Fifth-grade students throughout the Copiague School District celebrated their academic accomplishments and reflected on their elementary school years as they move up to Copiague Middle School in September at their respective Class Day celebrations on June 15 and 16.

Administrators, faculty, parents and invited guests gathered to celebrate as the fifth-grade students marched in to “Pomp and Circumstance.” Student council officers greeted their classmates at each of the ceremonies and remembered the memories shared over the last six years.  

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Bannon offered words of encouragement for the fifth-grade classes at Susan E. Wiley and Great Neck Road elementary schools, while Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Jeanette Altruda addressed audiences at Deauville Gardens East and Deauville Gardens West elementary schools.

At each of the Class Day ceremonies, the fifth-graders were recognized with awards for academic merit, leadership, principal’s awards, Presidential Awards for Educational Excellence and Educational Improvement, and citizenships awards. The fifth-grade teachers and principals at each of the four elementary schools facilitated the presentation of diplomas. 

Students also showed off their musical talents by performing a variety of selections, including their elementary class songs for the final performance. Students and guests gathered for a celebration following each of the ceremonies. 

Copiague School District administrators and Board of Education members recognized the faculty and staff members who will be retiring at the end of the 2016-2017 school year and also acknowledged teachers who were granted tenure during the June 5 board of education meeting.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Bannon, board of education members, district administrators and department chairs offered their congratulations to the five retirees, who have close to 150 years of combined service to the district. Retiring at the end of the school year are Stacy Bach, Rose Marie Bell, Lynne Cook, Deirdre Whiston and Rosette Verriotto. 

Four teachers ¬– Karen Kazlaukas, Michael Olsen, Danielle Russo and Ioanna Spyris – who were recently granted tenure, were also celebrated prior to the board of education meeting.  

The Suffolk Zone of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance sponsored the annual Physical Education Student Leadership Awards Ceremony at Longwood High School on May 3. Students who qualify for the award are recognized for their achievements in physical education, leadership, character and academics.

Honored at the ceremony was Copiague Middle School eighth-graders Sarah Manzanarez and Kenneth Tejada; Deauville Gardens East Elementary School fifth-graders Ava Reichelt and Zachary Rosenzweig; Deauville Gardens West Elementary School fifth-graders Stanley Buissereth and Stefana Lipari; Susan E. Wiley Elementary School fifth-grade students Brian Gonzalez and Jordana Jagnarine; and Great Neck Road Elementary School fifth-grade students Nicole Araujo and Kamar Birthwright.

Deauville Gardens East Elementary School had a special visit from a furry friend on May 15. Therapy dog Buffalo Bill Cody, and his trainer Bruce Kollmar, from the program Love on a Leash, spent the morning in Kevin Beach’s first-grade class. The students are learning all about what a therapy dog can do and took turns reading to him.

Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School hosted the seventh annual Urban & Walsh Memorial Invitational on May 15. Organized by Copiague track coaches George Schroeder and John Sack, the annual event is held to honor Christopher Urban and Brittney Walsh.

Hosting 28 teams from across Long Island, the invitational featured 18 events including girls and boys shot put, boys and girls disc, long jump, high jump, triple jump, pole vault, the 2,000/3,000 steeplechase, 100/110 high hurdles, high jump and more. In addition to the standard track and field events, fifth-graders from the four elementary schools – Deauville Gardens East, Deauville Gardens West, Great Neck Road and Susan E. Wiley – participated in a special boys and girls 4x100 relay.

For the Copiague boys, David Lawrence placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 0:11.74, took third place in the long jump with 21 feet, 7.5 inches and placed second in the triple jump with 43 feet, 2.5 feet. Antoine Moore Jr. placed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 0:50.82. Jackson Bright, Aryes Garrett and Brenton Bennett took fifth, sixth and seventh place, respectively, in the high jump.

For the Copiague girls, Halle Moore took first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 60.66, while Akajia Atkins placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 0:13.25. The girls 4x400 meter relay team placed second with a time of 4:36.29, and high jumper Lyndsey Wilson secured third place with a jump of 4 feet, 10 inches. Akajia Atkins placed first in the long jump with a 17 foot, 3-inch jump, and Kyria Moore took fifth in the shot put with a toss of 32 feet, 6.75 inches.

Fifth-graders at Deauville Gardens East Elementary School showed off their confident spirits when they presented their monthly character education assembly to their peers on April 28.

In a game show-style format, the fifth-grade students played the game “Show Your Confidence” in an effort to illustrate this month’s character education trait: confidence. While some students portrayed a game show host, others acted as contestants to answer questions about positive vs. negative thinking in everyday situations.

The students concluded the assembly by reminding their peers to show their confidence, and keep positive thoughts first to show that they believe in themselves.

The cafeteria at Deauville Gardens East Elementary School was transformed into a candlelit Parisian café and student-poets showed off their talents during the school’s poetry café on April 25.

Dressed in their colored berets, students in grades 3-5 celebrated literacy night by reading both original and published poems of their choice to their families and peers in an open mic format. Each student received a treat bag filled with a beret, sunglasses and an acrostic poetry book to take home. During the intermission, guests snacked on cookies and treats served by their teachers.

Kindergarten students in Maritza Benavides’ class at Deauville Gardens East Elementary School participated in a story time videoconference on April 21 with eighth-grade students in a Spanish 1 class at Berner Junior High School in Massapequa. The eighth-graders told stories in Spanish using different props. At the end of the videoconference, the kindergarten students shared a new song with their junior high school friends.