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Rye Neck High School freshmen – Nicholas Esposito and Diana Teodorescu – were selected to perform for All-County music ensembles by the prestigious Westchester County School Music Association for its 2019 festival concerts.

Esposito (timpani drums) performed with the Intermediate All-County Orchestra, and Teodorescu (flute/piccolo flute) performed with the Intermediate All-County Band. The talented musicians were selected based on results from a highly competitive and rigorous audition process that took place last spring. 

“They devoted many months of private study and practice to this endeavor,” music teacher John Mattera said. “Their commitment affords them the opportunity to perform challenging musical repertoire alongside other highly dedicated student musicians from Westchester County, all under the direction of special guest conductors.”

The Intermediate All-County Band concert was held on March 2 and the Intermediate All-County Orchestra concert was held on March 3 at SUNY Purchase.

Rye Neck High School seniors – who have been conducting extensive research on public policy issues that affect our local community as part of their Participation in Government classes – welcomed New York State Sen. Shelley Mayer as a special guest speaker to their school on March 1.

“It’s important that government leaders visit schools to understand the issues and priorities of our young adults,” said teacher and social studies department chairperson Karen Parisi, who organized Mayer’s visit. “It is also important for young adults to hear about the actions that our elected leaders are taking, their plans for the future and how students can influence the legislative process.” 

During her visit, Sen. Mayer shared her experiences working in Albany and encouraged the students to be civically engaged and have a voice in what happens in their community. Some of the policy issues that Sen. Mayer discussed with the students included school safety, climate change, water safety on the Long Island Sound, legalization of medical marijuana and prevention of trucks from accessing roads like the Hutchinson River Parkway and hitting overpasses. 

“I liked the solutions and actions that she spoke about regarding water pollution, which is important to us as we live so close to the Long Island Sound,” senior Joseph Yang said. 

Three distinguished Rye Neck High School seniors – Risa Liebman, Delaney Park and Elena Tisnovsky – were selected as finalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program competition. 

The three students entered the competition along with approximately 1.6 million students nationwide by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors in 2017. Students with the highest scores were chosen to advance as semifinalists and required to submit a detailed scholarship application, demonstrate an outstanding academic record, write an essay and earn SAT scores that confirmed their high performance on the qualifying test.  

The pool was further narrowed down to 16,000 finalists who remain in the competition for 7,500 prestigious scholarships. 

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in the spring.

Members of the Rye Neck High School Mock Trial team – who are vying for the coveted Westchester County championship title – won the first preliminary round of the competition against the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, held at the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains on Feb. 28. 

The students have been diligently examining this year’s case of Harley Davison v. Gotham City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and preparing to act as attorneys and witnesses as they present their case in a courtroom setting. The case is about Harley Davison, who is fighting for legal custody of an apartment that Harley claims to live in with their aunt before the aunt’s unfortunate passing. After the aunt’s death, Harley filed for succession rights of the apartment but was denied by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Harley is appealing the department’s initial decision on the grounds that the investigation was arbitrary and capricious and Harley did in fact meet the department’s guidelines for succession.

In the first round, juniors Nathan Lesser, Lucas Pasquina and Juliana Silva led the plaintiff side of the case as attorneys, while junior Tiana Colon and sophomores Josh Rubin and Gabe Miller supported their strong case as convincing witnesses. 

Marcella Scalise, the Mock Trial team coach and a social studies teacher, said her students have been diligently preparing for the competitions and are ready for the challenges ahead. 

“We have gotten off to a great start and I hope to continue this success throughout the season,” Scalise said. 

The Rye Neck High School Mock Trial team will compete in the second round against Blind Brook High School at the Westchester County Courthouse on March 7. 

Rye Neck High School senior Risa Liebmann has earned a Gold Key award in the 2019 Hudson-to-Housatonic Writing Region of the Scholastic Art & Writing awards competition for her collection of poems, “Fragments.” 

“What makes Risa unique is her voice – it is real and honest, and a product of her being a wordsmith,” her teacher Melinda Merkel said. “This is her first Scholastic entry, and the result is gratifying, but not surprising.” 

A panel of professional novelists, editors, teachers, poets, librarians and journalists considered 2,151 entries submitted this year. They awarded 345 honorable mentions to promising works, 194 Silver Keys to distinguished works, 120 Gold Keys to the most accomplished works and five American Voice Nominees to the strongest regional works. 

As a Gold Key award recipient, Liebmann has advanced to the national level of the competition. She will be recognized at an awards ceremony at Manhattanville College on March 3.   

Rye Neck High School seniors Maggie Victory, Dasha Boswell, Jose LaTorre, Risa Liebmann and Sandy Zhang attended the 45th annual Yale Model United Nations conference from Jan. 17-20. 

Accompanied by their adviser Thomas Graziano, the students – who were among more than 1,700 student-delegates from more than 80 schools worldwide – stepped into the shoes of United Nations ambassadors to debate a variety of current issues. Zhang represented Panama in the World Health Organization committee, Victory represented Sierra Leone in the African Union, LaTorre represented North Korea in DISEC (Disarmament and International Security Committee), Liebmann represented North Korea in the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs Committee, and Boswell represented Panama in ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council). In addition, the students submitted position papers that addressed their assigned topic.

In her essay, “The Ties That Bind Us: International Networks in An Area of Globalization,” Victory wrote about macroeconomics and its effect on globalization. As a result, she earned third place in the essay competition and was recognized by a panel of judges for her passion and interest in the topic she analyzed. Victory’s submission will be published on the website of the Yale Review of International Studies, Yale's premier undergraduate journal of international relations scholarship.

“Maggie is one of the best writers in our Model UN at Rye Neck, and she takes pride in the clarity of her thoughts, as well as in ensuring all of her statements are supported by factual evidence,” Graziano said. “Her background in Advanced Placement European History during her sophomore year, as well as her current AP Macroeconomics class, helped her craft a great essay concerning the impact of globalization and interdependence in the contemporary world.”

Graziano said the students who are part of the Model UN Club, which was founded three years ago at Rye Neck, have worked tirelessly to ensure that the club remains a competitive Model UN delegation. 

“Through all of their hard work, afterschool meetings, and trial and error at local Model UN conferences, they have demonstrated that they have the skills and determination to compete on a global level with delegations from around the world,” he said. “They had a great time making deals and friendships with the delegates they met at Yale, and exemplified sheer determination in ensuring that we were able to participate in one of the largest Model UN conferences in the Northeast.” 

Graziano said Rye Neck High School Principal Tina Wilson has been instrumental in the success of the club due to her support throughout the year and providing students with the opportunity to attend multiple conferences. 

“Our students are honing their debate skills but also internalizing the need and ability to be the driving force for change in politics, society, and, hopefully, global affairs in the future,” Graziano said. 

Rye Neck High School members of the Spanish Club have raised $865 for the Pulsera Project, a nonprofit organization that educates, employs and empowers Central American artists through the sale of colorful handwoven bracelets, or “pulseras” in Spanish. 

Twenty-five students took the initiative to sell bracelets and purses, which were handcrafted by artists from Nicaragua and Guatemala. Led by students Adesuwa Carlton, Kimberly Carlton, Nicole Pereira, Joshua Rubin and Elona Sebbane, who shared the art and stories of the Pulsera Project with their peers, club members sold 143 bracelets and 15 purses. 

"When I first found out about the Pulsera Project, I thought it was an amazing idea,” said Rubin, a sophomore and club president who contacted the organization to receive the materials and instructions. “I immediately knew that I needed to bring this incredible fundraiser to our school. I thought this would be a perfect initiative for the Spanish Club. At the end of this project, everyone who worked on it, including myself, realized the importance of helping others.” 

Each colorful bracelet and purse – which was a one-of-a-kind, wearable work of art – contained a tag with a picture and signature of the artisan who made it. Angie Garcia, a Spanish teacher and club adviser, said the money the students raised will help fund construction of schools, housing and welfare programs in Nicaragua and Guatemala. 

“The unique and colorful patterns, and the connection to the people who made them, motivated the Spanish Club members to want to raise funds,” Garcia said. “The students’ involvement in this project connected to their Spanish studies by providing information about the population, typical dishes, scenery, work and education customs in Nicaragua and Guatemala. The students better understood the economic challenges that young people their age face in these two countries.”

Given the success of this year’s fundraiser, students said they plan on hosting another fundraiser and provide school community members with the opportunity to further enjoy the handcrafted art while also supporting the artists and their families. 

“We are grateful for having the opportunity to help people in Nicaragua and Guatemala,” said Sebbane, a sophomore and events coordinator for the Spanish Club. “The Pulsera Project gave Rye Neck students a chance to become familiar with beautiful works made by hand by many talented children and adults from other communities.”