Teams from Great Neck South, Syosset and Ward Melville high schools have won first place in the 2026 Long Island Regional Science Olympiads.
This year, approximately 150 local high school teams competed in the Nassau East, Nassau West and Eastern Long Island regional tournaments during January and February. The three first-place teams, along with 16 other top-performing teams, qualified for the New York State Science Olympiad in Syracuse on March 20-21.
Statewide, nearly 700 high school teams competed in 14 regional tournaments for a chance to reach the state finals. Each team consisted of up to 15 students who demonstrated their lab, learning and building skills in 23 categories that included “Astronomy,” ‘Electric Vehicle” and “Rocks and Minerals.”
“Earning first place was not a stroke of luck, but the result of effort, teamwork and a shared commitment to excellence,” said coach Todd Kettler of Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, whose team placed first in 11 of 23 categories.
Syosset Principal Giovanni Durante said, “We are truly proud of our students’ achievements and their ability to cultivate their passions both inside and outside of the classroom.”
Other local high school teams qualifying for the state tournament were Bayport-Blue Point, John F. Kennedy in Bellmore; Chaminade in Mineola; Half Hollow Hills East in Dix Hills; Hicksville; Isli;, Jericho; Kellenberg in Uniondale; Division Avenue in Levittown; General Douglas MacArthur in Levittown; Manhasset, Earl L. Vandermeulen in Port Jefferson; Paul D. Schreiber in Port Washington; Smithtown West; Stony Brook School; and West Babylon.
Pirate for a Purpose
Wellington C. Mepham High School has launched its Pirate for a Purpose initiative to help teens “identify real needs in their school or community and take meaningful student-driven action,” according to the school. The effort takes its name from the school’s athletic teams, called the Pirates.
The initiative, part of Mepham’s senior school and community leadership class, has inspired pupils to pursue projects such as working to obtain a speed-limit sign near the school’s main entrance on Stewart Avenue. That project was spearheaded by seniors Brayden Seligman and Jake Wilson.
“Jake and Brayden’s work is a powerful example of Pirate for a Purpose in action,” Mepham’s community leadership teacher Jacqueline Geller said in a statement. “Students are not just learning about leadership, but practicing it and making a lasting, positive impact on their community.”
Technology internship
Elwood Union Free School District has launched a student internship program that offers a “behind-the-scenes look at the technology that supports teaching and learning across the district,” according to district officials.
The program helps students gain hands-on experience in hardware diagnostics and repair with a focus on maintaining the district’s Chromebooks. The opportunity is offered to a single student this year, but is expected to include additional students next school year.
“Our intern will develop high-demand technical skills and a strong problem-solving mindset that prepares him for immediate success in the modern workforce,” said Christopher Onorato, the district’s director of instructional and information technology, in a statement.
Holocaust center
The Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District recently unveiled its newly renovated Holocaust & Genocide Education Center in the library at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School.
The renovated center includes numerous artifacts donated by community members as well as “testimonial banners” featuring firsthand accounts from survivors that are on loan from the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.
“The opening of the Holocaust & Genocide Education Center reflects a shared community commitment to remembrance, education and the responsibility to cultivate civil-minded learners,” Plainview-Old Bethpage Superintendent Mary O’Meara said in a statement.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR’s platform safety issues.