Hewlett High students named national finalists

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Two teams of Hewlett High School freshmen won a total of $17,500 in U.S. Savings Bonds and one of the teams are national finalists in the annual eCYBERMISSION competition, a web-based science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competition for sixth through ninth-grade teams.

Team Stressors — Ian Acriche, Natalie Aller, Samuel Bogdanov and Brandon Weiss — each won $2,000 for topping the state competition, which earned them regional finalist status. On April 28, they took part in the regional contest, where they each won another $2,000 for first place regional winners. They will now compete at the national level for more monetary prizes June 20-24.

Team Cottongras — Bhavi Chavre, Julia Grossman and Sophie Riegel — each won $500 for placing second in the state.

The competition, administered by the National Science Teachers Association and the U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program, requires students to identify real-world challenges in their local communities and to develop solutions to meet these challenges. Students must work in groups (2-4) to complete a mission folder on various topics such as alternative sources of energy, the environment, robotics and more.

All the submitted research was conducted at the high school under the guidance of Dr. Terrence Bissoondial, the district’s head of science research.