The district held a viewing ceremony for its two honor speakers from High School East and High School West, who were honored at the annual Suffolk County School Superintendents Association virtual valedictorian recognition ceremony on June 3.

The two honor speakers – George Maidhof from High School West and Maximillian Nadelson from High School East – were surrounded by family members and district administrators as they watched the event. Hosted by Center Moriches School District Superintendent of Schools and president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association Dr. Ron Masera, the guest speaker was “The Energy Bus” author Jon Gordon.

Visitors, students and staff to the High School West’s campus can now park under a new clean energy solar parking structure, which officially went live to produce electricity in May. The district held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the conclusion of the project on June 9.

The new solar installation brings the benefits of carports, a cost-effective and innovative way to generate power to the Smithtown Central School District. The solar carport will significantly reduce the overall electricity bill for the district, with the money saved being reinvested in educational programs. The solar project will also provide an educational opportunity for the students, while also helping the environment.

The surface used for the solar carports will produce clean energy and actively lower energy costs. The system was installed by Sunrise Power Solutions and is the largest solar carport system owned by a school district in New York State. “This is a popular option among the K-12 municipal industry as money saved from lower energy bills can be directly reallocated back into education,” said Kristian Ingebrigtsen, CEO of Sunrise Power Solutions.

The project has a total size of 2.06 MW and an estimated annual output of 2.726 KWH. According to Michael Volts, director of energy efficiency and renewables at PSEG Long Island, the energy produced by the system will offset the entire energy usage at Smithtown High School West and the excess energy credits will be used to offset the usage at 11 other district-owned buildings.

“PSEG Long Island commends the Smithtown School District for participating in this energy performance project, which will save the community money and help create a cleaner, healthier future for its students and all of Long Island,” Voltz explained. “The more than 26,000 LED lighting fixtures and bulbs they installed will lower their energy usage, helping to reap the maximum benefits from the new solar carport systems and making them eligible to receive PSEG Long Island energy efficiency lighting rebates that lowered the cost of the project.”

Built under an energy performance contract with Johnson Controls, who led the project, the carport features 5.422 JA Solar panels and 30 SML Sunny Tripower Core1 inverters with a monitoring system. There are 10 separate carport canopy structures, along with two Leviton car charging stations. According to the EPA, this solar system will offset the greenhouse gas emissions from 416 passenger cars driven for one year or 2,124,073 pounds of coal burned.

While this year’s annual SCOPE Awards dinner was postponed this year, the district administration and Board of Education wanted to acknowledge the honorees for their hard work and dedication. At the May 25 board of education meeting, five members of the Smithtown school community were recognized for their efforts with a 2021 Award of Excellence.

For support staff service, Christine Martucci was nominated for her hard work. She’s worked in the district for 27 years as a special education aide, clerk typist, senior clerk typist and most recently a principal office assistant. “As an integral member of the curriculum office, Ms. Martucci provides outstanding support to all members of the school community,” said Paul Strader, assistant superintendent for curriculum and assessment. “She goes out of her way to assist even when the question or task is unrelated to her work. This year, Ms. Martucci has been instrumental in helping to reimagine all of our typical protocols by offering well-developed ideas that account for all variables in a given situation. Ms. Martucci is calm, patient, detail oriented and driven. Above all, Ms. Martucci approaches her daily work with the highest degree of humility and good humor.”

The teacher service award was bestowed to Sheila Tobin Cavooris, who served the district for the past 26 years as a tutor, elementary teacher, reading teacher and most recently a library media specialist. “Ms. Tobin Cavooris is an integral member of the Great Hollow Middle School community,” Mr. Strader said. “She has worked tirelessly to transform our library into a space that supports both students and faculty. In a traditional school year, Ms. Tobin Cavooris can be seen co-teaching with faculty members, working with students during their lunch periods, working with teachers in our teacher resource center, and helping students to create in our makerspace. During this past school year, Ms. Tobin Cavooris has strived to create a learning environment within the library that not only meets the academic needs of students and teachers, but an environment that meets their social and emotional needs as well, all while maintaining their health and safety.”

The administrator service award was presented to Neil Katz, assistant superintendent for personnel. “In a typical year, his job would be formidable enough, but when he volunteered to be the district’s COVID coordinator, his day-to-day responsibilities grew exponentially,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Secaur. “With calm and professionalism, he tackled every unprecedented task with a thoughtful approach and unwavering work ethic. He played an integral role in the formation of our plan, especially in the area of health and safety compliance with the established guidelines. His attention to detail and patience has been essential in explaining the evolving guidance and contact tracing requirements with the Department of Health as well as our staff and parents.”

Matthew Gribbin, Board of Education president, was honored for his service. “Mr. Gribbin assumed the position of president during the summer of 2020 as the district was in the midst of planning its response to the COVID pandemic for the 2020-2021 school year,” Dr. Secaur said. “In this role, he has provided steady and stable leadership at the very time it was most necessary. He has been a strong partner in the district’s attempts to balance the health, safety and academic needs of the students in our care and the staff that serve them. His student-centered approach coupled with a strong understanding of the need for the district to be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars has helped place Smithtown in an advantageous position as we collectively navigate the challenges ahead.”

Smithtown resident Andrea Elsky was honored for her community service efforts. “While her daughter no longer attends our schools, she continues to be a force for good in our school community,” Mr. Strader said. “She was chosen as a Smithtown hero for her efforts during the pandemic. She has gone above and beyond to provide food, clothing and general support to the students and families who have struggled. She has volunteered within the district in many ways, including as a parent member to the Committee on Special Education where she assists parents and guardians with the CSE meeting process. She is a respected and effective advocate for the social, emotional and academic needs of the students in our care and we are thankful for her support.”

The elementary schools throughout the district shared in their annual field day fun in late May and early June, competing in different fitness activities and team bonding events throughout the day. This photo slideshow features some images from the different elementary schools throughout the district.

High School West’s Future Career and Community Leaders of America Club recently completed a Bake for Good project to give back to their school community. Each FCCLA member received a bread baking kit with instructions on how to activate yeast, knead and shape the dough. The students made one loaf of freshly baked bread to share with their families and one loaf to donate to the administrators and support staff of High School West.

Students in Dianne Shanian’s studio in art foundation class at High School East are learning all about artist Louise Nevelson. Ms. Nevelson is known best for her relief sculptures.

To begin their study, the class conducted background research to foster a deeper understanding of the artist, relief sculptures, why she chose this type of art and the different materials used.

The type of relief sculptures created by Nevelson are flat on the back and protrude off the wall. Students learned to design their sculptures from the back to the front. “Divergent thought is heightened as students design and arrive at various combinations of materials,” Ms. Shanian said. “The goal is to create rhythm, unity and harmony.”

Students collected wood, cardboard, wire pieces or found objects to arrange in their box. They divided the space inside the box and glued the pieces into each of the compartments. Students painted their relief sculptures in a monochromatic color scheme. Acrylic paints were used to coat the wire, wood and cardboard. The border was also painted to achieve a finished, professional appearance.