High school students in teacher Jesse Eilbeck’s shop class recently worked on a creative tile project, designing and building functional shelving units for their use at home.

“I gave the students free reign on the design aspect,” said Eilbeck. “The tile could be mosaic in pattern or more structured. The kids had fun doing the process of tile and also grouting the work.”

High school students Lilian Arriaza and Isabella Bentacur Vanegas, both former English Language Learners, were among 13 female Long Island high schoolers recently given the opportunity to attend the LILTA Young Women’s Summer Institute at Stony Brook University as part of a collaboration between the university, Islip’s ENL and World Languages Department, the Long Island Latino Teachers Association and Flutterflies Inc.

During their time at the institute, the two Islip students became familiarized with the college experience as well as careers in the STEAM fields of science, technology, engineering, art and math. Arriaza and Bentacur Vanegas attended numerous workshops and training events tackling subjects such as salary negotiation skills, geology exploration, biometrical engineering, financial aid and writing college admission essays.

“Our English Language Learners deserve equitable and inclusive learning opportunities that will prepare them for college, career readiness and beyond,” said Priscilla Zarate, Islip’s coordinator of ENL and world languages. “By providing these experiences to our students, we are setting them up with pathways for academic success and also helping them bring out those hidden potentials that they may not yet realize they hold within. Through these learning opportunities, our students discovered skills and interests they didn't realize they had, especially in STEAM.”

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Jon LaRochester was recently named principal of the high school, replacing Michael Mosca.

LaRochester had served for the past six years as assistant principal at John F. Kennedy High School in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. He previously worked as a social studies teacher and AP psychology and senior seminar instructor at Bethpage High School.

A resident of Centereach, LaRochester earned his bachelor’s degree in history with secondary education certificate from St. Joseph’s College, a master’s degree in adolescent education and professional diploma in educational technology and integration from Dowling College, and a school district administration certificate from Stony Brook University.

“My goal as the new principal of Islip High School is to provide students with the most dynamic learning experiences through the creation of a culture that is rich in opportunities and fosters authentic student development,” said LaRochester.

Seven Class of 2019 graduates – Victoria Arthus, Lauren Cottral, Jenna Gologorsky, Nicholas Nilsen, Meg Rumplick, Matthew Southard and Matthew Steves – were honored with the New York State Education Department’s Scholarship for Academic Excellence. Arthus received a $1,500 scholarship; the other six students earned $500 scholarships. The annual award is based on students’ Regents exam scores, and can only be used if a winning student attends a New York State college.

The high school recognized six students on June 18 for earning the Islip School District Seal of Biliteracy. This was the second year that Islip has bestowed this prestigious honor, offered by the New York State Education Department, which recognizes high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading,and writing in one or more languages, in addition to English.

The honored students were Christian Guerrero (project on El Salvador), Nicole Huaylinos (project on Peru), Harold Martinez (project on Argentina), Bianka Morales (project on Guatemala), Isabella Pollina (project on Cuba) and Leonardo Soto (project on Colombia).

The Seal of Biliteracy affirms the value of diversity in a multilingual society, recognizes the value of world and home language instruction in schools, encourages the study of languages, identifies high school graduates with language and biliteracy skills for employers, provides universities with additional information about applicants seeking admission and prepares students with 21st century skills.

“Our district has been recognizing students for their bilingualism, biliteracy and cross-cultural competence with the Seal of Biliteracy since its inception in 2018,” said Priscilla Zarate, the district’s ENL and world language coordinator. “The first year, only one student from the high school received this award. This year, we were excited to recognize six students. Next year, we are expecting 15 students to work on earning the Seal of Biliteracy. My thanks to ELA coordinator Barbara Wagner for supporting the ELA pathway for these students, and to world language teacher Karen Maisano, for guiding the students in their project development to meet the world language criteria.”