High school theater students displayed their comedic talents and acting depth in their recent performance of the 1982 Michael Frayn play “Noises Off,” directed by Kristen Wallace with set direction from Alex Mesimeris. The hilarious production concerns a group of actors preparing for their touring performance of a farce comedy called “Nothing On!”

Most of the student actors played two roles: – the actor and the character the actor is playing in the play-within-a-play. The cast featured Jennifer Wern as Ms. Dotty Otley and Mrs. Clackett, Oliver Curry as Lloyd Dallas and Director of ‘Nothing On!’, Louis Bianco as Mr. Garry Lejeune and Roger Tramplemain, Madi Steddick as Ms. Brooke Ashton and Vicki, Makenzie Caldone as Poppy and Assistant Stage Manager, Evan Hytner as Mr. Frederick Fellowes and Philip Brent, Allie Costanza as Ms. Belinda Blair and Flavia Brent, Ciara Boltz and Isabella Serrano as Tammy Allgood and Stage Manager, and Alex Kellarakos as Mr. Selsdon Mowbray and Burglar. Francesca Bala, Karen Cochran and Samantha Petrizzo served as student directors.

“Because it is an extremely difficult undertaking for all who are involved, ‘Noises Off’ is rarely performed on a high school stage,” said Wallace. “I am extremely impressed with our students. The show pushed all of our artists to stretch their creative boundaries. In this ‘play within-a-play, about a play,’ the actors needed to study, develop and create two characters, two personalities, and for some, two accents or voices. In addition, they needed to incorporate a great deal of physical comedy. As always, it was an extremely humbling experience to work with such amazingly talented actors, artists, directors and crew members who work tirelessly for our performing arts department.”

The high school celebrated a new tradition on Feb. 4 with the school’s first National Math and Science Honor Societies induction ceremony, held in the school’s auditorium. To qualify for acceptance into either honor society, students needed to have an overall grade point average of 85 or higher, and a content-specific GPA in either math or science of 90 or higher.

A total of 29 exceptional juniors and seniors were the first to be welcomed to the National Math Honor Society, which was formed in 1957: Aliseena Aiwazali, Nova Alim, Huda Ameen, Audrey Barke, Ayden Caldea, Haley Celona, Saiansh Chaddha, Angela D’Antonio, Sabrina Felipe, Dana Laissle, Lindsey Lam, Julianna Lasorsa, Regan Mays, Zubaer Mohiudden, Joshua Murphy, Joseph Ogden, Amanda Poggioli, Michael Quinones, Omar Rahim, Alyssa Robb, Matthew Rosati, Nimra Salim, Khabiba Shahid, Tasfia Shaikh, Jessica Siford, Madison Steddick, Alisha Suhail, Gavin Thomas and Purnava Zakaria.

Joining the National Science Honor Society, formed in 2000, were 33 juniors and seniors: Aiwazali, Alim, Dana Ali, Ameen, Barke, Deirdre Burke, Caldea, Betul Camlica, Chaddha, Azim Chowdhury, Jillian Cornelia, D’Antonio, Felipe, Ahmed Iqbal, Lam, Lasorsa, Mays, Mohiudden, Murphy, Ogden, Poggioli, Quinones, Rahim, Joshua Rivera, Rosati, Salim, Shahid, Shaikh, Siford, Steddick, Suhail, Thomas and Zakaria.

Following a performance of the national anthem by the school’s women’s choir, speakers at the event included Curriculum Associate for Science and Technology Alison Branca, Curriculum Associate for Mathematics and Business Christine Gill, Principal Charles Cobb, and advisers Sara DiCandia and Dylan Duprez.   

“There aren’t many times in your life when you’ll do something that you are the first at,” Cobb told the students. “Tonight is definitely one of those nights, being that you are the inaugural class for the Math and Science Honor Societies. This is an accomplishment that you can take with you as you go beyond Deer Park High School into a college program or career field.”

“All of these students have challenged themselves with the most rigorous schedules and upheld the greatest honor inside and outside of the classroom,” said Gill. “We are thrilled to officially be adding Deer Park students to these prestigious honor societies.”

“On behalf of myself and Mrs. Gill, let us be the first of many to congratulate you on this accomplishment,” said Branca. “We also would like to extend our congratulations to the parents and families of these remarkable young people. Your unconditional love, guidance, support and encouragement throughout the years is a big reason why your sons and daughters are here tonight.”

High school sophomore Jahi Tucker recently was ranked first in the nation in boxing in the 138-pound weight class after winning the 2018 USA National Boxing Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tucker, who trains at the Brentwood Recreation Center, has been boxing since age 7. A member of the Junior National Team, he will attend camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in March and will compete overseas for Team USA.

“We are very excited for him and wish him the best,” said his global history teacher, Laurie Osbern.

On Jan. 25, high school basketball player Malik Edmead hit a three-pointer from the top of the key in an 87-48 victory over West Islip to score his 1,000th career point. At the next ball, the voice of the Falcons, Alex Mesimeris, announced the milestone, leading to a standing ovation from the crowd for Edmead and his teammates.

Edmead, an 11th-grader, is a three-year varsity player, won league championships in 2017 and 2018, and advanced to the county finals in 2018. He was an All-League, All-Conference, All-County, All-Long Island Second Team and All-State Sixth Team selection in his sophomore year. He already has two full Division 1 scholarship offers in only his junior year.

On that same night as Edmead’s accomplishment, the boys basketball team – in conjunction with a raffle run by the school’s cheerleaders – held its 14th annual Ryan Bryan Night, raising more than $600 to benefit the scholarships of beloved alumni Ryan Horodnicki and Bryan Manigault.

High school seniors and AP art students Samantha Coccaro and James Valencia were recently selected for LIU Post’s prestigious exhibit “Advanced Visions 15: High School Artists of Excellence.” Their artwork was displayed in early January at the Student Art League gallery in the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library at Post, culminating in a Jan. 9 awards ceremony and reception.

“Overall, the gallery was a great experience,” said Coccaro. “It was nice to walk around and see all of this amazing artwork and to be surrounded by such amazing artists. I had the pleasure of speaking with a few people about the work and received helpful suggestions for some things I should try.”

“I loved going to the LIU art show because I got to see all the different art,” said Valencia. “Some of the pieces really inspired me to try new things with my art in the future. I was also glad that a few professors critiqued my art piece and helped me figure out what I can improve on.”

“This was a wonderful opportunity for these young artists to display their work beyond a school setting,” said Derek Mainhart, their AP art teacher. “I'm so proud of Samantha and James, both for their artistic accomplishments and their initiative in getting their wonderful artwork before an audience.”