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Members from the High School East Habitat for Humanity Club volunteered on a student build in East Patchogue on May 14 and May 21. The students were trained and instructed to place the rafters on the roof and frame the rooms of the home. The site supervisor also discussed safety protocols, the responsibility of the homeowner, and the mission statement for Habitat for Humanity.

Two High School West students have been recognized by the Long Island Association of Special Education Administrators for their dedication to their academic success.

High School West senior Daniel Van Nostrand has been selected by the scholarship committee of LIASEA to receive the Student of the Year Award. He was honored during a virtual ceremony on June 4. 

High School West senior Alyssa DiLoreto was selected by the executive board of LIASEA’s award committee to receive the Jodi Shapiro Memorial Award. She was also recognized for all of her achievements at a virtual ceremony on June 4.

The newly reconfigured High School East library hosted some special guests on May 17. The senior leadership classes arranged for three therapy dogs – Barbie, Khieron and Dino – from Therapy Dogs of Long Island to visit with students and staff.

“After the year we had, it was nice to do something as a group,” said High School East senior leadership student Giaonna Barbone. “Our goal was to help the students relax and do something fun. Everyone was so happy to have the dogs here to break up the routine.”

The librarians, who have been working with students in small groups and virtually during COVID restrictions, were also happy to have the buzz of activity back in the space. “We spent a good portion of this year reimagining the library floorplan and opening it up to accommodate small and large groups of students,” said Jean-Marie Kliphuis, High School East’s librarian. “Our goal is to make sure all students feel comfortable and welcome, whether they need to conference with a teacher, find some quiet space to decompress, or work on a group project. The library is about community, and the dogs fit in perfectly.”

High School East senior Gianna Goldsborough was excited by how the day played out. “The library made the visit easy for the students and the dogs, and it brought us together in unexpected ways. There were no phones out. Kids were bonding with the dogs and each other.”

The district held a viewing ceremony for its two honor speakers from High School East and High School West, who were honored at the annual Suffolk County School Superintendents Association virtual valedictorian recognition ceremony on June 3.

The two honor speakers – George Maidhof from High School West and Maximillian Nadelson from High School East – were surrounded by family members and district administrators as they watched the event. Hosted by Center Moriches School District Superintendent of Schools and president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association Dr. Ron Masera, the guest speaker was “The Energy Bus” author Jon Gordon.

Visitors, students and staff to the High School West’s campus can now park under a new clean energy solar parking structure, which officially went live to produce electricity in May. The district held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the conclusion of the project on June 9.

The new solar installation brings the benefits of carports, a cost-effective and innovative way to generate power to the Smithtown Central School District. The solar carport will significantly reduce the overall electricity bill for the district, with the money saved being reinvested in educational programs. The solar project will also provide an educational opportunity for the students, while also helping the environment.

The surface used for the solar carports will produce clean energy and actively lower energy costs. The system was installed by Sunrise Power Solutions and is the largest solar carport system owned by a school district in New York State. “This is a popular option among the K-12 municipal industry as money saved from lower energy bills can be directly reallocated back into education,” said Kristian Ingebrigtsen, CEO of Sunrise Power Solutions.

The project has a total size of 2.06 MW and an estimated annual output of 2.726 KWH. According to Michael Volts, director of energy efficiency and renewables at PSEG Long Island, the energy produced by the system will offset the entire energy usage at Smithtown High School West and the excess energy credits will be used to offset the usage at 11 other district-owned buildings.

“PSEG Long Island commends the Smithtown School District for participating in this energy performance project, which will save the community money and help create a cleaner, healthier future for its students and all of Long Island,” Voltz explained. “The more than 26,000 LED lighting fixtures and bulbs they installed will lower their energy usage, helping to reap the maximum benefits from the new solar carport systems and making them eligible to receive PSEG Long Island energy efficiency lighting rebates that lowered the cost of the project.”

Built under an energy performance contract with Johnson Controls, who led the project, the carport features 5.422 JA Solar panels and 30 SML Sunny Tripower Core1 inverters with a monitoring system. There are 10 separate carport canopy structures, along with two Leviton car charging stations. According to the EPA, this solar system will offset the greenhouse gas emissions from 416 passenger cars driven for one year or 2,124,073 pounds of coal burned.