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East Islip students honored for robotics and music; LEGO Girls advance to Long Island championship
Summary
The board recognized three middle-school students who won at the FIRST LEGO League Long Island qualifiers and will compete March 9; the district also honored 65 students selected for county and regional music ensembles, including 21 All‑County picks.
The East Islip Union Free School District Board of Education recognized students Tuesday for accomplishments in robotics and music. Three middle-school students — Jane Elliott, Sonali Kamath and Antonio Reza — were introduced as the LEGO Girls robotics team, honored for winning first place in robotics performance and first place for their innovation project at the FIRST LEGO League Long Island qualifiers; the team was invited to the Long Island Championships on March 9 at Hicksville High School.
"We are The Lego Girls," the students said when introduced to the board. Mr. Montemarano, the middle school principal, told the board the LEGO Girls competed at the Long Island qualifiers against more than 100 teams and earned top placement in both performance and their innovation project.
The LEGO Girls presented a short skit and described a project to reduce ocean plastic. In the skit they cited expert input and said microplastics can travel up the food chain; their proposed product is a small accessory made by repurposing polyester scraps with sea glass accents to clip on school ID cards, which they called a way to "save the ocean 1 bow at a time."
District officials also recognized student musicians. Dr. Wargo (presenting) said that, across Suffolk County, more than 14,000 students are assessed at county music festivals, with about 2,500 nominated for honors ensembles. East Islip had 54 students recognized across divisions 1–3 and 21 students named to All County/All Eastern honors, a total of 65 students. Certificates were distributed to those who RSVP'd, and the district said additional certificates are available for students who did not RSVP.
Board members and administrators congratulated both groups and invited the public to attend the LEGO Girls' March 9 competition. The board did not take formal action on the presentations; they were ceremonial recognitions included in the meeting agenda.
The presentations occurred during the superintendent's report portion of the meeting and during the meeting's special-presentations segment.
