Tag Archives: Faculty

Wheatley’s Mock Trial Team Competes in the State Finals!

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Filed under Academics, Competition, Student Clubs, Students

Last month, Wheatley’s Mock Trial Team captured the Nassau County Championship—the first time in our school’s history! As part of this victory, the team was celebrated (along with finalist Locust Valley High School) by the Nassau Bar Association with a lovely dinner during which the championship trophy was presented to the team and school.

This past Sunday, the team departed for the State Finals Competition. They were accompanied by Mr. Ronald Roaldsen, the Mock Trial Advisor, and Ms. Melinda Gomez, who accompanied the team as a chaperone. Mr. David Schwartz, the team’s legal advisor, also took the trip to Albany.

Going up against the best teams in New York State, the students performed admirably. Although they just missed advancing to the final round, they had a great experience and are proud of their work!

Congratulations to the team members:

ATTORNEYS

  • Jacob Ribotsky
  • Rebecca Sparacio
  • Ashley Vincenzo
  • Emily Yagoda
  • Brenda Zhong

WITNESSES

  • Maggie Caroddo
  • James Li
  • Brooke Schwartz
  • Rebecca Zeltsman

The students were led by our Mock Trial Advisor, Mr. Ron Roaldsen, and have been supported throughout the season by Mr. David Schwartz, who has served as the team’s legal counsel.

Thank you to Mr. Roaldsen for the team photo at the State Competition. Thanks as well to Melinda Gomez for the wonderful courtroom sketches from today’s action!

Wheatley’s Fine and Practical Arts Dinner is a Festive Celebration of Student Talent and Commitment!

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Filed under Arts, Community, Music, Student Clubs, Students

Wheatley has an incredibly talented student body, involved in so many activities both inside and outside the classroom. Areas in which students have always excelled have been the fine and practical arts. From incredible stage performances to award-winning literary magazines and newspapers, Wheatley students have provided so much entertainment and value to our school and community. To recognize some of the students who have made special contributions in these areas, the faculty advisors invite them to a special dinner held at The INN at New Hyde Park.

In addition to a lovely sit-down dinner, the evening features student performances and a mini art show. The faculty advisors and students are reminded of the critical role they play in helping Wheatley remain a school where there is a place for everyone to shine.

A highlight of this evening is the presentation of the Eve and Jerry Jerome Award, a recognition given to the music student who has demonstrated outstanding skill, character and citizenship at Wheatley. Presented by Mr. Orlovsky, this year’s recipient is the incredibly talented Amanda Kim!

[Thanks to Dr. Eckers for some of the photos.]

Wheatley Students Have Wonderful Experiences in Italy!

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Filed under Academics, Community, Students

Is there a better way to spend spring vacation than to practice your Italian conversational skills in Italy? For 21 Wheatley students and their chaperones, the answer to that question was a resounding “no!”

As such, thanks to the commitment of three chaperones (Mrs. Susan Vasselman, Mrs. Michelle Gross and Willets Road’s Mrs. Rosa Chiarenza), 21 Wheatley students departed on Wednesday, 17 April, for eight wonderful days in Italy!

Students enjoyed beautiful weather and special times seeing the sights and talking to the locals as they visited Rome, Sorrento, Pompeii, Benevento, the Tremiti Islands, Vieste, Castel del  Monte in Andria, Altamura, Alberbello and Bari. Two years ago, Mrs. Vasselman led a different group of students on explorations of Italy’s west coast and Sicily; this trip offered an exciting experience on Italy’s east coast. Some of the students took advantage of the opportunity to swim in the Adriatic Sea!

Participants included: Dina Aldad, Alison Amarain, Juliana Anteri, Daniel Aquino Okeke, Pádraig Brady, Julia Braito, Jessica Calabrese, Alexandra Castiglie, Julia Dioguardi, Jenna Fey, Cecilia Jozef, Jacob Kaufman, Tyler Krause, Jason Liu, Amanda Molstad, Victoria Mora, Eric Ness, Temitope Oshodi, Olivia Palmieri, Daniel Piscopia and Camellia Ye.

Special thanks to Mrs. Vasselman, Mrs. Chiarenza and Mrs. Gross for taking the time away from their own families during the holidays and recess. Their absence from their own families afforded our students such a valuable real-world learning experience. It is sure to be a very special memory of their Wheatley years.

[Thanks to Mrs. Vasselman for some of the photos and Mrs. Anderson for some of the write-up! Thanks to Dina Aldad for the video summary!]

 

 

 

 

Seventeen Wheatley Students Earn Medals at the Al Kalfus Long Island Math Fair!

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Filed under Academics, Competition, Curricula, Students

On Friday, 12 April, 17 Wheatley students headed to Hofstra University in order to compete in the annual Al Kalfus Long Island Mathematics Fair.

Students from across Long Island came to compete at this prestigious event. Each student wrote a research paper on a mathematics topic of their own choosing.  Top papers often have the students’ own creative twists and original mathematics as part of their research. Students presented their research to a panel of judges followed by a question and answer period.  Achieving at this level is an extraordinary accomplishment for high school students!

We are proud to announce we had 5 students win gold medals, 5 students win silver and 7 students win bronze medals.

Thank you to Mr. Belackas, Mr. Gadamowitz, Mr. Meyers and Mr. Paulson for volunteering as judges. Thank you as well to Dr. Teseo for serving as their coach and providing the write-up and photos.

Last First Grade Paper Title Medal
Gulati Shrey 9 Magic Squares Gold
Pahuja Armaan 9 Chaos Theory and its effects on Meteorological Predictions Bronze
Prajapati Krittika 9 Binary Numbers Bronze
Wong Justin 9 The Influence of Replacing Prime Numbers in Public Key Cryptography Silver
Bansal Manav 10 Mathematical Models Utilizing Differential Equations to Model Tumor Growth Gold
Chabria Anya 10 The Applications of Mathematics in Literature Bronze
Hassan Sarah 10 Applying Linear Animation Using Mathematics Programming and Art Bronze
Jayam Viraj 10 Examining Functions Under Quasi-Stereographic Projections Gold
ArbitalJacoby Alex 11 Calculating Atomic Radius Bronze
Ramos Madison 11 Mathematical Modeling Neural Networks Silver
Wong Trenton 11 It’s all about that Base: Three-Halves Gold
Yagoda Emily 11 Solving Rubik’s Cube with Musical Chord Progressions Silver
Zachariah Aaron 11 Transfinite Numbers Silver
Zhong Sharon 11 Wind Resistance and Failure Analysis Bronze
Shukla Manan 12 The Banach Tarski Paradox Gold
Singh Vedant 12 Using Optimization to Increase Efficiency Silver

2019-04-30 12.59.39

Wheatley Student Success at Italian Poetry Contest!

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Filed under Academics, Competition, Students

On Friday, 12 April, a dozen Wheatley students participated in the annual Long Island Italian Poetry Contest sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI). Students were led by our very own Italian teacher, Susan Vasselman.

There was a huge turnout this year at SUNY Old Westbury where the competition took place including over 300 contestants from all over Long Island! Five of our students came away with recognition!

Level 1

  • 1st place: Ella Suppa
  • 3rd place: Evan Sheinman
  • Honorable Mention: Lauren Tavolacci

Level 3

  • Honorable Mention: Eric Ness

Level 4

  • Honorable Mention: Victoria Mora

Congratulations to all of the student who participated, and thanks to Mrs. Vasselman for supporting the students!

[Thanks to Mrs. Vasselman for the photos!]

 

Kenton Earns a PERFECT Score on Advanced Placement Examination!

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Filed under Academics, Curricula, Students

Earlier this month, I received news that Kenton Wu (Class of 2019) was one of only 111 students in the world to earn every point possible on the AP Research Examination he took last year! AP Examinations are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with a score of 5 equivalent to a grade of A in the corresponding college course.

Kenton went beyond a score of 5, however! He earned every possible point on the exam!

This is a most impressive accomplishment, and we congratulate Kenton for earning this recognition. We are also thankful to his AP Research teacher, Mrs. Alexis Pace, for her support and encouragement!

Tri-M’s Big Band Night Brings our Community Together over Food, Music and Dance!

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Filed under Arts, Community, Community Service, Music, Student Clubs, Students

Last night, Wheatley’s cafeteria was transformed into a Big Band swinging playland! Hosted by our Tri-M Music Honor Society, our annual “Puttin’ on the Ritz” evening was a delight for everyone in attendance. Scores of our residents enjoyed an evening of free food, terrific music, energetic dance and wonderful company.

Our Tri-M students provided table service to all in attendance. The food was delicious, the dessert was tasty, and the coffee was as hot as the music. Wheatley’s Stage Band (under the direction of Dr. Peggy Ho) and our Jazz Band (under the direction of Steve Fitzko) provided wonderful music. Vocal accompaniments on some of the songs were provided by Shruti Goyal and Shrey Gulati. All the while, our guests were able to eat, dance and enjoy themselves.

Thank you to our Tri-M faculty advisor, Ms. Angela Luftig, for her assistance in organizing this event!