Hastings Happenings - May 22, 2024

May 22, 2024

Celebration at Reynolds Field Honors "Mr. A"

As a surprise tribute to High School Principal Lou Adipietro, "Mr. A", who is retiring after 19 years of dedicated service to Hastings-on-Hudson Public Schools—students, faculty (current and retirees), family, friends, and community members gathered at Reynolds Field last Friday. Messages of gratitude and wishes for a restful, peaceful, and happy retirement were shared. It was a perfect way to celebrate Mr. A's legacy and far-reaching impact.

“We love you & we’ll miss you, Mr. A…”

Photography: Cory Merchant

Two Hastings Students Win Grand Awards at Regeneron's International Science Fair (ISEF)

Two Hastings high schoolers—Justin Baldassarre and Miles Hamilton—traveled to Los Angeles, C.A., recently to compete against 1700 students from across 67 countries at the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). The world’s largest pre-college science competition, ISEF brings top science students together to showcase their innovation through self-designed science projects. Each year, ISEF awards millions of dollars of scholarships and prizes to participants.

Baldassarre and Hamilton, who were among the top twenty students to qualify for ISEF through the Regeneron Westchester Science & Engineering Fair (WESEF) in March, both received Grand Awards at Regeneron ISEF:

Baldassarre placed second in the Biomedical & Health Sciences category, winning $2,000 for his project, "STING-Rich Ciliated Cells Protect the Fallopian Tube from Early Transformation in the Development of Ovarian Cancer,”
Hamilton placed fourth in the Earth & Environmental Science category, winning $500 for his project, "Reconstructing Late Pleistocene Changes in Western Equatorial Pacifici Thermocline and Analyzing the Viability of Coarse Fraction as a Temperature Proxy".

We are scheduling time to speak with Hamilton about his project (stay tuned!), but we did have a chance to talk with Baldassarre earlier in the year when he was named one of Hastings’ 2024 Regeneron Scholars.

“My mom died of ovarian cancer when I was nine years old,” he told us. “She was an amazing mom and encouraged me to be a curious question-asker. She'd be proud. My family feels the weight of her loss every day and it felt important to use my interest in science to honor her."

A prideful Ms. Shandroff, Science Department Chairperson, also wrote to staff, “Congratulations to both Justin and Miles for these amazing achievements!”

Congratulations, indeed.

L to R: Justin, Miles

Sixth Graders Earn Top Speaker Awards at American Debate League Championship

Recently, six of Hastings sixth graders—Keren Saltzman, Nami Saeed, Poppy Leon, Anna Lapson, Mehrunissa Rao, and Phoebe Gelfand—competed against approximately 500 other middle school students from the five boroughs (Westchester, Rockland, Long Island and New Jersey) at the American Debate League Tri-State Championship in Queens. This is the second year in a row that Farragut’s Debate Team has qualified for the invitation-only championship tournament.

“Our students spent countless hours researching, preparing speeches, and developing high-level crossfire questions regarding the affirmative and negative of Japanese revision of Article 9 of their Constitution to allow for offensive military capabilities,” said Debate Team Advisor Devita Cruz. “For the last month, and every day the week leading up to the tournament, these girls worked to understand both the history and the intricacies of this advanced topic. Sixth graders!”

Well, the students’ hard work paid off, as they each walked away with Top Speaker Awards in their division:

Phoebe placed 10^th, Mehrunissa placed fifth, and Anna placed fourth, among 76 other middle schoolers in their division.
The team of Nami, Poppy, and Keren placed third among 37 teams in their division.

“I am so incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication these students have put into their debate performances this year,” Cruz said. “Each student deserves all the accolades they have attained this season.”

31 High Schoolers Receive Awards for Top Scores in National Latin Exam Competition

Hastings High School students earned national awards for their scores on the National Latin Exam (NLE) recently. A special reception was held on May 16 to celebrate, with awards presented to top scorers. Schoolmates, administrators, staff, family and friends were all in attendance.

Over 100,000 students from all 50 states and 13 foreign countries competed in the NLE. Latin teacher Ellen Driscoll registered Hastings' students in January and administered the exam during class in March. The World Languages Department generously sponsored all registration fees.

After scoring in the top percentage at their academic level, students were presented with the following awards: cum laude (with honors), magna cum laude (with high honors), maxima cum laude (with very high honors - silver medal), and summa cum laude (with the highest honors - gold medal).

Click here for the list of award winners by rank.

Third Annual Bob's Bees Presentation is all the Buzz at Hillside Elementary

During the last couple of weeks, elementary schoolers have been learning about different beehives at Bob’s Bees presentation, an annual tradition at Hillside facilitated by the Bob McCann, Physical Education teacher.

Daughter of Holocaust Survivor & Her Husband Speak with Farragut's Eighth Graders

In Dr. Ken Cotrone's eighth grade English classes, students are reading Night, by Elie Wiesel, a first-hand account of a Holocaust survivor. To provide context to the book, they also viewed the film Schindler's List, in which German industrialist, Oskar Schindler, saved over 1,000 Jewish prisoners from being killed by Nazi executioners. An authentic learning experience further engaged students, when they received a visit from the daughter of one of the Jewish survivors, Schindlerjeuden, Barbara Lissner (and her husband Michael).

Ms. Lissner's father, Sol Urbach, lived to the ripe age of 96 and was a treasured eyewitness to the kindness and respect for humanity that Schindler possessed. Lissner spoke with the students about her father's experience as Schindler's personal carpenter and the countless atrocities he witnessed, even while under the protection of Schindler.

"Students were riveted by her presentation and engaged in thoughtful dialogue," said Dr. Cotrone.

Upcoming Multicultural Book Fair 5/29-5/30 -Sign Up to Volunteer

On May 29-30, the Cochran Gymnasium will be transformed into a library of literature for the Eighth Annual Multicultural Book Fair (MCBF). Students from across the district's three buildings will have the chance to participate, with material organized by reading level.

Click here to volunteer for the event, which raises up the written word as a powerful path to understanding diverse histories, cultures and experiences.