The Class of 2010

More than 310 members of the Roslyn High School Class of 2010 received their diplomas at the schools' 104th commencement exercises, held at the Tilles Center on Friday, June 25. Congratulations to our graduates and best wishes on their future success!

The Program from the 104th Commencement of Roslyn High School includes the awards and honors earned by the members of the graduating class.

Where Are They Headed?

Congratulations to the Class of 2010 on being accepted into many of the finest colleges and universities in the nation. Roslyn High School graduates plan to attend these institutions of higher learning in the fall:

Students Celebrate Moving Up & Moving On

Roslyn Middle School graduation at Hofstra on June 24.

Ms. Liguori addresses Harbor Hill's fifth grade class at the Moving Up ceremony on June 22 at Roslyn High School.

East Hills fifth-graders at their Moving Up ceremony on June 21 at the high school.

Veteran Earns Belated Roslyn High School Diploma

Ken Whitehead (second from left) is presented his Roslyn High School Diploma by (left to right) Roslyn High School Principal Kevin Scanlon, Dean of Students Colleen Grady, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dan Brenner, Assistant Principal Carol Murphy and Assistant Principal Jay Pilnick.

Ken Whitehead was a Roslyn High School student who would have graduated with the class of 1968, but he went into the armed forces instead and served in Vietnam. Under a government program, veterans who never finished high school may apply their military service as credit towards a diploma. Roslyn High School was pleased to present a Roslyn High School diploma to Mr. Whitehead during graduation week on June 22. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dan Brenner, Principal Kevin Scanlon and the administration of the high school congratulated him on this belated but well-deserved recognition.

Students Honored for Service by Roslyn Rotary Club

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.

Students of the Month for 2009-10 were:

September — Rebecca Allen

October — Taha Adib

November — Bobak Jahani

December — Andrew Kim

January — Geetika Rudra

February — Kevin Xup

March — Lucas Unger

April — Sarah Cha

May — Jennifer H. Kim

June — Efrain Fontanet

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

Dream Job Contest Winner

Roslyn High School junior Shontavea Jarvis has been selected as a winner in the Dream Job essay contest sponsored by USA Today. The contest was the culminating project for a career exploration curriculum designed by USA Today. This is the first year that Nassau County schools participated in this program. Shontavea and her teacher, Kerri Jannotte, attended a reception for the winners at the Samsung Experience in the Time Warner Center on April 25. The guest speaker for the event was Marc Ecko, founder and CEO of Marc Ecko Enterprises. Shontavea's winning essay was written about her desire to become a fashion designer.

Kim Svoboda from USA Today presents Shontavea Jarvis with a certificate honoring her as a Dream Job Winner.

As part of her award, Shontavea also spent a day shadowing a Senior Merchandiser at ICER Brands in New York City. During her day on the job, she learned about licensing, merchandising, design, product development and distribution. ICER brands is responsible for Picked Fresh for Apple Bottoms by Nelly, EckoRed juniors by Marc Ecko and UNK NBA brand. The company name ICER stands for integrity, customer, excellence and respect.

"It was a great experience to actually see the way products go from the design phase to the stores," said Shontavea. "I was really surprised to find out that is takes one full month just to get one shirt from the factories overseas to the stores in the US. I learned a lot today." Shontavea hopes to enter the field of fashion design after graduation.

Student Honored for Volunteerism

Roslyn High School Senior Kevin Xu has been chosen as the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation's 2010 Volunteer of the Year. Since the summer of 2006, Kevin has volunteered over 900 hours of service in Healthy Outlook, an activity and companionship program on the Geriatric Unit at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. Kevin would talk with the patients at bedside, assist them with meals and snacks and help patients with activities. On top of performing cello for patients at Elmhurst, Kevin has also recruited over 100 high school students to perform for elderly patients during the holiday season.

The Health and Hospitals Corporation of the City of New York honored Kevin at an awards ceremony at the Coler-Goldwater Hospital and Nursing Facility on Roosevelt Island in May where 33 other volunteers chosen from more than 8,000 men and women performing service to the city's public hospitals were also honored. In March of 2009, Kevin was also selected as the recipient of the 2009 United Hospital Fund Volunteer Achievement Award for his work.

Roslyn High School student Nickolas Powers was honored at this year's Grammy Career Day for his original composition, "Love Song," which was chosen as the winning entry.
Nick (seated second from the left) joined artist Mr. Hudson and producers Scott Jacoby and Sam Hollander onstage to discuss how he recorded and produced the song. The event took place on May 20 at Pace University in New York. Grammy® Career Day, presented by Gibson Foundation with support from The Ford Motor Company Fund, is a national outreach program designed to provide insight to high school students about careers that are available in music, and direction on how to prepare for them. It provides an opportunity for students to interact with professionals representing a wide range of careers. Nick is also the recipient of an instrument scholarship from the Recording Industry Foundation, and elected to receive a classical guitar to further his career in the music industry.

Roslyn High School junior Damian Douglin was a Long Island Finalist at the Blue Chip Prospects Football Combine last weekend. He was selected to compete in the New York State Elite Top 250 Football Combine in Syracuse on June 6th. Coach Joseph Dispigno said, "Damian is the hardest working athlete I have ever coached. We expect big things from him next season."

Roslyn Goes 3 for 3 at ISEF

Roslyn High School was well represented at this year's International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in San Jose, California with three students in attendance. Over 1600 students attended ISEF, hailing from every state in the union and approximately 60 nations. The top quarter of projects received the coveted Grand Awards, among them all three of Roslyn's attendees: Samantha Halpern, Aaron Levine, and Kevin Xu.

Kevin Xu, Samantha Halpern and Aaron Levine were all Grand Award winners at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

Sam earned a 2nd Place Grand Award ($1500) for her work on ovarian cancer. Her project focused on elucidating the role of microRNAs (recently discovered short strands of nucleotides) in this especially deadly type of cancer. Kevin won a 3rd Place Grand Award ($1000) for his project on factors influencing low-income, African American women's likelihood to obtain annual mammograms. Aaron Levine garnered both a 4th Place Grand Award ($500) and a special award from the Illinois Institute of Technology ($500) for his experimental study contrasting the effects of character-based and issue-based political attack ads.

"We are delighted with our students' performance," reported Dr. Allyson J. Weseley, Roslyn's Coordinator of Secondary Research. "The competition at ISEF is intense. The students endured seven hours of judging, and their success is a testament to their hard work and preparation over their tenure in our program."

The students spent a full week in San Jose during which they had the opportunity to see some of the sights, meet famous scientists, and learn about research conducted by other students. Kevin presented as part of a student panel on how to promote student research, and Aaron was interviewed about his study by Connecticut radio host Lisa Wexler; the show was taped on May 13, and the content is available at on her website http://livewithlisaradio.com.

Overall, the students agreed that the trip was a fantastic experience. As Aaron explained, "ISEF gave me the opportunity to interact with a diverse mix of students from around the world who share my interest in conducting innovative research."

Lindsay Mandel and Olivia Conetta are winners of the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship

Roslyn High School students Olivia Conetta and Lindsay Mandel are recipients of the 2010 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship. The program, which is federally funded and administered through the State Education Department, is designed to recognize exceptionally able high school seniors who show promise of continued excellence in postsecondary education.

Five Roslyn Teens Honored at Good Deed Awards

Good Deed Award winners Rebecca Allen, Christina Mockler, Jordan Litt, Jaclyn Litvack and Jennifer Kim.

Five Roslyn High School students were honored at the 2010 Long Island Teen Good Deed Awards on May 4. Rebecca Allen, Christina Mockler, Jordan Litt, Jaclyn Litvack and Jennifer Kim were honored along with other Long Island teenagers at a ceremony at the Supreme Court in Mineola attended by several hundred guests and dignitaries. The Good Deed Awards for Long Island Teenagers seek to "recognize young men and women for their outstanding acts of goodness and kindness to society." Since 1994, business, government and community leaders gather to honor and thank deserving students for their achievement, excellence, effectiveness and creativity as positive role models.

Roslyn Students Meet National Financial Capability Challenge

Twenty-three Roslyn High School students scored in the top 20 percent of the country in the National Financial Capability Challenge. One student, Lyle Berstein, received a perfect score. Over 76,000 students nationwide took the exam. The students in the top 20 percent nationwide are Shane Ackerman, Caleb Balbera, Jake Barach, Adam Bendell, Brandon Berman, Lyle Berstein (100%), Michael Choi, Daniel Cooperman, Maxwell David, Kevin Gin, Peter Gjonlekaj, Jacob Goldstein, Navid Gordpour, Natalia Griffin, Ben Kim, Jacob Lustrin, Chelsea Mandel, Katelyn McNelis, Jean Paul Mendez, Kia Moosazadeh, Seth Sterneck, Mitchell Swerdloff, and Jordan Weinstein.

The National Financial Capability Challenge is a program designed to increase the financial knowledge and capability of high school students across the nation so they can take control over their financial futures. Roslyn High School Business Teacher Sallykaye Kaufman had her students take the online exam after teaching the basics of personal finance.

Student Wins Publisher's Scholarship

Roslyn High School senior Spencer Schwartz was awarded the 2010 Publisher's Scholarship from the Long Island Business Education Council (LIBEC). The award is a $500 scholarship awarded to a student based on his or her academic success in their business classes, as well as his or her interest in pursuing a career in business. Roslyn High School Business teacher Sallykaye Kaufman nominated Spencer for this scholarship, which was awarded to two Long Island students. He will be honored at the LIBEC luncheon on May 19, 2010.

Roslyn Student Essay on "This I Believe"

Roslyn High School Junior Ellena Movahedian's essay entitled, "The Power of Youth" has been published online at "This I Believe", an international project engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Essays are archived on the website, and some are heard on public radio. The piece stemmed from an assignment that English Teach Jolene Grgas gave last year in her 10th grade English Honors class. Ellena is the second Roslyn High School student to have an essay accepted for "This I Believe" this school year. Read Ellena's essay by clicking here.

Students Inducted into Foreign Language Honor Society

The Roslyn High School Foreign Language Honor Society held its second annual induction ceremony on April 15. The 80 students inducted have excelled in a foreign language for a minimum of three years and have shown a commitment to language. They exemplify the values and expectations of the Foreign Language Honor Society and will volunteer time to different services and activities inside and outside of the school community. The faculty advisors for the Foreign Language Honor Society are Susana Rivera and Jessica Valente and the Foreign Language Department Chair is Vincenza Graham.

The 2009-10 inductees are:

Roslyn Student a Finalist in Prudential Community Award

Roslyn High School senior Rebecca Allen was recently chosen as one of eight Distinguished Finalists statewide in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Rebecca, along with 2 other students, co-founded Project HEAL – Help to Eat, Accept and Live, a nonprofit organization that has raised more than $100,000 to provide treatment for people suffering from eating disorders who want to recover, but cannot afford treatment; and to educate about the dangers of focusing excessively on body image and to encourage people to accept their bodies.

Rebecca, who was recently featured in Newsday's Way to go! Column, has a web site (www.theprojectheal.org) and has organized fund-raisers and various events to benefit the organization.

Roslyn High School senior Pearl Moon received an Honorable Mention in the 6th Annual "Freedom to Read" essay contest sponsored by the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Nassau County Library Association. She read her essay at the reception held at the Carle Place Barnes & Noble store on April 29.

Harbor Hill Elementary School Physical Education Teacher and Roslyn High School Track Coach Vera Trenchfield recently had two activities that she created published in the May issue of "Great Activities Newspaper", a nationally distributed source of activities, games and ideas for K-8 physical education teachers. The featured activities Ms. Trenchfield created are "Mission Impossible," a lesson developed to improve lateral movement and reaction time working on improving speed, agility and coordination, and "Floor Goal Ball", a quadrant game designed to improve eye-hand coordination and reinforce good teamwork.

Roslyn High School students Justin Tepper, Melissa Goldstein, Caroline Woods and Peter Pak performed together in a band, Skeptics & True Believers, on Sunday, May 2 at Mulcahy's in Wantagh to help raise money for breast cancer. They were part of a program called Students Rockin' For A Reason which staged the fundraiser to benefit The Long Island 2 Day Walk to Fight Breast Cancer. Three other student "garage bands" also played, raising nearly $15,000 for the cause.

Two Win National Merit Scholarships

Roslyn High School seniors Lindsay Mandel and Kevin Xu have been selected as winners of a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship. Each year, approximately 1.5 million high school students nationwide enter the program by taking the PSAT. Of those, 16,000 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists are announced in September. In March, finalists are recognized, from among whom approximately 8,200 scholarships are awarded.

Roslyn High School and Middle School students came away from the Long Island Math Fair final rounds with a collection of medals on April 30 at Hofstra University. One student, Jacob Benatar, not only won a Gold Medal for his research entitled, “The Couch Problem,” but also won the Alice Griswold Award for having the top paper in the 11th grade at the Math Fair. Jacob was asked to attend the Nassau County Math Teachers Association dinner on May 13 as a keynote speaker. According to Math Department Chairman Steve Weiss, the Griswold Award is very prestigious and has not been won by a Roslyn student since 1995.

The medal-winning students and their topics were:

7th grade silver:
  Jordan Rosen, Monty Hall Problem
  Talia White, Simpson's Paradox
7th grade gold:
  William Berger, Topology in Puzzles
8th grade bronze:
  Ross Kaplan, Nim Games
  Rohit Mehandru, Cryptology
  Nicole Talerman, Ken Ken
  Andrew Wang, Parrondo's Paradox
  Amy Xu, Latin Squares
8th grade silver:
  Allison Bichoupan, Sprouts
  Weston Brzostovski, Cryptography
  Jordan Fishbach, Sudoku
  Joshua Loria, The Monty Hall Dilemma
  Brian Rogofsky, Math of a Football Punt
  Brendan Seidman, Data Analysis in Baseball
8th grade gold:
  Joshua Goldenberg, Wheel of Fortune and Expected Value
  Stephanie Haber, Chi-squares
  Robert Louis, Pick's Theorem for Lattice Polygons
  Arielle Mayourian, Surfer’s Problem: A "Why's" Approach
  Jacob Pion, Cryptography
  Benjamin Rashbaum, Hitting Home Run with Linear Regress
  Barry Yang, The Pigeonhole Principle
9th grade bronze:
  Spencer Davidson, Mean Center of Population
  Ben Reisner, Gregory Interpolation and Finite Differences
9th grade silver:
  Arun Bhardwaj, Triangles of Equal Area and Perimeter
  Jason Gottlieb, How to kick a field goal
9th grade gold:
  Dylan Cohen, Conway's Soldiers
  Alain Sherman, Polyhedron
  Alec Urbach, Pantograph
10th grade silver:
  Isaac Fisher, Group Theory & The Rubik's Cube
  Michelle Jung, Diametric Quadrilaterals
10th grade gold:
  Danny Pollack, Factoring by Composition
11th grade gold and The Alice Griswold Award:
  Jacob Benatar, The Couch Problem

Student Accepted into Writer's Conference

Roslyn High school junior Julia Edelman was accepted into the prestigious Champlain College Young Writers' Conference, to be held over the weekend of May 21-23. According to the acceptance letter, this was the largest pool of applicants the program has had in its decade-long existence, said English Department Chairman Josh Cabat. This spring's writing workshop is geared specifically for high school students, where the dedicated young writers will have a chance to meet others who share their passion for writing and to participate in workshops and hear an author speak.

Film Student's Work Benefits Autism Fundraiser

Roslyn High School sophomore Ben Bushell volunteered his time to produce a video that was shown at the Woodbury Ball for Autism on April 16, 2010. According to Thomas Kaufman, the faculty co-advisor of the Roslyn Film Society along with Larry Reiff, "Ben has a tremendous amount of talent. I am proud that he is using his talent to impact the lives of others. As an active member of the Roslyn Film Society, Ben continues to develop his skills as a director and as an editor." Ben's work was also featured last month in the Locust Valley Film Festival.

Roslyn Teams Win in eCybermission Contest

eCybermission team winners Paul Rogofsky, Jae Jun and Arshia Aalami with faculty advisor Dr. Allyson Wesely.

Roslyn High School's 9th Grade Team came in 1st place in the Northeast Region in the eCybermission competition, an army-sponsored research competition. The students on this team are Paul Rogofsky (captain), Arshia Aalami Harandi, and Jae Hyung Jun. Each team member will receive a $3,000 bond. The team is now invited to the National Finals which will be held in Baltimore in June.

Another Roslyn 9th Grade Team won a Criteria Award for Team Collaboration and Communication. The students on this team are Bilal Ahmed (captain), Arvind Kumar, and Aziz Adib. Each of these team members will receive a $2,000 bond.

eCybermission is a free, web-based science, technology, engineering and math competition for students in grades six through nine. The team faculty advisor is Dr. Allyson Weseley.

5 Winners in State Forensic Tournament

Five Roslyn High School students were winners in the New York State Forensic Championship Tournament held at Chaminade High School on April 24-25. Finalist winners are Jeremy Pick, 3rd Place Oral Interpretation; and Nicole Sweet, 4th Place Oral Interpretation. Semi-finalist winners are Melissa Goldstein, 7th Place Oral Interpretation; Corey Steinfast, 15th Place Oral Interpretation; and Phil Weinstein, semi-finalist in Student Congress.

Roslyn Middle School Student Wins Honorable
Mention in Earth Day Contest

Roslyn Middle School 6th grader Anne Werner has been chosen by Supervisor Jon Kaiman and the Town of North Hempstead as an "honorable mention" in the Town's 2010 Earth Day T-Shirt Design Contest. Anne, a member of the Roslyn Middle School Environmental Club, was invited to attend a reception at Town Hall to honor the student winners on April 27.

Roslyn Middle School eighth grader Anvit Kalra-Lall came in second at the local Lodge level in the essay contest sponsored by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The theme of the essay was, "The American Dream: What is it?" As a second place winner in the North Shore Lodge level, Anvit receives a Certificate of merit and a gift card from Barnes and Noble.

Anvit participated in the Elks Drug Awareness essay contest last year when the topic was, "Get Smart; Don’t Start." In that contest, he received first place on the local Lodge level, first place on the District level and eventually, first place in the New York State competition. He won a $500 Savings Bond from the Elks Grand Lodge in Chicago.

Carmen Krauss, a teacher assistant at East Hills School, was named to the Town of North Hempstead's Women's Roll of Honor. Named after former Town Supervisor May Newburger, the Roll of Honor recognizes women who are residents in the Town who have in some way added to the quality of life for their community, or serve as an inspiration to others in North Hempstead. The 2010 awards were presented at a special ceremony at the Roslyn Claremont Hotel on March 18.

(left to right) North Hempstead Town Councilman Thomas K. Dwyer, East Hills Mayor Michael R. Koblenz, Honoree Carmen Krauss, Town Clerk Leslie Gross, Nassau County Legislator Wayne Wink and Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman. (Photo courtesy of Town of North Hempstead)

Carmen has been active in civic affairs for many years, having served as president of her civic association and of the united civic associations in Roslyn and East Hills. Working with Norgate Civic Association, she was instrumental in the elimination of a Nassau County sewer tax that residents of East Hills had been paying for over 40 years, which she considers one of her greatest accomplishments. She has also been an ad hoc member of the Village of East Hills Planning Board, co-president of the Heights School PTA and the Coordinating Council of PTAs. She has been a member of the school district staff since 1994.

In response to being named to the Roll of Honor, Carmen said that she hopes her service will be an example for future generations of community volunteers. "I hope that the Roslyn School District students who are now volunteering in some capacity in their communities will continue to do so as they grow up into adulthood. Our communities need our young people."

Roslyn High School senior Kevin Xu was named a Regional Finalist in the Young Epidemiology Scholars (YES) Competition. For the 6th year in a row, Roslyn High School has one of the 10 Regional Finalists from New York State invited to compete in the YES Competition sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Kevin Xu is no stranger to the contest having participated last year as well.

The Regional Finals will be held on April 24, 2010 in Washington, DC. Ten students from each of six regions will compete to qualify for the National Finals. The top 12 students, two students from each region, will then vie for up to $50,000 in scholarship money.

Each student has completed a project dealing with some aspect of public health. Kevin's project explored factors related to low-income, urban women's likelihood to receive annual mammograms and ways to increase their rates of mammography adherence. To obtain his data, Kevin surveyed women from public housing projects in Brooklyn. According to Dr. Allyson Weseley, Roslyn's Coordinator of Secondary Research and Kevin’s mentor on the project, "Kevin showed an extraordinary degree of initiative in this project. He is phenomenally hardworking and extremely deserving of this honor."

YES Regional Finalist Kevin Xu.

Kevin found that knowledge about breast cancer and a good relationship with one's primary care physician were directly related to getting frequent mammograms, while spirituality and fatalism were inversely related to women's likelihood to receive annual mammograms. Kevin followed up his survey with an educational presentation and found that a post-test survey indicated a marked increase in both knowledge about breast cancer and the intent to obtain an annual mammogram. "I’m really excited to have this opportunity to go back to DC, and I’m looking forward to learning a lot more about epidemiology," said Kevin. At the Regional Finals, each of the students will present a 12-minute Power Point presentation on their projects and then take part in a 10-minute question and answer session. The judges are renowned epidemiologists from all over the United States.

This year, Roslyn High School also had four of the 120 Regional Semifinalists. Senior Max Blum studied the effect of putting calorie counts on menus. Brian Chen, a junior, submitted a project that explored how teens view peers who drink. Lauren Kobrick, a senior, was honored for her project on the differences in how students view driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. Senior Ariel Lefland, the only Roslyn winner to have an outside mentor, worked with a rheumatologist to examine the relationship between albumin levels and bone mineral density. Each of the Semifinalists will receive $1000.

Students from Roslyn High School won the Best Delegation Award at the 2010 Columbia University Model Congress on April 3.

Twenty-four students from Roslyn High competed with delegates from other schools in the tri-state area at the annual event at Columbia. Prior to the competition, the students spent two months preparing bills of their own to present as delegates. At the competition, students debated the bills of other delegates along with their own bills.

Students were divided into committees of approximately 30 delegates that mirrored current congressional committees like the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Students debated bills in committee sessions for three hours, after which they moved on to debate bills in full House and Senate sessions, which were comprised of several different committees.

Awards included best delegate in committee, an honorable mention in committee, best delegate in full session, and honorable mention in full session. Olivia Conetta, Jenny Godman, Ruth Marder, Danny Pollack, Geetika Rudra, Daniel Sikavi and Kevin Xu all won best in committee. Danny Pollack won an honorable mention in full house. Kevin Xu and Phil Weinstein won the best delegate in full house and full senate respectively.

Student Film in Festival

Roslyn High School sophomore Daniel Kendi, an active participant in the Roslyn Film Society, directed a film, "9999 BC" that was recently selected to be included in the Green Mountain Film Festival’s "High School Filmmakers Showcase". The festival is in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, April 9-11.

Dan's film was also selected as a finalist in the short fiction category of The 2010 Locust Valley Film Festival.

"Dan is one of the talented student directors actively participating in The Roslyn Film Society. We are proud of his work, and Mr. Reiff and I look forward to a bright future ahead for the RFS," said Thomas Kaufman, co-Director of the Roslyn Film Society.

Three RHS Students Will Compete at
International Science and Engineering Fair

Roslyn High School seniors Aaron Levine and Kevin Xu won 1st Place awards at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF) on March 22, thereby qualifying them to compete in the prestigious Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). LISEF is the most competitive local science fair with over 400 students competing and only 16 ISEF slots for individual winners.

One week earlier, another Roslyn student, Samantha Halpern, qualified to attend ISEF at the New York State Science and Engineering Fair (NYSSEF). Nearly 150 students participated in NYSSEF and only the top 8 individuals were selected to attend ISEF. The Intel ISEF, to be held in San Jose, CA this May, brings together over 1500 students from all over the world to vie for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and scholarships.

Both Aaron and Kevin will compete in the Behavioral Science category at ISEF. Aaron's project contrasted the effect of issue and character-based attacks on political candidates. He found the character-based attacks were more damaging to candidates and did not harm people’s perception of the ad's sponsor. Kevin surveyed low-income African American women in Brooklyn to see what factors were related to their likelihood to get annual mammograms. He found a disturbingly low percentage (44%) of women reported obtaining annual mammograms and conducted an educational intervention to try to increase that number. Samantha entered her project in the Medicine and Health Category. Her project discovered seven microRNAs that are differentially expressed in an ovarian cancer and healthy cell lines.

Six other Roslyn students also distinguished themselves at this year’s LISEF. Sarah Pak won a 2nd Place Award in Behavioral Science, Anouva Kalra-Lall won a 3rd Place Award (Team), and Josh Freeberg (Behavioral Science), Zach Goldsmith (Chemistry), Lauren Kobrick (Behavioral Science) and Ariel Lefland (Behavioral Science) were all awarded Honorable Mentions. At NYSSEF, Sarah Pak (Behavioral Science) won a 1st Place Award and Lauren Kobrick (Behavioral Science) and Nikhil Mehandru (Engineering) garnered 2nd Place Awards.

Dr. Allyson Weseley, the Coordinator of Secondary Research, credits the students' success to their countless hours of hard work. She said, "We are thrilled with all our students' performance, and we anticipate another successful showing at the international level."

Roslyn Forensic Team Members Qualify
for State and National Tournaments

The Roslyn High School Forensic Speech, Congress and Debate Team is proud to announce that 28 students have qualified for the New York State Forensic Tournament this April. The students are: Amanda Abrams - Speech, Becky Allen - Speech, Caleb Barbera - Congress, Josh Cohen - Speech, Olivia Conetta - Congress, Julia Edelman -Speech, Isaac Fisher - Congress, Lily Frank - Speech, Jennifer Godman - Congress, Melissa Goldstein - Speech, Arielle Gordon - Debate, Jeff Gottlieb - Speech, Maddy Halpern - Congress, Samantha Halpern - Debate, Sam Hoffman - Speech, Kamala Iodice - Speech, Danielle Lefland - Speech, Ethan Levine - Debate, Mike Lustrin - Congress, Christina Mockler - Speech, Jeremy Pick - Speech, Tim Silber - Congress, Corey Steinfast - Speech, Nicole Sweet - Speech, Daniel Wasserman - Congress, Phil Weinstein – Double Qualification in Speech and Congress, Lindsey Wolfson – Speech and Matt Wolfson - Speech.

Ten students have also qualified for the National Forensic Tournament to be held in May in Omaha. The students are: Amanda Abrams, Lily Frank, Melissa Goldstein, Jeff Gottlieb, Sam Hoffman, Danielle Lefland, Christina Mockler, Tim Silber, Corey Steinfast and Phil Weinstein.

At the regional tournaments, the following awards were won: Winning 1st Place trophies were Becky Allen and Josh Cohen – Duo Interpretation, Sam Hoffman – Humor, Corey Steinfast - Drama and Nicole Sweet – Oral Interpretation and Phil Weinstein – Extemp. Winning 2nd Place trophies were Lily Frank and Christina Mockler – Duo Interpretation, Arielle Gordon – Debate, Sam Hoffman – Oral Interpretation, Corey Steinfast – Oral Interpretation and Drama, Phil Weinstein - Extemp and Congress, Nicole Sweet – Oral Interpretation. Winning 3rd Place trophies were Amanda Abrams – Oral Interpretation, Becky Allen and Josh Cohen – Duo Interpretation (Twice), Jeff Gottlieb and Danielle Lefland – Duo Interpretation, Samantha Halpern – Debate, Sam Hoffman – Oral Interpretation, Ethan Levine – Debate, Melissa Goldstein – Drama, Jeremy Pick – Oral Interpretation, and Justin Tepper – Oral Interpretation. 4th Place winners were Olivia Conetta – Congress, Jennifer Godman – Congress, Melissa Goldstein – Oral Interpretation and Drama, Jeff Gottlieb and Danielle Lefland – Duo Interpretation, Kamala Iodice – Oral Interpretation, Mike Lustrin – Congress, Jeremy Pick – Oral Interpretation, Tim Silber – Congress, Phil Weinstein – Congress and Lindsey Wolfson – Oral Interpretation. 5th Place winners were Amanda Abrams – Oral Interpretation, Caleb Barbera – Congress, Isaac Fisher – Congress, Melissa Goldstein – Oral Interpretation, Lily Frank and Christina Mockler – Duo Interpretation, Jeff Gottlieb and Danielle Lefland – Duo Interpretation, Kamala Iodice – Oral Interpretation and Daniel Wasserman.

The Forensic Team has also won one 2nd place and three 3rd place Sweepstakes School Trophies.

Marching Band Invited to Perform at Orange Bowl

The Roslyn Marching Bulldogs have been invited to perform at next year’s Orange Bowl Game and Parade, one of the most prominent events in the nation for marching bands.

Band Director Pat Patterson said, “How shocked and excited I was to receive this invitation to one of the oldest and most prestigious bowl games and parades in the world, the Orange Bowl! By sending us this invitation, they have put us into another category, a whole different echelon."

Mr. Patterson broke the news on March 23 to a large group of the Marching Band Fans, the Roslyn parent support group for the band. He explained, "As a band director, I know how totally unrealistic it is to expect to break into what is considered one of the top five events in the nation. For bands, it is the equivalent of getting into Harvard – something you might dream about, but the reality of achieving such an honor, even with tremendous hard work and dedication, is extraordinarily difficult. Bands have to be 'nationally acclaimed,' have over 100 members, be super precise as well as musically captivating to get into one of these events." The major events are the Rose Parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Orange Bowl Parade and Game, Sugar Bowl Parade and Game, and Fiesta Bowl Parade. "In addition, once a band has one of these on its resume, it is considered as having 'made it' and can be accepted to any of them, thus becoming one of the top bands in the nation," Mr. Patterson said.

The Roslyn High School Marching Band is now in its 10th year. Congratulations to the members of the Roslyn Marching Band, the Band Fans parent support group, and all who have supported the band on the way to reaching this level of achievement. More information can be found at roslynband.com, patterblog.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/roslynmarchingband.

Roslyn Student Wins Art Award

Roslyn High School senior Andrew Greif was recognized by the Art Supervisor's Association of Nassau County as a scholarship recipient for a drawing he entered in their 6th Annual Nassau All-County Art Exhibition held at Adelphi University on March 22. Andrew received a plaque commemorating his achievement as well as a check for $250.00 from the ASA committee.

Roslyn Math Teacher Honored by Harvard Club

Roslyn High School Math Teacher Iftimie Simion has been named a "Distinguished Teacher of 2010" by the Harvard Club of Long Island.

"These awards seek to recognize extraordinary people," explained Dr. Judith Esterquest, a board member of the Long Island club. "Talented teachers like Mr. Simion expend uncounted hours and vast stores of energy to transform the lives of our Long Island teens. Day after day and year after year, they help shape our country’s future, inspiring students to dream dreams, to work to accomplish those dreams, and to think rigorously about what they want their future to be."

Mr. Simion, who has taught advanced math and coached the math team at Roslyn for the past eight years, immigrated to the United States from Romania in the early 1990s. He had earned his Master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Bucharest before teaching advanced math for 13 years at the University in Ploiesti, where he coached the Romanian national math team, and published papers in professional journals. Arriving in New York, he studied pure math at Queens College and began teaching at Stuyvesant High School in 1996, where he was recognized by faculty, parents, and students as a rare gem. He taught college-level courses such as multivariate calculus and differential equations, coached the math team, and supervised the math research program.

Mr. Iftimie Simion

In 1999, he won the prestigious Edyth May Sliffe Award, given to high school mathematics teachers whose teams excel on the American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME, now the AMC 12); each year the award recognizes the dozen or so top math teachers of the 86,000 who are annually involved in the exam.

Nominated by Stephanie Wang, a former student who is now a freshman at Harvard College, Mr. Simion was described as having "really touched me in his commitment to his students and his passion for the subject that he teaches, lives, and breathes — math." Stephanie said that her fondest memories of high school revolve around Mr. Simon’s "always wanting to share another intriguing math problem with his math classes, and getting so caught up that he would involve his class in the struggle to figure it out.” “I have met no other teacher who is so genuine and, at the same time, so immersed in the subject he teaches,” Stephanie concluded. Mr. Simion is "a wonderful teacher and inspiring person, who has influenced the entire Roslyn High School."

Besides Mr. Simion, English teacher Scott Segal also received a letter from the Harvard Club of Long Island recognizing his superb teaching.

When Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Dan Brenner, learned of this award, he observed, "In a school district that prides itself on excellence in education, we count Mr. Simion among our finest instructors. He not only provides the students of Roslyn a marvelous experience as he teaches the most advanced mathematics classes, but he is an ongoing source of information for his math colleagues. Mr. Simion has always been a teacher's teacher."

Steve Weiss, the Roslyn Math Department Chair, said, "Mr. Simion's exceptional knowledge of mathematics, along with his passion to teach all that he knows, define him as a true maser teacher. On the many occasions that I had to observe him teach, I can tell you that upon the conclusion of his lessons, I felt like getting up and applauding, as you would do after watching an awe-inspiring Broadway Performance."

3/26/10

The Roslyn school family notes with great sadness the death of our colleague Iftimie Simion on May 19, 2010.

Kevin Xu, Lindsay Mandel and Alexa D’Ambra are National Merit Scholarship Finalists.

Three Roslyn High School students in the Class of 2010 who had been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program last September have qualified as finalists. The students are Kevin Xu, Lindsay Mandel and Alexa D’Ambra. They are eligible for Merit Scholarships that will be awarded this spring to students across the country.

3/17/10

Sam Heyman and Aaron Levine won first place at the State DECA Conference for the second straight year.

Sam Heyman and Aaron Levine, for the second consecutive year, won 1st place in New York State in Entrepreneurship Written Event at the Distributive Educational Clubs of America (DECA) State Career Conference in Rochester from March 10-12. Aaron and Sam will compete at the International Career Development Conference in Louisville, Kentucky at the end of April.

In all, 15 Roslyn students competed at the conference. Other winners included Rachel Vance, 2nd in Wholesale Selling; Danielle Baxt, top 10 in Quick Serve Marketing; Sydney Berger, top 10 in Job Interview; Lauren Abeles, top 10 in Wholesale Selling; and Ethan Levy, top 10 in Sports Entertainment Marketing.

The faculty advisor is Phyllis Granat.

3/17/10

Roslyn High School senior Kate Kerpen had her research project on display at a medical conference in Washington, D.C. The abstract of her research project, "Tuberculosis Skin Testing: Knowledge and Barriers of Physicians Providing Care to the College Bound Population," was admitted for poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Preventative Medicine in February.

3/4/10

Roslyn High School students achieved exceptional results in the Nassau Math Tournament sponsored by the Nassau County Interscholastic Math League on February 5 at SUNY Old Westbury.  In the Upper Division, which includes 11th and 12th grade students, taking second place in the county was the Upperclassmen team of Zach Goldsmith (Captain), Brian Chen, Nikhil Mehandru, Max Rubin and Arjun Kumar.  In the lower division, which includes 9th and 10th grade students, taking third place in the county was the Underclassmen team A of Danny Pollack (Captain), Alex Wu, Evan Schneider, Lyle Berstein and Michael Lustrin. More than 60 upperclass teams and more than 40 underclass teams competed in the tournament.

Six Roslyn students were individual high scorers, placing in the top ten in their grade level. In grade 12, Zach Goldsmith, 7th place; and Max Rubin, 4th place. In grade 11, Brian Chen, 2nd place and Arjun Kumar, 10th place. In grade 10, Danny Pollack, 10th place. In grade 9, Arvind Kumar, 7th place. In all, more than 500 students from across the county participated.

Roslyn's three teams participating in the tournament were:
  Grades 11/12: Zach Goldsmith, Brian Chen, Nikhil Mehandru, Max Rubin, Arjun Kumar
  Grades 9/10: Danny Pollack, Alex Wu, Evan Schneider, Lyle Berstein, Michael Lustrin
  Grades 9/10: Brent Weissman, Matt Forrest, Miles Kim, Arvind Kumar, Rishabh Mohan

3/3/10

51 Are Inducted into National Honor Society

The Roslyn High School Chapter of the National Honor Society inducted 51 new members into its ranks this year in an induction ceremony on March 1. The students are:

The Honor Society bestowed an honorary membership on Math Teacher Iftimie Simion. The faculty adviser for Honor Society is Jean Bishop.

3/2/10

Lipari Offered Athletic Scholarship

Roslyn High School Senior Emily Lipari signed a letter of intent on February 4 with Villanova University, which has offered her a full athletic scholarship. Emily is a two-time New York State cross country champion, four-time Nassau County champion, and one of the most accomplished high school distance runners in the nation. The signing ceremony at Roslyn High School was attended by teammates and supporters, and covered by Newsday and News 12.

Roslyn Student is a Winner in CME Competition

Roslyn High School senior Spencer Schwartz was a third place winner at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Competition held at Hofstra University on January 15. Students have an opportunity to practice and understand the trading methods for buying and selling Crude Oil Futures. There are two sessions: One is the electronic trading and the other is the “Pit” or Open Outcry. Spencer’s win was in the Open Outcry session.

Senior is Intel Finalist

For the third time in the last four years, Roslyn High School has one of the 40 students in the nation named Intel Science Talent Search Finalists. This year's finalist is Kevin Xu.

"I initially could not believe I was selected as a finalist! It was one of those moments of pure elation!" exclaimed Kevin.

Kevin's project was entitled "Relationships between Oncologist Gender, Participatory Decision Making, Anxiety, and Breast Cancer Care." He designed the study as a sophomore in Roslyn High School's Behavioral Science Seminar under the guidance of Dr. Allyson Weseley. During the summer and fall, Kevin surveyed over 100 breast cancer patients in Brooklyn and Staten Island to explore factors related to patients' likelihood of receiving adjuvant therapies following lumpectomies, a process known as standard care.

Intel Finalist Kevin Xu.

Kevin found surprisingly low rates of standard care: only 44% of patients were receiving any type of follow-up treatment. Interestingly, adjuvant therapies were not related to the quality of the patient-doctor relationship or the patients' levels of anxiety, as had been suggested by previous researchers. However, women who saw female oncologists were more likely to receive standard care than women who saw male oncologists.

Kevin will next travel to Washington, DC to participate in the Science Talent Institute in March. There, he and the nation’s other 39 finalists, will be interviewed by some of our nation's top scientists to determine who will be named among the top 10 Intel Science Talent Search winners. Last year, another Roslyn High School student, Chelsea Jurman, placed 5th. "We are already delighted by Kevin's level of success," said Dr. Weseley. "Kevin is an unbelievably hard worker; no one is more deserving than he." Kevin will attend Columbia University in the fall and intends to become a physician.

Three other Roslyn High School students were named as semifinalists in this year's competition: Samantha Halpern, Anouva Kalra-Lall and Lauren Kobrick. It was the third year in a row that Roslyn High School has clinched four of the nation's 300 semifinalist spots.

Book by East Hills Teacher and Class
Receives "Mom's Choice Award"

"Letters to a Soldier", a book by First Lieutenant David Falvey and Julie Hutt’s Fourth-Grade Class at East Hills School, received the Mom's Choice Award, naming it among the best in family-friendly media, products and services.

Mrs. Hutt and her fourth grade class at East Hills School developed a correspondence with First Lieutenant David Falvey while he was serving in Baghdad, Iraq with his Army National Guard unit, the 972nd Military Police Company. The children sent letters and drawings to Lt. Falvey and he in turn sent photos and answered every letter. The letters, artwork and Lt. Falvey's responses and personal photographs were put together into the book entitled "Letters to a Soldier."

The book received a Gold Award in the Juvenile Level 2 Books (Ages 9-12) – Non-Fiction category, and Mrs. Hutt’s fourth grade class was awarded a Gold Award as Outstanding Young Contributors. The Mom's Choice Awards honor excellence in family-friendly media, products and services.

RHS Senior Wins Neuroscience Prize

Anouva Kalra-Lall is one of four student winners in this year’s American Academy of Neurology’s Student Research Competition. Anouva wins $1000 and an all-expense trip for herself and a chaperone to the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Toronto, ON, Canada this April at which she will have the opportunity to present her work.

Anouva’s research project is entitled "The Parkinson's Conundrum: Comparison of Cellular Concentrations of Dopamine and Morphine via Novel Time-Resolved Fluorescence Assay Reveals Endogenous Morphine Levels May Be Linked to Parkinsonian Symptoms." Her results reveal that small amounts of codeine may be used to supplement L-DOPA to help ameliorate symptoms experienced by patients with Parkinson's Disease. She completed her project as part of Roslyn High School’s Research Program. Anouva worked at the Neuroscience Research Institute at SUNY Old Westbury, where she was mentored by Melinda Sheehan.

Roslyn Student is a Winner in CME Competition

Roslyn High School senior Spencer Schwartz was a third place winner at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Competition held at Hofstra University on January 15.

Students have an opportunity to practice and understand the trading methods for buying and selling Crude Oil Futures. There are two sessions: electronic trading and the “Pit” or Open Outcry. Spencer’s win was in the Open Outcry session.

17 Inducted into Tri-M Music Honor Society

Roslyn High School hosted an induction ceremony of the Tri-M Music Honor Society on January 21. Tri-M is an international society of high school music students who want to serve their school and community by bringing their love of music to those around them. Students have to meet necessary criteria to be accepted as a member. The following are the new inductees:

Ciara Bradley
Gina Casali
Tamilyn Chu
Melissa Goldstein
Arielle Greenberg
Jenna Kahane
Megan Ku
Michael Lustrin
Lila Olman
Alanna Schaffer
Nicole Sweet
Justin Tepper
Sunny Tsao
Louise Wang
Victor Wu
Winnie Yung
Allison Zimmerman

After the induction of new members, the continuing members were recognized, there were musical performances, and a reception followed. The Tri-M Music Honor Society Advisor is Michael Coffey.

Four Intel Semifinalists from Roslyn High school

For the third year in a row, Roslyn High School has clinched four of the nation's 300 semifinalist spots in the Intel Science Talent Search. This year's semifinalists are Samantha Halpern, Anouva Kalra-Lall, Lauren Kobrick and Kevin Xu. "Needless to say, we are ecstatic," reported Dr. Allyson Weseley, the district's Coordinator of Secondary Research, who helped the four students prepare their papers and applications.

For both Samantha and Anouva, the award is the result of several years of bench work in labs. Samantha's project, "Expression Profiling of Putative microRNA in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer," was completed at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Dr. David Fishman's lab where she was mentored by Dr. Feng-qiang Wang. She identified seven microRNAs (short nucleotide sequences) that are differentially expressed in ovarian cancer and normal cells. Anouva worked at the Neuroscience Research Institute at SUNY Old Westbury, where she was mentored by Melinda Sheehan. Her project was entitled "The Parkinson's Conundrum: Comparison of Cellular Concentrations of Dopamine and Morphine via Novel Time-Resolved Fluorescence Assay Reveals Endogenous Morphine Levels May Be Linked to Parkinsonian Symptoms." Anouva's results reveal that small amounts of codeine may be used to supplement L-DOPA to help ameliorate symptoms experienced by patients with Parkinson's Disease.

Intel semifinalists Samantha Halpern, Lauren Kobrick, Kevin Xu and Anouva Kalra-Lall.

Lauren's project, "Unsafe at Any Speed: A Comparison of Teenage Perceptions of Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana and Alcohol," was performed entirely within Roslyn High School under the supervision of Dr. Weseley. Lauren noticed that her peers seemed to believe driving after smoking marijuana was safer than driving after drinking alcohol and designed a study to test this idea. She surveyed over 100 seniors, and her results confirmed that teens do seem to underestimate the dangers associated with driving while under the influence of marijuana.

Kevin's project, "Relationships between Oncologist Gender, Participatory Decision Making, Anxiety, and Breast Cancer Care," involved a survey of over 100 urban, breast cancer patients via the mail. Kevin was mentored on the project by Dr. Weseley and aided in his data collection by the American Cancer Society. Kevin's study revealed that fewer than half of these patients had received standard care, either a lumpectomy or mastectomy, followed by adjuvant treatment. Patients whose oncologists were female were more likely to receive standard care, but participatory decision making did not differ between patients who had and had not received standard care.

This year's semifinalists were selected from 1,736 entrants, an increase from last year's 1,608. Each semifinalist will receive a $1000 award as well as earn a $1000 grant for their school. Finalists in the competition will be announced later in the month.

Roslyn High School sophomore Daniel Pollack will represent Roslyn High School at the Hugh O'Brian Youth (HOBY) Leadership program as an ambassador this spring. The criteria used to nominate a student to win the all-expense paid trip to the HOBY Leadership Seminar includes being a sophomore with leadership ability, outstanding communication skills, creative problem solving, strong decision-making skills, among others. HOBY was founded by actor Hugh O'Brian over 50 years ago as a way of making a difference in the lives of young people. Roslyn High School sophomore Benjamin Kornick was chosen as the alternate. Pictured here are Daniel (left) and Benjamin.

Laura Karpas won First Place for best work of art in the Nassau County High School Juried Art Competition & Exhibition. The Art Guild of Port Washington is a nonprofit organization providing encouragement, education and a forum for the appreciation of the visual arts.

Laura was awarded $300 for her work, "Tibetan Girl", done in oil pastel. The work will be on display through December 13 at the The Art Guild in Manhasset.

Eighteen students from the Roslyn School District were selected to participate in the annual Long Island String Festival Association concerts this year. Ten students in grades 8-12 performed at the Wisdom Lane Middle School in Levittown on Sunday, November 15. Eight students in grades 5 to 7 were selected to perform in the Elementary Long Island String Festival on February 28 at West Hempstead High School. All of these students were selected to represent Roslyn in this countywide festival based on their NYSSMA scores from last year.

5th, 6th and 7th Grade students:
Daniel Chai, violin
Daniel Chen, violin
Sarah Chun, violin
Joy Chung, violin
Camille Hazel, viola
Diana Jeong, cello
Hee Young Jung, violin
Holly Kim, cello

8th Grade students:
Anvit Kalra-Lall, viola
Eric Liu, violin

Roslyn High School students:
Tamilyn Chu, viola
Richard Ke, violin
Bo-Hyun Kim, violin
Rachel Kim, violin
Grant Margolin, double bass
Kihong Min, viola
Sunny Tsao, violin
Victor Wu, cello

Sixty-seven students from Roslyn were selected to participate in the 2010 Nassau Music Educators Association All County Music Festival to be held at the Tilles Center in January.

Fifth grade students from East Hills School:
Landon Allen, chorus, soprano
Keith Dusling, band, flute
Abigail Flyer, chorus, soprano
Kamyar Ghiam, band, French horn
Mark Kong, orchestra, viola
Natalie Vallone, chorus, soprano
Todd Warshawsky, orchestra, viola
Vicky Zhou, orchestra, violin

Fifth grade students from Harbor Hill School:
Jeremy Antenberg, chorus, soprano
Jillian Birnbaum, chorus, soprano
Joy Chung, orchestra, violin
Holly Kim, orchestra, cello
Andrew Ock, orchestra, violin
David Resnick, band, snare drum
Alyssa Rust, band, flute
Cifin Sajan, chorus, soprano

From Roslyn Middle School:
Anna Ben-Levy, chorus, soprano, grade 6
Zachary Ben-Levy, chorus, baritone, grade 8
Allison Bichoupan, chorus, soprano, grade 8
Emilia Bunich, chorus, soprano, grade 8
Daniel Chai, orchestra, violin, grade 6
Cassandra Chan, orchestra, violin, grade 8
Jacqueline Cotumaccio, chorus, soprano, grade 6
Joshua Goldenberg, chorus, baritone, grade 8
Eric Liu, orchestra, violin, grade 8
Daveen Rim, chorus, baritone, grade 7
Ariana Sabzevari, chorus, soprano, grade 8
Alexa Schaffer, chorus, alto, grade 6
Bryce Small, chorus, alto, grade 6
Benjamin Steinberg, band, snare drum, grade 8
Titus Sung , orchestra, cello, grade 6
Brandon Tepper, chorus, baritone, grade 7
Ian Warshawsky, orchestra, viola, grade 6
Hannah Werner, band, trombone, grade 6

From Roslyn High School:
Bilal Ahmed, orchestra, French horn, grade 9
Elizabeth Berger, chorus, soprano, grade 9
Layla Beyzavi, women's chorus, alto, grade 12
Gina Casali, chorus, alto, grade 9
Kevin Chen, orchestra, viola, grade 10
Alexa D'Ambra, orchestra, French Horn, grade 12
Gilad Fefer, orchestra, violin, grade 11
Emma Gluck, women's chorus, alto, grade 11
Jonathan Goldberg, chorus, bass, grade 9
Katie Goldman, women's chorus, alto, grade 12
Zachary Goldsmith, band, trumpet/cornet, grade 12
Melissa Goldstein, chorus, soprano, grade 9
Kamala Iodice, women's chorus, soprano, grade 11
Maya Kalman, chorus, soprano, grade 10
Anouva Kalra-Lall, orchestra, viola, grade 12
Richard Ke, orchestra, violin, grade 10
Bohyun Kim, orchestra, violin, grade 10
James Kim, orchestra, violin, grade 12
Rachel Kim, orchestra, violin, grade 10
Nancy Liu, chorus, soprano, grade 10
Michael Lustrin, band, trombone, grade 10
Grant Margolin, orchestra, double bass, grade 12
Lindsay Meyer, women's chorus, alto, grade 12
Lila Olman, chorus, alto, grade 10
Ilana Silverman, women's chorus, alto, grade 11
Nicole Sweet, chorus, soprano, grade 9
Jon Tanton, mixed chorus, baritone, grade 12
Justin Tepper, chorus, bass, grade 9
Sunny Tsao, orchestra, violin, grade 10
Meera Vasishtha, chorus, soprano, grade 10
Jesse Weisberg, orchestra, trumpet/cornet, grade 10
Jenna Winston, women's chorus, soprano, grade 12
Margaret Wu, band, flute, grade 10

2 Roslyn Students Win 2009 Wendy's High School Heisman

Roslyn High School students Samantha Labib and Spencer Schwartz were named School Winners for the Wendy's High School Heisman Award. To be eligible for this award, students must display academic aptitude, athletic talent and community leadership. The Wendy's High School Heisman program, awarded in conjunction with the collegiate Heisman, celebrates the achievements of the nation's top high school seniors both in and out of the classroom. The award encourages future leadership by recognizing well-balanced lifestyles at an early age.

Marching Band Excels at NYS Championship

The Roslyn Marching Bulldogs competed in the New York State Field Band Championships on Sunday, November 1 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Following a terrific indoor performance at the N.Y.S.F.B.C. Phoenix Show on Saturday, in which the band received a score of Outstanding, the Bulldogs, under the direction of Pat Patterson, performed beautifully in championship competition. The band meshed complex marching drills with demanding musical compositions and graceful colorguard formations to impress the crowd at the Dome, which included many Roslyn parents who had traveled to Syracuse to cheer on the Bulldogs. The Marching Bulldogs finished fourth in Small School 2 with an impressive score of 81.95, a record high for the band.

Roslyn Junior Named Siemens Semifinalist

Roslyn High School junior Nikhil Mehandru was named a Semifinalist in the Siemens Science, Math and Technology Competition. With his partner Naveen Murali of Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, Nikhil's project was entitled "Engineering a Nanoimprinted Biosensor: A Novel Method for Bacterial Recognition and In Vitro Protein Detection."

Nikhil did his research in the Garcia Program at Stony Brook University in a lab run by Dr. Miriam Rafailovich. The boys' project involved creating a biosensor that was extremely precise in detecting protein and bacteria levels and monitoring tissue damage at the cellular level. Nikhil explained that "this sensor can be readily applied as an economical alternative to existing detections techniques in hospitals and diagnostic labs."

Nikhil is currently working to extend the research. He said, "The research experience was both enlightening and enjoyable, allowing me an opportunity to develop a new and efficient technology."

Superintendent Honored at Korean Festival

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dan Brenner was a special honoree at the first annual Korean Harvest Moon Festival on October 17 in Manhasset. The program was hosted by the Korean Parents Association of Long Island and featured exhibitions of traditional Korean culture including costumes, dance and music. Dr. Frank Banta, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, is shown accepting the honor on Dr. Brenner's behalf.

Three Students Write Novels

Three of Roslyn High School's most talented writers are publishing novels. Daniel Borin's novel is called "Warlords". Julia Edelman has written a novel entitled "Tea Parties and Catfish". The novel by Geetika Rudra is "My Humble Beginnings".

English Chair to Speak at Conference

Roslyn Public Schools English Chairperson Joshua Cabat will be speaking at the 2009 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention on November 21 in Philadelphia. Mr. Cabat will be presenting during the panel session, "Teaching Shakespeare to the Class of 2020." Each year the NCTE Annual Convention draws thousands of K-12 teachers, college faculty, administrators and other educational professionals from around the world. They gather to hear award-winning speakers, attend idea-packed sessions, share best practices, participate in workshops, and test the latest teaching materials.

10 Are Commended Students in
National Merit Scholarship Program

Principal Kevin Scanlon with Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Ten students have been named Commended Students in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are Joshua Cohen, Olivia Conetta, David Eisner, Zachary Goldsmith, Samantha Halpern, Brian Jeong, Elena Latzen, Jessica Margulis, Max Rubin and Geetika Rudra. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to these scholastically talented seniors.

Roslyn Student Attends Princeton Symposium

Roslyn High School senior Laura Karpas was nominated to attend the Princeton Humanities Symposium that took place October 2-4. Laura was one of 80 students chosen from hundreds of students nominated across the country who have demonstrated an interest and talent in the humanities. Participants attended lectures and group discussions on a special topic on Princeton's campus. This year's symposium was devoted to the topic, "Victorian England." This is the second year in a row that a Roslyn High School student has been selected to attend the program.

Students Selected at Regional DECA Officers

Two Roslyn High School students were selected as Nassau County Regional Officers of the Distributive Educational Clubs of America (DECA) for 2009-10. Gabriella Kaplan has been selected as President and Lauren Abeles is the Historian. Their faculty advisor is Phyllis Granat.

Recognizing Garden Volunteer

The students in Roslyn High School's National Honor Society, under the guidance of their faculty adviser Jean Bishop, planted a garden in the high school's memorial courtyard last spring. Ms. Bishop, an English teacher, volunteered her time throughout the summer to maintain the garden, meeting with students each week to water, pull weeds and keep it beautiful. The high school thanks and commends her and her students for their efforts to help beautify the school and to create a tranquil space for study and reflection in the midst of our busy campus.

Ms. Bishop stands proudly in the high school garden she and her students created and volunteered to maintain throughout the summer.

Student Essay on "This I Believe"

Junior Danielle Adesman's essay entitled "I Wish Everyone Would Fight Like Cats and Dogs" has been published online at "This I Believe," an international project engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Essays are archived on the website, and some are heard on public radio. Read Danielle's essay by clicking here.

Teaching Shakespeare

Roslyn High School English Teacher Lawrence Reiff will present his paper "Using Social Networking Programs to Teach Shakespeare" at the Shakespeare Connects conference on October 3.

Emily Lipari on Cover of National Publication

Roslyn High School senior Emily Lipari graces the cover of the October issue of ESPN's RISE magazine, which features the top high school athletes in the United States.

Emily has been the New York State cross country champion for the last two years, and has finished 6th and 11th in the last two Foot Locker national championships.

The article talks about her high expectations for herself in the upcoming season. "This summer is probably the hardest I've ever trained," she is quoted as saying. Emily's Roslyn High School coach Vera Trenchfield is also quoted in the article.

Four Are Named National Merit Semifinalists

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists Leeor Golos, Alexa D'Ambra, Lindsay Mandel and Kevin Xu.

Roslyn High School seniors Leeor Golos, Alexa D'Ambra, Lindsay Mandel and Kevin Xu 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 about 22,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2010 National Merit Program by taking the 2008 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 more than $36 million, that will be offered next spring.

147 Roslyn High School Students Are AP Scholars

One hundred and forty-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 provides motivated and academically prepared students the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams. About 18% of the nearly 1.7 million high school students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.

• 11 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 Samantha Batel, Chelsea Jurman, Joanne Lee, Michael Makowsky, Gena Olan, Thomas Pfrang, Ariel Pick, Rebecca Pritzker, Scott Sherman, Jourdan Urbach, Samuel Vitello.

• 58 Roslyn High School 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 Marisa Adesman, Samantha Adler, Amanda Bader, Joshua Bader, Samantha Batel, Shiva Bhargava, Natalie Birnbaum, Andrew Califano, Olivia Conetta, Nicole Crystal, Amanda Czik, Sydney Egnasko, Thomas Eyerman, Zack Fiddle, Caralyn Friedman, Matthew Glickman, Rachel Goldenberg, Zhe Guo, Esther Ha, Chelsea Jurman, Anouva Kalra-Lall, Henna Kamdar, Allie Kornstein, Joanne Lee, David Lefcort, Alexandra Levitt, Brandon Levy, Katherine Lombardo, Michael Makowsky, Corey Marx, Kyle Mays, Trisha Nussbaum, Gena Olan, Catherine Park, Stuart Paul, Thomas Pfrang, Ariel Pick, Rebecca Pritzker, Jake Rosenblum, Scott Schlacter, Jason Schneider, Jacob Schulman, Alexis Schwartz, Michael Schwartz, Samantha Schwartz, Justin Shapiro, Meredith Shapiro, Ricki Shenfeld, Scott Sherman, Noah Siegel, Danielle Sloane, Jourdan Urbach, Jonathan Van Dyke, Matthew Van Dyke, Samuel Vitello, Anvita Vivek, Stephanie Wang, Kevin Xu.

• 25 Roslyn High School 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 Rebecca Allen, Daniel Bergner, Ram Bokobza, Julie Clark, Alyssa Cohen, Emily Crane, Benjamin Do, Jenna Feldman, Mansi Gogia, Leeor Golos, Katharine Golub, Jeffrey Gottlieb, Samantha Halpern, Samuel Heyman, Bobak Jahani, Kate Kerpen, Aaron Levine, Lindsay Mandel, Sungmin Park, Max Rubin, James Rubinowitz, Geetika Rudra, Simran Sahni, Zachary Solomon, Emily Wasserman..

• 64 Roslyn High School students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Examinations, with grades of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are Taha Adib, Jacob Ansel, Samantha Barach, Jeffrey Baxt, Austin Blau, Max Blum, Benjamin Carus, Jennifer Chadroff, Kevin Chung, Skyler Cohen, Alexa Dambra, Brianna Devito,, Rachel Durrant, Trever Faden, Lauren Feinstein, Alexander Feldsher, Joshua Freeberg, Zachary Goldsmith, Eric Greengold, Nikola Hadzibabic, Leah Heisler, Rayna Herskowitz, Gabriella Kaplan, Laura Karpas, Benjamin Kerpen, Lauren Kobrick, Allison Kolb, Samantha Labib, Elena Latzen, Ariel Lefland, Amy Levine, Sara Loshak, Arielle Lubman, Elizabeth Luckman, Jessica Margulis, Benjamin Mayo, Joshua Mayourian, Nikhil Mehandru, Lindsay Milner, Craig Mittman, Christina Mockler, Jeanne Park, Lauren Passaro, Ethan Peck, Alyssa Perez, Ernest Reeves, Holly Reich, Jay Ribakove, Jordan Richman, Crystal Samuel, Spencer Schwartz, Emily Seyburn, Nancy Shilian, Brian Shin, Allison Silberman, Sarin Siriamonthep, Katherine Siu, Jenna Spelke, Rachael Spinner, Heather Steinman, Samantha Szerlip, Melissa Weisberg, Alex Werman, Danielle Wolfe.

Of this year's award recipients at Roslyn High School, 57 were still juniors and have at least one more year in which to complete college-level work, and possibly earn another AP Scholar Award.

Click here to read about the many great student and staff accomplishments of the 2008-09 school year.