National Merit Scholars
Herricks High School seniors
started the school year off shining
brightly, as they earned a total
of 24 distinctions in the 62nd
annual National Merit Scholarship
Program. Seven of these
outstanding students were named
National Merit Semifinalists,
while 17 achieved National Merit
Commended Student status.
Congratulations to semifinalists
Alan Chen, Nora Koe, Jake Lei,
Nihar Shah, Natalie Tan, Nita
Wong and Kelly Yu for being
among the top 1 percent of United
States high school seniors and
the highest-scoring entrants from
each state. Approximately 16,000
semifinalists were selected from
an estimated 1.6 million who
entered the academic competition
upon taking the Preliminary
SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test as juniors.
Nibras Ahmed, Gianna
Chan, Crystal (Ya-Han) Chang,
Elizabeth Ederer, Priya Kumar,
Barath Mahesh, Setu Mehta,
Ashwin Palaniappan, Naeha
Pathak, Manvi Shah, Jasper Sim,
Crystal Thomas, Daniel Thomas,
Jaywon Woo, Adam Xie, Andrew
Yeung and Justin Zeng achieved
the Commended Student
distinction, which is also based
on PSAT scores. They placed
among the top 5 percent of all
who took the test.
All of these students
contribute greatly in and
outside of school and display
talent, leadership, dedication and
persistence through a broad array
of leadership roles, musical and
artistic participation, club and
organization involvement, athletic
involvement and community
service, in addition to their
academic success.
Herricks public Schools
fall 2016
Herricks Dateline
Brilliant Minds Shine!
Mindfulness Matters:
Skills that Support Motivation, Achievement and Happiness
In continuing the districtwide emphasis
on social-emotional learning, Herricks
students and staff members have been
practicing mindfulness techniques as part
of their day-to-day school experiences.
Meditation, breathing exercises and other
calming strategies are implemented at
different age levels to help everyone go
through their days with less stress and
improved self-management. Last year, an SEL committee comprised
of staff members from each building
identified mindfulness as an area of focus.
Steven Pinto, a professional expert on the
subject, presented at Superintendent’s
Conference Day as a start to the school
year.
Middle school staff members are
trained through a program called Educate
2B, which offers a curriculum guide that
develops skills in self-regulation, focus and
resilience. Teachers have already begun
to implement some strategies in their
classrooms. For example, sixth-graders
in Jennifer Suk’s class enter a serene
atmosphere complete with the soothing
sounds of a fountain and soft music, the
smell of lavender and a sand garden. The
students begin each day with five minutes
of meditation, during which they clear their
minds and prepare to focus on learning.
Other classes conduct meditation activities
in the afternoon, and many students have
taken it upon themselves to do so at home.
At the high school, mindfulness is
becoming popular as well. Even the football
team practices such techniques in the form
of yoga. Coaches have recognized that
athletes who are often under a great deal of
physical pressure can benefit from attention
to breathing, thoughts and emotions.
Members of the football team improve
awareness, attention and concentration
through mindful yoga sessions following
games and scrimmages.
The three elementary schools also
encourage mindfulness, from breathing
and movement strategies to yoga. All
students follow a Mission Be curriculum,
which highlights different themes every
few weeks. Students learn to feel relaxed,
peaceful, present, focused, confident,
self-accepting and responsive through
various types of movements and breathing
methods. Many teachers tie the missions
into other subject areas and skills through
reading and class discussions.
“Overall, practicing mindfulness has
helped our students become more aware
of their feelings,” said Searingtown School
teacher Melissa Blady. “They are learning
how to shut out the negative energy and
focus on one thing at a time.”
“Research shows that mindfulness helps
to improve performance academically,
socially and emotionally,” said Gina
Horton, Herricks Middle School
chairperson of guidance. “Students are
finding a difference in their abilities to
focus and learn. Teachers are also benefiting
from it.”
For anyone interested in exploring
mindfulness, Ms. Horton recommends
Mark Williams’ book, “Mindfulness: An
Eight-Week Plan to Finding Peace in a
Frantic World.”
“Research shows that
mindfulness helps to
improve performance
academically, socially and
emotionally.”
Bringing the
into the
Classroom
The high school has introduced
a Virtual Enterprise course for
juniors and seniors that will
equip them with business skills.
Participants have the prospect
of earning college credits, and
even more valuable, a head start
in experiencing all facets of
entrepreneurship.
As a starting point, class
members developed resumes
and prepared for interviews with
guidance from teacher Liam
O’Brien. They then brainstormed
potential products to develop
and ultimately narrowed down
their options to two: a line of hair
care products and a virtual reality
simulator app that features business
scenarios.
The students identified their
target markets and assessed each
concept’s ability to work for both
the business and consumer ends.
They presented pitches to their
classmates, and the final consensus
determined the simulator app as the
product to pursue.
Senior Robert Levine, who serves
as the VE company’s chief financial
officer, was drawn to the program as
an experience that will help him in
the future. “I wanted to experience
something as close to the real-world
environment as possible,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer Blake
Cohen, also a senior, shared positive
feedback. “It’s really unique and
basically gives us the techniques,
guidance and mentorship to run
our own businesses,” he said.
“It’s very interesting to see how
everything works.”
Emily Haller, a junior, described
the steps that led to her selection as
chief operating officer. “I prepared
and made sure my resume touched
upon leadership and things
that showed I’m cut out for this
position.”
The executive board members
are learning what it takes to work
as a team, how to professionally
handle disagreements and how to
clarify ideas to make them more
concise, among other aspects of
running a business.
Moving forward, every student
will be part of a department and
will name the company, design a
logo with the help of the advertising
class, develop a prototype and
reach out to actual companies to
learn about what goes into the
manufacturing of such products.
Eventually, the company will
compete against those from other
schools.
• High school senior Kelly Yu has been
accepted to the All-National Honor
Ensembles, sponsored by the National
Association for Music Education. A
violinist, she will perform with the
All-National Symphony Orchestra in
Grapevine, Texas.
Fall Points of Pride
Business World
• High school senior Adam Cordero is
one of only 20 students selected by the
Long Island Arts Alliance as a recipient
of its Scholar-Artist Awards Program. An
accomplished saxophonist, bassoonist
and clarinetist, he received his award for
music.
• High school senior Samantha Aloysius
was the only student from Long Island
and one of just two in all of New York
State who was selected to the prestigious
Girls Nation program, run by the
American Legion Auxiliary and held in
Washington, D.C. this past summer.
• High school students Samantha
Aloysius, Esme Chen, James Chun, Adam
Cordero, Elyssa Corona, Stacey Kim,
Halla Park and Samuel Tesch earned
highly sought-after spots in New York
State School Music Association All-State
ensembles based on their NYSSMA solo
auditions.
• High school juniors Austin Tian and
Irene Tu participated as delegates in the
National Academy for Future Scientists
and Technologists’ Congress of Future
Science and Technology Leaders and the
National Academy of Future Physicians
and Medical Scientists’ Congress of
Future Medical Leaders, respectively.
• High school senior Naeha Pathak was
granted first authorship in an abstract
titled “Inhibition of GSK3β Modulates
Cell Death in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer,”
which was featured in the May issue of
European Scientific Journal.
• High school sophomore Julia Feldman
was selected to the New York State School
Music Association Piano Showcase based
on the perfect score she obtained on her
NYSSMA solo audition.
HERRICKS UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT
999B Herricks Road
New Hyde Park NY 11040
Board of Education:
Nancy Feinstein, President
Christine Turner, Vice President
Trustees:
Juleigh Chin
Jim Gounaris
Brian Hassan
Pre-Sort Standard
Non-Profit
Organization
PAID
Flushing, NY
Permit No. 1491
Dr. Fino M. Celano
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Christine Finn
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction
Lisa Rutkoske, CPA
Assistant Superintendent for Business
Visit www.herricks.org for more information and to view a video about the project!
Homecoming Weekend
Honors America
Herricks homecoming weekend featured an “Honoring America” theme and an
assortment of traditional celebrations. High school students showed their spirit during a
pep rally, held on the afternoon of Sept. 16, in anticipation of the evening football game
against the Sanford H. Calhoun Colts. A community barbecue offered students, staff
members, alumni, residents and other guests an opportunity to gather on the field and
support their home team prior to kickoff.
The football players gave their all and demonstrated great determination,
sportsmanship and athletic skill. The team also raised more than $1,800 for
the Stop Soldier Suicide organization through T-shirt sales in an effort
to give back to the community. Entertainment was provided by the
band and cheerleaders, and Samantha Aloysius and Ashwin Palaniappan
were crowned homecoming queen and king. The events continued the
next day, as students enjoyed a homecoming dance on Sept. 17.