DISCOVERY PROGRAM

Students in our 7th and 8th grade Discovery Program selected to enter either the Toshiba ExploraVision Awards or the Christopher Columbus Awards Program as part of their class work this year. Each is a nationwide program that challenges middle school students to explore and develop changes in their community or develop a product that could help people in the future. Each group developed a unique idea into a final project by doing much research and teamwork. Two groups were even guests on a weekly radio show on K-JOY 98.3 to share the work they did.

Two of the groups that entered the Toshiba ExploraVision Awards received national honorable mention for the work they did. The first group developed the VMD-Visual Monitoring Device to help a caregiver responsible for an Alzheimer’s patient. The 7th grade students in this group are Paul Dellorusso, Eric Sacks, and Jared Blistein. The second group developed the Self-Cleaning Keyboard to help eliminate bacteria on our school computer keyboards. The 7th grade students in this group are Zachary Kravat, Eric Sands, John Edison, and Doug Schanz.

In the Christopher Columbus Awards Program, one group made it to the semi-finals. This group looked at the ways to clean public bathrooms and eliminate fungi and bacteria. The students in this group are Eric Bornstein, Joey Pinola, Michael Martini, and Russell Saltzman. These students will receive honors on June 3rd from Nassau County and have been invited to meet with Governor Pataki in Albany in the next few weeks.

Congratulations to all the Discovery students this year for the work they did and to those students that received national recognition from these organizations. A special note of appreciation to Mrs. Isabel Kaplan, our school librarian extraordinaire, for being drafted to help take charge of these projects and never complained once. Without her effort, commitment, and skills our projects would never have been successfully completed. Next year our 7th grade group is determined to have all our groups win and spend time in Disney World.