Four exceptional East Islip High School students – Isabella Carlozzi, Hailee Cornell, Emma Jakits and Joshua Vasquez – were recently selected to exhibit in the Town of Babylon’s annual All-County SCALA/BACCA Art Show Exhibition. Cornell earned second place in the senior Scholarship category and received $500, and Jakits earned All-County first place in the photography category. The award ceremony was attended by Cornell and her mother, and Town of Babylon Councilmen DuWayne Gregory and Terry McSweeney were on hand to honor the artists.

“It was such an honor to participate in the SCALA show and an even greater honor to represent East Islip High School,” Cornell said.

“It was great seeing the students of East Islip being recognized for their talents,” said teacher Joy Taylor. “We are all very proud of them.”

“Our East Islip participants submitted amazing artwork and SCALA provides such a great opportunity,” said teacher Heather Toomey. “The ceremony was beautiful and the artwork from across the county was incredible to see.”

“The photorealistic artworks Hailee Cornell created deserved recognition as they demonstrate her ability to master any material in the arts,” said teacher Daniel Figliozzi. “I am excited to watch her continue to grow as an artist post-high school and I am proud of her for this accomplishment.”

JFK students recently shook it up in the art room with snow globes, learning about foreground, middleground and background.

High school athletes James Llewellyn, Nick Spameni and Jon Stanzione qualified for and recently competed in the New York State swimming championships, finishing 19th overall in the 200-meter medley relay and earning All-State honors.

JFK and RCK fourth graders displayed their hard work on Jan. 30 at the schools’ annual science fairs, now expanded to include engineering design. Students from both schools showed how much they had learned about their topics from their research, experiments and design process.

The first-place winner at JFK’s science/engineering fair was Evan Sambo for his project “UV Rays:  SPF Protection.” Also recognized were first runner-up Mackenzie Godbout (“Pop A Wheelie”), second runner-up Casey Flad (“Sweet or Meat”) and honorable mentions Jack Fontaine (“Why Does the NHL Freeze Pucks?”), Sachin Kamath (“Keep Your Lawns Healthy and Moist with Less Water”) and Teagan Kuhn (“Does the Cold Really Drain the Battery Out of Your Phone?”).

RCK’s first-place winner was Juliana Rochford for her project “What Swim Suits You.” Ruby Micali (“Age vs. Memory”) finished second, Ethan Fitch (“Lego Cleanup”) came in third, Mateo Baerga (“Go Bananas”) earned fourth, and Ryan Davis (“Dissolve the Rainbow”) and Ariana Russo (“The Effects that Drinks have on Teeth”) tied for fifth place.

“It was an exciting evening and the projects were truly amazing,” said JFK Principal Deborah Smith. “Our future is in great hands. The next generation of innovators showed that their imaginations will take them far.”

The top three winning students for each school were recognized at the district’s Feb. 27 Board of Education meeting.