Dear East Williston School District Community:
• Monday, May 11 – 7:30 PM – Public Budget Hearing – in the Wheatley Auditorium
• Tuesday, May 19 – 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM – in the Wheatley Gymnasium
Upcoming Date Changes – Mark Your Calendars
Re-Registration for Parent University Now Open – New Date – April 29
As a result of the cancellation of all after school and evening activities due to weather conditions, Parent University was cancelled on March 3, 2015. After coordinating our East Williston School District schedule with that of the Roslyn School District, Parent University has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 29, 2015 beginning at 6:45 PM. As part of this joint venture with the Roslyn Schools, the event will be held at Roslyn High School. Re-registration is now open. The same workshops will be held yet you must re-register. Please go to the following link to review workshop descriptions and register – April 29 Parent University . If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Director of Guidance Greg Wasserman by email at wassermang@ewsdonline.org or 333-7506.
New Date for Wheatley Science Research Symposium
As a result of the change in date of Parent University, the Wheatley Science Research Symposium has been moved from April 29, 2015 to May 21, 2015. This is an opportunity to interact with our science research students in grades 9 – 12 when they display their research projects in Wheatley’s lobby. Thereafter, you will have an opportunity to listen to our 12th grade research students when they present their research in Room 450.
May 30th Multicultural Festival Postponed
A conflict has now arisen with the Educational Advisory Committee’s (EAC) planned Multicultural Festival on Saturday, May 30th and the recently announced date for the Town of North Hempstead Anti-Bullying Walk that our students participate in. Due to the challenge of finding another date for the festival, the EAC decided to postpone this year’s planned multicultural festival. The Multicultural Steering Committee met earlier this week and there were many ideas that they discussed which will continue this initiative that seeks to bring our families together to celebrate our diverse community. You can read a copy of the draft committee minutes on our website at District Committee Minutes. I will share updates with you as plans are being developed. Though I told you to expect a Parent Survey last week, [parents of North Side and Willets Road students will be receiving a brief online survey regarding your family’s cultural background, and Wheatley students will be filling the survey out themselves in school] due to some technical issues the online survey was delayed. You should receive the survey before spring vacation! Please take a few moments to complete the survey when it arrives. Our students on the multicultural committee will be working diligently to compile the information when it is collected, that will help us move forward with some of the great ideas that are in the works.
Open Orchestra Lessons at North Side
I had the immense pleasure of attending North Side’s Open Orchestra Lessons this week. Each year, North Side music teacher Rachel May holds an open lesson for all her music students where parents are invited to attend. This year, Mrs. May’s orchestra includes over 70 student-musicians, from fourth grade and some third graders who previously studied string instruments. It was very special to get an inside look at an open rehearsal. Watching Mrs. May’s expertise and the students’ collaborative work makes it easy to see why our student performances are so special. The North Side Grade 4 Orchestra Concert will be on May 27 on the big stage in the Wheatley Auditorium. Thank you Mrs. May. A special thank you to North Side music teacher Ed Lattari who helped tune the students’ instruments and accompanied them on the piano at the open lessons.
Jazz Clinic
Last week, I had the chance to drop by the evening Jazz Clinic. The sounds coming from the hallway were so enticing I couldn’t help but peek in.
For the past 6 years the jazz program has been hosting a residency with guest artists who are professionals in the jazz world. Every jazz musician in our district takes part in these clinics throughout the school year. A special part of this artist-in-residency program is the ability of our student-musicians from the high school and middle school to interact and learn from each other. This year the District is lucky to be working with the Mark Zaleski Band. For the past five years Rob Derke and NY Jazz were a part of the residency program here at East Williston.
Special thanks to our music teachers Scott Hoefling, Dr. Peggy Ho and Wheatley Jazz Band advisor Steve Fitzko for their participation as well.
Extra! Extra! Amazing Reading
One of the great pleasures of my job is when I answer the phone or read an email from students and staff sharing some of the exciting activities going on in their classrooms and buildings. On that note, each month Lynn Marie Flynn’s fifth grade class has been sending Willets Road Principal Stephen Kimmel, Director of Secondary Curriculum and Social Studies Services Dr. Danielle Gately, Secondary Chair for ELA Stephen Collier and me an email that describes what clearly is the students’ amazing appetite for reading.
Just last night I received the latest email which informed me that from the first day of school on September 2, 2014 through February 28, 2015, Ms. Flynn’s students have read a grand total of 157,747 pages. They said they now believe they will exceed their 200,000 page year-end goal and so have reassessed and chosen 250,000 pages as their mark. So far the class has read 450 books this school year!
Congratulations to Ms. Flynn and her amazing readers. A love of reading is a lifetime gift. As research has shown, the more we read the better readers we become!
Interesting New Book
There has been a lot of press coverage regarding New York Times Op-Ed columnist Frank Bruni’s new book, Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania. Bruni‘s book is intended to give students and their parents a new perspective on the college admissions competition with an eye to eliminating the anxiety it can provoke. Among other topics covered in the book are examples of the many types of colleges and large public universities as well as “tiny hideaways in the hinterlands” that can and have served as ideal springboards for hugely successful people. To read an “excerpt” from his book that appeared as a recent Op-Ed column in the New York Times, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-how-to-survive-the-college-admissions-madness.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ffrank-bruni&_r=0 .
Reminder: District Grant Dinner A Click Away
You can purchase your tickets for the PTO Coordinating Council Districtwide Grant Dinner with basically just a click of the keyboard. The Districtwide Grant Dinner is Thursday, April 30th at 7:00 PM at the Chateau Briand. It is a fun night of shopping, dinner and dancing. Hope to see you there! Click here to pay online or to pay by check and/or make a donation, print the response card from the email invite you should have gotten earlier in the month.
Reminder: Still Time To Register to Vote in Budget and School Candidate Election
There’s still time to register to vote. To vote in the School District Budget Vote and Board Candidate Vote on May 19, 2015, you must be a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age, a resident of the East Williston School District for a period of 30 days preceding the election and registered to vote with the school district or appear on a Nassau County Voter’s Registration List.
Only residents, who have not registered or voted in a school district election or a general election in the last four years, must register.
To register, you may do so through May 8, 2015 at the Nassau County Board of Elections at 240 Old Country Road, 5th Floor in Mineola, from 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM daily (see website Nassau County Board of Elections). You may also register to vote for the school district vote, in person on May 7, 2015 between 8:00 AM – 12:00 Noon or on May 12, 2015 between 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM in the lobby of The Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road, Old Westbury. For additional information, go to the district website at www.ewsdonline.org and go to Voter Registration/Absentee Ballot Info on the left side navigation bar.
Congratulations and Commendations
Science Awards
Neuroscience Research Prize Finalist
The Neuroscience Research Prize, which is sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society, is offered to high school students who engage in innovative research of the brain and nervous system. This year, Wheatley senior Kuan Yu was recognized as a finalist (top 16 of over 1,500 nationwide applicants) for this prestigious award for his research “Purification, Assessment, and Structural Analysis of Anti-Oxidative Compounds from the Mushroom Hericium erinaceus that Mitigate Rotenone Induced Parkinson’s Disease.” Congratulations Kuan.
Facebook NY Presentation
On February 27th, Wheatley INTEL Student Talent Search (STS) semifinalists, Wheatley seniors Arjun Kapoor and Kuan Yu were invited to visit the offices of Facebook NY. Arjun was one of six semifinalists chosen to present his STS research, “The Construction of Low Entropy Quasi-Optimal Interconnection Network Topologies,” at a recognition ceremony at Facebook NY. Congratulations Arjun.
Ninth Grade Medical Marvels – Best Presentation
On Friday March 13th, two teams of Wheatley ninth graders competed in the North Shore-LIJ Medical Marvels competition. The mission of this competition is to raise awareness of the multidisciplinary nature of STEM careers for students at all levels of academic prowess and interest while encouraging creative thinking and collaborative work.
This year’s topic was Mental Health and the students were asked to write a proposal addressing one of three subject areas: (i) The Changing Brain and Behavior in Teens; (ii) Management of Social and Physical Stress; and (iii) Turning the Social and Physical Stresses of Teens into Resilience. Each team was prompted to write a National Institute of Health worthy proposal, design a poster and prepare a presentation. Wheatley entered two teams: Team 37: Megan Kirschner, Vani Kumar, Jessica Poomkudy, Saman Suleman, Ally Wang and Emily Wang; and Team 38: Sufia Ainechi, Adeel Anwar, Rachel Fuzaylov and Alice Ye.
The teams attended a conference about stress management and current research in the Adolescent Mental Health field. The teams worked very hard to prepare for this day and presented their research to their peers as well as professionals from the Feinstein Institute and Zucker Hillside Hospital. At the end of the competition Team 38 received an award for Best Presentation! Congratulations Sufia, Adeel, Rachel and Alice.
ISEF Bound
On March 23rd, the New York State Science and Engineering Fair (NYSSEF) took place at the New York Hall of Science in Corona, New York. Students from across the state competed for one of ten spots which will allow entry into the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) being held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this May. Wheatley senior Arjun Kapoor, and his partner Sahil Abbi of Herricks High School, not only earned a spot to ISEF but also won Best in Fair, edging out over 180 projects. Congratulations Arjun and Sahil.
Thank you to science research teacher Mary Alexis Blondrage for her guidance and encouragement and to the entire science department, as well, for their support.
Long Island Physics Olympic Champs too!
This month five of our students competed in the Long Island Physics Olympics held at Farmingdale College. Accompanied by Wheatley Physics teacher Adam Plana, the Wheatley team, seniors Donovan Cheung, Bonnie Lerman, Ziv Lotsky and Jade Marcus and junior Andrew Zuckerman won two out of five categories (“Pendulum of Doom” and “Fermi Questions”) and took second place in an additional category (“Collision Course”) resulting in their taking home the overall prize of first place. Congratulations Mr. Plana and Donovan, Bonnie, Ziv, Jade and Andrew.
Have a Good Weekend
As always, please email me at kanase@ewsdonline.org or call me at 333-3758 with any questions, suggestions and/or any topics you would like to see in this newsletter.
Best regards,
Elaine Kanas, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
