To recognize many accomplishments of its student-athletes both on and off the field, the Copiague School District held its 20th annual Fall Sports Awards Night on Nov. 12 at Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School. Sponsored by the Booster Club, student-athletes in gymnastics, girls soccer, boys soccer, field hockey, girls tennis, volleyball, cross-country and football were recognized for their dedication to their sports by coaches, Copiague School District administrators and members of the board of education.

Throughout the night, coaches praised the student-athletes for their success and distributed individual awards, including the Coaches’ Award, Most Improved and the MVP award, to worthy receipients. Seven special memorial awards were handed out to outstanding athletes for demonstrating leadership on and off the field. Jaheim Garcia (cross-country) was presented with the Christopher Urban Award, Jaime Kister (gymnastics) was the recipient of the Dolores Sandefur Award and Patric Gudel (boys soccer) was presented with the Richard Lombardo Award. The Barbara Day Award was given to Imani Ruddock (field hockey), Kaylah Roberts (volleyball) received the Debra Tekosky Award, Merari Saravia Canales (girls soccer) was presented with the Michael S. Cohen Award and Gabriela Rivas (girls soccer) was the recipient of the Brittany Walsh Memorial Award. 

Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School has announced the top 10 students for the graduating Class of 2020. With a weighted GPA of 103.35, Melanie Garcia has been named the valedictorian. Marvin Lobo has been named salutatorian with a weighted GPA of 103.30.

Valedictorian Melanie Garcia is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction and has been a valuable member of the National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Math Team, Global Ambassadors Club and SOUL Medical Outreach Club. She participated in varsity tennis and bowling all four years of high school and is a recipient of the Golden Eagle Award due to her strong high school GPA. She is also a leader of the Voice to Voice Women’s Empowerment Committee, treasurer of the Class of 2020, treasurer of the Spanish Club and secretary of the Knitting and Crochet Club. She has applied to Cornell University, Columbia University, Stony Brook University, Binghamton University and Adelphi University. She is eager to study biology and pursue a career in medicine.   

During the past four years, Marvin has continuously placed on the honor roll, has been named an AP Scholar with Distinction, and has most recently been selected for the Suffolk Zone Chapter Award. As a leader throughout the school, Lobo is active in the National Honor Society, where he has served as vice president and president consecutively.  In addition, he is an active member of the Global Ambassadors, the One-Mind Cub, and the Key Club, where he has worked with teachers and students toward bettering the school community. He has been an integral part of the varsity wrestling team for the last four years and served as the team’s captain. Although undecided on his college and major, he has applied to Duke University, Princeton University, Harvard University, Cornell University and Stanford University.

The district congratulates the Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School graduating Class of 2020 top 10 students: Melanie Garcia (valedictorian); Marvin Lobo (salutatorian); Naryman Lounici (third); Christopher Canenguez (fourth); Allison Reyes (fifth); Jarrett David (sixth); Nicole Hernandez (seventh); Alfred Barredo (eighth); Erhumwunse Eghafona (ninth); and Argeny Tavarez (10th).  

As part of Junior Achievement’s High School Heroes program, Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School students enrolled in the leadership class became teachers for a day at Deauville Gardens East and Deauville Gardens West elementary schools on Nov. 4.  

The high school students spent the day in the third- and fourth-grade classrooms teaching different lessons. The High School Heroes program is a service learning project that provides high school students the opportunity to become role models by teaching and empowering elementary students within their school district. High School Heroes work in teams to mentor students with hands-on, interactive lessons to students centered around work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.  

Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School senior and science research student Erhumwunse Eghafona is one of only 14 students across Long Island school districts who was selected for the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Partners for the Future internship program.

Partners for the Future provides an opportunity for high school students to have hands-on experience in biological research at Cold Spring Harbor’s state-of-the-art international laboratory facility. This highly competitive and selective program is open to high school students entering their senior year. Candidates are put through a rigorous process which includes nomination and referral by the science chairperson, an extensive application portfolio, references and interviews.

After an intense vetting process, Erhumwunse was selected, the first student from Copiague School District, and began the program in August. While most high school students spend a minimum of 10 hours per week, September through March, conducting authentic research with a scientist, Erhumwunse’s commitment is evident in the excess hours he spends in the lab since the summer when he started research early. The program culminates in a highly publicized prestigious symposium, in which students give oral presentations to a platform of experts in the field including doctors, scientist, mentors and lab administrators. Erhumwunse is working on cutting edge cancer immunotherapy; specifically, isolating antigens to produce antibodies for pancreatic cancer cells.

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, the members of the Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School Student Council, under the leadership of Cheryl Feldman and Neil Schweitzer, hosted “Pinktober.” The students sold pins, ribbons, pens and stickers. All of the money fundraised will be donated to a charity to help bring awareness and to assist in finding a cure for breast cancer. 

During breast cancer awareness month, the Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School varsity club organized its annual pink pumpkin fundraiser to raise money for breast cancer awareness in October. This year, Hicks Nursery of Westbury, Best Market and Stop & Shop of Amityville donated pumpkins to help with the cause. The varsity club members painted and decorated the pumpkins pink and added inspirational words and phrases. This year, the club raised more than $200 to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 

Copiague School District celebrated the 22nd annual Hall of Achievement induction ceremony by recognizing alumni who have made a positive impact on the school and community. Invited guests and honorees gathered in the Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School cafeteria following the homecoming festivities on Oct. 19.

The five new inductees – which brings the total number of members to 105 – are: Anthony Cipriano, Class of 1988; Richard Lynch, Class of 1982; Kelly Mooney, Class of 2000; Nadia Pepe, Class of 2000 and Yaniriz Rodriguez, Class of 1999. 

“Each inductee will serve as a source of inspiration for the students of Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School,” said Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School Principal Joseph Agosta. “Each inductee will serve as a positive example for our students, building a sense of pride for the Copiague graduates past, present and future.”

“This year’s inductees, like those before them, are outstanding individuals, each of them have many memories of growing up in Copiague and going through our school system,” said Brian Sales, Board of Education president. “They have continued the tradition of Eagle pride throughout their lives and careers.” 

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Bannon welcomed guests and honorees to the ceremony. “In honoring successful past graduates of Copiague School District, the Hall of Achievement’s primary purpose is to introduce these alumni as positive and motivating role models to our entire school community,” she said. “We keep these role models connected in a variety of ways to our schools and students. By the nature of their accomplishments and service, the inductees of the Hall of Achievement inspire our students to reach for high goals. As students of the Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School pass through our main hallway and the Hall of Achievement every day, they can stop and read about the accomplishments of our inductees.”

Mr. Cipriano coaches the wrestling team at Copiague and teaches physical education at Susan E. Wiley Elementary School. Through the years, he has coached four county champion wrestlers, 25 All-County wrestlers, 130 All-League wrestlers and has had county finalists for the last three years. He currently serves as the Suffolk director of U.S.A. Wrestling.

Mr. Lynch joined the New York City Police Department in 1986, working in the anti-crime unit and robbery squad. In 1996, he was promoted to detective 3rd grade. During his time as detective in the next 10 years, he received citations for excellent policy duty as well as meritorious and honorable mentions and a Silver Star. Since his retirement in 2006, Mr. Lynch has been a security guard in the Copiague School District.

Ms. Mooney has been involved with Copiague School District in some capacity since kindergarten. After graduating from Quinnipiac University with a communication degree, she joined Syntax Communications as an assistant account executive and was assigned to Copiague School District. Now an accounts director, Ms. Mooney still oversees the district, in addition to several other school districts and account executives. 

Ms. Pepe has also remained an active member of the Copiague School District and community. She began working at the Copiague Memorial Public Library in high school and still remains an employee there today as a library assistant. Ms. Pepe graduated from Dowling College with a degree in psychology. With three children in the Copiague School District, she is actively involved in volunteering at Susan E. Wiley and Copiague Middle School’s PTA, extracurricular activities, fifth grade booster club and is a Girl Scout troop leader.

Ms. Rodriguez came to the Copiague School District at the age of 7 from the Dominican Republic and credits her teachers for helping her learn English. In high school, she was a member of the Spanish Club, Humanities Club, Intercultural Club, National Honor Society and vice president of the senior class. She graduated from St. Joseph’s College with a bachelor’s degree in education and received a master’s degree in education from LIU/Post. Since 2003, Ms. Rodriguez has been an English Language Learners teacher at Babylon School District. In 2018, she was awarded the New York Sen. Boyle Teachers of Excellence Award.

Showing off their Copiague spirit, the community and schools came together to celebrate the district’s homecoming on Oct. 19. Kicking off with spirit week activities at the elementary schools and a pep rally at the high school on Friday, students and staff were beaming with school pride in the days leading up to the big game.

Gathering for the parade at Great Neck Road Elementary School, school and community organizations came together to march to Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School. The Copiague Little Ladies cheerleaders and Copiague Youth League football marched alongside elementary school organizations including the Susan E. Wiley Dance Club and student council and students from Copiague Middle School and Great Neck Road, Deauville Gardens East and Deauville Gardens West elementary schools.

The freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes showed off their creativity with different Disney-themed floats including “Toy Story,” “Moana,” “Coco” and “The Lion King.” Back at Walter G. O’Connell High School, the Copiague Eagles took the field against the Half Hollow Hills East Thunderbirds. Despite their best efforts, the Eagles couldn’t come out with the homecoming win.

The varsity cheerleaders and step team entertained the crowds during the halftime show. The homecoming court from each grade – including homecoming king Malik Leftenant and homecoming queen Brianna Gomez – were formally announced  and recognized in front of the Eagle’s Nest.

Later that evening, the district held its 22nd annual Hall of Achievement induction ceremony, recognizing five alumni who have made positive contributions to both their community and school district. This year’s inductees were: Anthony Cipriano, Class of 1988; Richard Lynch, Class of 1982; Kelly Mooney, Class of 2000; Nadia Pepe, Class of 2000; and Yaniriz Rodriguez, Class of 1999.  

Twelve student-musicians from Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School have been chosen to participate in the Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association’s Division IV All-County performing ensembles. The district congratulates the following student-musicians: Ladrea Buffaloe (mixed chorus); Jessica Chochorek (treble chorus); Eric Fairchild (mixed chorus); Christopher Lam (mixed chorus); Cecilia Libertella (treble chorus); Jonah Ramdas (mixed chorus); Allison Reyes (mixed chorus); Denison Rosa (mixed chorus); Mackenzie Scotti (treble chorus); Andrew Szabo (mixed chorus); Morgan Weeks (treble choir); and Oktay Yildiz (mixed chorus). They are pictured with Jennifer Ross-Troise, (left) coordinator of fine arts and Gina Occhiogrosso, choral director. 

In celebration of October as National Principals Month, this October we will be spotlighting our assistant principals. Up next, Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School Assistant Principal, Jonathan Krawchuk.