Big Achievements for Plainview Students

The Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District has issued a series of public congratulations to Plainview students for their recent achievements.

A team of five students from s Math Olympiads Club recently participated in the Museum of Mathematics Third Annual Math Olympiad Tournament.

Talia Blum, Benna Jacobs, Berlin Jacobs, Aaron Meyers, and Elizabeth Varghese  competed individually and as a team against more than 150 Nassau County students.  Eighth-grade student Aaron Meyers won third place in the individual competition. The team won the fifth-place award in the team competition, receiving several medals and a trophy for their efforts.

The Mattlin Math Olympiads Club is open to all students in grades five through eight. Teachers Sherri Winick and Louise Cataldo dedicate their time as the club’s faculty advisors.

Meanwhile, twostudents achieved top honors at SUNY Old Westbury’s annual Italian Poetry Contest. Junior Michelle Olakkengil won the Level 1 competition with her recitation of “Silenzio,” by Giuseppe Ungaretti. Senior Matthew Marlin took home the second-place trophy for his rendition of “Carnevale,” by Gianni Rodari.

About 400 junior and senior high school students from Nassau and Suffolk counties participated in this year’s competition, including five students from Plainview. Students competed by reciting classic poems in Italian and were judged according to their pronunciation, intonation, poise and interpretation.

The annual contest is sponsored by the Long Island Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Italian. Plainview Italian teachers Nicolette Pupillo and Kathryn Falbo and Spanish teacher Lance Steinberg participated in the event.

And, at , students presented their “Biography Wax Museum” projects. Each member of Mr. Paskal’s fourth-grade class delivered a special presentation about a notable individual whose accomplishments had inspired them in a significant way.

The projects culminated with a live “Wax Museum,” where each student came to class dressed as the person he or she had researched. Dressed in character, each student spoke about the contributions their individual made to society and answered questions from classmates.

Some of the famous figures portrayed were Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, Babe Ruth, Anne Frank, Harry Houdini, Michele Obama, Mia Hamm, David Beckham, Marco Polo, Bobby Orr, Lea Michele, Eli Manning and Gloria Estefan.