Islip High School students in Renee Clock’s career development and occupational skills class worked on coding for National STEM Day on Nov. 8. School librarians Elaine Schmidt and Gina Seymour met with the students and explained how coding involves following step-by-step instructions to achieve an end result.

For this activity, students used a programmable mouse to navigate through several different mazes to reach a piece of cheese. After creating the mazes, the students then needed to write computer code for he mouse. It took several attempts to move the mouse to its final destination but with determination, every student successfully programmed their mouse to make it through the maze successfully.

“This was a great opportunity for students to utilize higher-level thinking skills and problem-solving skills, head librarian Seymour said.

“By participating in multifaceted activities like this, the students are learning transferable workplace skills,” Clock said.     

Date Added: 11/18/2022

Islip High School participated in a building wide awareness campaign this October for the annual Pink by the Bay event, sponsored by Northwell Health.

The school’s work involved numerous classes and clubs, beginning with Renee Clock’s college business law class, who practiced social responsibility by hanging a Pink by the Bay banner on Main Street that remained up for the month of October. Students in Jenna Buzzeo’s Art Club then decorated the windows in the main lobby with different breast cancer awareness paintings. Mercedes Cipkin and Lorraine Knoblauch’s cosmetology classes offered pink hair extensions for a donation, while Melissa Horn’s students sold coffee and pink-decorated cupcakes from their Bucs Brew cart to raise money. The students in Clock’s Junior Chamber of Commerce Club designed pink Islip shirts and sweatshirts that were sold in the IBuc Shop. Chris Clehane and Greg Ruccia’s health classes learned about breast cancer awareness and detection from guest speakers from the Maurer Foundation for Breast Health Education.

On Nov. 1, Northwell representatives Patricia McColley and Nicole Mosca awarded Islip freshmen Samantha Krut and Samantha Tran an Amazon gift card for the winning window design, and students representing the Junior Chamber of Commerce Club, cosmetology classes, IBuc Shop and Bucs Brew presented Islip Breast Cancer Coalition representatives Dannielle Gerharty, Catherine Lemon and Denise Schwarz with a $1,000 donation check for breast cancer research.

“This was truly a team effort with different clubs, students and staff coming together to create breast cancer awareness and donate funds towards research,” Clock said.

Date Added: 11/17/2022

Islip High School was buzzing with energy on the morning of Nov. 2 as juniors and seniors flocked to the school’s gymnasium to attend a college fair. Dozens of college and career representatives were on hand to answer detailed questions from the students on topics such as majors, financial aid, admission requirements, AP credits, extracurricular offerings and life on campus.

“What an amazing college fair,” Director of School Counseling Dr. Cynthia Fitzgerald said. “We had a great turnout, and thank all of the colleges, universities and military branches for attending and speaking with our students.” 

Date Added: 11/16/2022

Islip High School students in Susan Riche’s business ownership and marketing classes participated in two walking field trips in October, visiting local businesses on Main Street in Islip. The students had been exploring various types of business ownership and learned about what is involved in starting and managing a business.

During the trips, the Islip students had the opportunity to meet the owners of Islip Meat Market, The Pizzeria, Coyle’s Homemade Ice Cream, Islip Pharmacy, Sew What’s New and Starbucks, providing a behind-the-scenes look at what makes those businesses successful.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to gain business knowledge beyond the classroom setting,” Riche said.

Date Added: 11/16/2022