Hicksville HS Authors Pen Success
Congratulations to Hicksville High School students Lillian Aljada, Rawan Mohamed and Isabella Weber who are recipients of Quill Awards, sponsored by Adelphi University as part of its annual Press Day event held on Feb. 6. Isabella won first place in the Best Illustration/Cartoon category while Lillian and Rawan took third-place honors in the Best Art Review and Best Opinion Piece categories, respectively.
Isabella’s comic strip focused on the arrival of fall and the immediate holiday hoopla that takes over once the leaves begin to turn. Lillian’s work centered on her review of the indie movie “Eighth Grade,” and Rawan wrote about previous conditions at the girls’ locker room at the high school (prior to renovations that took place this past summer). All three are members of the Hicksville High School journalism club and write for the school paper, The Comet News, advised by teacher Corey Cohn.
The Quill Awards featured 15 categories overall, including Best Illustration, Best Photography and Most Outstanding Newspaper, in addition to the categories Isabella, Rowan and Lillian entered. The competition included over 400 students and featured submissions from almost 20 schools across Long Island.
Adelphi’s Press Day also provided students with the opportunity to learn from seasoned newspaper and magazine editors, online and newspaper reporters, and freelance writers about the world of media. The event included breakout sessions and a panel featuring Keshia Clukey, education reporter for Newsday, among other professionals, educators and students in the journalism field.
Photo caption: (L-R) Hicksville High School’s Quill Award winners Lillian Aljada, Isabella Weber and Rawan Mohamed are congratulated by journalism club adviser Corey Cohn.
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Hicksville High School wins Medical Marvels Competition
On March 8, 2019, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Northwell Health's Center for Workforce Readiness named Hicksville High School the winner of its seventh annual Medical Marvels Competition. The Medical Marvels Program was developed to encourage Long Island high school students in 9th and 10th grades to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). This year's competition posed a hypothetical challenge: You are the principal of a high school in New York State and your school district’s superintendent is extremely worried about vaping at the high school. The superintendent comes to your office and tasks you with developing and implementing a solution to end this crisis. That was the question posed to Dr. Piscitelli’s Introduction to Social Science Research students. The students: Roxy Dias, Sarah Chavez, Maeryam Nasari, Bisma Omer, Kaitlyn Verdugo examined this real-world scenario, vaping among teens, and came up with solution to help improve young lives. Thirty-eight teams submitted proposal to Medical Marvels. All proposals underwent an evaluation and judging process conducted by a panel of scientists, clinicians and healthcare administrators using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant scoring criteria. Each school's team additionally had the opportunity to present their completed proposal at the Medical Marvels Competition on March 8, 2019. Among the thirty-eight school districts who competed, Hicksville HS team was awarded First Place. Congratulations to Dr. Piscitelli and her Medical Marvels First Place team winners: Roxy Dias, Sarah Chavez, Maeryam Nasari, Bisma Omer, Kaitlyn Verdugo. The team received First Place award of $1800.
