SUFFOLK ZONE 5 - NEIGHBOR NEWSPAPERS - WEDNESDAY MAY 31, 2017 • www.southbaysneighbor.com
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Space Station Lesson What started as a hobby for St. Joseph School’s Technical Director and Technology Teacher Jennifer Medordi, HAM Radio, ended up taking her whole school to space Monday morning as more than 300 people packed St. Joseph’s gym to see a dozen students from the school speak directly to astronaut Jack Fischer. The direct contact with the space station was the culmination to a school year that celebrated man’s exploration of space, and the fascination people have had throughout time with the exploration and conquest of space. Around the beginning of 2016 Ms. Medordi mentioned a program called ARISS, which is an acronym for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, to Principal Richard Kuntzler and asked if she could pursue placement in the program for St. Joseph’s students. “Jennifer explained that the ARISS program was a comprehensive program with suggested readings, handson assignments and other related work that gave students a broad historical, scientific and cultural perspective on space exploration.” Said Mr. Kuntzler. “I was intrigued by the idea, but because only about a dozen schools get chosen nationally each year to participate, I wasn’t planning around the program just yet.” Stated Kuntzler. That all changed when St. Joseph School was notified that they were just one of 14 schools nationally, and the only Catholic school selected to participate during the 2016 – 2017 school year. Ms. Medordi, an amateur radio operator and a lifelong technology enthusiast, gave the school a real advantage. In her proposal, Ms. Medordi outlined the current STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program already in place at St. Joseph’s and identified some crosscurricular opportunities they could take advantage of if selected. “The initial meeting with the rest of the faculty at St. Joseph’s just blew me away.” Said Ms. Medordi. “The teachers all enthusiastically embraced the concept and identified places where space exploration and radio communication could be embedded into all subjects,
including Social Studies, English Language Arts, Music, Art and Religion.” Continued Ms. Medordi. Since the beginning of the school year students at St. Joseph’s have read books on space, listened to space inspired music, and have learned about radio waves and rocket trajectories. There have even been three teacherdesigned ‘Space Days’ with themes that have included ‘Space History’ where they studied the Mercury, Apollo and Space Shuttle missions. They’ve learned about ‘Living in Space’ where they did activities that simulated space living and exercises for living in microgravity. And they’ve projected what the future might hold on ‘Colonizing Mars’ day. On ‘HAM Radio Day’, Ms. Medordi and her father, Paul Janson set up and radio operations
in the school allowing students to make contacts across the tri-state area to better understand HAM radio. Today’s contact with the International Space Station was led by 12 students from the school who became ‘Space Ambassadors’ by qualifying via an essay contest. The Ambassadors, and the rest of their classmates put together a list of 20 questions that represented the things that they wanted to know, and that hopefully hadn’t been asked before. Some of the questions included: If you could go back in time and say something to your pre-astronaut self, what would it be?
Do you perceive time differently in space? How does your view of Earth impact your perspective on humanity and how has the experience affected your faith? Fr. Mike Reader, Pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish, noted the profound changes we’ve seen in society in the 50 years since the Christmas Eve reading from the Book of Genesis during America’s Apollo 8 mission, and contrasted that with today’s global cooperative International effort. He noted that the International Space Station is the largest non-war international collaboration in history with 16 countries collaborating, and he thanked Ms. Medordi for “lighting the flame of space exploration in the school, and for all of the rest of the teachers in the school for fanning that flame.” The ARISS Program is a once-in-alifetime experience made possible by the Amateur Radio community and NASA. Space Ambassadors from St. Joseph School included: Shane Bellino Dominic Marando Alicia Soler Manuel Kittel Lauren Avilla Ralph Silvestre Cadence DePersio Logan Danna Aaron Tabigue Rohan Douglas Joseph Fardella Jr. Alexandra Buttonow “As a result of the ARISS Program and St. Joseph staff’s efforts the students now have a new appreciation of space science and many have expressed a desire to pursue careers in science and technology fields” stated Medordi. “That is the ultimate goal of the ARISS Program, to turn students on to the wonders of science and technology.” Interestingly the thing that intrigues students the most are the things related to the exploration of Mars. “Clearly the door that hasn’t been opened is the challenge to the next generation.” said Medordi.
Inaugural Relay for Life
The Connetquot Central School District recently celebrated its first Relay for Life event, bringing together district staff, students and community members to rally together and raise funds for cancer research. The night’s events consisted of speeches of encouragement and inspiration from
Connetquot High School psychologist and event coordinator Courtney Huguenin, current students Marina Duszak and Kevin Ferrara, as well as an emotional survivor lap recognizing those who have beaten their disease and a luminary ceremony to honor those still fighting and those no longer with
us today. Throughout the months of highly successful fundraising and the generosity of the school community, the district was able to collect $52,017 for the American RELAY FOR LIFE - On May 20th, Councilman Michael Loguercio was on-hand at the Cancer Society. Longwood Junior High School to participate in the Longwood School District’s “Relay for Life.” Walkers in the “Relay for Life” circled the school track to raise money and Photo courtesy of: awareness for the American Cancer Society. This year, the event raised over $34,000. Connetquot Central Pictured with Councilman Loguercio are Longwood School Board members Frank School District Muraca and Dave Pfister along with his wife Jennifer Pfister.