Our first ever COMMUNITY COOKS HEALTHY event was a great success thanks to the culinary team from NORTHWELL HEALTH. Thank you to NSUH Executive Chef Janisa Freycinet and her amazingly skilled team of chefs. Not only did they bring their expertise, but Northwell also donated all the food for our students to create their best Mexican meal. Thank you to Chef Christian Schmidt, Director of NSUH Nutrition and Dining Services, for this generous donation! There was a plentiful selection of food to choose from.

The goal of this cooking initiative was to foster an interest in cooking and to encourage families to gather around the table, to grocery shop, plan, prepare, and eat meals together. Families that cook together are happier and healthier!

Our student /teacher/chef teams prepared healthful and delicious Mexican entrees. Our panel of judges did not leave hungry, as they crowned Team Queso as the winning Master Chefs.

Our Family Consumer Science Department focuses on skills and strategies for meeting basic human needs. It’s a life skill that can save you money as well as improve your mental and physical health. This community cooking event gave our students skills for life!

Thank you to all who participated.

Scheduled events include ...

Monday, March 27: Battle Pie-Eating Contest, 3:00 PM, Courtyard

Tuesday, March 28: Battle Trivia, 3:00 PM, Cafeteria B

Thursday, March 30: Hallway Building, 3:00-8:00 PM

Friday, March 31: Battle of the Classes! New Gym, 3:00-5:00 PM

The HERRICKS HIGH SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA has once again been recognized on the national level, winning 2nd Place in the 2023 ASTA NATIONAL ORCHESTRA FESTIVAL held in Orlando, Florida on March 17-20.

Under the direction of High School Orchestra teacher, Ms. Catherine Birke, the orchestra performed a rigorous program for three esteemed adjudicators in the orchestral field. The repertoire included works by Mendelssohn, Mahler, Shostakovich, and the world premiere of the string orchestra version of a piece composed by Indian-American composer, Reena Esmail. The ensemble earned the highest ranking of "Outstanding" as well as national recognition for their 2nd place finish!

The students started rehearsing for this competition in August, coming in before school started, staying late after school many days, and devoting an enormous amount of time and emotional energy to crafting a nuanced and passionate performance. Orchestra Director, Mrs. Birke writes: "I am so proud to call these students mine and so proud that we could represent Herricks and this incredible community this week. The Chamber Orchestra gave the performance of a lifetime, and it feels amazing to come off stage and not want to change a thing. We learned a lot and had an amazing time together. I will cherish my memories of this trip for the rest of my life, and I know the students will too."

Following the competition performance, the students enjoyed some well-earned time at Universal Studios in Orlando and participated in other events as part of the ASTA conference.

Congratulations on a job well done everyone!

The CHARLES DUGGAN LONG ISLAND SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR (LISEF) is a competition for the most advanced high school projects. Participants in this fair have a chance to present to professionals in their subject areas from local universities, scientific institutions and professionals in the field. Herricks High School was represented at LISEF at the Crest Hollow Country Club on March 7 by Seniors MEGAN CHENG and ASHLEY LAM.

Congratulations to both students on their research and placement within this competition!

MEGAN CHENG

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Gross Primary Productivity:

Predicting Biogenic Carbon Fluxes in the New York City Metropolitan Area

2nd Place, Earth and Environmental Science

ASHLEY LAM

Novel Zinc Oxide/Nanocellulose Composite as a Low-Cost Photocatalyst for Water Purification

3rd Place, Environmental Engineering

NEW YORK STATE SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR (NYSSEF) is the ISEF/Society for Science affiliated state fair for New York. ISEF is the world’s preeminent international science project competition for students in 9th through 12th grades. ISEF brings together students, teachers, scientific researchers, corporate executives, and government officials from around the world. Students compete for over $4 million in scholarships, tuition grants, scientific equipment, and scientific trips. This year, NYSSEF operated within a hybrid format. Round 1 was completed asynchronously online.

Herricks High School is pleased to announce the following students are advancing to Round 2 and will be competing in-person at the New York Hall of Science in Queens on March 27.

MEGAN CHENG - NAMIT KAPOOR - ASHLEY LAM - JEYLIN LEE - AIDAN LIN - DHEYALA SIMRIN

On March 17, five Herricks INTRO TO SCIENCE RESEARCH students were selected to compete in the KATHY BELTON SCIENCE FAIR held at Molloy University. The five student participants were:

JULIA LAM (Grade 9) – ANGELINA LIU (Grade 9) – AARTHI PALANIAPPAN (Grade 9)

KAITLYN RAMS (Grade 10) – MEGAN RO (Grade 9)

Angelina Liu received Second Place in the category of Microbiology. Students presented their independent research projects from the course to STEM teachers across Long Island.

We congratulate all student participants!

CHAMBER CHOIR, along with eight other choirs, had the honor of participating in MANHATTAN CONCERT PRODUCTIONS FESTIVAL CHORUS singing under the baton of one of the top choral conductors in the US: Dr. Amanda Quist from U. Miami. To have the opportunity to sing on a stage of enormous magnitude was an unforgettable experience!

Herricks Choral Director Ms. Lousie O'Hanlon proudly shares, "This opportunity gave our students an All-State type experience. I am enormously proud of the work they put in and the high level of artistry."

All choirs rehearsed at Manhattan Manor in NYC, for three days with a Monday evening performance. Chamber Choir was the only New York choir present. Other choirs were from Florida, California, Maryland and New Jersey, for a total of over 250 students making magnificent music.

Congratulations to Senior Herricks Soccer team member LUCIA PICCIRILLO, who just recently committed to playing soccer for Queens College. Lucia has enjoyed a productive athletic career for the Herricks Highlanders!

The Art Department is proud to acknowledge SENIOR NATALIE ZHOU for her latest achievements. She is being recognized by the REGION-AT-LARGE PROGRAM of the SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS 2023 for eight of her pieces. She is receiving a gold key for three of her works, a silver key for two of her works and an honorable mention for three of her works. She has also been selected as the ASA Scholarship award winner for this year. "She is an extraordinary artist, and we are extremely proud of her recent accomplishments. It has truly been an honor and privilege to work with Natalie for the past three years and watch her grow as an artist." says Natalie's art teacher Ms. Jennifer Cavalluzzo. Congratulations, Natalie!

Herricks DECA members recently competed at the 63rd ANNUAL NEW YORK DECA STATE CAREER CONFERENCE with other DECA students from across New York State. Fourteen students have been declared as state winners and will advance to the next level of competition which will be held in Orlando, FL in late April. We also have students that worked on events at home that qualify for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).

1st Place

Jacob Abraham - Marketing Management

Carolyn Lau - Entrepreneurship Series

Ashay Shah - Marketing Management

2nd Place

Jarod Chan - Business Law and Ethics

Lauren Lui - Retail Merchandising

Rushil Saini - Business Law and Ethics

3rd Place

Gayatri Bulsara - Food Marketing Series

4th Place

Sara Kamran - Buying and Merchandising

Alicia Mathew - Sports & Entertainment Marketing

Drishti Patel - Sports & Entertainment Marketing

Zara Rasul - Buying and Merchandising

5th Place

Emily Eng - Restaurant and Food Service Management

Priyana Pai - Financial Services

Krish Saraff - Financial Services

Also doing events that were worked on at school and qualified for ICDC are:

Jocelyn Chiu - AKA School Store

Jake Gibbons - Finalist

Meaghan Haller - Gold Certified Report

Lauren Lui - School Based Enterprise

Evan Xu - Stock Market Game

Special thanks to Ms. Stephanie Nelson, Mr. Liam O'Brien, and Mr. Scott Wilkolaski for chaperoning and making sure the students were having a safe and memorable experience.

Over the weekend of March 10, members of the HERRICKS HIGH SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS CLUB attended the NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MODEL UNITED NATIONS (NHSMUN) CONFERENCE in New York City attended by 2,000 delegates from over 70 countries.

Herricks delegates had four days of exciting debate and were given the opportunity to create global resolutions to worldwide crises. Additionally, our delegation was privileged to visit the Ghana mission to the United Nations where they posed thoughtful questions about the African country. At the start of the eventful weekend, Herricks delegates also visited the United Nations Headquarters and attended a lecture in the General Assembly Hall.

Awards of Merit & Plenary Speakers

MEGAN CHENG & CATHERINE SU - Brazil - Commission on the Status of Women

ZAYAN KHAN & EBEN THOMAS - Brazil - Organization of American States

MELINA APOSTOLATOS - Brazil - GA Legal Committee

Additionally, as a delegation, Herricks Model United Nations received an Award of Merit for Research and Preparation.

Congratulations to all our amazing delegates and advisors! This NHSMUN conference was certainly one to remember!

Herricks SOLAS club members and Advisor Ms. Jennifer Gallo hosted a fundraiser on March 15-16 for the Pulsera Project. The Pulsera Project is a nonprofit organization that educates, empowers, and connects Central American artists with students in more than 3,000 U.S. schools through the sale of colorful handwoven bracelets or "pulseras" in Spanish. Sales were brisk, and SOLAS club members raised over $1,200 for this organization. Proceeds will be going to employ Nicaraguan & Guatemalan artisans and investing proceeds to create lasting change in Central American communities.

On March 10, the Music Department hosted the LONG ISLAND JAZZ FESTIVAL. This was the 13th time Herricks has organized this event, which brings bands from all around Long Island together to play music for each other and receive instruction from a guest artist. This year featured both middle school and high school bands from Mineola, Manhasset, Wantagh, Port Washington, Farmingdale, Lynbrook, and Long Beach school districts.

The guest artist for the day was vocalist and saxophonist Camille Thurman. Ms. Thurman is a native of New York City and has performed with a number of jazz luminaries, including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She has received numerous awards for her singing, playing, and composing, including two Herb Alpert Young Composer Awards and was named runner up in the Sarah Vaughn International Vocal Jazz Competition. She toured Africa as a US Cultural Ambassador, and currently works as an Assistant Professor of Music at McGill University in Montreal. In addition to working with each band, she performed a set of music with the Herricks Blue Band, wowing the audience with both her vocal and playing ability. Please enjoy the video clip below!

Director of Jazz Band Geoffrey Taylor, who planned and organized the day, said "It's always a very valuable experience for young jazz musicians to hear what their peers are playing, and to be able to combine that with being taught by a master musician, and then also to hear her play and sing at such a high level, makes for a really wonderful experience for all involved. We feel very fortunate that Ms. Thurman joined us, and I know that the Herricks students who were able to perform with her will remember it for a long time."

On March 8, the HERRICKS INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S AID PROGRAM (HICAP) honored Senior Steven DiBiasi by hosting “Sips of Snapple.” The club members repurposed a bracelet Steven designed, while a member of the club, to sell them to HHS students and staff. Each bracelet sale came with a complimentary sip of Snapple, a drink that Steven fondly enjoyed. Proceeds were donated to the Trevor Project, an organization whose mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ young people.

On March 16, HERRICKS PEER LEADERSHIP/Period 4 organized a St .Patrick’s Day Sing-A-Long with our Community Center Senior Citizens Group. The Peer Leaders made goody bags with gold chocolate coins, baked goods and shamrock slogans for our Seniors. It was a beautiful experience for all involved.

Special thanks to students Yashini Telwala and Nicole Zhou who led this community service project.

On March 20, PEER LEADERSHIP, led by Ms. Gina Schrader, surprised the Wellness Center with breakfast in their honor to say thank you for all they do each day! The seniors picked this as their project idea to "give back" to Herricks High School, while also recognizing the hard work of the Wellness Center. The Peer students wrote notes thanking the counselors, psychologists and social workers for their support over the years. They also participated in a Q&A session to find out what the members of the Wellness Center do to unwind at the end of each day and what made them want to go into the profession of helping others.

It was such a beautiful, student-driven, recognition of love and respect! Thank you, students!

And, thank you to our SPONSORS and DONORS!

Please support these companies who so generously donated to our WIZARDS BASKETBALL FUNDRAISER.

Research shows that attendance is an important factor in student achievement.

The HERRICKS ATHLETIC BOOSTERS are adding to the brick walkway that leads to the football field. What better way to leave your family's mark and become part of the history! Commemorate your roll on the field, in your musical performance and in the classroom and order your brick today!

The brick sale will end on March 30 so place your order soon!

Monday, 3/27

V Softball home vs. Farmingdale 5:00

JV Softball away at Farmingdale 5:00

G JV Lax away at Mineola 4:45

V Baseball away at Floral Park 4:30

JV Baseball home vs. Floral Park 4:30

B JV lax away at Island Trees 5:00

B Track home meet 5:00

Tuesday, 3/28

SPRING PHOTOS (Baseball, Softball G Lax, B Lax)

V Baseball away at GNS 4:30 (scrimmage)

JV Baseball home vs. Roslyn 4:30 (scrimmage)

B V Tennis home vs. Chaminade 4:00 (scrimmage)

G Track home meet 5:00

G Golf practice at Spring Rock 4:00

Wednesday, 3/29

SPRING PHOTOS (G Golf, Tennis, G Badminton, B Track, G Track)

V Softball away at Levittown Division 5:00

JV Softball home vs. Levittown Division 5:00

G JV Lax away at Port Washington 4:45

V Baseball away at GNS 4:30 (scrimmage)

JV Baseball home vs. Roslyn 4:30 (scrimmage)

G Golf practice at Eisenhower 4:00

Thursday, 3/30

G V Lax away at Oyster Bay 5:00

G JV Lax home vs. Oyster Bay 5:00

B JV Lax away at North Shore 5:00

G Badminton home vs. Lynbrook 5:00

Friday, 3/31

No events - BATTLE OF THE CLASSES

Saturday, 4/1

V Baseball away at Wheatley 1:30

JV Baseball home vs. Wheatley 10:00

B JV Lax home vs. Calhoun 10:00