More than 500 Miller Place School District kindergarten through second grade students at Andrew Muller Primary School recently came together for a lively interactive puppet show hosted by Theatreworks’ Jim West. Acting as Greek storyteller Aesop, West and his dog Moral acted out Aesop’s Fables with large-scale colorful puppets. Some of the Fables West performed include ‘The Lion and the Mouse,’ ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ and ‘The Fox and the Grapes.’ Students also listened to classical music from Scarlatti, Beethoven and Chopin during the show to engage their auditory learning.

 

During the performance students were challenged to think of the message in each story. This program was part of a Miller Place School District initiative to engage students’ critical thinking through innovative programs.

 

In recognition of its outstanding commitment to music education, the Miller Place School District was recently honored by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation with the NAMM 2017 Best Communities for Music Education award. Only four percent of school districts nationwide received the prestigious award in 2017. The honor comes as a result of the outstanding efforts of Miller Place teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders to ensure access to music learning for all students as part of the school curriculum.

 

“As part of our dedication to educating the whole child, the Miller Place School District provides every student with a robust fine arts curriculum, including music, art and drama,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marianne Cartisano. “We are honored to receive this designation from the NAMM foundation. It is a well-deserved tribute to the dedication, diligence, passion and excellence of our students, our music department and our community.”

 

In addition to providing daily music education on the elementary, middle and high school level, the District’s music department provides frequent opportunities for students to perform as well as innovative lessons that go beyond the classroom. Students perform in concerts, plays and recitals for classmates throughout the year.

 

The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the distinction, the Miller Place School District answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

 

“Music education is vital to our students’ growth into well-rounded individuals, scholars and good citizens,” said Miller Place High School Instrumental Band Director Patricia Isenberg. “A strong musical background supports students’ creative problem solving abilities and teamwork while providing the skills necessary to excel both inside and outside the classroom.”

 

The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 9,000 members around the world. The NAMM Foundation works to advance active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs.

 

 

Miller Place High School student Amanda Stead recently competed in the New York State Championship Track and Field Meet held at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. Amanda placed 4th in the 300 meter dash among all public schools and placed 5th in the federation division, which includes all public, private and parochial schools in New York State. The Miller Place School District provides a robust athletics curriculum for student-athletes, and a comprehensive education on the importance of maintaining a healthy mind and body.

Miller Place School District students at North Country Road Middle School recently competed at the Team Packard Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Challenge at Northport High School as part of a Miller Place School District program to help students develop a love of STEM subjects. The students participated in 4 different STEM challenge activities. The activities included: ‘Unlock the Box,’ which challenged the team’s problem solving skills as well as their understanding of math concepts; ‘Say Geronimo!,’ an engineering task where students designed, constructed and tested a parachute using only the materials provided; ‘Float your Boat,’ which required team members to demonstrate their mastery of the relationship between an object’s mass and volume (density); and ‘Lights, Mirrors Action!,’ which challenged the team’s ability to direct a laser beam through a series of mind challenging logic puzzles.

 

During the event students raised money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Through their efforts and participation the students helped the event raise more than 21,000 dollars for The Robert Packard Center at Johns Hopkins, a non-profit organization that raises money and awareness for ALS.

Hundreds of students from Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School in the Miller Place School District recently celebrated the school’s annual Give Back Day, during which they hosted local heroes and thanked them for their service.

 

More than 50 local police officers, firefighters, veterans and soldiers were in attendance and spoke with students about their careers and heroic experiences. Students in each class presented the visitors with signed posters, hand-drawn Thank You cards, letters, drawings and crafts to show their appreciation. They also performed musical pieces to serenade the visitors.

 

The event was organized by students in the school’s Service Club under the direction of Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School teacher Ms. McCann, and is one of many Miller Place School District initiatives to help students connect with the community in positive, constructive ways.

 

 

 

Students from Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School in the Miller Place School District recently donated dozens of stuffed animals and toys to sick children and seniors at St. Charles Hospital. Students throughout the school participated in a month-long toy drive in order to collect as many toys as they could, involving family, friends and the community in their efforts. The purpose of the toy drive was to help students become involved in service and the community. Through their efforts, participating students were able to bring a smile to patients’ faces and provide patients with some comfort while they are in the hospital.

 

 

Miller Place School District students at North Country Road Middle School and Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School were recently recognized for their excellence during a recent Suffolk ZONE Physical Education awards ceremony. Four students, one male and one female from the fifth and eighth grades, were selected by physical education teachers to receive the award based on their exemplary effort, attitude, conduct and compassion within the curriculum of physical education. The Suffolk Zone Chapter of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance distributes this award once per year.

 

 

 

Students in Miller Place High School’s Advanced Placement Biology classes recently observed a live-streamed hand surgery performed by the Pan Am Clinic in Winnipeg, Canada. Students have been studying anatomy and advanced biological concepts throughout the year, and have experience dissecting small animals, however this is the first time they’d ever seen a surgery on a living human and been able to ask questions in real time. Students were able to submit questions to the surgeon and operating staff digitally while a Pan Am staff member answered questions about the right thumb trapeziectomy procedure and gave students an up-close and personal view of the surgery.

 

This event is one of many Miller Place School District events to engage students in the curriculum in unique, innovative ways, helping students develop a lifelong love of learning and science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

 

Approximately 100 fifth grade students in the Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School and their families recently came together during the first Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math exploration night. This event was part of a District initiative to expose students to a wide variety of scientific concepts and help them develop a love of learning.

 

Prior to the event, Mr. Bassan, a LADSBS parent and Brookhaven National Lab engineer, enhanced the evening by showing students how to build circuits to power LEDs and LED toys. Following the presentation, students explored building the circuits themselves. Students also visited two classrooms of their choosing, exploring science and engineering-themed stations to learn the mathematical framework behind physics and civil engineering concepts. In addition to learning the theory, students were able to put their new knowledge to practice building catapults, aluminum foil boats, paper airplanes, straw roller coasters, marshmallow towers, balloon racecars, computer programs, egg-drop devices and more. The night was further enhanced by the helpful hands of the North Country Road Middle School National Junior Honor Society volunteers, who assisted the teachers in each of the classrooms. This night had the parents and students alike asking for more!

 

Students in grades three through five from the Miller Place School District recently presented the results of their unique scientific studies during a recent science fair held at the Laddie A. Decker Sound Beach School. Throughout the fair, students and parents visited each student’s presentation board and learned the results of each student’s inquiry.

 

After learning about computer graphing in class, the students’ individual experiments were researched and developed at home. Students were provided journals to document their data in an organized fashion with the standards being aligned with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) rubric. The projects focused on a range of disciplines including physics, chemistry and biology.

 

Approximately 30 Miller Place High School students in upper-level science courses were the judges for this event. This tradition has been carried on since the inception of the science fair. This year more students volunteered to judge than ever before.

 

In addition to the selection of finalists to present at BNL, student awards were presented in each classroom for a variety of categories, including Most Detailed Journal, Most Surprising Results, Most Artistic, Most Interesting Research Question, and Best (in class) Presentation. These awards generated increased student and parent excitement alike.