Expressing their talents leads to success

Hewlett High School is not only known for its accomplishments in academics, but also in extracurricular activities. Our theater program is excellent and helps students to truly enjoy performing. Cabaret Night, an annual tradition, allows them to express their talents in comedy, music and dance after months of preparation.

On April 5, students watched as their peers performed in support of Pediatric Cancer. The evening was filled with merriment, hilarious jokes about teachers, incredible vocals and instruments and for a purpose special to many. Cabaret Night was first created by the Rosenberg family in memory of their daughter, Laura, who died from pediatric cancer. Since this original initiative, Cabaret Night has raised thousands of dollars for the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Pediatric Cancer Research.

“I had two favorite parts of cabaret,” Emily Tedesco, a senior and member of the comedy team, said. “One was hearing the crowds response to a joke that was made on stage, and the other was dancing with Norma Rosenberg because it shows that even if people face a loss in their lives, they can be strong, and do something as amazing as running a fundraiser like cabaret night, to raise money for pediatric cancer, which unfortunately is what they lost their daughter to.”

Virtual and robotic success

Another success at Hewlett High is the Virtual Enterprise classes. Virtual Enterprise is an international program where students with the help of teachers, create and run their own businesses that “sell” to more then 500 other United States companies, as well as, to the hundreds of international companies. The classes are divided into five departments: Human Resources, Accounting, Technology, Sales, and Marketing. The students competed in the Long Island Business Plan Finals on Feb. 26 at American Portfolio Securities Incorporated in Holbrook.

Two Hewlett teams qualified to attend the National Business Plan competition in New York City on April 3. FlashComm placed second. Future First Financial Services competed.

“I worked with Future First Financial Services all year and it was great to see their hard work pay off as they qualified for the national competition,” Drew Beller, a student consultant of the company, said. “Unfortunately, they didn’t place but it was a great learning experience that the younger members of the team should benefit from for years to come. The business department was very happy to have two teams make it to the highest round, and was so proud of the team that won second place.”

Bionica, Hewlett Robotics’ all girls team, traveled to York, Pa. to participate in FIRST’s East Super Regional competition April 3-5. Competing against 71 other teams, Bionica was sure to make an impression, although not qualifying to move on to the World Championships.

“After working hard as a team for months, I’m upset we lost,” team member, Natalie Belluccia, said. “However, I’m extremely thankful for the experience and after learning from seeing all the other incredible teams, I can’t wait to try again next year.”

Whether your talent is in performance, business or science Hewlett High School offers many opportunities to succeed, and students have attained many exceptional achievements throughout the school year.