William Floyd Elementary School recently held an author celebration for the student members of the school’s “Writing Club” who had their creative stories self-published in a book titled, Writing Club 2016-17. At the celebration which was attended by members of the authors’ families, students had the opportunity to share their stories, answer questions and sign autographs. Writing Club members are: Sean Maloney, Robert Kazanecki, Matthew Pursino, Gianna McIntosh, Abigail DeMartino, Victoria Lovett, Deborah Mehtab, and Lily-Rose St. George.  The Writing Club was established and facilitated by ToniAnn Powell and Danielle Haber.

Nigel Green stands atop the podium after winning a State title in the Federation 100.

William Floyd High School senior Nigel Green capped off a successful senior year and track career at William Floyd by zooming past his competitors in the Federation 100 finals at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association State Championships at Union-Endicott High School in upstate Endicott, NY. Facing off against other top runners across New York State including Division I, Division II, parochial and private school student-athletes, Green posted a time of 10.8 seconds to secure the State Championship!

“Nigel set some big goals at the beginning of the season, and put in a lot of hard work to achieve them,” said Ed Noll, head coach, boys track and field. “His love for the sport has always been evident, and he has shown up day in and day out with a desire to better himself. There is no doubt in my mind that we will continue to hear about Nigel’s impressive accomplishments on the next level as he will be a strong addition to the Southern Connecticut State track program.”

Nigel Green and his coach, Ed Noll, celebrate Nigel’s victory!

As a crowning achievement for his efforts and performance on the track, Green was also one of six student-athletes to earn the “Most Outstanding Runner” for all of Suffolk County at the annual awards celebration. This is only the second time that a William Floyd student-athlete has won this award in school history (Diamonte Corley/2013). He was also the 100/200 meter County Champion and was voted to the Newsday All-Long Island team.

Green broke several William Floyd records this school year including the fastest 55m (6.52 seconds) and 200m (21.44) seconds. He also won several individual and team events throughout the year including three golds at the Westhampton Invitational (100m and 400m) and was a member of the gold-medal winning 4 x 100 team with Trevor Wilkins, Tyler Wilkins and James Taitt. Trevor Wilkins, a county champion in the triple jump, also qualified for the State Championships and finished eighth in that event.

Green is considering majoring in engineering at Southern Connecticut State, where he will begin in the fall.

Newsday: Floyd’s Nigel Green makes corrections, wins Federation 100

Watch him win the state title below!

WFHS Culinary Arts teacher Richard Daly is pictured carving a sculpture for a special ESPN segment on the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.

With the Golden State Warriors on the verge of a second NBA title in three years, William Floyd High School Culinary Arts teacher, Richard Daly, an international ice carving champion, was tapped to create an intricate sculpture to encapsulate the creation of the Golden State Warriors’ modern sports dynasty for an ESPN special segment, “The Building of the Warriors’ Dynasty,” which first aired in the hours after the clinching game.

Daly, a Guinness World Record holder for the “Fastest Time to Carve 60 Sculptures,” who also owns Ice Melodies, Inc., an ice sculpting business, was contacted by ESPN producers this past weekend with the Warriors on the verge of clinching the title, to see if he was interested in creating the sculpture.

An ESPN screenshot of the ice sculpture created by Richard Daly.

After agreeing, he was tasked with carving the likenesses of four of the team’s stars – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant – along with the team’s logo, a basketball, net and the words, “Juggernaut: 2 out of 3.” The sculpture took a total of five hours carving time.

“To be chosen to work with such a high-caliber television crew and company is an honor, especially for something as important as the NBA finals,” said Mr. Daly. “Though a lot of pressure was on me, it’s always amazing what can be accomplished when pushed harder.”

You can watch the full segment at ESPN here and a brief clip from the taping below!

Pictured left to right are Michel Pagan-Rosario, Kianna Hawkins, Jade Foster, Kaylah Britt and Kylasia Bullard – members of the 4×100 meter relay team.

The William Floyd Girls track team under the tutelage of head coach John Ryan is coming off of a strong performance at the State Qualifier Meet to end the season. Sophomore Kaylah Britt placed seventh overall in Suffolk County with a mark of 36’ 10.25” – her best jump of the season and the current William Floyd record. The 4×100 meter relay team placed fourth overall in Suffolk County with a time of 49.37 seconds – breaking another William Floyd record. The relay team is comprised of senior Michel Pagan-Rosario, sophomore Kianna Hawkins, sophomore Jade Foster, sophomore Kaylah Britt, and freshman Kylasia Bullard. This group of talented student-athletes also set the school record this year in the 4×200 meter relay during the indoor season with a time of 1:46.99. Their performance this year qualified them for the 800 Meter Medley Relay at the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, NC. Rebecca Ferguson, who set another school record in the Race Walk this season with a time of 7:29.75, also qualified for the New Balance Nationals, where she finished #20 in the nation!

Pictured left to right are: Eileen Randazzo, Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School art teacher; Kassidy Hunt, 5th grade; Isabel Weiss, 4th grade; Caiden Widecki, 2nd grade; Aiden Farrell, 1st grade; Summer Rocco, kindergarten; and Monica Corona, Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School Principal. Not pictured: Lillianna Golinski, 3rd grade.

Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School art teacher Eileen Randazzo, Principal Monica Corona and the Nathaniel Woodhull school community recently celebrated the 13^th annual Nathaniel Woodhull Art Gallery with six new student pieces, one from each grade level, selected for inclusion. Students were chosen based on their artistic ability, as well as character and citizenship. Congratulations to Kassidy Hunt, Isabel Weiss, Lilliana Golinski, Caiden Widecki, Aiden Farrell and Summer Rocco. After the ceremony, students and their families enjoyed a bagel breakfast together in the art room. Congratulations to these talented student-artists!

Pictured left to right are Suffolk County Legislator Kate Browning; Karen Jackson, the winner of the “Be Pool Smart” poster contest for Suffolk County’s 3rd Legislative District; Theresa Bianco, Fine Arts Chairperson, William Floyd School District; Dr. Keith Fasciana, Principal, William Floyd Elementary School; and Linda Francis, William Floyd Elementary School art teacher.

Karen Jackson, a fifth-grader at William Floyd Elementary School, was recently named the local winner in the Suffolk County Legislature’s 11^th annual “Be Pool Smart” poster contest, which is designed to promote pool safety. Students were encouraged to design a poster that features tips on how to stay safe in and by the water this summer. Suffolk County Legislator Kate Browning recently visited William Floyd Elementary to present Karen with a certificate and congratulate her and her art teacher, Linda Francis, on this achievement.

The William Floyd High School History Club, along with curators from the Rita Rech Museum of William Floyd History, recently hosted an in-district field trip to the museum for William Floyd Elementary School second graders from Jeanette DeSantis’s, Danielle Haber’s, Nadine Lotierzo’s, Melissa Pirnat’s and Jenn Tufano’s classes.

The second-grade students learned the importance of remembering history, viewed before and after pictures of local landmarks, discussed the pivotal role art, history, athletics and clubs play in the schools, participated in a hands-on exploration of how school technology has changed throughout the years, and learned about the historical importance of the colonial leaders our schools are named after. The culminating activity asked the William Floyd Elementary School students to write pen pal letters to students at the General William Floyd Elementary School in upstate Holland Patent, New York, discussing why they love their community and are proud to call it home.

William Floyd History Club members who facilitated the in-district field trip included William Floyd High School students Sarah Gross, Shelby Hafener, Robert Henn, Katie Lindley, Sarah Mazzarella, Carlos Martinez-Mejia, Quatajah Rennalls and Austin Reyes, along with advisors/museum curators Kate Devenney, Ron Gross and Stacy Redmond.

The William Floyd Middle School National Junior Honor Society in collaboration with St. John The Evangelist Church in Center Moriches recently held a sock and snack drive to benefit members of the local community. Altogether, students collected three laundry baskets full of socks and filled them with snacks which have been donated to the Parish’s Social Ministry. Pictured with NJHS students are Reverend John Sureau, Pastor of St. John The Evangelist and Alex Finta, Associate Director of the Parish Social Ministry.

William Floyd High School students participating in the international “Hour of Code.”

William Floyd High School students enrolled in “Introduction to Computer Science,” a new course intended to serve as an introduction to computer science and computer programming, had the opportunity to write code and learn the foundation for computational problem solving, a solid base for students wishing to explore computer science as a college major or future career possibility.

“This course provides students with the opportunity to increase their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills while having fun learning to write code,” said Ms. Nina Lurie, computer science and mathematics  teacher at William Floyd High School.

Intro to Computer Science/mathematics teacher Nina Lurie helps students during the “Hour of Code.”

Introduction to Computer Science, a course for grades 10-12, helps students develop a framework for understanding the application, role, and impact computers have on society. It also provides students with the skills necessary to apply the elements of computer programming and the fundamental concepts of computer science to develop, design, code, test and execute a computer program.

Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, students will have the opportunity to advance to the new Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science course, which will emphasize problem-solving, algorithm development with object-oriented programming methodology utilizing the Java programming language, as well as the study of data structures and abstraction. This new AP course is designed as an equivalent of a first-semester college course in computer science.

Please follow these links to check out some of the student-created code from the Introduction to Computer Science classes! Intro to Computer Science – period 3 Intro to Computer Science- period 7

Due to inclement weather, the graduation ceremony for the class of 2017 has been moved to Sunday, June 25 at 10 am.

Text of the School Messenger call from Superintendent of Schools, Kevin M. Coster:

Good afternoon, this is Kevin Coster, Superintendent of Schools for the William Floyd School District. We have been closely monitoring the forecasts and out of an abundance of caution, we will be rescheduling graduation for Sunday, June 25 at 10 am. Although forecasts are calling for the rain to stop by late morning, our staff needs several hours lead time to set up audio equipment; and with lightning in the forecast, we will not take any chances. For those who are out-of-state or not able to attend, we are once again livestreaming graduation via the William Floyd School District Facebook page. We will see you on Sunday morning at 10 am!

Summer School registration will take place at the HS on 6/27, 6/28, and 6/29 from 7:30-11:30 am (please see the attachment below for additional information).  Any questions about summer school eligibility should be directed to your child’s guidance counselor. General summer school questions can be directed to the summer school office, (631) 874-1463.

William Floyd High School held its 58th annual Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, June 25, 2017. There were 599 graduates who turned their tassels to the left to become the newest alumni of William Floyd High School. More than 400 will attend either a two- or four-year college this upcoming fall. Twelve are entering military service, 91 graduated with a Career and Technical Education endorsement, 37 were in the Senior National Honor Society, 36 were in the Senior Foreign Language Honor Society, 34 were in the Senior Tri-M Honor Society, 20 were in the Senior Art Honor Society and 14 were in the Senior Business Honor Society. Overall, 99 students received the President’s Award for Educational Excellence and 262 received High Achievement Awards. The valedictorian, Steven Shaw (Duke University/economics/electrical & computer engineering), and salutatorian, Michael Hall (Stevenson University/applied mathematics) both gave addresses to fellow graduates. The William Floyd school community provided scholarships upwards of $150,000 to graduating seniors. Congratulations, graduates! Best wishes for continued and future success!

Click below to see some photos from graduation and the full video!

Check out this latest collection of 60 stories over the past seven weeks about the great things accomplished by William Floyd students and staff! Click here!

See previous recaps below for the 2016-17 school year!

March 14-May 4, 2017

January 3-February 13, 2017

November 20-December 22, 2016

October 20-November 17, 2016

September 16-October 17, 2016

August 11-September 15, 2016

July 1-August 10, 2016

Summer is here. You may be thinking about what your child will do for meals while school is out. The good news is that the William Floyd School District has once again partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to serve free breakfast and lunch to our community, even their guests! It’s food that’s in, when school is out. There are no income requirements and any child ages 18 years old and younger may come to eat at no charge. This program is completely self-sustaining and there is no cost to local residents. Breakfast will be served from 7am to 9:30 am; and lunch between 11am and 1:30 pm in the William Floyd High School cafeteria, 240 Mastic Beach Road, Mastic Beach, Monday through Friday between July 10 and August 25. Please use the south entrance.

Menus:
July Menu
August Menu

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE SUMMER FOOD SERVICE FLYER

Please enjoy this video highlight reel showing just a snapshot of some of the great things that occurred throughout the William Floyd School District during the 2016-17 school year!

Due to an unforeseen application issue with New York State, the Driver’s Education program will begin and end one week later than originally planned. All other times will remain the same. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The updated schedule is below.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THE SCHEDULE

Pictured are members of the William Floyd High School Class of 2017 Medical Assisting program.

William Floyd High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) students performed well on the rigorous National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) certification exams (written and clinical performance) with a nearly 80 percent passing rate for all academies, which includes two academies with 100 percent passing rates – Medical Assisting and Culinary Arts. In total, 91 out of 116 students in all academies – automotive technology, business, carpentry, cosmetology, culinary arts and medical assisting – passed the rigorous examinations and earned a Career and Technical Education Cord to wear at graduation.

“Passing the rigorous NOCTI examination earns students the ability to gain employment to an entry-level position in their field of study or earn college credit equivalency,” said Karen Poidomani, CTE Chairperson and business teacher, William Floyd High School. “These students have an advantage going into their careers or courses of study.”

Members of the 2017 Culinary Arts program.

As a result of passing the NOCTI exam, Medical Assisting students are now eligible for employment as certified medical assistants (CMAs) in New York State under the direction of a physician in any health care facility such as a hospital, doctor’s office, specialty clinics and more. Additionally nearly 75 percent of medical assisting students (20 of 27) passed the National MedCA  (Medical Career Assessments) certification exam, which qualifies them  for employment as a CMA anywhere in the United States. Jason McKay, one of the Medical Assisting teachers along with Rhonda DeTrano, LPN, noted that many of their students have already secured interviews or employment.

At William Floyd, students have a plethora of opportunities in the CTE fields of automotive technology, business, carpentry, cosmetology, culinary arts and medical assisting; beginning next year William Floyd will offer an additional section of medical assisting as well as two new programs – barbering and small engine repair.

Lorraine Mentz will be sworn in as a Board of Education Trustee on July 11, 2017.

The William Floyd Board of Education has appointed a new trustee, Lorraine Mentz, a 15-year resident of Shirley and long-time school and community volunteer. Mrs. Mentz, who will fill the vacancy of former trustee Anthony Speruta, who moved out of state, will have to run for election in May 2018 to fill out the remainder of Mr. Speruta’s original term expiring on June 30, 2019. She will be sworn in at the Board of Education’s reorganization meeting on Tuesday, July 11.

“The Board is very excited to have Mrs. Mentz fill the vacancy created by Trustee Speruta’s resignation,” said Robert Vecchio, President, William Floyd Board of Education. “Mrs. Mentz has been a regular attendee at our board meetings, has participated in our Budget Advisory and State Aid Advocacy committees for many years and her leadership involvement with school PTOs also speaks to her commitment to serve our children and community in this new role.”

In addition to her roles serving on the executive boards of the William Floyd Elementary School and William Floyd Middle School PTOs over the past nine years, Mrs. Mentz has served as a member of the Just Kids Parent Organization and various district committees including Budget Advisory, State Aid Advocacy, Parent University and Professional Development Planning.

Mrs. Mentz and her husband, Christopher, currently have two children in the William Floyd School District – one entering William Floyd High School and the other entering William Floyd Middle School in the fall.

“I am extremely grateful to the Board of Education for this opportunity to serve William Floyd residents as a board trustee,” said Mrs. Mentz. “I have spent the last decade volunteering and learning about our schools and community and look forward to helping ensure that our students continue to receive the best opportunities in their academic careers at William Floyd.”

Mrs. Mentz is an educator by trade, currently serving as an elementary special/general education substitute teacher in the Westhampton Beach School District. She has previously been employed by the William Floyd School District and the New York City school system. She is also a 2013 recipient of SCOPE Education’s “Shining Star Award” for community service. She holds an Associate’s degree in Business Administration from SUNY Farmingdale, a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from SUNY Old Westbury and a Master of Science degree in Secondary Education from Mercy College.

William Floyd teachers are hosting the Teachers’ Story Corner Summer Reading Program at the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library beginning this Thursday, July 6 at 10 am. The program, held twice per week on Wednesday evenings at 6 pm and Thursday mornings from 10-11:30 am, through August 17, features William’s Floyd’s elementary-level teachers reading some of their favorite stories to preschool and school-aged children. Following the Wednesday evening sessions, students will have an opportunity to read to “Rosie” the reading dog. The Teachers’ Corner is held in the Children’s Department at the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library. The targeted age range is four to 10 years old, but children of all ages are welcome. Registration is not necessary.

Pictured are Tony Alfano (far left) and Tony Liberti (far right) with the recipients of the 2017 William Floyd Scholarship Fund.

Pictured are the William Floyd Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament organizers from Century 21 Cor-Ace Realty and Ace Builders, Inc., (left to right) Tony Liberti, Tony Coraci, Tony Alfano and tournament coordinator and William Floyd Board of Education Vice President Jeananne Dawson.

The 21st annual William Floyd Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament is scheduled for Monday, August 28 at the Bellport Golf Club in Bellport, a wonderful community event that, since its inception, has raised more than $478,000 in scholarships for deserving William Floyd High School seniors.

The event, sponsored by Tony Liberti, Tony Coraci and Tony Alfano of Century 21 Cor-Ace Realty and Ace Builders, Inc., respectively, features 18 holes of golf bordering the picturesque Great South Bay followed by a dinner reception with prizes and raffles. Golf registration includes breakfast and lunch. For those who do not play golf, tickets are also available for the dinner only. Please call (631) 878-3400 for more information. The registration flier is attached.