The Southold Elementary Drama Club presents the sixth-grade production of Disney’s “Lion King Kids” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20 and 21, in the Southold District Auditorium on Oaklawn Avenue. Kelli Baumann directs.
Tickets are $5 and will be available at the door.
By the time winter rolls in, there’s some produce farmers just don’t get around to picking and vegetables are typically left on the fields to rot and be used as mulch.
But over at Wesnofske Farm on a chilly Tuesday afternoon, Southold High School teachers James Stahl and Jason Wesnofske, the son of the Peconic farm’s owner, met their students there to pick Brussels sprouts and other produce in order to donate the would-be wasted vegetables to local charities.
The process, known as “gleaning,” is referred to in the Old Testament as having farmers leave produce on their vines along the edge of their fields for the poor.
This is the second time Southold National Honor Society students have gleaned a field as part of their community service requirement.
Last year, their adviser, Mr. Stahl, had reached out to Mr. Wesnofske to see if his family would be willing to donate to the cause. They described the arrangement as a win-win situation.
“This way of leaving some for the poor has been going on since biblical times,” Mr. Stahl explained. “Gleaning is a great way for our students to help out families in need, especially during the holidays.”
Emma Alvarez, a junior, said she decided to participate in the community service project after her friends who completed it last year described it as a great experience.
“If we didn’t do this, then all of this would go to waste,” Emma said as she picked Brussels sprouts. “It makes you feel good to help make a difference.”
Junior Evelyn Cummings, who picked vegetables for the first time Tuesday, said she enjoyed the opportunity to learn about agriculture.
“It’s a really cool way to learn outside the classroom,” she added.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has promoted gleaning in recent years and has helped coordinate different groups — including community organizations, gardeners, farmers and agencies that serve the hungry — to establish local food systems throughout the country, especially charity groups that have experienced severe cutbacks.
Meg Pickerell, also a junior, said she enjoyed participating in the volunteer effort and believes gleaning is a good opportunity to not only help those less fortunate, but to also learn about the local farming community.
“It’s important to know where your food comes from,” she said. “This makes you appreciate it even more.”
All the vegetables will be dropped off at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Aquebogue, and St. Agnes R.C. Church and Community Action of Southold Town, both in Greenport.
Mr. Wesnofske’s father, Gene, who runs the farm, said he also added bags of red potatoes to the donation pile and said he’s grateful for the students’ help.
“For this many to come out on a cold day like this is great,” he said. “Everyone has a good time, and it’s all for a good cause.”
Top: Southold High School National Honors Society member Evelyn Cummings ‘gleaning’ a field Tuesday at Wesnofske Farm in Peconic. She and a group of students picked vegetables that would normally go to waste and donated the produce to charity groups. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo photos)
Farmer Gene Wesnofske (left) collaborated with his son, Jason (right), and James Stahl, both Southold High School teachers, on the community service project.
Ellen O’Neill, principal of Southold Elementary School, wiped tears from her eyes as she sat at her desk and spoke of the woman sitting across from her.
“Elaine really is the glue that holds this place together,” Ms. O’Neill said of school psychologist Elaine White, who will retire Jan. 1 after 27 years with the Southold School District. “I can’t imagine not seeing her every day.”
To acknowledge Ms. White’s decades of service, six high school students worked with technology teacher Matt Pfister to construct a bench in her honor. The bench is located on the playground, where children can use it to sit with friends or resolve conflicts. The bench is connected to Ms. White’s concept for a “conflict corner,” a place where students could go to resolve problems that come up during recess.
Ms. O’Neill said she and elementary secretary Marlene Bufkins began talking over the summer about how to best honor Ms. White, and eventually decided on the bench because it would make part of her idea a reality.
The two then began reaching out to others in the district, including Mr. Pfister and Judi Fouchet of the Southold School Educational Foundation, which paid for the bench.
“When I realized Elaine was retiring this year, we began to talk about how it would be nice to add something to the playground to commemorate her work,” Ms. Fouchet said. “Elaine is very involved in having the kids grow socially outside of the classroom while still in school … She encouraged the kids for years to figure out who they are as social beings.”
Ms. Fouchet also serves on the school board and sits on its playground committee with Ms. White — another reason the bench was placed there.
When Ms. Fouchet contacted Mr. Pfister, he immediately knew the right people for the job — six English as a Second Language students who came to him at the start of the year asking for extra woodworking projects to do during study hall periods.
“I said [to the students], ‘We can go ahead and build something you guys would like to do, or we could actually get involved with some of the things they’re doing around here in the school,’<\!q>” he said. “They were floored with the idea.”
With help from Mr. Pfister, the students decided what materials to use, developed the design of the bench and determined where to place it.
Even the bench’s colors are connected to the retiring psychologist, who Ms. O’Neill said loves and often wears purple and blue. Yellow was chosen later as a complementary color.
Finally, the staff had to pull off the surprise.
Ms. O’Neill asked the staff to attend a Monday morning meeting on the upcoming bond vote. All staff members except Ms. White then received an email explaining that the meeting’s true purpose was to unveil the bench dedicated to their beloved coworker.
“I was totally thrown off,” Ms. White said. “It’s the biggest shock … I’m still in shock. I think it’s just wonderful. It’s an honor. I’m thrilled, because the playground is a very important part of my job. So much happens on a playground.”
Although these are Ms. White’s last few weeks at the school, the Southold resident promises she’ll be back. She plans to volunteer there and host events, such as yoga classes, with the students.
“I’m going to miss the kids and the staff,” Ms. White said. “This is a wonderful place to work. The collegiality of the staff, the children are great and I can say it’s really a caring community.”
Photo Caption: Kaitlyn Heath, 9, Elaine White and Thomas Sklodowski, 9, sit on the bench created in Ms. White’s honor (Credit: Nicole Smith).
Southold School District residents will go to the polls Tuesday, Dec. 8, to cast their ballots on a nearly $9.8 million capital improvement project that includes a turf athletic field, security features and a reconfiguration of classroom spaces.
Specifically, residents will vote on the district’s plan to pay for the construction project by using $2 million in reserves and issuing a $7.76 million bond to fund the rest.
The district’s previous $14 million capital improvement bond, which carries a 20-year term, is scheduled to be paid off in June 2018. That bond was issued in 1998 for construction projects at the elementary school, district auditorium and secondary gymnasium.
The $14 million bond still costs the average homeowner about $200 a year. The new $7.76 million bond proposal is estimated to cost the average homeowner $130 annually, which school officials described as a “$70 reduction” per year for the average household when compared to the previous debt that’s about to be paid off.
Some of the proposed construction projects include a new track and synthetic turf multi-sport athletic field with organic fill, added security features, reconstructed parking areas with bus loops and student drop-off zones, conversion of the existing weight room into a TV production studio and relocation of the weight room to the athletic storage area.
Also included for the high school are a refurbished ROTC classroom, upgraded art room and photo studio and renovated cafeteria dining areas.
At the elementary school, the proposal involves upgrading the library media center and creating flexible learning spaces, among other projects.
If approved, school officials estimate construction will start in 2017 and take about two years to complete. Work is expected to be done over the summer, as well as nights, weekends and school holidays.
Polls are open between 3 and 9 p.m. For more information, visit the district’s website southoldufsd.com and check back here for voting results.
Photo: Southold School District. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder, file)
A turf athletic field and other facility upgrades are coming to Southold schools.
Southold School District residents approved a nearly $9.8 million capital improvement project by a 257-192 vote on Tuesday night.
“Now we get to work,” Superintendent David Gamberg said. “We believe this to be a very positive result for the entire Southold community.”
Mr. Gamberg and school board president Paulette Ofrias said they were speechless shortly after the results were counted.
Ms. Ofrias had tears in her eyes as she expressed her gratitude to the community’s support.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she said shortly after the results were counted.
The district’s plan to pay for the construction project includes using $2 million in reserves and issuing a $7.76 million bond to fund the rest.
The district’s previous $14 million capital improvement bond, which carries a 20-year term, is scheduled to be paid off in June 2018. That bond was issued in 1998 for construction projects at the elementary school, district auditorium and secondary gymnasium.
The $14 million bond still costs the average homeowner about $200 a year. The new $7.76 million bond proposal is estimated to cost the average homeowner $130 annually, which school officials described as a “$70 reduction” per year for the average household when compared to the previous debt that’s about to be paid off.
Some of the proposed construction projects include a new track and synthetic turf multi-sport athletic field with organic fill, added security features, reconstructed parking areas with bus loops and student drop-off zones, conversion of the existing weight room into a TV production studio and relocation of the weight room to the athletic storage area.
Also included for the high school are a refurbished ROTC classroom, upgraded art room and photo studio and renovated cafeteria dining areas.
At the elementary school, the proposal involves upgrading the library media center and creating flexible learning spaces, among other projects.
School officials estimate construction will start in 2017 and take about two years to complete. Work is expected to be done over the summer, as well as nights, weekends and school holidays.
Top photo: Superintendent David Gamberg and school board president Paulette Ofrias hug after they reviewed the voting results with district clerk Patti DiGregorio (right). (Credit: Jen Nuzzo photos)
From left, Southold director of operations Marcus DaSilva, superintendent David Gamberg, school board president Paulette Ofrias and assistant superintendent for business Charles Scheid at Tuesday’s vote.
FIRST-QUARTER HONOR ROLL
Southold Junior-Senior High
HIGH HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: Gina Anasagasti, Samuel Basel, Raeann Berry, Adam Best, Angela Bucci, William Bucci, Ryan Costello, Julia Daddona, Jacqueline Davey, Michael Dolan, Peter Fouchet, Kimiko Fujita, Julia Girzadas, Katherine Hunstein, Alexander Lincoln, Maxwell Mastrangelo, Paige Messana, Noah Mina, Alexa Palumbo, Bryan Patchell, Lily Saeli, Julia Schade, Andrew Seifert, Gabrielle Showalter, Ethan Sisson, Cora Small, Monique Smith, Albert (Aidan) Vandenburgh, Aidan Walker, Brendan Walker.
Grade 11: Emma Alvarez, Samantha Baldwin, Garrison Bennett, Nicole Christman, Miguel Gomez, Stephen Hocker, Owen Klipstein, Robert Kruszeski, Jake McCarthy, Patrick McFarland, Jamie Molnar, Sean Okula, Meg Pickerell, Charles Poliwoda, Edwin Ward IV.
Grade 10: Charlotte Allen, Brooke Averette, Katie Baumann, Hayley Brigham, William Burns, Mario Contreras, Rebecca Dickerson, Jacob Dominy, Katherine Jarvis, Kathryn Jernick, Jack Koslosky, Ann Lincoln, Kai Obinata, Jared Palumbo.
Grade 9: Robinson Amador, Sabrina Basel, Jonathan Baumann, Bryanna Bay, Ally Boyle, Eric Connolly, Patrick Connolly, Tyler DeFrese, Samantha Dunne, Robert Elliston, Van Karsten, Max Kruszeski, Anakin Mignone, Marie Mullen, Jake Okula, Emiliann Palermo, Emily Russell, Olivia Saccamano, Milton Santos Cuellar, Jose Santos Teshe, Dante Tramontana.
Grade 8: Walter (Cole) Brigham IV, Jacquelyn Constantine, Jack Cosmadelis, Matthew Crean, William Dickerson, Nicholas Eckhardt, Elizabeth Garcia Palencia, Elizabeth Jernick, Felecia Kayel, Kathryn Kilcommons, Olivia Lynch, Julia Mejsak, Jessica Mele, Simon Mraz, Ella Neese, Maximilian Pasko, Elizabeth Quinones, Anna Yao Reilly, Steven Russell, Stephen Schill, Joseph Silvestro, Kaitlin Tobin, Rhian Tramontana, Nicholas Vicinanza, Emma Whittington-Quarty.
Grade 7: Grace Brodarick, Gabriela Contreras, Hanna DeSimone, Matthew Garms, Jack Giovanniello, Carlos Gomez, James Hayes, Danielle Henry, Julia Jaklevic, Caroline Koslosky, Ethan Magnuson, Kelli McHugh, Matthew Mullen, Annamaria Napolitano, Stephen Palermo, Juliet Rand, Kaia Rothman, Aidan Russell, Bianca Secaida, Sophia Small, Ania Smith, Reese Thompson, Benjamin Ward.
HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: Mert Altintoprak, Abigail Bolliver, Theresa Connolly, Michael DiCandia, Vivienne Glasser, Juliette Liegey, Ewa Mejsak, Dominick Panetta, Jennifer Pressler, Nolan Renshaw, Walker Sutton, Aidan Toy, Dylan VanGorden, Mariya Winkler.
Grade 11: Jessie Bakanic, Adam Baldwin, Charlie Bonilla, Abagail Cacovic, Dylan Clausen, Evelyn Cummings, Kylee DeFrese, Douglas Fiedler, Rachel Field-Hornstein, Rachael Hughes, Angelica Klavas, Anthony Klavas, Julia Mele, Althea Mignone, Mark Moran, Nicolas Orientale, Quinn Osmer, Emily Perry, Daisy Rymer, Joseph Saporita, Kyle Skrezec, Robert VanMater Jr., Willow Wilcenski, Shane Zimmer.
Grade 10: Monika Abram, Harry Antonucci, Alexandra Apadula, Carlos Campos-Chavez, Alexandra Cardi, Matthew Civiok, Ashley Hilary, Michael Krause, Julia Kujawski, Heather MacArthur, Matthew McAllister, Andrea Menjivar, Anthony Monzon, William (Liam) Mullen, Kyra Panetta, Lucie Showalter, Hannah Sutton, Justin Tobin, Victoria Tondo
Grade 9: Jack Antonucci, Michael Chacon Munoz, Olivia Daddona, Peter Franke, Carlos Gonzalez Jr., Courtney Kruk, Rosanna Mollica, Devin Quinones, Marissa Rackwitz, Casie Vaccariello, Michael Wineberger.
Grade 8: Victoria Apadula, Justin Eckhardt, James Hoyt, Kate Jones, John Judge, Kenneth Latham, Edy Nazario Valdez, Andrea Palencia Villavicencio, Julia Vicinanza, Tyler Woodhull.
Grade 7: Patrick Allen, Catherine Chenal, Ryan Deerkoski, Isabella DeMaio, Cole Hilary, Miles Hoffman, Brook Howard, Saylor Hughes, John Kaelin, Jenna McFarland, Matthew Messana, Silvia Rackwitz, Magda Rodriguez, Samantha Tondo.
For the past two years, the Southold School District has provided many of its students with laptop computers — and teachers are hopeful the process will continue since the technology has provided enhanced learning opportunities.
Ryan Case, educational technology director at Southold and Greenport schools, gave a presentation at a Southold school board work session Wednesday night to outline the status of the district’s inventory of nearly 660 Google Chromebooks. The laptops are given to students in grades 4 through 11 and students are allowed to take them home.
“It’s absolutely positive,” high school English teacher Laura Kim Dooley said of the computers. “Now our students are having the opportunity — in a small school district — to write and to create and to think and to learn in the very environment of this 21st century.”
Superintendent David Gamberg said he invited Mr. Case to give a presentation, as well as five other educators, because the school board had requested an update on the district’s technology and English programs.
In 2012, the district launched a Bring Your Own Device program known as BYOD in which students were encouraged to bring their own laptops to school. A year later, the district purchased Chromebooks for students in grades 5 through 8.
Currently, 609 of the laptops are assigned to student and staff and eleven devices are kept in stock just in case one needs to be replaced. Forty-one Chromebooks are out of service and used for scrap pieces. Five of those broken devices were replaced by students for a total of $1,100. In addition, the district has collected fees for 109 broken screens totaling $1,170.
According to Mr. Case’s presentation, 32 laptops have been fixed under warranty and the district’s staff has fixed 148 computers in-house over the past two years.
In addition to Wednesday’s Chromebooks program update, teachers Melissa McBride and Mira Dougherty-Johnson discussed the connection between technology and literacy. Their presentation outlined “The Big Seven” steps needed to make sure a student is able to use technology adequately. One important step, they said, is understanding the benchmarks -— or what a student should be proficient in at what age.
JoEllen McCarthy, an education consultant hired by the district, gave a presentation about the writing workshops she collaborated on with Southold Elementary School teachers. The program stresses the importance of students working together and providing feedback on each other’s work in order to help fellow classmates improve their writing, she explained.
Seventh-grade English teacher Emilia Dakis also discussed the importance of hands-on learning opportunities when it comes to writing and grammar, as well as the need to foster a love of writing in students.
One way she does this is by asking students to choose sentences that share a common theme, such as commas, and look for similarities between them. She said this teaches children how to correctly understand the topic being discussed.
As for high school students, English teacher James Stahl presented complex writing examples done by juniors and seniors, including poetry, college essays, SAT prep, Regents prep, senior theses, interactive blog posts and more.
“Instead of a notebook where they’re writing and sharing with one other person, they have to post their blog and then have to respond to other peoples,” Mr. Stahl said. “And that’s a great thing because they can’t hide. It ups the ante as far as what they’re writing.”
When school board member Scott Latham asked the group of educators if the addition of Chromebooks has made an impact in their classrooms, the teachers in the audience gave a resoundingly positive response.
“I just love the tool,” said eighth-grade English teacher Jessica Ellwood. “I can have kids working on a writing assignment and pull up all their writing assignments and see it happening live. I can see their process. I can see what they’re correcting. I can see what they’re putting in color.”
The program is expected to expand next school year to provide seniors with Chromebooks. In addition, Mr. Gamberg said Wednesday’s discussion will “feed into” the ongoing discussion about next school year’s budget.
Photo: Southold technology director Ryan Case gave a presentation about the district’s Chromebook inventory at Wednesday’s school board work session. (Credit: Nicole Smith)
CORRECTION: James Stahl’s name was originally misstated in this article.
Picture the typical librarian: someone standing behind a counter checking out books and helping people find research material via the Dewey Decimal System.
Now, imagine the 21st-century librarian.
Mira Johnson, head librarian at Southold High School, represents a new generation of library professionals whose goal is to help students integrate technology into their research projects and become more engaged in learning.
“I think it’s really, really changed,” Ms. Johnson said of her work, noting that a large part of the job now is collaborating with teachers to instruct students in properly locating scholarly articles, making presentations and developing project ideas.
Ms. Johnson meets with teachers in all grades and subject fields within the high school, most frequently humanities-based subjects, and discusses material to teach the students. She said teachers sometimes approach her with topic ideas and other times she’ll seek out teachers with hers. Then, Ms. Johnson creates a lesson to teach the students.
Last Friday Ms. Johnson taught seniors the difference between a periodical and a scholarly journal that can be cited in academic work, such as research papers. During the first half of the class she showed examples of each, pointing out that periodicals contained many pictures and advertisements as compared to scholarly journals, which had virtually none.
For the rest of the period, students used computers to find sources online while Ms. Johnson circulated, offering advice when needed.
“Knowing how to search is a whole new literacy,” Ms. Johnson said. “There is so much information, but it’s only useful if you know how to access it, use it and engage with it.”
Ms. Johnson, who has a master’s degree in library science from the University of Iowa and a certificate in school library media studies from Syracuse University, said she always “knew she needed to be surrounded by books.” While pursuing her master’s she was also a graduate instructor of rhetoric.
“A big lightbulb went off for me because I was learning library science but I was also teaching undergrads how to think critically, research and how to write,” she said. “So those things have always been connected for me.”
The goal of the Southold program, said high school principal William Galati, is to start students off with the kind of library classes Ms. Johnson runs while they’re in elementary school and continue to expand on their research knowledge as they enter the middle and high school.
Ms. Johnson asks middle school students to expand their independent reading assignments by learning about the authors’ lives and how that affects their storytelling.
As students enter high school, what they learn in the library progresses to research papers and citations.
“From the beginning [Ms. Johnson] taught us the simplest way to start a citations page, which is through Easybib,” senior Ethan Sisson said. “And then as the years went on we learned new tools other than Easybib. The most recent was an analyze button to show you how well you’re doing with your bibliography … So really, she’s been showing us what’s there and how we can use it, so it’s pretty helpful.”
Mr. Galati explained the importance of having librarians instill these lessons in students and build upon them from a young age.
“What we’re doing is instilling the college readiness component,” Mr. Galati said. “So at least, upon graduating from high school here, they have their set goals and objectives and really have a true understanding of how to conduct accurate research and cite appropriately.”
Rarely can Ms. Johnson use exactly the same lesson each year, she said, since technology is constantly changing.
Years ago, for example, she used to just ask students to create PowerPoint presentations as projects. Now students can use any number of other programs, such as Prezi or Google Slides, to do that.
Ms. Johnson, who has worked at Southold for about five years, recently returned to the district after spending 18 months in Germany. She became familiar with that country’s public library system, which she said is like “America’s system 25 years ago,” focused more on helping students locate books and rarely incorporating technology.
She said the “old model” tells students one standard way to do everything, whereas what she’s teaching at Southold now allows students to interpret things, ask questions and become more engaged with their learning.
Southold senior Walter Sutton said he was talking recently with his sister, who’s a freshman at Ohio State, about the things they were doing in school.
“She said that will really help us prepare for what she’s in right now,” he said. “It’s wrapping up to help propel us in the future.”
Top Caption: Southold High School librarian Mira Johnson helps senior Michael Dolan search for scholarly articles. (Credit: Nicole Smith)
Congratulations to the following students!
HIGH HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: Gina Anasagasti, Samuel Basel, Raeann Berry, Angela Bucci, William Bucci, Theresa Connolly, Ryan Costello, Julia Daddona, Jacqueline Davey, Michael Dolan, Peter Fouchet, Kimiko Fujita, Julia Girzadas, Katherine Hunstein, Alexander Lincoln, Maxwell Mastrangelo, Paige Messana, Noah Mina, Alexa Palumbo, Dominick Panetta, Leah Passanant, Bryan Patchell, Jennifer Pressler, Bayron Rivas, Lily Saeli, Julia Schade, Andrew Seifert, Gabrielle Showalter, Ethan Sisson, Cora Small, Monique Smith, Albert (Aidan) Vandenburgh, Aidan Walker, Brendan Walker, Mariya Winkler.
Grade 11: Emma Alvarez, Jessie Bakanic, Samantha Baldwin, Garrison Bennett, Evelyn Cummings, Douglas Fiedler, Miguel Gomez, Stephen Hocker, Owen Klipstein, Robert Kruszeski, Jake McCarthy, Patrick McFarland, Julia Mele, Jamie Molnar, Mark Moran, Sean Okula, Quinn Osmer, Meg Pickerell, Charles Poliwoda, Daisy Rymer, Joseph Saporita, Robert VanMater Jr., Edwin Ward IV, Willow Wilcenski, Shane Zimmer.
Grade 10: Harry Antonucci, Brooke Averette, Katie Baumann, Hayley Brigham, William Burns, Carlos Campos-Chavez, Alexandra Cardi, Mario Contreras, Rebecca Dickerson, Jacob Dominy, Ashley Hilary, Katherine Jarvis, Kathryn Jernick, Ann Lincoln, Kai Obinata, Jared Palumbo, Kyra Panetta, Lucie Showalter, Justin Tobin.
Grade 9: Sabrina Basel, Jonathan Baumann, Ally Boyle, Eric Connolly, Patrick Connolly, Tyler DeFrese, Samantha Dunne, Robert Elliston, Max Kruszeski, Juan Martinez Flores, Marie Mullen, Jake Okula, Emiliann Palermo, Olivia Saccamano, Dante Tramontana, Michael Wineberger.
Grade 8: Walter (Cole) Brigham IV, Jacquelyn Constantine, Jack Cosmadelis, Matthew Crean, William Dickerson, Justin Eckhardt, Nicholas Eckhardt, Elizabeth Jernick, Felecia Kayel, Kathryn Kilcommons, Kenneth Latham, Olivia Lynch, Julia Mejsak, Jessica Mele, Simon Mraz, Ella Neese, Maximilian Pasko, Elizabeth Quinones, Anna Yao Reilly, Steven Russell, Stephen Schill, Kaitlin Tobin, Rhian Tramontana, Nicholas Vicinanza, Emma Whittington-Quarty.
Grade 7: Grace Brodarick, Andrew Clausen, Gabriela Contreras, Isabella DeMaio, Hanna DeSimone, Jack Giovanniello, Carlos Gomez, James Hayes, Danielle Henry, Miles Hoffman, Julia Jaklevic, Caroline Koslosky, Ethan Magnuson, Jenna McFarland, Kelli McHugh, Matthew Mullen, Annamaria Napolitano, Stephen Palermo, Juliet Rand, Kaia Rothman, Aidan Russell, Bianca Secaida, Sophia Small, Reese Thompson, Samantha Tondo, Benjamin Ward.
HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: Mert Altintoprak, Abigail Bolliver, Keaton Comiskey, Michael DiCandia, Michael Gensler, Christopher Hanold Jr., Esther Jeffrey, Ewa Mejsak, Emily Portillo, Aidan Toy, Dylan VanGorden.
Grade 11: Adam Baldwin, Charlie Bonilla, Grace Bruer, Abagail Cacovic, Mathew Cardi, Michael Christman, Nicole Christman, Dylan Clausen, Rachel Field-Hornstein, Angelica Klavas, Anthony Klavas, Gus Klavas, Alexander Krukowski, Althea Mignone, Emily Perry, Wendy Santos, Connor Vaccariello.
Grade 10: Monika Abram, Charlotte Allen, Alexandra Apadula, Charles Campbell, Zachary Grathwohl, Jack Koslosky, Michael Krause, Julia Kujawski, Heather MacArthur, Edwin Martinez Javier, Matthew McAllister, Anthony Monzon, William (Liam) Mullen, Hannah Sutton, Victoria Tondo.
Grade 9: Jack Antonucci, Bryanna Bay, Michael Chacon Munoz, Michael Daddona, Olivia Daddona, Carlos DeLeon Campos, Justin Hanold, Van Karsten, Courtney Kruk, Anakin Mignone, Rosanna Mollica, Brizeida Palacios-Campos, Marissa Rackwitz, Emily Russell, Nicolas Siguenza Torres, Casie Vaccariello.
Grade 8: Elizabeth Garcia Palencia, Nicholas Grathwohl, James Hoyt, John Judge, Edy Nazario Valdez, Emily Newman, Joseph Silvestro, Julia Vicinanza.
Grade 7: Patrick Allen, Ryan Deerkoski, Matthew Garms, Daniel Garrido, Kateri Gensler, Cole Hilary, Brook Howard, Saylor Hughes, John Kaelin, Daniel Krause, Matthew Messana, Rhian O’Neil, Silvia Rackwitz, Magda Rodriguez, Justin Uguna.
Southold High School Drama Club presents Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s ‘Mary Poppins’ this week in the district auditorium.
Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 17; Friday, March 18; and Saturday March 19. There’s also a performance scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 20.
Tickets are on sale at Southold Free Library and cost $12 adults, $8 students and seniors.
Please arrive 20 to 30 minutes prior to curtain if purchasing tickets at the door.
For more information, call 631-765-5081.
Click on the images below to see more photos by Katharine Schroeder.
At first glance Saturday, it appeared the Southold High School robotics team had come up just short of reaching the 2016 FIRST Robotics World Championship.
Despite possessing one of the top robots during the two-day regional competition at Hofstra University, the team lost in the third match of the best-of-three finals.
What the team and its supporters might not have recognized at first, however, is that sometimes it’s better to come in second.
Southold Team Rice 870 was awarded the Engineering Inspiration Award at the end of the event, which brings with it an invitation to the world championships in St. Louis, Mo. and financial assistance from NASA covering the event’s $5,000 entry fee.
“The team was absolutely thrilled,” said team mentor Christine Schade, a math teacher at the school. “The team competed so hard and it was a little disappointing to fall in the finals. When we found out we won the Engineering Inspiration Award we were overjoyed.”
Southold now has the opportunity to join hundreds of teams from across the U.S. and the world in the finals April 27-30 at The Dome at America’s Center, which until recently was home to the NFL’s former St. Louis Rams franchise.
Southold Robotics, a team of about 30 students in grades nine through 12, has limited time to accept the invitation and would then need to raise funds for travel expenses, Ms. Schade said. An official decision is expected Monday, but Ms. Schade is optimistic the team will receive the support to compete in nationals.
“I can’t say enough about how supportive our administrators are,” she said. “We’re so incredibly lucky that our administration, including high school principal [William Galati] and superintendent [David Gamberg] believe in what we do, because that’s not always the case at other schools.”
That’s primarily because robotics is an expensive endeavor that requires a great deal of financial support from the community. Robotics programs typically spend about $40,000 a year just to get to regionals, Ms. Schade estimated.
Southold raises funds from parents and local businesses, including its primary corporate sponsor, Miller Environmental Group of Calverton.
“We were even fortunate enough to have one of their engineers help us with our build,” Ms. Schade said.
If money is one obstacle to succeed in robotics, time is the other. Teams are given just six weeks to create and practice with their robot, which is built to fit specific parameters that change each year before the regional competition.
Team members then dedicate about eight hours a night, seven days per week to prepare. Parents also help out every step of the way, including this year’s non-faculty mentor, Bob Gammon.
“There are many long nights for these students and parents,” Ms. Schade said.
On Saturday, the teens learned it was all worth it. Competing in a three-team alliance, Southold was paired with teams from Patchogue-Medford and Cold Spring Harbor high schools. In all, 51 teams competed in the event, mostly from Suffolk and Nassau counties.
The top team at regionals, however, was Marista Pio from Hamburgo, Brazil, which competed in an alliance with Sachem and William Floyd high schools.
This year’s challenge, First Stronghold, was based on a popular medieval castle-conquering and battle-strategy game. Robots gained points by incapacitating defenses and scoring boulders through goals in the opposition’s tower.
The Long Island regionals are organized by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc., which was founded more than 30 years ago with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses that would provide students with practical experience and curriculum development and help the business community develop its future workforce, according to the organization.
Check back Monday for official word on the world championships and more information on how to support the team.
Caption: Robotics team members prepare for regionals. (Credit: rice870.com)
The Southold Union Free School District is preparing a 2016-17 budget that won’t pierce the .69 percent property tax cap next school year, said Superintendent David Gamberg.
“The adopted budget will come in lower than that,” said Mr. Gamberg, who added that a final budget proposal is still in the works. The tax cap, he said, allows for a tax levy increase of just over $175,000.
“It will probably be around .65 or .67 percent,” he said.
Similar to the current budget, next year’s budget totals around $29 million. And while the district’s health insurance contributions will rise 7.5 percent next school year, Mr. Gamberg said the increase is expected to be offset by a decrease in BOCES and retirement payments.
In addition, the district will experience a $40,000 decrease in the Gap Elimination Adjustment, leaving its GEA balance at $95,000. The GEA was created during the 2010-2011 school year as a way to help close the state’s budget deficit.
Other components of Southold’s 2016-17 budget include preserving professional development programs and elementary school textbook budgets.
“We need to invest in people, not programs,” Mr. Gamberg said last week.
At the secondary school level, spending is expected to decrease by 1.32 percent. Although the budget is decreasing overall, Mr. Gamberg said slight increases to support professional development in English, foreign languages, math and social studies are expected.
The equipment budget for SoHo TV, a television production course Southold shares with Greenport High School, and tech and design class has also increased.
Meanwhile, the district’s athletics budget makes room for the addition of a combined boys and girls varsity winter track program with the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District, as well as a summer weight-lifting course. Chromebooks laptops, which are currently used by students in grades four through 11, will also be purchased for 12th-graders.
The district’s 2016-17 facilities budget will decrease by 7.69 percent overall, but a small portion of it will increase by about $25,000 in order to purchase student desks throughout the district and fix windows in the high school’s main office.
Lastly, the district’s budget for tuition for students who participate in programs at other public and charter schools will decrease by 41 percent, as students return to Southold programs due to what Mr. Gamberg perceives as “the ongoing efforts of the district to create new offerings and programs to meet student needs.”
Photo: Southold School District superintendent David Gamberg. (Credit: Nicole Smith, file)
One Christmas break more than 15 years ago, Southold School District Superintendent David Gamberg had a vision for an elementary school.
Calling on the creative skills of his son Jake, now an architect, Mr. Gamberg created a small-scale model of a school building and its recess area, adding in a few wish list items. Included in the model, which he’s kept ever since, were a garden and an amphitheater, both of which the district has added to the campus in recent years.
Off in the corner of the father-son project was a small shoe with a house on top (pictured at left) and a figurine of a student out in front.
“There it is,” Mr. Gamberg said, leaning over the more than 15-year-old model. “That’s our Mother Goose Shoe.”
The tiny shoe is symbolic of an 18-foot-tall sculpture (plans pictured below) the district wants to place on school grounds, between the school garden and the amphitheater, to create an area where students can read and let their imaginations run wild.
For Mr. Gamberg, the tiny model makes kids feel larger than life. The actual large sculpture will show them the sky’s the limit.
On Tuesday, more than 200 elementary school students took part in an extended recess, breaking into groups for various activities while high school students and a local aerial videographer captured them at play.
The video will be used to promote fundraising efforts for the piece, which would be built by a New Jersey company that specializes in oversize outdoor sculptures. Mr. Gamberg estimated the Mother Goose Shoe would cost about $35,000.
The project will be spearheaded by the Southold School Educational Foundation, which has assisted with the funding and acquisition of many elements recently added to the play area.
“Recess is more than just play,” Mr. Gamberg said. “It’s an outdoor learning space and an important part of the learning process. It should be a time each day for students to dream and wonder.”
Elementary scholl student Michaela Lynch is interviewed by high school students. (Credit: Grant Parpan)
Before the cameras began rolling Tuesday, principal Ellen O’Neill said she divided students from all grades into groups around the recess area. The chorus students entertained classmates in the amphitheater while others worked in the nearby garden.
In the play areas, second- and fourth-grade students teamed up for a game of soccer and sixth-graders buddied up with first-graders on the playground. Games of handball and chess played out around a group of young girls painting on easels.
A drone buzzing overhead, operated by Andrew LePre of LePre Media in Cutchogue, captured the scene on video.
An aerial view of Tuesday’s recess from aerial videographer Andrew LePre. (Credit: LePre Media)
“How cool is that?” remarked high school technology teacher Jason Wesnofske, who got a chance to fly the drone after students returned to class. “That drone is just wild. I can’t believe we’re using this kind of technology.”
Mr. LePre’s footage will be edited together with video shot by high school students, who circulated through Tuesday’s recess crowd interviewing students. Officials hope the project will help the school’s educational foundation raise the necessary funds to bring the Mother Goose Shoe to light.
“At a time when children need to learn socialization skills more than ever, and derive tremendous benefit from healthy outdoor and imaginative activities, this addition to our playscape is much needed,” said Judi Fouchet, secretary of the educational foundation.
Top Caption: Andrew Lepre, left, gives a lesson in flying drones to Southold technology teacher Jason Wesnofske. (Credit: Grant Parpan)
gparpan@timesreview.com
Elementary student Mackenzie Koke paints during recess. (Credit: Grant Parpan)
Brady Woods aims for the skies on the elementary school swing set.(Credit: Grant Parpan)
The chorus serenades classmates during recess Tuesday. (Credit: Grant Parpan)
After announcing in November that David Gamberg would continue as the shared superintendent of both Southold and Greenport school districts after his initial contract ends this June, a three-year contract was approved by the Greenport Board of Education on Tuesday and the Southold Board of Education the following night.
The contract comes with a salary increase each year — an additional $4,000 during the 2016-2017 school year, a $4,100 raise in 2017-2018 year, and a $4,200 increase during the 2018-2019 school year. Currently, Mr. Gamberg’s base salary is $239,280, he said.
“I’m personally grateful that the board at Greenport was confident enough to want to extend [my contract] by three more years,” he said. “While it certainly has its challenges, I enjoy what I do and I love what I do. I consider myself very fortunate to do what I do — to spend time in the company of children and to be in a community like Greenport.”
Both districts have agreed to split Mr. Gamberg’s salary in half, a move that will continue to save them “upwards of $100,000″ each, he said, adding that this totals to about $500,000 per district since he began the shared position two years ago.
He said the savings aren’t designated for anything specific, but will continue to help support staffing and programs within both districts.
Paulette Ofrias, Southold Board of Education president, credited these financial savings as one of the major benefits that comes with having Mr. Gamberg serve as shared superintendent. She added that the sharing of knowledge and other positions between the schools that has occurred over the past two years is another positive.
“He’s brought things to Southold that Greenport does, and I’m sure vice versa, that you learn from,” she said. “I think other districts could learn from the example that we’re setting.”
Dan Creedon, Greenport Board of Education president, was not immediately available for comment.
In the new contract, as well as in the previous one, Mr. Gamberg will remain a Southold employee and the district will bill Greenport twice a year. Should the boards decided to end the shared services agreement before the contract comes to a close, Mr. Gamberg will continue to work at Southold. Additionally, he wouldn’t be able to work at Greenport for two years.
Additionally, Mr. Gamberg’s benefits will be under Southold’s plans. He is responsible for paying for 15 percent of his healthcare and 10 percent of his dental plans. The remaining 85 and 90 percent will be split between the two districts.
He will also be reimbursed over $1,000 for gas he uses to drive to and from each school during the 2016-2017 school year. Ms. Ofrias said she commends Mr. Gamberg for being able to be physically present in both schools, sometimes visiting each school multiple times a day.
“I think he does an outstanding job for Southold,” she said. “I’m assuming Greenport must feel the same way or they wouldn’t want to continue.”
Photo Caption: Superintendent David Gamberg. (Credit: File Photo)
In January, the Mraz family gathered in their Southold home to watch an episode of “Top Chef.” That week’s show held special meaning: It was dedicated to the late chef Gerry Hayden, Mike and Mary Mraz’s longtime friend and business partner.
One of the challenges in the Bravo series that week, in which Mr. Hayden’s friend celebrity chef Tom Colicchio is lead judge, was for contestants to create a dish in honor of the show’s 10th anniversary. One chef, Amar Santana, whipped up a dish he had learned from his onetime mentor, Mr. Hayden: a butter-poached lobster, sautéed bok choy, tapioca coconut curry and tempura onion rings.
Mr. Hayden, who died in September from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, had owned North Fork Table & Inn in Southold since December 2005 with his wife, Claudia Fleming, and the Mraz couple. He was head chef at the restaurant and a three-time James Beard Award nominee.
After watching the “Top Chef” episode, Isaiah Mraz, a sixth-grader at Southold Elementary School, said he became emotional about the loss of his friend and decided to visit the school social worker the following day.
“Mrs. O’Reilly said, ‘Let’s find out a way to represent Gerry, not just be sad and mourn over him. We should find a way to show how important he was,’ ” the 12-year-old recalled. “So we came up with the idea of watching a movie. One of Gerry’s favorite movies was ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,’ so we decided on that.”
Isaiah emailed the idea to Southold Superintendent David Gamberg, who suggested the film be screened in the school’s outdoor amphitheater. A movie night fundraiser is planned for June 10.
Ellen O’Neill, principal at Southold Elementary School, said participants will pay to watch the movie, which will begin around sunset. Proceeds will be donated in Mr. Hayden’s name to Ride for Life. Tickets and the cost of admission is not yet available.
The outdoor amphitheater where the movie night will be held next month. (Credit: Grant Parpan, file)
Created in 1997, Ride For Life is a volunteer charity dedicated to serving the ALS community by creating public awareness, raising money for research and supporting patients and families through patient services, according to its website.
Each May, the organization hosts a 12-day, 100-plus mile wheelchair ride across Long Island and into Manhattan led by Chris Pendergast, a 1966 graduate of Bishop McGann-Mercy High School who has been battling ALS for more than 20 years.
Mr. Pendergast stopped at the Southold School District in 2013 and 2014 and Mr. Hayden joined him on the ride both times, Ms. O’Neill said.
This year, Mr. Pendergast will return to Southold Elementary School the morning of June 10 — not as part of the ride, but to dedicate two apple trees recently planted in the school’s garden: one in honor of Mr. Hayden and the other for KK Haspel, a Southold farmer who died in October 2014.
“We were thinking fruit trees because Gerry likes pears,” Ms. O’Neill said, adding that the trees were planted a few weeks ago. “But [the trees are] apple. It has to be what’s going to grow best here.”
Ms. O’Neill said Ride For Life reached out to her about their desire to donate the trees around the same time Isaiah thought of the idea for a movie fundraiser.
Isaiah, who meets with his mother, Ms. O’Neill and Ms. Fleming periodically to help coordinate both events, said he thinks Mr. Hayden would consider the day “awesome.” His mother agreed.
“He would be humbled because he doesn’t like the attention,” Ms. Mraz said. “But he does love Isaiah.”
Photo Caption: Southold Elementary School student Isaiah Mraz, 12, thought of the idea to honor Gerry Hayden with a movie night next month. (Credit: Nicole Smith)
The Southold School District is getting a new athletic director.
Steven Flanagan of Sayville, 38, will replace current athletic director and dean of students Michael Brostowski this July, taking the reigns of a turf field project passed in December.
“He’s going to play a big role in making sure we bring people together to make sure we get the design [of the turf field] implemented effectively,” Superintendent David Gamberg said.
Little progress has been made on the field so far, but administrators plan to meet over the next few months to discuss materials and design and to create a schedule, Mr. Gamberg said. He added that he expects the turf field will take a few years to complete.
“It’s very exciting for [Mr. Flanagan],” Mr. Gamberg said. “It’s a nice thing come in as athletic director and get new facilities that you’re a part of.”
Mr. Flanagan said he previously worked as a physical education and health teacher in New York City for 11 years before deciding to pursue a degree in administration.
Mr. Gamberg said it was Mr. Flanagan’s experience at both large and small schools that made him an ideal candidate for the role. Like Mr. Broskowski, he will serve as dean of students.
“He has a good balance, approach and understanding from his past experience on how to handle both of those separate positions, but do it in an effective way,” Mr. Gamberg said.
Mr. Flanagan said he chose Southold to start his new career path due a combination of its “really strong” community and the fond memories he has of spending summers on the North Fork.
He plans to learn from others during his first few months in the position in order to get to know the athletic community before making changes to the district’s program, which shares numerous teams with Mattituck and Greenport schools.
“I want to know what the community’s needs are and grow from there,” Mr. Flanagan said. “As an athletic director, you always want to improve our athletics at the state level, have more high-level student athletes and more students who receive college scholarships … I want to help Southold sports grow overall.”
While Mr. Flanagan’s position officially begins in July, Mr. Brostowski’s last day was Tuesday. During the gap, Mr. Gamberg said he will fill in as athletic director, with Mr. Flanagan making sporadic visits to the school throughout the month.
After three years at Southold, Mr. Brostowski is headed to the Roslyn School District to accept a position as head of health, physical education and athletics, he said.
“I’ll miss working with the students, the teachers and the parents,” he said. “They’ve been great over the past couple of years. I’ve really appreciated my time here and I’m looking forward to new things.”
On Friday evening, Southold High School unveiled a new display decades in the making.
After months of research, teacher Mike Carver’s Advanced Placement Government and Politics class, partnering with the Southold Historical Society, created “The History of Us,” a display highlighting the district’s past.
Students sifted through hundreds of documents, journals, artifacts, yearbooks and correspondences to piece together the more than 75-piece display, which contains artifacts that date as far back as 1889.
One of the most notable discoveries is that Beatles member Paul McCartney and Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber attended the high school drama club’s performance of “Jesus Christ Superstar” — a play Mr. Webber originally composed — in 1971, according to a district press release.
Some of the displays in the ‘museum.’ (Courtesy: Southold Schools)
“Anyone who visits the gallery can readily see that this type of work could serve as a model for how we can engage students throughout our schools in real-world projects and assignments,” Superintendent David Gamberg said. “The display is breathtaking.”
The artifacts will be showcased in mahogany display cases — engraved with the Southold School Educational Foundation logo — created by English Language Learner (ELL) students under the supervision of technology teacher Matthew Pfister.
The project was made possible through funding from the Southold School Educational Foundation, which is dedicated to providing support to students and teachers within the district, as well as Senator Ken LaValle’s office and the Southold Faculty Association.
“The collaborative effort to fund and support such an authentic and purposeful project is exactly what the Southold School Educational Foundation was set up to do,” foundation president Robert Boergesson said in a statement.
Top Caption: (Left to right) Carlos Campos, Esvin Sicajau and Mario Menjivar were among the students who helped build the display cases. (Courtesy: Southold Schools)
The 110th commencement ceremony took place at Southold High School Saturday afternoon as the class of 2016 bid farewell to the school many of them had attended since kindergarten.
The ceremony began with a poignant moment of silence in memory of Ronan Guyer, their classmate who died in 2012. An empty chair on stage held flowers in remembrance of Ronan. The audience was also asked to remember boys basketball coach Phil Reed, who died earlier this year.
Dozens of awards, scholarships and bonds totaling over one million dollars were handed out and the choir sang for the attendees.
Finally, after students received their diplomas they met on the front steps of the school for the traditional mortar board toss.
(Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
The choir sings. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
(Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Valedictorian Aidan Walker gives his speech. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Valedictorian Aidan Walker. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
(Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Salutatorian Noah Mina. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
An empty chair covered with flowers in memory of Ronan Guyer, who died during a cross country practice in 2012. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
(Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Valedictorian Aidan Walker, left, with salutatorian Noah Mina. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
(Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
From left: Maya Jackowski, Myles Williams and Vivienne Glasser. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
(Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Southold High School principal Bill Galati with valedictorian Aidan Walker. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Waiting to enter the auditorium are, from left, Julia Schade, Kimiko Fujita, Paige Messana. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
A special guest joined third-graders at Southold Elementary School last Wednesday: children’s author Robin Newman.
Ms. Newman visited the students as a thank-you for their reviews of her new book, “Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep.” Each of the school’s three third-grade classes wrote a review. One of them was printed on the back cover of the book and the others appear on Ms. Newman’s website.
“It was just a coincidence,” said Ms. Newman, a part-time Orient resident, explaining how a school so close to her home became involved with her book. “My publisher emailed me and I said, ‘Did you know I have a house in Southold Township?’ ”
Ms. Newman said that for each of her books — the other is titled “A Wilcox and Griswold Mystery: The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake” — the publisher reached out to schools around the world and gave students an advance copy to read, requiring that, in exchange, they write reviews for potential publication.
Only two reviews — including the one crafted by James Gilvarry’s third-grade class — were chosen to appear on the “Hildie Bitterpickles” book itself.
Mr. Gilvarry’s students wrote: “Bewitchingly funny, Hildie Bitterpickles’s story leaves kids howling with laughter while sharing with them a lesson about how to solve our problems and get along with others.”
Two other Southold Elementary third-grade classes, taught by Stephanie Suter and Danielle Maisano, wrote reviews that are posted on Ms. Newman’s website.
“The kids and teachers were so honored and excited to see their classes’ words grace the cover and website for all future readers,” Mr. Gilvarry said. Earlier this school year, the same three classes joined together to FaceTime with Marissa Moss, author of the “Amelia’s Notebook” and “Max Disaster” series as well as many history and picture books. It was Ms. Moss who suggested that students work on blurbs for Ms. Newman’s book, Mr. Gilvarry said.
Children’s author Robin Newman speaks to the class. (Credit: Nicole Smith)
The three classes then worked on their reviews individually, in hopes of having them featured on the book. Mr. Gilvarry had his students read the book and write their own reviews as an assignment. Then, each student read his or her review and the class worked together to combine them into one sentence to submit.
A few months later, the class got the exciting news.
“Ms. Newman contacted us and basically said, ‘Here’s my book. It’s all ready to go digitally,’ and when we got the digital version there was a surprise on the back,” he said.
During her presentation last week, Ms. Newman explained her creative process, laid out the steps from coming up with an idea to actually getting a book published and invited the students to ask questions. She also signed copies for the students.
Mr. Gilvarry said it’s important to have authors talk to students because it gives them an opportunity to ask questions and helps reinforce the idea of creating readers and writers.
“It’s been really a fun activity and it’s great to see the kids connect to a part in the publishing experience,” he said.
Ms. Newman worked as a legal editor for years before she leaving her job to pursue her dream of writing children’s books. She began writing in 2007 and, after an eight-year process, had her first book published in 2015.
“Hildie Bitterpickles” was published in April. Ms. Newman, who also resides in Manhattan, has two more books scheduled for release next year.
“I’m just very lucky,” she said. “Nothing is better than writing for kids.”
Top photo caption: Third-graders in Stephanie Suter’s class got copies of signed books, one of which they wrote a review for that is published on author Robin Newsman’s website. (Credit: Nicole Smith)
Check out the 2016 summer issue of Southold High School’s student newspaper, The Sentinel.
Top photo credit: Viv Glasser / The Sentinel
