Congratulations to the following students!

HIGH HONOR ROLL

Grade 12: Gina Anasagasti, Samuel Basel, Raeann Berry, Angela Bucci, Theresa Connolly, Ryan Costello, Julia Daddona, Jacqueline Davey, Michael DiCandia, Michael Dolan, Peter Fouchet, Kimiko Fujita, Julia Girzadas, Katherine Hunstein, Maxwell Mastrangelo, Paige Messana, Noah Mina, Leah Passanant, Bryan Patchell, 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, Charlie Bonilla, Abagail Cacovic, Douglas Fiedler, Miguel Gomez, Stephen Hocker, Angelica Klavas, Gus Klavas, Owen Klipstein, Robert Kruszeski, Jake McCarthy, Patrick McFarland, Julia Mele, Althea Mignone, Jamie Molnar, Mark Moran, Sean Okula, Quinn Osmer, Emily Perry, Meg Pickerell, Charles Poliwoda, Daisy Rymer, Edwin Ward IV, Willow Wilcenski, Shane Zimmer.

Grade 10: Harry Antonucci, Brooke Averette, Katie Baumann, William Burns, Alexandra Cardi, Rebecca Dickerson, Jacob Dominy, Kathryn Jernick, Ann Lincoln, Kai Obinata, Jared Palumbo, Lucie Showalter, Victoria Tondo.

Grade 9: Sabrina Basel, Jonathan Baumann, Ally Boyle, Eric Connolly, Patrick Connolly, Tyler DeFrese, Samantha Dunne, Van Karsten, Max Kruszeski, Marie Mullen, Jake Okula, Emiliann Palermo, Olivia Saccamano, Dante Tramontana.

Grade 8: Walter (Cole) Brigham IV, Jacquelyn Constantine, Jack Cosmadelis, Matthew Crean, William Dickerson, Elizabeth Garcia Palencia, Elizabeth Jernick, Felecia Kayel, Kathryn Kilcommons, Olivia Lynch, Julia Mejsak, Jessica Mele, Ella Neese, Emily Newman, 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, Andrew Clausen, Gabriela Contreras, Ryan Deerkoski, Isabella DeMaio, Hanna DeSimone, James Hayes, Danielle Henry, Julia Jaklevic, Caroline Koslosky, Ethan Magnuson, Kelli McHugh, Matthew Mullen, Annamaria Napolitano, Stephen Palermo, Juliet Rand, Kaia Rothman, Bianca Secaida, Sophia Small, Reese Thompson, Benjamin Ward.

HONOR ROLL

Grade 12: Mert Altintoprak, Adam Best, William Bucci, Keaton Comiskey, Sarah Gaffga, George Gehring, Zachary Gibbs, Vivienne Glasser, Christopher Hanold Jr., Heather Jarvis, Lucas Johnson, Juliette Liegey, Alexander Lincoln, Alexa Palumbo, Dominick Panetta, Jennifer Pressler, Bayron Rivas, Aidan Toy.

Grade 11: Adam Baldwin, Joshua Clasing, Dylan Clausen, Elizabeth Cowan, Evelyn Cummings, Kylee DeFrese, Rachael Hughes, Faith Kocan, Charles Leone, Nicolas Orientale, Joseph Saporita, Jheimy Uguna.

Grade 10: Monika Abram, Charlotte Allen, Alexandra Apadula, Ashley Bishop, Hayley Brigham, Charles Campbell, Matthew Civiok, Mario Contreras, Zachary Grathwohl, Ashley Hilary, Jack Koslosky, Michael Krause, Heather MacArthur, Joseph Manfredi, Kyra Panetta, Kathryn Stahl, Hannah Sutton, Justin Tobin.

Grade 9: Jack Antonucci, Bryanna Bay, Dennis Chin-Sazo, Michael Daddona, Olivia Daddona, Robert Elliston, Justin Hanold, Anakin Mignone, Rosanna Mollica, Marissa Rackwitz, Emily Russell, Michael Wineberger.

Grade 8: Justin Eckhardt, Kate Jones, John Judge, Kenneth Latham, Simon Mraz, Edy Nazario Valdez, Julia Vicinanza, Tyler Woodhull.

Grade 7: Patrick Allen, Matthew Garms, Jack Giovanniello, Carlos Gomez, Miles Hoffman, Brook Howard, Saylor Hughes, Jenna McFarland, Alexis Merino Fernandez, Rhian O’Neil, Silvia Rackwitz, Magda Rodriguez, Fattyma Rodriguez-Lopez, Aidan Russell, Ania Smith, Samantha Tondo.

Seated around a picnic table in the garden at Southold Elementary School, six students stare at bugs they captured in clear containers earlier in the day, making notes about their observations and drawing images of the insects. 

After completing their observation, the children use what they learned to decide if the insect is a friend or foe to the garden.

The routine was part of a recent lesson at Southold’s new Garden Literacy Camp, which focused on different insects found in gardens and the roles they play in plant development. The previous week, students had learned about pollinators, which came in handy when three of the group picked bees from leaves to observe before releasing them back into the garden.

The six-week camp is a new program fifth-grade teacher Debra Kimmelman created after enrolling in a Master Gardener volunteer program through Cornell Cooperative Extension in Riverhead. Even after finishing 80 classroom hours and a final exam, Ms. Kimmelman said, she still needed 125 volunteer hours to get her certification.

“So I thought, what better way to earn those hours, plus maintain the garden during the summer months and offer kids an opportunity to ‘play’ in the garden?” she said.

Elementary students can register for the camp on a week-by-week basis, said Ms. Kimmelman, who runs the program with Patricia Buonaiuto. So far, the classes have ranged from six to 12 students.

Campers begin the day by recapping what they learned in the previous class, then build upon that with classroom reading for about an hour.

Last Thursday morning’s class focused on harmful and helpful insects, so Ms. Buonaiuto read the class a book titled “It’s a Good Thing There are Insects” and had the students make a chart showing which insects might be beneficial for a garden and which ones a gardener would hope to avoid.

“Beetles are beneficial because they help pollinate,” second-grader LeNeve Zuhoski said.

“The potato bug is harmful because it eats all the leaves,” sixth-grader Camille Ramone said. “The potato won’t grow without leaves because leaves collect sunlight.”

Following the literary portion came the students’ favorite part of the class: visiting the garden. With clipboards and plastic containers in hand, they marched into the enclosed area to look for the insects they’d just discussed.

After observing and releasing the insects, the students moved on to harvesting some plants from the garden — including mint, basil, celery, radishes and potatoes — to bring home to share with friends and family.

Most of the kids were excited about the potatoes, swapping recipes for the homemade potato chips they planned to make. One student traded his radishes for some extra mint, his favorite thing from the garden, which he’ll put in his water and tea at home.

“Many of the kids are trying new vegetables they’ve never had before,” Ms. Buonaiuto said. “They’re excited about it. When they’re with the science teacher they’ll pick snap peas right off and eat them.”

Ms. Kimmelman said the students also spend time weeding the garden, eventually placing the weeds in the composter and using the output when planting new beds.

“They learn so much about the natural world, where their food comes from and the process of getting the food to our tables,” Ms. Kimmelman said. “But they also learn to work together, to help others by providing snacks for children in Greenport via their new bookmobile and when they go home they can enjoy time with family preparing their harvest and trying different foods.”

Photo caption: Debra Kimmelman looks on as students (from left) Andrew Larsen, LeNeve Zuhoski and Camille Ramone study a dragonfly during Southold’s garden literacy camp Thursday morning. (Credit: Nicole Smith)

nsmith@timesreview.com

A water quality test recently performed at Southold schools found that nine of the district’s water fountains and sinks contained traces of lead, district officials announced Thursday afternoon.

Superintendent David Gamberg said in a letter that 78 samples were tested in the elementary school and 66 drinking water sources were tested in the high school. One source at the elementary school and eight at the high school had lead levels above the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards, according to a letter posted on the district’s website.

After getting the results, the district all water sources found to have levels of lead above EPA standards, he said, and have already replaced six of the nine outlets. He said the remaining three outlets are expected to be replaced before the start of school.

The district has also placed three water bottle filling stations in both buildings, all which tested below EPA recommended levels.

Enviroscience Consultants, Inc., an environmental consulting and testing agency hired by the district, collected samples through a three-step process, according to a letter posted on the district’s website.

The process included testing from an initial water draw, which means not allowing the water to run prior to taking the sample, then a 15-second draw and finally a 60-second draw, or flush test, which means collecting a sample after allowing water to flow through the system, the letter states.

Currently, school districts are not mandated to conduct testing of water sources for lead.

As a national discussion about water quality — specifically in relation to lead levels — grew in the aftermath of the water crisis in Flint, Mich., Southold and other local school districts began looking internally, testing their own water for the hazardous metal.

Mr. Gamberg, who is also superintendent of the Greenport school district, said a water test has been conducted and found that 19 of the districts samples contained levels above EPA recommendations. Thirteen of the fixtures are slated to be replaced before the school year and the other six will no longer be used, he said.

Over at the Mattituck-Cutchogue school district, business manager Michael Engelhardt confirmed 31 samples were tested in May — 11 at the high school and 20 at the elementary school. Those results all came back negative for levels of lead that exceed the EPA standard, he added.

Osyterponds Elementary School also recently tested their water sources, all which came back negative as well, superintendent Richard Malone said.

Four out of Riverhead school district’s 250 taps tested positive for having traces of lead above the EPA’s standards and a water quality test at the Shoreham-Wading River school district found five samples also contained lead.

Both districts are in the process of replacing those water sources and expect work to be completed prior to the start of the school year.

The EPA currently recommends that action be taken to address water sources containing more than 20 parts per billion of lead, according a letter the Greenport school district posted on its website.

The EPA states that ingesting lead can be detrimental to both children and adults, although it’s significantly more harmful to children.

“In children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells,” according to the agency’s website.

Lead exposure can also cause anemia, slowed growth and hearing, and behavior and learning problems in children. A pregnant woman with high levels of lead in her bloodstream can experience premature birth or reduced growth of the fetus, the EPA says.

Adults exposed to lead can suffer from decreased kidney function and reproductive problems.

nsmith@timesreview.com

Southold Elementary School principal Ellen O’Neill greeted students in the lobby after they arrived at around 8:30 a.m. on a rainy Tuesday morning.

There are 368 students enrolled at the K-6 school this year, Ms. O’Neill said, adding there are about 20 students in each class.

Top photo: Welcome desk teacher aide Christine Smith, center, and teacher assistant Jaclyn Jimenez help kindergarteners — Declan Michaelis and Esma Ilgin — off the bus. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

Scroll down for more photos.

Principal Ellen O’Neill greeted students in the lobby.

Janet Reninoso arrives with her son Christopher, 6.

Teacher assistants Jaclyn Jimenez, left, and Pam Farmer greet kindergartener Mason Despres.

First day of school for these kindergartners.

Third grader Matt McGunnigle said he was very excited to return to school and couldn’t wait to see his friends and learn.

Teacher assistant Pam Farmer helps kindergarten students Jayden Mays-Dobbins (center) and Demario Rosa get to their classroom.

Fourth grade teacher Skip Munisteri waits for his students outside the school.

Fourth grade teacher Skip Munisteri, now in his 22nd year, gathers his class outside so they can all go inside together. ‘I start from the first day that we are a team — we all go in together,’ he said.

Kindergartner Maritza Fuentes-Olguin waits as her teacher Karen Krukowski talks with students.

Orchestra teacher Audrey Grathwohl (left), band director Rene Suprina (center) and custodian Drew Averette move a piano to the music room.

Students gathered in the lobby before entering into their classrooms.

Robert Bohn raced to the school to greet his son Hudson, 6, and hugged him after he got off the bus. ‘I can’t believe you are a first grader,’ Mr. Bohn told his son. ‘Aren’t you excited?’

Imagine a place where students can read, play and allow their imaginations to run wild.

For Southold School District Superintendent David Gamberg, such a place exists in the form of a 12-foot-tall Mother Goose Shoe.

And now there’s a fundraising effort underway to turn his vision into reality at Southold Elementary School.

To promote the cause, which will benefit the Southold School Educational Foundation, students created a video narrated by Mr. Gamberg explaining the project.

“Understanding that play is at the heart of inquiry and imagination, we have worked to create an environment that allows students a myriad of ways to thoughtfully engage in creative activities,” Mr. Gamberg said, adding the Mother Goose Shoe will instill a love of reading and serve as a connection to classic children’s stories.

The school’s SOHO TV broadcasting class produced the video as part of the foundation’s GoFundMe campaign, which had raised nearly $1,320 of its $28,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.

• To donate, visit the foundation’s “Restoring Play to Childhood” page on gofundme.com.

The video was filmed in April when the district celebrated an extended recess, breaking into groups for various activities while high school students and a local aerial videographer captured them at play.

The district plans to add the Mother Goose Shoe to an outdoor “Magical Playscape,” which already includes an amphitheater donated by Peter Castillo, sandboxes, art easels, a life-size chessboard and a garden that not only provides fresh produce for students in the cafeteria, but also acts as an outdoor classroom for science, math and literacy lessons.

jnuzzo@timesreview.com

Photo: A conceptual drawing from architect Jake Gamberg.

Southold School District administrative staff participated in a roundtable discussion with Board of Education members and Superintendent David Gamberg at last week’s regular board meeting.

The dialogue focused on what’s happening this school year as well as goals for the future.

The following are excerpts from each administrator’s comments.

William Galati, high school principal

“I’d like to provide ongoing professional development, especially specific to English language learner students or for staff members to make those accommodations for instruction. In addition, there’s going to be some shifts in social studies. By 2019 there will be a new Global 2 regents examination followed in 2020 by a new U.S. History [exam]. In addition, we have the Next Generation learning standards in science, so there’s needed professional development with that, which will impact elementary instruction in grades 5-6 right through the high school.”

Dr. Lisa Scheffer, pupil personnel services director

“One of the things we’re focused on this year is creating more meaningful professional development and opportunities for our staff … we’re having a guest speaker come in and talk about building a community. We all know that we’ve had some changes in our demographics, so a lot of it is going to be talking about meeting the academic needs, but also the social and emotional needs. So we’re going to talk about having an ongoing theme throughout the year, and that will be one of the workshops that will be offered during our Ed camp on Nov. 8 and we’re hoping to focus one of our faculty meetings during the year on that as well … Just as Mr. Galati said, always looking to create new courses and new opportunities for students with disabilities and English language learners … The other thing I would say is I had submitted a grant to start a new bilingual program back in April. I have yet to hear, still I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I submitted a similar grant months before, during the winter of 2016, and we didn’t get the grant but we did get feedback and so I took that feedback and incorporated it into the new proposal … if we do end up getting this grant, it will create even more opportunities for some of our English language learners.”

Ellen O’Neill, elementary school principal

“We have a cardio fitness room … that came from some other teachers that had the idea, they did the research, that kinesthetic learning – our brains can only take so much of sitting down and learning before we need to get up and move around … our kids and teachers will be doing cardio in short spurts throughout the day. We started that this year. Coaches, the 5K and the athletic association all made this possible; it wasn’t through district funds. And the PTA also donated equipment as well. There are bikes, rowers, steps, a ladder, for doing different activities … the research shows that we need a break throughout the day not on assignment and it’s totally up to the teachers.”

Steven Flanagan, athletic director

“So in my first year as athletic director my goal really is to take inventory of the systems that we have and build on them to improve overall. Specifically, I’m trying to take a look at our data and decrease the liability to the district, such as reviewing a chaperoning situation and increasing AED distribution to our coaches overall. I also want to increase the engagement and capacity by allowing our student body to be photographers for our sports programs or be managers, office interns — do things to get everybody involved in our sports program. I’d also like to increase the expectations of our student athletes by giving more offseason opportunities to train … I’d also like to build on the alumni outreach. We had a great soccer game this past weekend; we’d like to bring that out to baseball, to basketball to really get the alumni involved in our whole athletic program.”

Marcus DaSilva, director of operations

“We have the [district] bond project we’re in the process of organizing. As of right now, we have the public address system, the phone system, the fire alarm and the art room renovation that are up at the state right now awaiting approval. We’re at the mercy of them, so if they approve that anytime soon we can get this thing out to bid and then we can probably start breaking ground. We’re thinking in the summer of 2017 … We just had soil boring and topography work being done in the fields and along the parking lot on the north side of the building. When those go through to the architect we’ll be sending that to our building committee and going over exact locations for our track and field … we can potentially break ground in the end of the summer.”

Ryan Case, director of educational technology

“Our [Google] Chromebook learning continues to be a huge success. We have over 800 Chromebooks in the district, grades 3 through 12, at this point. So every student in grades 3 to12 has one at their disposal. One of the focuses that we were going to be creating this year is to establish [digital] portfolios for students that they will carry through elementary and up into the junior and senior high.”

nsmith@timesreview.com

Photo: Southold’s director of operations Marcus DaSilva speaks at last Wednesday’s administrator’s round table as elementary principal Ellen O’Neill and pupil personnel services director Dr. Lisa Scheffer look on. (Credit: Nicole Smith)

Southold High School’s Class of 2020 is selling flags to honor veterans, current service members or ROTC cadets. Flags will be displayed on the school’s Memorial Meadow Field of Flags Nov. 5 through Dec. 8 and will be available for pickup by sponsors Dec. 9.

A standard American flag with a personalized ribbon is available for $25 and a limited number of U.S. military branch flags with personalized ribbons are available for $50. Information such as honoree name, service branch, dates, rank, places and other information may be included on the ribbon.

To purchase, send a check payable to Southold High School by Nov. 1 to C. Imbriano, freshman class advisor, Southold Jr./Sr. High School, P.O. Box 420, Southold, NY 11971 or drop payment off at the school office. Be sure to include information for the personalized ribbon, as well as your phone number and email address.

For more information, email Christine Imbriano, cimbriano@southoldufsd.com.

The architects behind Southold School District’s $9.8 million capital improvement project gave a timeline for when work will be completed at last Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting.

Jim Weydig of BBS Architects and Engineers said the work will be done in three phases and that the district is hoping for state approval regarding plans for the first phase soon.

Phase one includes interior finishes to the high school cafeteria, art studio and photo shop renovations, and new fire alarms, intercom and phone systems. The next phase will comprise renovations to the high school’s technology shops, library, TV studio and computer lab, and PPS office renovations.

The library will be moved from the second floor to the first and the TV studio will be relocated across from it. “We want to feel as if that center of the building fits together and we have something everyone can participate in,” said principal architect Roger Smith.

The third phase includes finalizing plans for the updated elementary school library and technology café, as well as replacing the phone system and reconstructing the parking lot and the district’s athletic fields.

BBS expects to submit plans to the state in December. If the state approves the work on time, Mr. Weydig said the majority of it will begin in May or June and be completed in late fall 2017.

nsmith@timesreview.com

The owner of a local dance studio and the parents of several of her clients attended last Wednesday’s Southold school board meeting to ask why the business isn’t allowed to use the high school auditorium for its annual dance recital.

Southold High School’s television broadcasting program SOHO TV will provide live election coverage Tuesday night.

A video posted by SOHO TV News (@sohotvnews) on Nov 8, 2016 at 8:27am PST

Superintendent David Gamberg said students will take on the roles of news anchors, field reporters, graphic artists, producers and more.

[Related story: Southold students raising funds to complete work on TV studio]

The event will also provide students with learning opportunities about civics, journalism and communications engagement, he added.

Visit sohotvnews.com to watch the live stream, which begins at 7 p.m.

SOHO TV students in 2014. (File photo: Jen Nuzzo)

Southold Elementary School kindergartners honored military veterans Thursday after adding an American flag they purchased to the flag display outside the high school.

The event was part of teacher Lynn Shaffer’s social studies lesson plan about being a good citizen. Each student donated 50 cents toward the flag’s purchase.

“Who were we honoring when we bought the flag?” she asked her students.

“The veterans,” students replied. “They kept our country safe!”

Students practiced marching and sang “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” They also learned about the different flags displayed and talked with NJROTC cadets.

“We’re very proud of everyone,” Ms. Shaffer  said.

kmassa@timesreview.com

Congratulations to the following students!

HIGH HONOR ROLL

Grade 12: Gina Anasagasti, Samuel Basel, Raeann Berry, Angela Bucci, Theresa Connolly, Ryan Costello, Julia Daddona, Jacqueline Davey, Michael DiCandia, Michael Dolan, Peter Fouchet, Kimiko Fujita, Julia Girzadas, Katherine Hunstein, Maxwell Mastrangelo, Paige Messana, Noah Mina, Leah Passanant, Bryan Patchell, 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, Charlie Bonilla, Abagail Cacovic, Douglas Fiedler, Miguel Gomez, Stephen Hocker, Angelica Klavas, Gus Klavas, Owen Klipstein, Robert Kruszeski, Jake McCarthy, Patrick McFarland, Julia Mele, Althea Mignone, Jamie Molnar, Mark Moran, Sean Okula, Quinn Osmer, Emily Perry, Meg Pickerell, Charles Poliwoda, Daisy Rymer, Edwin Ward IV, Willow Wilcenski, Shane Zimmer.

Grade 10: Harry Antonucci, Brooke Averette, Katie Baumann, William Burns, Alexandra Cardi, Rebecca Dickerson, Jacob Dominy, Kathryn Jernick, Ann Lincoln, Kai Obinata, Jared Palumbo, Lucie Showalter, Victoria Tondo.

Grade 9: Sabrina Basel, Jonathan Baumann, Ally Boyle, Eric Connolly, Patrick Connolly, Tyler DeFrese, Samantha Dunne, Van Karsten, Max Kruszeski, Marie Mullen, Jake Okula, Emiliann Palermo, Olivia Saccamano, Dante Tramontana.

Grade 8: Walter (Cole) Brigham IV, Jacquelyn Constantine, Jack Cosmadelis, Matthew Crean, William Dickerson, Elizabeth Garcia Palencia, Elizabeth Jernick, Felecia Kayel, Kathryn Kilcommons, Olivia Lynch, Julia Mejsak, Jessica Mele, Ella Neese, Emily Newman, 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, Andrew Clausen, Gabriela Contreras, Ryan Deerkoski, Isabella DeMaio, Hanna DeSimone, James Hayes, Danielle Henry, Julia Jaklevic, Caroline Koslosky, Ethan Magnuson, Kelli McHugh, Matthew Mullen, Annamaria Napolitano, Stephen Palermo, Juliet Rand, Kaia Rothman, Bianca Secaida, Sophia Small, Reese Thompson, Benjamin Ward.

HONOR ROLL

Grade 12: Mert Altintoprak, Adam Best, William Bucci, Keaton Comiskey, Sarah Gaffga, George Gehring, Zachary Gibbs, Vivienne Glasser, Christopher Hanold Jr., Heather Jarvis, Lucas Johnson, Juliette Liegey, Alexander Lincoln, Alexa Palumbo, Dominick Panetta, Jennifer Pressler, Bayron Rivas, Aidan Toy.

Grade 11: Adam Baldwin, Joshua Clasing, Dylan Clausen, Elizabeth Cowan, Evelyn Cummings, Kylee DeFrese, Rachael Hughes, Faith Kocan, Charles Leone, Nicolas Orientale, Joseph Saporita, Jheimy Uguna.

Grade 10: Monika Abram, Charlotte Allen, Alexandra Apadula, Ashley Bishop, Hayley Brigham, Charles Campbell, Matthew Civiok, Mario Contreras, Zachary Grathwohl, Ashley Hilary, Jack Koslosky, Michael Krause, Heather MacArthur, Joseph Manfredi, Kyra Panetta, Kathryn Stahl, Hannah Sutton, Justin Tobin.

Grade 9: Jack Antonucci, Bryanna Bay, Dennis Chin-Sazo, Michael Daddona, Olivia Daddona, Robert Elliston, Justin Hanold, Anakin Mignone, Rosanna Mollica, Marissa Rackwitz, Emily Russell, Michael Wineberger.

Grade 8: Justin Eckhardt, Kate Jones, John Judge, Kenneth Latham, Simon Mraz, Edy Nazario Valdez, Julia Vicinanza, Tyler Woodhull.

Grade 7: Patrick Allen, Matthew Garms, Jack Giovanniello, Carlos Gomez, Miles Hoffman, Brook Howard, Saylor Hughes, Jenna McFarland, Alexis Merino Fernandez, Rhian O’Neil, Silvia Rackwitz, Magda Rodriguez, Fattyma Rodriguez-Lopez, Aidan Russell, Ania Smith, Samantha Tondo.

Southold/Greenport girls basketball coach Skip Gehring and his wife Brenda donated a golf cart to the Greenport athletic department, according to athletic director Chris Golden.

“The cart will be an essential addition to the district and will serve to move equipment and game supplies for practices and games,” Golden said. “In addition, the cart will serve to move school personnel to different areas, as well as transport injured athletes in need a of assistance.”

Last year Gehring coached the Southold/Greenport junior varsity girls team and was the assistant coach for the Southold boys varsity team. He has also coached previously at Bishop McGann-Mercy.

Photo caption: Senior Madison Tabor, who plays on the basketball team and is a student intern for the Greenport athletic department, tries out the new purple and gold ‘Porter’ golf cart. (Credit: Greenport athletics)

The post Coach donates golf cart to Greenport athletic department appeared first on Suffolk Times.

If you were told about a weekly local news program that gets more than 1,000 online views each week, you might be surprised. But that’s exactly what’s going on at Southold High School, where the SOHO TV class has exploded in popularity since it was launched three years ago.

Each Friday, the class broadcasts a nine-minute news show on sohotvnews.com.

“What I like about the class is that it’s totally student-centered,” said Jason Wesnofske, a technology teacher who serves as a class adviser along with English teacher James Stahl.

Mr. Wesnofske, who’s been teaching for 10 years, said it’s the most creative class he’s ever been part of.

“This class is definitely the prize,” he said.

Class advisor Jason Wesnofske, left, helps students edit news packages last Thursday afternoon in their SOHO TV class at Southold High School. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

The process begins with a student-run pitch meeting to discuss stories for the upcoming program. On Tuesdays, the class films the anchors in the TV studio while other students are out working on news packages.

The show is then edited over the next two days.

Daisy Rymer, a senior, is one of this year’s producers. She said she spends any free time she has in the SOHO TV classroom working on the show.

“Without this class, I have no idea what I would be doing or where I would want to go because this is what I want to do in the future now,” she said. “Without this opportunity, I would be such a different person.”

Due to increasing demand and class size, SOHO TV will move into a larger space next year with a new studio and new computers for the students.

kmassa@timesreview.com

Southold senior Daisy Rymer during class last Thursday. As co-producer, she talks to the anchors through a headset, sets up equipment for filming and edits the news show. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

The post SOHO TV students producing popular weekly news show appeared first on Suffolk Times.

For the third year running, the Southold Union Free School District is planning to keep its 2017-18 school budget hovering around $29 million — below the property tax cap, administrators said at a presentation Wednesday night.

A draft of the spending plan totals $29,440,000, a more than $430,000 increase from the previous year and close to recent budgets. While the budget presented at Wednesday night’s board meeting was only a proposal and could change, Superintendent David Gamberg was quick to note one thing wouldn’t be altered.

“The important takeaway that will not change is that we will remain under the tax cap,” he said.

The tax levy — the total amount the district can collect from taxpayers — will rise 1.6 percent if the budget is approved, under the allowable limit, Mr. Gamberg said.

The superintendent said the district’s administrators were “judicious about strategic planning.”

“Everybody understands the nature of living in a tax cap environment,” he said. “You have to think both short-term and long-term, both tactically and strategically.”

Among the highlights to the budget is savings of nearly $100,000 for the district’s special education program. Those savings came from a discontinued program that didn’t see enough enrollment called Southold Academy, as well as reducing costs by avoiding sending special education students out of the district, Mr. Gamberg said.

Services would not be affected by the budget reduction, he said.

Some of those savings will be used toward a new bilingual program to help migrant students with little educational backgrounds. That program will be partially funded by a four-year, $50,000 state grant.

The district’s health insurance contributions will rise by just under 7 percent next school year, a less severe rise than the 7.5 percent one seen this year, according to the budget presentation. However, the school’s contributions to teacher retirement funds will fall more dramatically from 11.72 percent to 9.8 percent.

The so-called Gap Elimination Adjustment, which was created in the 2010-11 school year to close the state’s budget deficit, will run out this year, but other state aid is expected to rise “modestly” by $10,000, said assistant superintendent Charles Scheid.

Budgets show increasing spending at both the elementary and secondary schools. According to the presentations, the elementary budget increases will be spent on equipment to get the school’s media room and tech lab up and running. At the secondary level, budget increases will cover new wood shop equipment and arts equipment, among other items.

Three new sports programs would be introduced in 2017-18 if the proposed budget passes: boys and girls spring track and field teams and a boys soccer team at the junior high school, based on the high demand.

A final budget go before the voters on May 16.

psquire@timesreview.com

The post Southold School District outlines $29.4 million spending plan appeared first on Suffolk Times.

The auditorium at Southold High School was filled with energy Friday afternoon, with students wielding muskets and belting out songs like “One Day More.”

A well-known tune from “Les Misérables,” the seventh- to 12th-graders were preparing for their upcoming rendition of the famous musical, considered to be one of the most difficult productions to perform — especially for young actors.

Since “Les Misérables” is almost entirely sung rather than acted, performers must have the vocal stamina to withstand continuous singing, as well as the ability to act and tell their character’s story through song, co-director Jessica Ellwood said.

“We’ve wanted to do [“Les Misérables”] for years now because we’ve always loved the show,” co-director Casey Rooney added, referencing discussions with Ms. Ellwood and musical director Kelli Baumann. “It seemed like this was the right time. There’s a lot of talent this year.”

An increased focus on musical performances forced the directors to prepare differently this year. They spent the first two or three weeks of rehearsals — more time than in past years — concentrating solely on the music, Ms. Baumann said.

The student actors, some of whom are new to the scene and others who are seasoned performers, all recognize that “Les Misérables” is more difficult than many productions and are using it as inspiration to work harder.

“It’s more challenging music,” said senior Grace Bruer, 17, who is playing Combeferre. “The show takes place over a long period of time, over 20 years. There’s a lot of set changes, too. This is the first time the set moves in two different directions. I think it’s the biggest one built. It’s really cool.”

Another challenge is how mentally taxing the characters’ stories are.

“The show is emotionally demanding,” said sophomore Marissa Rackwitz, 15, who has been cast as Cosette. “You have to know the music, but you also have to become the person and know the emotion that goes with our character. They all go through so much.”

Another motivator for performers is the musical’s fame. Students agreed that because “Les Misérables” is so well-known and beloved, they have been encouraged to work harder so that they get the music just right.

“When I’m on the way out the door I’ll see [the cast] is practicing a scene I want to see and I’ll stay because the play is so good,” said senior Sean Okula, 17, who is playing Thenardier.

Overall, the cast is excited to be a part of a production they find so rewarding.

“I have a deep personal connection to the show itself,” said senior Daisy Rymer, 18, who is playing Fantine. “I think this is one of the best ones we’ve been a part of … I’m excited to be a part of it because it’s our best and my last.”

Performances of “Les Misérables” will be held Thursday-Saturday, March 23-25, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 26, at 2 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens and can be purchased at Southold Free Library beginning Monday, March 13, or at the door.

nsmith@timesreview.com

Photo: Southold students in grades 7-12 will perform ‘Les Misérables’ later this month. Since the show is emotionally demanding and almost entirely sung, it’s considered one of the more difficult musicals to perform. (Credit: Nicole Smith)

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(Credit: Jeremy Garretson)

The Southold Junior-Senior High School Drama Club will present the school edition of “Les Misérables” Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 23, 24 and 25, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 26, at 2 p.m. in the school district auditorium on Oaklawn Avenue.

The classic musical, performed entirely by students, is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It is directed by Jessica Ellwood and Casey Rooney, with musical direction by Kelli Baumann, choreography by Anita Boyer and pit orchestra direction by Karl Himmelmann.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 students and seniors; they are available for sale at Southold Free Library or at the door. Call Southold Jr.-Sr. High School at 765-5081 for more information.

Scroll down for more photos by Jeremy Garretson:

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The Southold Board of Education adopted a $29.44 million budget for the 2017-18 school year at Wednesday’s meeting.

Although the total budget remained the same as initially introduced last month, the amount the district is looking to increase the tax cap has since decreased, said Chuck Scheid, assistant superintendent for business.

The levy will now increase only 1.52 percent — originally slated to increase by 1.6 percent, which is the district’s tax cap limit — thanks to more state aid than initially expected, Mr. Scheid said.

“This is good news,” he said. “With late budget approval from the state since our last meeting, there’s an additional $20,000 of state aid that came in to us and because it’s so late we basically reduced the tax levy directly. So we’re actually $20,000 below the cap because of the late approval.”

In March, Mr. Scheid said the district was expecting state aid to rise “modestly” by $10,000.

Overall, the total budget is up 1.49 percent over the 2016-17 budget, which translates to more than a $430,000 increase.

As reported in March, the district is saving nearly $100,000 in the special education program by discontinuing the Southold Academy program, which didn’t see enough enrollment, and avoiding sending special education students out of the district, Superintendent David Gamberg said at the time.

Southold’s health insurance contributions will rise by just under 7 percent, less than they did during the 2016-17 year, and their contributions to teacher retirement funds will fall from 11.72 percent to 9.8 percent.

The proposed budget also sees the addition of three new sports teams — boys and girls spring track and field teams and a boys soccer team at the junior high school — as well as increased spending on programs at both the elementary and secondary schools, Mr. Gamberg said last month.

The board voted to adopt the budget 3-0. Members John Crean and Scott Latham weren’t in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting.

“I want to echo the superintendent and thank Mr. Scheid and the administration, especially when some of the administration is so new,” board president Paulette Ofrias said. “Especially with the construction project [a $9.8 million bond approved by voters in December 2015], I know that there was a lot more work than was indicated, so the gratitude of the board is extended.”

Photo caption: Southold Superintendent David Gamberg. (Credit: Nicole Smith)

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When the Southold Interact Club attended a Rotary Youth Leadership Awards conference last year and the students learned that there are thousands of homeless veterans statewide, many of whom are on Long Island and in need of basic necessities, they decided to help.

Lonnie Sherman, president and founder of General Need — a nonprofit organization that assists veterans — spoke at the conference. Mr. Sherman inspired the students to give back to his organization and they discussed ways they could help.

On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Sherman, along with his wife Susan, a co-founder of the organization, came to Southold High School to pick up four bins of donated packages of socks, shirts and underwear as well as a $500 check from the Southold Fire Department.

“This was a small thing that we could do and it went really well,” said Virginia Gilmore, one of the advisors of the Interact Club.

Bins of socks, shirts and underwear collected by the school. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

The club decided to place bins around the school for students to donate items. Students reached out to the pharmacy, which put a bin out and then fellow Southold teacher Theresa Rich brought the idea back to the fire department where she volunteers as the department’s secretary.

Ms. Rich said the department offered to donate money.

“I thought that was a very generous gift and for a very good cause,” said Ms. Rich, who noted that many members of the Southold Fire Department are veterans themselves.

The president of the Interact Club, senior Althea Mignone, said she was impressed with how much they were able to give.

“I think we do really well for a small town,” she said. “I thought it was really important because it’s something you don’t think about, there are so many people who don’t have basic necessities.”

Mr. Sherman said he is happy to see the kids at Southold understand the importance of the cause. His organization has a reach all across Long Island and even into New Jersey.

Started in 2008, the organization collects shirts, underwear and socks that are donated to different shelters. Mr. Sherman said they also do different seasonal donations, like last year when they collected 750 pairs of new boots for veterans and collections for coats, hats and scarves during the winter.

“There are major causes and major needs all over the country but why not start in our own backyard helping our own men and women that have done a lot for us,” Mr. Sherman said.

He added that he finds himself in Riverhead more often now helping to create “bed kits” for veterans who recently received housing through the HUD-VASH program, a supportive housing program for veterans.

Bed kits include things like fresh blankets, pillows, sheets, pots and pans or any other basic necessity for an apartment.

While Mr. Sherman has been expanding as far out as Riverhead for a while, he is happy to expand even farther east and to have the help of high school students.

“They understand the fact that we need to support these men and women who have done a lot for us,” he said.

Top photo caption: Members of the Southold Interact Club, the Southold Fire Department, the Rotary and the founders of General Needs. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

kmassa@timesreview.com

Theresa Rich from the Southold Fire Department donating a $500 check to the nonprofit General Needs. (Credit: Krysten Massa)

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Southold High School held its annual commencement ceremony Saturday afternoon as the Class of 2017 received its diplomas.

Meg Pickerell, who will attend Temple University, was salutatorian and Robert Kruszeski, who will attend Georgia Tech, was valedictorian.

See more photos below by Jeremy Garretson:

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