Hello High School East Community, It’s Fourth Quarter! Our students have been working hard all year to excel in their classes; however, I must emphasize the year is not over yet. With roughly two months and Regents or final exams in some courses, there is still the opportunity to make a significant impact on final

grades. Students, keep striving for excellence! It has been a great year so far at HS East. This issue highlights some of the meaningful accom-plishments of our students in various areas. I am extremely proud of all of them. As you read through the pages, you will see that our students are truly benefiting from their experiences

here at East with our remarkable faculty and staff! The Junior class gives us an indication of academic excellence with nearly 192 of them being inducted into the National Honor Society. The class of 2012 also shines here at East and their efforts have been recognized by many of the world’s finest colleges and universities. Remember, whether or not one is accepted to his or her top choice, there is a school out there for every-

one. Hopefully everyone will find the perfect fit. While most are continuing the “Tradition of Excellence” at High School East, it is imperative that we remind students and parents of our expectations. Soon the weather will change and along with it some students’ attitudes and effort. I encourage students to stay focused academi-cally and end the year on a good note all around. I urge all of our students to stay involved in

positive activities both in and outside of school. Remember: Respect, Responsibility and Excellence! Sincerely, Dr. J. A. Woodberry Principal

A Special Message from Dr. Woodberry

HALF HOLLOW

HILLS

HIGH SCHOOL EAST

PRINCIPAL’S

NEWSLETTER

April 3, 2012 Volume 1V, Issue 1II

Perspectives

The Insider’s View

Page 2

2012 Valedictorian and

Salutatorian

Page 4

The Symphonic Band at

Carnegie Hall

Page 5

The first annual charity

basketball tournament

Page 7

What is going on in the

Planetarium?

Page 8

Spotlight on two scholar

athletes

Special Thanks to

Contributors:

Maria Alfano

Christina Asare

Jason Braun

Patrick Breig

And Photographers:

Felice Crystal

Life Touch Studio

Allyson Uttendorfer

The Top Twenty Students of 2012

HS East proudly congratulates our top twenty scholars of 2012. Their enthusiasm, leadership and commitment to excellence contributes to the positive culture we so proudly embrace. For

a close up look at our top twenty go to the Awards and Honors tab on the HSE website.

Page 2 Perspectives

Spotlight on Excellence

The Insider View of our Valedictorian and Salutatorian HS East is very proud to introduce this year’s Valedictorian Adam Needelman. Adam truly represents our ideals here at East with his display of strong character and leadership. In addition to his busy schedule of chal-lenging courses, he is the president of Mathletes, has recently made top four and is an international qualifier in

DECA. Adam has been accepted to Dart-mouth College, Brown University, Duke University, the University of Virginia and the University of Michi-gan, and will make his choice soon. He wants to study Math and Business and hopes to apply his talents and scholarship to a career in sports as either a statistician or manager. A true sports fan, he enjoys playing Ten-nis and was on the Hills team in grades eight through ten. He was also on a crew team with L.I. Rowing and hopes to pursue crew in college. Adam says HS East afforded him “the

perfect balance of school work, sports

and friends.” You may have seen our Salutatorian Aaron Schwartz perform in concerts, plays and Coffee House Night, or per-haps you saw him exercising his mental agility on MSG Varsity’s quiz show The Challenge. An accomplished musician and cap-tain of the Quiz Bowl Team, Aaron’s enthusiasm around HS East is contagious. He feels that HS East has given him the opportunities to pursue all his interests. “Anything anyone can do is offered here, and there are so many different people with different interests,” he

said. Aaron may consider pursuing his musical interests as a minor in college, but his main focus will be to pursue a career in mechanical engi-neering. He also is undecided at this point, but he will choose between the University of Delaware, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Cornell

University and Princeton University.

In addition to their numerous ac-complishments, Adam and Aaron were both named as Finalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Pro-gram. They have maximized their full

potential here at East and are ready to take on the next challenge of higher education. We wish them much suc-cess and look forward to hearing

about their future endeavors.

Exceptional Literary Talent

The English department was very excited to announce four 2012 Scho-lastic Art and Writing Award winners.

Two of the top winners were HS East students Jake Ethe and Kristen Shanley, featured here with Language

Arts Coordinator Love Foy.

The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers identifies teenagers with exceptional artistic and literary talent and brings their remarkable work to a national audience through these awards. Submis-sions are juried by luminaries in the visual and literary arts and panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Jake Ethe won a Gold Key, the highest level of

achievement for his work of fiction “Three Points.” As a result, he will be considered for national-level recogni-tion. He also received a Silver Key for his poem “Pain and Other Tales.” Kristen Shanley was honored with a Silver Key for her poem “The Reaper’s Tainted Roses” and an Hon-orable Mention for her short story “A

Hummingbird’s Touch.” Only 7-10% of all regional submis-sions are recognized with Gold Key Awards and 10-15% with Silver Key Awards. Congratulations Jake and

Kristen!

Volume 1V, Issue 1II Page 3

State and National Competitors

Students of Speech and Debate

Reach New Heights Congratulations and Good Luck to the Hills East Speech and Debate

Team! The High School East Speech and Debate Team is one of the school’s most active clubs. With the help of their coach, English teacher Melinda McCormack, and her assistant, Hills East graduate Jennifer Signet, these students work late hours after school on a daily basis to prepare for compe-titions in a variety of categories. Whether it is the Long Island Foren-sic Association, the Catholic Forensic League, or even the National Forensic League, Hills East speech and debat-ers perform at the highest level. A total of eighteen students have quali-fied to advance to state and national

tournaments. To qualify to compete in the New York State Forensic League Champi-onship, students must finish in the top five in at least two regular season Long Island Forensic Association tournaments. The following Hills East qualifiers will compete at the State Championship tournament at Shaker High School in Albany (pictured be-

low left):

Varsity Extemporaneous Miranda Lupion Jake Ethé Shreyas Havaldar Puja Bansal JV Extemporaneous Shantanu Havaldar Rachel Stern Zachary Goldstein Original Oratory Zakiya Williams Wells JV Public Forum Debate Eric Gesuale Cole Mantell Novice Public Forum Debate Neilofar Rahimzada Melanie Spiegel JV Lincoln-Douglas Debate Rachel Maiman Abhinav Patil Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate Akash Wasil Kevin Bennet Student Congress Matthew Sokol Gabrielle Persichilli In addition to the NYSFL, Hills East

Students compete in the Catholic Forensic League. Once again, Hills East’s team did exceedingly well in the recent qualifying tourna-ments. Because of their successes, the following stu-dents earned the chance to compete in the CFL Na-tional Championship Tour-nament (pictured above

right):

Public Forum Eric Gesuale Neilofar Rahimzada Paired Dramatic Interpretations Brian Dorfman Jacob Lefkowitz Extemporaneous Speech Shreyas Havaldar Jake Ethé Dramatic Performance Brian Dorfman Lincoln-Douglas Debate Abhinav Patil Zachary Goldstein Hills East can even boast a national qualifier to the prestigious National Forensic League tournament. Sopho-more Jake Ethé qualified in Extempo-

raneous Speech. Regardless of the league or event in which they compete, these national and state qualifiers are sure to be a competitive force at the upcoming tournaments. With the hard work and dedication they have demon-strated all year long, they are likely to

meet continued success in the future. - article by Patrick Breig

Academics and the Arts

Page 4 Perspectives

Ready for The Challenge On March 7th, members of the Aca-demic Team returned to NEP Studios in Manhattan to compete in round two of MSG Varsity’s televised quiz show The Challenge. The team con-sisted of seniors Aaron Schwartz, Isaac Vingan, and Harshil Mattoo, and juniors Abhinav Patil and Puja Bansal. Although the team was defeated by a strong North Baby-lon team, that did not stop them from having a great time. They competed at a high level, met new people, and experienced the ex-citement of filming a television

show. This group has been gearing up for this year’s Challenge for some time. Since they were freshman, they have been active in the Aca-demic Team, an extracurricular club focused on interscholastic trivia com-petitions. The club practices weekly, participates in monthly Regional Quiz bowl tournaments, and competes in various weekend invitational tourna-ments. The chance to one day repre-sent their school on The Challenge is

one of the main draws of the club. Three of the five members of this year’s team got that chance twice. On last year’s show, they advanced to the second round but suffered a heart-breaking defeat to West Islip. Luck-ily, they were randomly chosen in a lottery last June to return again for another shot at the prize. Their

thrilling first round victory in Octo-ber 2011 over Eastport-South Manor had their confidence soaring and they approached this year’s round two match with high hopes of advancing

even further. After going neck and neck with North Babylon in the first multiple

choice round, the team was looking primed for a victory. However, the team hit a stumbling block when they were assigned a 60-second lightning round category asking them to match actors to movie roles. They lost ground and were not able to over-

come the deficit. The loss, however, did not dampen

the experience for the massive red-clad group of cheering Hills East students, parents, and grand-parents in the studio audience. They supported their team with choruses of applause and spirited posters. Even the T-Bird was there to demonstrate some Hills East pride. The studio staff played games with the audience, handed out t-shirts and back packs, and kept the students

laughing and smiling throughout.

Overall, it was a great day. The Challenge aired on MSG Varsity (Channel 14 on Cablevision) March

26th at 5:30 p.m. - article by Patrick Breig

Carnegie Hall Concert The HS East Symphonic Band, under the direction of Robert Belanich, filled the world renowned stage at Carne-

gie Hall with their commanding pres-ence and brilliant performance on the evening of February 29, 2012. The students’ inspired renditions of Gia-como Puccini’s Scossa Elettrica

(Marcetta Brillante), Clilfton Wil-liams’ Symphonic Dances No. 3 ( F i e s t a ) , a n d D i m i t r i Shostakovich’s Finale, from Sym-phony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

earned them a standing ovation! Our symphonic band is com-prised of 128 students dedi-cated to the study and perform-ance of world class repertoire.

In the past 21 years the Symphonic Band has performed all over the East Coast and Canada. During this time the group has also received five Silver Awards, eleven Gold Awards and three Gold Awards with Distinction from the New York State School Mu-sic Association. We are particularly proud of this year’s group and look forward to their performance at the Spring Concert here at Hills East in

May. For more photos of the event at Carnegie Hall, see the HS East Media Gallery on the

website.

Page 5 Volume 1V, Issue 1II

Hoops for a Cause

Hoops for Heart

The Physical Education Department hosted their annual Hoops for Heart Fundraiser. Student’s participated in a 3pt shooting contest, small sided basketball games and

jump rope activities to raise money for a good cause. The American Heart Association raises money to sup-port those in need who are affected by cardiovascular disease. The PE department is very proud of the stu-

dents at High School East.

Hoops for Charity On February 28th, The First Annual Hills East Charity Basketball Tourna-ment was held in the Albert Kindel-mann Gymnasium. Hills East stu-dents formed teams to battle it out

for supremacy in four-on-four half court play. The event also featured a team three-point shooting contest. Seniors Andrew Weintraub and Lyle Siegall organized the event alongside junior James Kuo. Each team con-tributed $25 dollars to play, and the proceeds were split between three charities: Team Reeve of the Chris-topher and Dana Reeve Foundation for Spinal Chord Research, Little Flower, and The Wyandanch Out-reach Center. The event raised a total of $300 and was a huge suc-

cess. “We all love basketball… and wanted it to be different from just going to the park and playing pick up games. We wanted organized,

‘league-type games’ with refs and fouls,” says Weintraub, who first conceived the idea at lunch last year. After he and Siegall successfully or-ganized a tournament at a local park this summer, the two teamed up with Kuo and decided to give it a try

at school. Once they received approval, they met with Assistant Principal Mike Bongino once or twice a month for help with organiza-tion and they enlisted teacher volunteers to assist as referees, tim-ers, and chaperones. They made flyers, put up posters, and used Facebook and Twitter to help generate pub-

licity for the event. Over several months the trio worked tirelessly and according to Weintraub, “it was a tough and stressful process at times.” In the end, however, their efforts paid off. They learned some valuable event planning skills, became good friends, and were able to help people in

need. The winning team con-sisted of Mi-

chael Chemtob, Jordan Gross, Erick Zakarin, Jake Freeman and Robby Reiser. The winner of the Three Point Shootout was a team made up of Andrew Weintraub, Nicholas Castillo, and Nicholas Di Costanzo. Prizes for the victors included free meals and gift certificates courtesy of Chipotle, California Pizza Kitchen,

and Panera. Siegall and Weintraub are off to col-lege next year but Kuo plans on continuing the tradition with a Sec-ond Annual Tournament next year. After this year’s efforts, it is sure to continue to be successful in the fu-ture. The boys “would like to thank Mr. Bongino, the entire administra-tive staff, and all the teachers who helped the tournament run

smoothly.” - article by Patrick Breig

Page 6 Perspectives

Celebration of Culture

Multicultural and Multi-

Generational Every February Sunquam Elemen-tary School hosts its Multicultural Unity Day. A collaboration between the school administration and PTA parents, the goal of this event is to introduce the students of every grade level to a multitude of coun-tries abroad and all that encom-

passes each of their cultures. Each year, High School East World Language teachers are also invited to participate with their students to represent their country of study.

This year, Rebecca Rosenberg, Milena Restrepo and Maria Alfano brought some of their students to highlight the cultures of Italy, Mexico and France. Mrs. Rosenberg and her students taught the children some Italian phrases, such as Come stai? They also chose an Italian name and were able to write it on a nametag with the expres-sion “Io mi chiamo”, mean-ing “my name is”. In addi-tion, the children were given pictures of famous Italian paintings to take home and color. Ms. Restrepo and her stu-

dents donned sombreros and Mexican sports shirts. They also gave maracas as prizes and taught simple Spanish words such as hola, adios and bienvenidos. Ms. Alfano and her students wore the colors of the French flag and berets. They tested the children on basic French trivia such as

the capital of France and the Eiffel Tower. The children were taught a song in French and tasted French

baguette. They also learned vocabu-lary related to fruits and vegetables and left with a sticker containing a

French phrase. This was an enriching experience for our students. They truly enjoyed working with the elementary school children and generated a mutual ex-citement between them and the chil-

dren from Sunquam. - article by Maria Alfano

African-American Culture Display

In celebration of Black History Month, the African American Student Organization deco-rated the display case near the main office for

all of February. The students chose a fashion theme using clothing made from Kente Cloth, a type of cloth common in West Africa. There were also books and props to reinforce the theme of African American culture. AASO is very proud of this year’s display case design and hopes that everyone else appreciated the

cultural aspect of the display as well. - Thank you to Christina Asare for her contribution to this article

Page 7 Volume 1V, Issue 1II

Adventures in Science with an Episode of French

Science Rules!

Throughout the year, the teachers and students of the science depart-ment have had major accomplish-ments and are also preparing for upcoming events that will further define our nation’s science and math initiative. First, in an effort to give back to the community, many science teachers in the dis-trict, including our own Mrs. Bar-low, have volunteered to go to Ot-sego Elementary School to conduct brief lessons to the various grade levels. These teachers will be doing experiments and conducting mini-lessons to get elementary teachers and students excited about science and looking forward to their future

here at Half Hollow Hills. Second, the HSE Science Olym-piad team, under the direction of Mr. Page and Mr. Cochrane, placed second overall in the Long Island

Regional competition, and this past weekend, placed fifth in NY State breaking a school record with a total of nine medals and three gold medals. In addition, Mr. Grunbeck brought a team of five students to the LI Physics Olympics at Farming-dale State College to compete in this prestigious competition. They earned a second place trophy in the “Sensing the Fundamentals” event. Additionally, The Robotics team competed in the Regional Competi-tion at Hofstra University last week. They finished 33rd out of 53 teams in only their second year competing. Mr. Mirchel and Mr. Aptowitz (HSW) have led the de-velopment of a 100+lb robot that is capable of shooting basketballs into

a basket. Lastly, Mr. Clare and Mr. Affati-gato from the Planetarium have redesigned the Discovery Center and created many new opportuni-

ties for our students. Their goals of keeping students engaged in mul-tifaceted learning environments, emphasizing interdisciplinary learn-ing and conducting up-to-date re-search have proven to be a success-ful recipe. East students now have the ability to study Exobiology (Biology), Spectroscopy & Nucleo-synthetics (Chemistry), Ancient Ideas of the Cosmos (Global Stud-ies), Symbolism of the Stars in Clas-sic Literature (English), The Physics of Planetary Motion (Physics), Cos-mology (Physics), Mythology (English), Renaissance Perspective and Science (Art), Following the Drinking Gourd (American History)

and Ellipses and Paralax (Math). Once again, congratulations to all teachers and students involved in many of these great accomplish-

ments. - article by Jason Braun

Le Petit Prince Among the Stars Ms. Alfano’s French IV Honors classes had the fortu-nate opportunity to experience an adventure in the planetarium hosted by Mr. Affatigato discussing the book Le Petit Prince and many of its philosophical, metaphorical and astronomical interpretations. The beauty of this timeless classic was brought to life in a

truly unique, interdisciplinary way. Students traveled through space to witness how as-teroids have multiplied over the past thirty years and were even given a tour of the night’s sky. Mr. Affati-gato is a master storyteller and he shared his knowl-edge of mythology in relation to the stars. He flaw-lessly encapsulated the essential elements of the book that French writer Antoine de St. Exupery had intended for his audi-

ence to interpret. Undoubtedly, the stu-dents of these classes will always remember this ex-

perience. - article by Maria Alfano

High School East 50 Vanderbilt Parkway Dix Hills, NY 11746

Produced by: Darlene Lilla

Assistant Principal Phone: 631-592-3128 Fax: 631-592-3121

E-mail: dlilla@hhh.k12.ny.us

HALF HOLLOW HILLS

HIGH SCHOOL EAST

PRINCIPAL’S

NEWSLETTER

High School East

Visit Our Website: www.halfhollowhills.k12.ny.us

Scholarship and Sportsmanship

Energy Unlimited Jessika Kagan is a ray of sunshine in the halls of HS East with her enthusiasm and infectious smile. That energy can also be seen on the soc-cer field and on the track, as well as in the myriad sport-ing events throughout the year. Jessika signed this year with LaSalle for soccer, but she is also an avid runner and is thinking about running in college as well. She broke the school record in the 200 meter and went to states in ninth grade for winter track. In addition to her busy sports schedule in school, Jessika keeps up with soccer with the Alberton Fury, a league competition team that

practices three to four times per week with games on Sat-urday. She was ranked num-ber one in her age group in that

league. Jessika will never forget the positive experiences she had here at Hills East. She said her senior class is very connected and they have enjoyed participating together in many extra-curricular events. When asked about the greatest in-fluences in her high school years, Jessika said, “the teachers here are so caring. They want you to succeed.” She credits her guidance

counselor Ms. Grant and biology teacher Dr. Stabile as always being there for her.

Most of all, she thanks her dad, who supported her throughout the process of applying to college. “He was hard on me,” she says, “but now I appreciate it.” Jessika plans to study criminal or adolescent psychology or

perhaps nursing in college.

Inspired Excellence Jake Freeman strives for excellence in sports and aca-demics. He will continue his education at Harvard in the fall where he has signed to play soccer. He plans to study business and pursue a career in Sports Marketing.

Most recently, he was seen on the basketball court as a player on the Varsity Basket-ball Team, and he is an active member of D.E.C.A. and Na-tional Honor Society; how-ever, soccer is his passion. Among his many soccer ac-complishments, Jake was All-League in ‘09, All-County in

‘10, and All-State and All-Region in ‘11. Jake was a member of the All-Long Island Team in ‘11. He seemed to have a hand in every goal for Hills East with 19 goals and 17 assists. He helped his team win its first league title since ‘96. Furthermore, Jake received the prestig-

ious honor of receiving the High School Scholar Athlete of the Year award from the National Jewish Sports Hall

of Fame. Jake thanks his ninth and tenth grade Global History teacher Ms. Rubin for helping him to adapt to high school and Assistant Principal Mr. Trigosso, who was his Span-ish teacher and a great friend. Jake says his inspira-tion for excellence comes from his coaches Mr. Car-cone and Mr. Ciolfi. Above all, his dad is credited with pushing him to do the best he could. Jake said, “He al-ways told me to think about who I am playing for: family,

team, coaches, school.”