker, Maryann Reeves, Amanda Rosales, Jason Schneider, Jacob Schulman, Conor Seidman, Alysia Siegel, Jessica Singer, Lauren Slutsky, Shariful Syed, Samuel Vitello, Anvita Vivek and Stephanie Wang.

• 65 students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Examinations, with grades of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Samantha Adler, Joshua Bader, Samantha Batel, Shiva Bhargava, Natalie Birnbaum, Jordan Boris, Alan Chin, Sarah Chung, Alyssa Cohen, Skyler Cohen, Bradley Cohn, Rebecca Cooper, Nicole Crystal, Dona Danialzadeh, Benjamin Do, Alec Doherty, Samantha Dorin, Danielle Efros, Thomas Eyerman, Alison Farber, Alexandra Foukalas, Arielle Gajer, Gail Geiger, Matthew Glickman, Rachel Goldenberg, Randy Goldstein, Esther Ha, Najia Hussain, Eric Imperato, Shian-Shian Iodice, Susie Jeong, Tracey Kitaeff, Alexander Korn, Allie Kornstein, Samantha Krieger, Margot Leeds, David Lefcort, Amy Levine, Blair Lipkin, Katherine Lombardo, Brittany Marshak, Justin Miller, Mariel Milner, Jee-Hong Min, Trisha Nussbaum, Rachel Park, Sami Pervaiz, Jake Prigoff, Jake Rosenblum, Jessica Ruben, James Rubinowitz, Scott Schlacter, Michael Schwartz, Emily Seyburn, Justin Shapiro, Meredith Shapiro, Alexis Shaw, Ricki Shenfeld, Scott Sherman, Brian Shin, Noah Siegel, Ali Somerstein, Matthew Van Dyke, Jonathan Van Dyke and Joseph Viola.

Of this year's award recipients at Roslyn High School, 61 were still juniors and have at least one more year in which to complete college-level work, and possibly earn another AP Scholar Award.

Two Roslyn Students Featured on CNN

Two Roslyn students have been featured on CNN recently for their exceptional charitable activities.

Roslyn Middle School student Julian Adler was interviewed in September about From My Hood to Your Hood, an organization he founded that donates sweatshirts given out as bar and bat mitzvah party favors to children who have lost their belongings in hurricanes. You can read more about Julian's efforts and find a link for the interview at CNN's "Young People Who Rock".

In early October, Roslyn High School senior Jourdan Urbach was interviewed by CNN's Glenn Beck about Children Helping Children, an organization Jourdan founded 10 years ago to benefit pediatric wards of hospitals and medical organizations. An accomplished concert violinist and medical researcher, Jourdan applies his talents to arranging and performing in concerts and gala benefits to raise funds for research into cures for neurological diseases. There are now Children Helping Children satellite chapters in countries around the world. To see Jourdan's recent CNN interview, visit this link on the Children Helping Children website.

Five Are Named National Merit Semifinalists

Five Roslyn High School seniors were named as semifinalists in this year's National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are among 16,000 nationwide to be named semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. More than 1.5 million juniors in over 21,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2009 National Merit Program by taking the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

These scholastically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, worth $35 million, that will be offered next spring. Pictured (l. to r.) are Roslyn High School's National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists: Chelsea Jurman, Allie Kornstein, Stephanie Wang, Jourdan Urbach and Ariel Pick.

Junior's Article Published in "Little India"

Geetika Rudra, a junior at Roslyn High School, had an article published in the September, 2008 issue of Little India, the largest Indian publication in the United States. The article, "Kurti and the Little Floral Bag", is about balancing traditional heritage and values with American style and culture. Click here to read the article online.

Teacher Featured in Virtual Art Gallery

Roslyn High School Art Teacher Lou Buschi is featured on East Coast Artists On Line, a website highlighting the work of artists' working and living along the East Coast of the United States. To see Mr. Buschi's "Artist's Gallery," click here.

Science Teacher Selected for Yale Teaching Award

Roslyn High School Science Teacher Irena Tsarevsky has been selected as a recipeint of the 2008 Yale Teaching Award. This award recognizes teachers from around the world who have inspired and supported their students to achieve at high levels. Students entering the Yale Class of 2012 were asked to nominate outstanding educators who have made a difference in their lives. Ms. Tsarevsky was nominated by Roslyn graduate Amy Ramirez.

Ms. Tsarevsky was also honored for her mentorship of another student. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory named a minor planet after her in recognition of her work as an advisor to Evan Babazadeh, who was a finalist in the 2008 Intel Science Talent Search. Read about Minor Planet (24199) Tsarevsky.

PHOTO: Irena Tsarevsky (center) with Science Chairperson Claudia Rico and Roslyn High School Principal Kevin Scanlon.

Click here to read about the many great student and staff accomplishments of the 2007-08 school year.

The Class of 2009