After a very strong and successfulwinter season, the Calhoun High School Girls Track and Field team continued to roll as they successfully defended their spring conference title to claim theirsixth in a row.

“The girls rolled through the whole season on the backs of many talented and dedicated athleteswho had a single goal in mind – win,” explained Coach Joseph Migliano.

Sofia Zampella and Kaitlyn Stibritz led the distance crew week in and out. Many times, doubling and tripling in all distance events. Zampella and Stibritz are both ranked in the top three of Nassau County.

Julia Baguiao led the sprints and middle-distance team all season long, often running the 100, 200 and 400 meter races all in the same day. She is the school record holder in her respective events and is one of the top sprinters in all Long Island.

“The heart of the program has always been the jumps and hurdles; and this year has seen the strongest group in school history,” added Migliano. Led by All-State athleteSara Manson, the girls dominated the long and triple jump week in and out.”

Manson, who is the school record holder in the long and triple jump, propelled herself to number 3 in the state, jumping 18 feet 5 inches in long and 37 feet 10 inches in triple.

Along with the jumps, Manson is also ranked number 3 in New York State for the 100m hurdles.

Manson mentored Brooke Cancellarich, who is now the fourth best hurdler in Nassau County. Sophia Hines worked hard week in and out and following Manson’s lead has moved up to the second best triple jumper in Nassau and seventh in New York State.

Yolina Bastien, Lauren Rosario and Milan Alexander have shown tremendous strides and round out what can be considered the best jumps program in all of New York.

The girls hope to defend their Division title May 15 at Wellington C. Mepham High School and they look to claim the program’s first ever Spring County title on May 23 at Valley Stream North High School.

Date Added: 5/4/2023

Students from the Senior Leadership class at Calhoun High School presented to the seventh grade social studies classes at Merrick Avenue Middle School on the power of symbols and the difference between positive symbols, negative symbols and those symbols which represent hate.

Teacher Brian Joyce helped students hone their lessons, which incorporated video lessons and question and answer prompts. Ten student volunteers visited various classrooms on April 27.

“We want to spread awareness to the district so that students are more well educated on this topic,” said Gabriela Castillo.

“Another goal is to make sure school stays an inclusive environment,” added Sophia Philis.

They also educated students on hate crime and hateful vandalism laws, as well as the meaning behind a swastika and why its imagery denotes a negative and hateful connotation.

“Whether or not you feel what it represents, it still hurst others,” said Noah Paymer. “And actions have consequences, especially when it comes to symbols such as these.”

“When you draw a hate symbol, it portrays something that can really hurt another individually emotionally,” added Thomas Morash.

They are later visiting eighth grade classes with a similar message.

“This is the second year having lessons and we wanted whole building to get the same message how hate and intolerance can lead to serious problems,” explained Christina Cone, a social studies chairperson.

Click here to view the photo slideshow.

Date Added: 5/3/2023

Three individual athletes and one team from Calhoun High School were recognized at the April 3 Bellmore-Merrick Board of Education meeting.

Sara Manson of the girls track team earned All-State honors, three conference championships in Long Jump, 55 meter hurdles, and the Triple Jump.

“She helped the Colts claim their fifth straight Conference Championship which is the long streak on Long Island,” read board trustee Tracey Miller. “Sara followed up her perfect conference meet with another two wins at the county meet, helping her team earn their second consecutive Conference title and score the most team points out of any Nassau County team - male or female.

Manson finished the season as the top triple jumper in Nassau County and represented Section 8 at the New York State championships on March 4 in Staten Island.

“She came into the meet ranked 17th in the state but had a tremendous day breaking her own school record jumping 36 feet 9 inches,“ added Miller. “That jump landed Sara at number 6 in New York State and seventh in the federation.”

Logan Schaeffler earned All-State honors, winning both the state and federation meets in the 1600-meter run, setting a new school record with a time of 4:13.5. He broke the old record by over 8 seconds.

“His time puts him in the top 20 in the entire nation, an achievement that is truly remarkable,” read board vice president Janet Goller.

He also broke the Section VIII record and achieved the fastest indoor time in New York State.

“Logan’s dedication to his sport, his team and his own personal development is truly inspiring,” added Goller. “He is a true team player, always encouraging his fellow athletes and inspiring them to be the best that they can be.”

Senior Raymond Adams ended his wrestling career at Calhoun as a two-time All-State and three-time All-County wrestler.

Earlier in the season, Ray was voted Outstanding Wrestler at the Battle at the Beach and Sprig Gardner tournaments,” read board trustee Dr. Nancy Kaplan. “He also placed 4th in the prestigious Eastern States Classic and in the off-season won the New York State Freestlye and Greco-Roman State Championships. Ray concluded his senior season with a season record of 44-6, a career record of 110-22 and a New York State Championship 3rd place finish.”

Thanks to his relentless work ethic and determination, Adams also excels in the classroom where he maintains a 98 average and received 1450 on the SATs.

The girls track team won the Nassau County championships in early February.

The girls started the seasonoff strong, setting personal bests and training harder than they ever had.

“The team wound up only competing 13 girls at the county, a number that is staggeringly low for this meet; however, these 13 were some of the toughest girls in Nassau and it showed that day,” read board trustee Edward Corona.

The team went on to dominate the field events and picked up some very importantpoints on the track, beating perennial county champs Valley Stream North for the second year in a row.

“The girls scored 114 points which was the most on Long Island this past winter on the girls or boys side,” added Cornona. “The team sent a stunning 11 girls to the National Championships in Boston and New York City; the most the program has ever sent in a single season.”

Date Added: 4/4/2023

For over a decade and a half, Calhoun High School’s Senior Experience Program has held a charitable fashion show to fundraise for an organization, which is specifically chosen by the students.

This year, the fashion show will be on April 4, at 7:30 p.m., and benefit TheJED Foundationwhich the Senior Experience students selectedas their charity.

“To choose this foundation, every student picked a charity to research and introduceto the class, which we then had to vote on,” explained Caitlin Sullivan, a fashion show intern. “The students, as a group, decided that the JED Foundation was the most meaningful and we wanted to support it. At Calhoun, we take mental health very seriously and are very determined to make an impact on many people's lives with this fashion show.”

The interns are responsible for organizing the fashion show and also include Angela Villalona, Alexa Gardner, Carrie Borg, Kinga Brulinska, Caitlin Sullivan and Madeline Ryan. There are about 60 students involved in the making of the fashion show. Their teachers are Jason Elias and Elizabeth Separ.

“This includes making flyers, T-shirt designs, the program, emailing with companies for ad spaces and raffle donations, selling tickets, promoting the show, and assigning roles for the show. Some roles are the hosts, script writers, models, etc.,” explained Ryan.

Local stores such as David’s Bridal, Esquire Tuxedos and Vanilla Sky are among those who will provide formal wear for the event.

“As interns, we have learned how to communicate well with our peers, teachers and organization owners to get our clothing for the event,” added Brulinska.

JED aims to “empower teens and young adults by building resiliency and life skills, promoting social connectedness, and encouraging help-seeking and help-giving behaviors.”

To learn more or donate, click here; https://jedfoundation.crowdchange.co/31755.

Date Added: 4/3/2023