Community Corner

Four Plainview JFK Students Named Intel Winners

Educators heap praise on local students for their innovative projects.

Educators at Plainview JFK High School heaped praise on four young men from Plainview on Thursday who have been named Intel Student Talent Search semifinalists.

"The entire district is delighted with these outstanding results," cheered Gerard W. Dempsey, Jr., district superintendent. "We congratulate the students, the teachers and their mentors."

"This is a true testament to all of their hard work paying off," said JFK Principal James Murray.

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The four winners, all seniors, submitted detailed research projects in a nation-wide competition. The mind-boggling titles of their work speak to the level of their complexity:

The winners are:

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Adam Getzler: The Effect of Boron Deficiency on Gene Expression and Boron Compartmentalization in Beta Vulgaris Subspecies Sugarbeet. Getzler conducted his research this summer as part of the HSHSP-High School Honors Science Math and Engineering Program at Michigan State University.

Jonathan Abraham Goldman: - A Novel Framework for Quasi-Dynamic Task Scheduling on Parallel Computers. Jonathan Goldman worked under the mentorship of Dr. Yuefan Deng at SUNY Stony Brook.

Jonathan Aaron Goldman: Impact of Culture on Intrinsic Directionality of Internal and External Search Processes.

Alex Kusher: Teachers' Perceptions of Standardized Testing.

Kusher and Jonathan Aaron Goldman both worked under the direction of Mr. Ray Tesar, AP Psychology Teacher at Plainview JFK. The Goldman boys are not related.

The semifinalists receive $1,000 for their research and JFK receives a $1,000 award for each semifinalist to "further excellence in science, math, and engineering education," according to the Intel website. 

The four Plainview students were among 300 students from 172 schools across the nation named semifinalists on Wednesday. They were selected from a pool of 1,744 students. Their work was part of an independent research project done with the assistance of both the science and social studies departments.

"The entire Plainview-Old Bethpage community helped to create this amazing achievement for these young men, said Research Teacher Coordinator MaryLou O'Donnell. "Each student's research was exceptional in his own unique way. The unifying factor is that each of them had a work ethic that exceeded expection."

Ray Tesar, AP Psychology teacher said, "After working with Jon and Alex over the last year and a half I am very proud of all of their hard work and dedication. These young men conducted all of their research in our school lab and it was impressive to see the level of findings."

Joyce Thornton Barry, Chairperson of Science, Research and Technology K-12 for POB said, "It has been wonderful to see these young men grow over the years. They have each invested so much time and energy into their projects. While each semifinalist has a very different project they are all connected by their desire to learn and explore the unknown, that is what our program is all about."

Of the semifinalists, 40 will be named finalists on Jan. 26, receiving an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. from March 10-15. Each finalist receives at least $7,500 and competes for additional awards. The top award is $100,000.


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