High school sophomore Jimmy Jiang was honored as Student of the Month for December. Jiang was recently accepted into SUNY College at Old Westbury’s Institute of Mathematics Education, Research and Technology program, which will culminate in a research presentation at the Long Island Math Fair.

“Jimmy Jiang is the student that all teachers hope they get,” said honors chemistry teacher Michelle Del Giorno. “He is dedicated to doing his best. He has maintained a 100 average in my class for the first and second quarter and is always looking to do more. Besides being brilliant academically, he is the nicest, most respectful and well-rounded student I have ever had.”

High school senior Robert Punger visited the district’s John F. Kennedy Intermediate School in September 2019, asking Principal Kelly Benson if he could donate an Eagle Scout project for the school. 

“He wanted to do something different and something that could be used for our students with special needs,” Benson said. “In our discussion, we talked about creating a sensory hallway in JFK.  A few weeks later, he came back to me with an idea. After doing some research, he discovered that some children have a particular sensory system that needs extra input, and it can be helpful to put materials together to provide specific stimulus to that sensory system.”

Punger decided to create a sensory box for JFK, but when COVID-19 hit last year, the school had to put its sensory hallway on hold. Punger, however, was undeterred in his goal, and recently delivered the sensory box for JFK’s life skills class to test out.

“Robert overcame many obstacles that COVID threw at him and created this wonderful piece for our JFK students,” Benson said. “It brought joy to their faces, and I am sure it will continue to be a resource for all of our students at JFK.”

After seeing so many of their friends’ parents lose their jobs due to the pandemic, two high school sophomores – Class of 2023 President Tiffany Bala and Class of 2023 Vice President Kayley Eising – decided to organize a toy drive for the children in the Deer Park community.

First, the pair researched how to host a toy drive, and chose to use YouGiveGoods.com, which allows people to donate by buying from a list of available online toy options. The students could then receive the toys and distribute them. They decided that this was the safest way to host a toy drive during the pandemic, so that less people would have to interact one-on-one.

YouGiveGoods.com required a sponsoring charity, so Bala and Eising contacted the Anthony DeNoyior Memorial Foundation, which was founded by his family in 2020 after his death due to COVID-19. DeNoyior was a long-time Deer Park resident and 20-year volunteer auxiliary police officer with the Suffolk County Police Department. 

“Mr. DeNoyior was all about family and giving, and was passionate about helping the less fortunate, those in need of financial support and the homeless,” said teacher Jill Perry-Eising. “The Foundation thought that Kayley and Tiffany’s toy drive to help the community was the perfect way to honor the memory of Mr. DeNoyior, because the Foundation’s mission is to help those in need.”

Bala and Eising then reached out to Deer Park High School social worker Chenoa Mattila for help in distributing the toys to needy families in Deer Park. While preparing the drive, they set a goal to collect 100 toys. After posting their drive on various social media platforms, they quickly exceeded their goal on the drive’s first day. They then increased their goal to 150 toys and far exceeded this new goal by ultimately collecting 264 toys, allowing them to distribute toys to both Deer Park families and Toys for Tots. 

After so much success, the two high schoolers have made it a yearly goal to partner with the Anthony DeNoyior Foundation to help Deer Park children in need.

High school seniors Madison Mattera and Matthew Myrick were recently named winners of this year’s Suffolk Zone Awards.

The Suffolk Zone Chapter of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance annually gives awards to one male and one female student in each Suffolk high school, selected for excellent achievement in physical education, outstanding character and leadership in schoolwide activities.

Mattera is a member of the school’s cross-county, winter track and lacrosse teams. Myrick plays on the basketball and football teams. Both students enjoy Deer Park’s annual volleyball tournament. 

“Madison is an absolute pleasure to have in class and is one of the most positive, mature and responsible students I have ever had,” said physical education teacher Amy Rocchetta.  “She is very well liked and respected by her peers, and takes on leadership roles both in class and on her teams. Madison is an intelligent young lady who is truly worthy of this award.”

“Matt is an excellent physical education student with so many qualities that all teachers can appreciate,” said physical education teacher Brian Tower.  “He is hardworking, knowledgeable, motivated, thoughtful, trustworthy and a true leader. I know that he has a bright future ahead of him.”  

Competing against over 800 students from 22 other schools, 56 Deer Park High School students virtually participated in DECA’s recent Suffolk County Regional Competition. Guided by DECA adviser Gregory Menig, 31 Deer Park students earned trophies at the event and another seven earned honorable mention. These students will have the opportunity to compete in the state competition in February, which serves as a qualifier for the national competition at the end of April. 

Earning a first-place trophy was Jasleen Kaur in the Accounting Applications category. Winning second place were Saima Hoque for Business Finance and Isabella Coon and Logan Eisenberg for Financial Services Team; while third place trophies went to Sameem Ahmadzai for Accounting Applications, Michael Crescenzo for Principles of Hospitality and Tourism, Andrew Dolinsky for Principles of Finance and Nicholas Stamatakis for Business Finance.

Also earning trophies at DECA were Rumeysa Camlica for Principles of Marketing, Timothy Celona for Marketing Communications, Sadat Chawdhury for Entrepreneurship, Kayley Eising for Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Nora Elmoussaoui for Food Marketing, Sonam Kataria for Apparel and Accessories Marketing, Kylie Kuhn for Principles of Finance, Madison Mattera for Restaurant and Food Service Management, Bushra Mussarat for Restaurant and Food Service Management, Ryder Min for Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Fatima Nawaz for Personal Financial Literacy, Umar Qasir for Personal Financial Literacy, Yalda Said for Restaurant and Food Service Management, Yama Said for Food Marketing, Anesa Shahid for Retail Merchandising, Esteysy Yanes-Amaya for Personal Financial Literacy, John Zuluaga-Romero for Entrepreneurship, Shadat Alam and Shujana Aurin for Hospitality Services Team, Mohammed Atta and Sultan Saquib for Entrepreneurship Team, and James Hope and Chaim Shames for Marketing Management Team.

Deer Park students awarded with honorable mention were Salman Ali for Principles of Marketing, Jade Griffin for Principles of Marketing, Huda Nawaz for Hotel and Lodging Management, Katia Papailler for Principles of Hospitality and Tourism, Emilio Reynoso for Retail Merchandising, and Isaac Hossain and Anfy Tomy for Buying and Merchandising Team.