The Long Beach Public Schools celebrated more student achievements during the May 3 Board of Education Meeting, held at Long Beach High School. Artists as well as athletes were recognized for their talent, skill and dedication. Students earned a total of 30 Visual Arts distinctions in the regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards program, and two members of the wrestling team were formally honored as state champions.

Jovanna Vicente earned a Gold Key, Silver Key and two Honorable Mentions in the Photography category of the Scholastic program and Charles Mandell secured a Gold Key and Honorable Mention for Photography. Isabel Kreutzberg, Jaci Zitman and Owen Martin also received Gold Keys in Photography, as did Julia Gillego in Drawing and Illustration. 

Other Silver Key Awards went to Emily Backlin, Summer Ejnes, Charlotte Kile and Caroline Kreutzberg for their Mixed Media pieces; Isadora Turbek for Drawing & Illustration; Niccole Linares, Elijah Rodriguez and Elizabeth Zielinski for Digital Art and Jillian Lerner and Rachelle Valdallion for Photography. Honorable Mentions were additionally attained by Natalia Hakimzadeh, Shane Lerner and Robin Xiao for Drawing and Illustration; Liam Thornton for Mixed Media; Mikayla Dean for Senior Portfolio and Nina Capofarri, Victoria Posada, Kayla Aristizabal, Rianna Mackey and Paris Rubin for Photography. 

Jacori Teemer and Elijah Rodriguez were congratulated for their success as New York State wrestling champions. This was Jacori’s fifth time taking the title and a first for Elijah. The tournament was held on Feb. 24 in Albany.