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Valley Stream 24 students take four top places at New York State 'Olympics of the Visual Arts'
Summary
At an awards night that opened the board meeting, Valley Stream 24 students earned four statewide placements in the Olympics of the Visual Arts, including a first-place drawing team that received the Hindman Creativity Award; the evening also featured presidential academic awards and local Elks Lodge essay prizes.
The VALLEY STREAM 24 UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT opened its board meeting with an awards night celebrating student achievement, including four placements at the New York State "Olympics of the Visual Arts" (OVA). Superintendent Dr. Caracas announced the district's drawing team won first place and received the Hindman Creativity Award, the architecture team placed second, and the painting and sculpture teams placed third.
Dr. Caracas said, "Our drawing team earned first place," and thanked teachers and volunteers for supporting real-world learning experiences. Amanda Plutner of the district art department described the competition and student projects, noting students competed against 75 teams from across the state and combined art with research and design. "Students present not only their final artwork, but also portfolios that showcase their research, planning, and creative process," Plutner said.
The evening also included multiple academic recognitions. The district presented Presidential Awards for Academic Excellence to sixth-grade students from its schools; South High School's salutatorian Alexa Kosinski and valedictorian Vijay Singh were recognized by the board. Brian Stetler, president of New York Elks Lodge No. 1, presented local Americanism and drug-awareness essay awards and praised the essays as "thoughtful, sincere, and inspiring."
Superintendent Dr. Caracas and presenters described winning projects including a painting inspired by Letchworth State Park, a quilted storytelling project, and a ‘‘Pollinator Conservation Conservatory''model emphasizing pollinator protection. The district also reported that installations for an air-conditioning upgrade are complete at some schools and that electrical work and asbestos abatement are in progress at others, with the superintendent saying the project is expected to finish in the coming weeks.
The board noted several upcoming community events, including concerts, a poetry contest and the district budget vote scheduled for May 19. The awards portion concluded and refreshments were offered in the hallway following the meeting.
