Long Beach High School Science teacher Cody Onufrock was recently recognized by the Long Island STEM Education Leadership Association (LISTEMELA) as a beacon of light for Long Beach students.

Mr. Onufrock is always finding ways for his students and colleagues to engage in authentic, hands-on, real-world science experiences beyond the walls of the classroom.

Over the past several years, he has worked with local agencies such as The Town of Hempstead and Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery to bring several multi-year projects to the school. Some of those projects include, growing kelp and oysters in a pond, growing and releasing trout, establishing a reforestation project, and drawing on his background as a nature guide to bring students on field trips to engage with local natural resources like seal walks and hikes in Cold Spring Harbor.

He leverages these projects as authentic phenomena through which students learn relevant science concepts and understand aspects of environmental stewardship, for the projects not only cover relevant standards, many include an environmental restoration or conservation aspect.

The Long Beach teacher is one of fifteen science teachers from across Long Island recognized with this honor. STEM Star recipients were selected for their exemplary commitment to the vision of LISTEMELA, which is equitable student access to high quality learning experiences in STEM.

Date Added: 5/9/2024

The Long Beach fourth grade Learning Activities to Raise Creativity (LARC) Robotics Teams have earned a coveted spot in the International Wonder League Robotics Competition Invitational Round.

The Wonder League Robotics Competition (WLRC) is an international coding and robotics competition for future tech leaders and innovators. Almost 8,000 teams participated in the WLRC competition from 69 countries. Only 12% of teams qualified for the International Invitational Round. Teams participated in four rounds of intensive missions over a five-month period to compete for a chance to earn a spot in the Wonder Workshop sponsored International Invitational Round.

Through a series of story-based missions, the teams developed problem-solving, growth mindset, and creativity skills through coding and programming. The LARC Robotics Teams designed solutions for real-world science and technology challenges by programming their robots.

Congratulations to Mason Bermeo, Jaedyn Diamond, Caylee Donaghy, Arwyn Donofrio, Brody Dowler, Madeline Eckert, Grayson Eichin, Jackson Ferraro, Kiernan Gianfrancesco, Rosalia Heindrichs, Owen Klein, Emma Kohn, Slate Koss, Caroline McCarthy, Kylie McDonnell, Rowan McLaughlin, Jack McNicholas, Hannah Montalbano, Daniel Mooney, Vittoria Mortillaro, Murphey Moser, Cruz Nafte, Riley Pilczak, Truman Rodabaugh, Wolfe Scanio, Laina Sisko, Jayden Torres, Harlen Werner, Jack Wilsusen and Zoey Zeilman.

The Long Beach teams are coached by Long Beach teacher Dr. Caitlin Fuentes King.

Date Added: 5/8/2024