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Lots of 'Firsts' for Sayville Science Students

High school and middle school students take top awards at Long Island Science and Engineering Fair.

Sayville science research students have been reaping amazing results in competitions thanks to the RESEARCH IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING course that has been sowing seeds of interest for several years. Since this curriculum offering was launched in 2007, self-motivated students, with high-academic standings, have been developing protocols and project designs that are based on nationally recognized science and engineering standards.

Under the guidance of Science Research teacher Maria Brown, these high school students have been working independently or cooperatively in small collaborative groups with notable scientists and high-achieving students from other districts while engaging in research—sometimes this research continues through the summer months and even for several years. Their final projects, which include formal presentations, are usually enhanced with multimedia and various technologies. While the goal of their course work is learning about how to solve problems through science research, the students are also encouraged to enter their research project designs in competitions to share what they have learned.

At the recent Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF), Sayville students achieved new firsts in competitions for Sayville High School's RISE Program.

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  • Aneria Kinariwalla and her partner Evan Chernack (from South Side High School) took First Place—a first for Sayville—in the cellular biology division at LISEF. As a result of this achievement, the partners are headed to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May;
  • Also presenting at the LISEF, Curran Boyce took Second Place in Animal Sciences—another first for Sayville.

Another Series of FIRSTS!

  • As first-time competitors, three newly-formed teams and one individual, totaling ten Sayville Middle School Seventh-grade students from Tracy Toth’s Enrichment classes, participated in the Broadcom Masters Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (middle school division). [During the Fall, Mrs. Brown had visited Mrs. Toth’s class to offer the enrichment students a chance to awaken their scientific curiosity by participating in a scientific project. Some of these students presented their research.]
  • All teams and our individual competitor won awards: TWO of these teams took First Place and qualify to submit their research to the National Broadcom Masters Competition; another team took Third Place, and the individual competitor also took Honorable Mention.

Congratulations to the following Middle School student teams:

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  • First Place awards:
    • Hanna Decker, Katie Gennosa, Moira Mahoney: The Effects of Different Movie Genres on Brain Waves.
    • Amelia Flaumenhaft, Amanda Wessels, Kate Donohue: How Activities Affect Stress.
  • Third Place Award:
    • Carleigh O'Donoghue, Christina O'Leary, Gabriele Thornton: The Effects of Different Types of Food on Heart Rate.
  • Individual Honorable Mention:
    • Philip Rinaldi: The Effects of Body Positions on Heart Rate.

“I am SOOO proud of them!” said Enrichment Teacher Mrs. Toth, who along with Mrs. Brown, sees a bright future for these budding young scientists. Mrs. Brown also commented on how impressed she was with the Middle School students’ “focus, perseverance, and good humor...all the qualities necessary to become an exceptional scientist!”

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