On April 11, more than 100 French students from Merrick Avenue and Grand Avenue Middle Schools came together with their families and teachers to enjoy an evening of French and hockey at the New York Islanders-Montréal Canadiens game at the UBS arena.

Organized by Madame Schleith, Madame Hayes and Monsieur Zawislak, the evening started with a meet and greet with four-time Stanley Cup winner Islander legend and Hall of Famer, Denis Potvin. Students engaged with Denis Potvin in French by asking him questions and learning about his hockey career.

Schleith referred to the experience as, ‘C'était très intéressant!’ or ‘very interesting.’

“Students, parents, and teachers then enjoyed a lively game between the Montréal-Canadiens and the Islanders,” explained Schleith.

“Students rooted for their favorite team, took pictures with the Islander’s mascot, Sparky, and some even grabbed a t-shirt,” added Hayes.

“The UBS arena even honored the evening by including the names of our schools on the Jumbotron,” included Zawislak.

Whether students and their family rooted for the Islanders or the Montréal-Canadiens, a great time was had by all.

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Date Added: 4/19/2024

The Grand Avenue Middle School Art Club attended a painting workshop at ArtSea Studio in Babylon where former Bellmore-Merrick CHSD art teacher, Barbara Hirten, is an artist in residence.

The students learned how to manipulate the paint to create images of a field of flowers. After some instruction in the handling of the new media, each student artist was encouraged to begin to develop their own techniques resulting in every student expressing their individuality.

"I love to see the kid's skills and creativity 'blossom' as they are painting their flowers," said Hirten of the workshop.

Nicholas Giordano, Art Club advisor, added "the Art Club members are such a great group of students.”

“They learned the basic skills they will need to paint, and I am sure many will use these skills in their high school classes and the future,” he added.

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Date Added: 4/17/2024

The Grand Avenue Yorker Club visited the LT. Michael P. Murphy Navy SEAL Museum on April 9. Inside, students experienced a museum and education center which provided them the history of Special Warfare Operators, and the ideals and values that the govern the SEAL community. Students had multiple opportunities to meet, interact with, and learn about the SEAL community through film, videos, and exhibits that honor and promote our Special Warfare Operators. The club is led by faculty advisors Dominik Bargiel and Daniel Rummenie.

Date Added: 4/12/2024

Nicholas Giordano's eighth grade classes from Grand Avenue Middle School embarked on a field trip to the Hofstra University Museum of Art to learn about Surrealism at the exhibit "Les Visionnaires, in the Modernist Spirit."

The drawings, prints, books, film and ceramics that the students viewed inspired them to create their own works of Surrealist art in the Museum's creativity lab. The Hofstra Museum's Educators invited the students to explore the avant garde art movement with hands on activities both in the Museum and in the classroom.

"The students were excited to see real artwork by such famous artists as Dali, Picasso, Ernst, Magritte, Cocteau and Duchamp among others we discussed in class," explained Giordano. "We will use the experience at the museum to create finished projects in the classroom."

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Date Added: 3/13/2024

Two Kennedy High School students were named finalists at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair and one is advancing to the international round.

Jayden Simon won third place in Microbiology and a special award from the Office of Naval Research for his project, “The Utilization of Metagenomics to Determine the Effects of Plastic Polymer Types and a Temporal Gradient on Microbial Communities.”

Ava Goldsmith won first place in the Cellular and Biomolecular Sciences category for her research, “Targeting of Epichaperome Downregulates HCFC1 Mediated Transcription of Oncogenes: Implications in Breast Cancer Therapy.”

She will compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, CA May 10-17.

Barbi Frank is their science teacher.

ISEF brings together over 1,500 students from 70 nations to compete for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prize: a $75,000 college scholarship.

On Tuesday, March 5, teams from the Grand Avenue Middle School Science Research Program traveled to the Crest Hollow Country Club to compete in the Long Island Science & Engineering Fair (LISEF) Middle School Fair.

At the competition, the team of Anna Kaplun, Mia Tascarella, and Milena Chomicz-Grabowska took home first place with their project, “Will the addition of biostimulants such as Stress RX or Ascophyllium nodosum result in the improved growth of Lactuca sativa as compared to a traditional fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro?”

The team of Patrick Mulvey and Aidan Cheung took third place for their project, “How will a decrease in the pH level of ocean water affect the ability of Uca rapax (fiddler crabs) to find food using olfaction?”

The team of Isabel Ziegler and Anna Schellberg also took third place for their project, “How Will Artificial vs. Natural Sweeteners Affect the Mass, the Gender and Population Size of Drosophila melanogaster?”

“By placing first, Kaplun, Tascarella, and Chomicz-Grabowska have now been nominated to take part in the inaugural Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (previously the BROADCOM Masters), a program of the Society for Science, to be held in Washington, DC later this year,” explained Tami Cruz, their science teacher. “Only students who are named in the top 10 percent of an affiliated science fair are eligible to participate in Thermo Fisher JIC.”

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Date Added: 3/7/2024