GCHS's Luca Mancuso receives national honor

“I am honored to recognize the hard work, passion, and commitment that Luca has demonstrated to achieve this exceptional level of academic excellence,” Lewis said. “Luca is now a member of a unique community of scholars-a community that represents our very best hope for the future.” 

The scholarship offers a lifetime membership to young scholars and supports their growth and development. Scholars will have access to a vast network of academic experts, learning experiences, and resources to help prepare them for college and meaningful careers.  

Mancuso has demonstrated his academic dedication through his rigorous academic workload.  Glen Cove High School requires students to earn 22 credits for graduation, and Mancuso has earned 17 credits going into his junior year. 

“Most students will end up somewhere beyond 22 credits, but he’s well on his way to earning 30 credits or more,” Allen Hudson, Glen Cove High School’s principal said. “We are extremely proud of Luca’s academic excellence and securing his name among both national and international high school scholars. What a way to represent Glen Cove.” 

Mancuso’s English teacher, Allison Butler says that she saw a lot of potential in him. Mancuso, Butler said, has a high level of appreciation for reading, and people who love to read often become excellent writers. And Mancuso’s writing in his assignments is already good, Butler said.  

“I just feel like he has such an empathetic understanding of the way the world works,” she said.  

Mancuso’s dedication towards his community started two years ago at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, when he decided to join NOSH, a food delivery service and program of the North Shore Soup Kitchen. “I saw a lot of food disparity throughout my neighborhood and other neighborhoods nearby,” Mancuso said.” I wanted to do something about it.” 

Mancuso connected with his neighbor Linda Eastman, who is also the operations manager at NOSH. Mancuso has volunteered weekly since NOSH was established two years ago and has also offered his time while on vacations like spring break. Eastman said that that Mancuso has been helpful since the fire that destroyed NOSH’s headquarters last year. The fire left NOSH without a stable location, forcing them to relocate to multiple locations like the View Grill and St. Hyacinth’s Church in Glen Head. (NOSH has recently relocated to 32 School St. in Glen Cove.) At NOSH, Mancuso is assigned a variety of responsibilities such as collecting and distribution of food donations. 

“He’s a naturally kind person, someone who’s really nice to be around,” Eastman said. “You could feel he really wanted to be there.”

Mancuso has also been working a summer position with Glen Cove City Hall through the Youth Bureau, program that offers teenagers the opportunity to learn first-hand work experience. Mancuso underwent training for resume writing, interview techniques and work etiquette, which started last spring for his summer position, and will end before the new school year. 

Mancuso went through two mock-interviews, one of which was with Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck. After his second interview with Panzenbeck Mancuso was offered a position at City Hall in their finance department, where his responsibilities included data entry and fact-checking. 

“Luca was very exceptional for a young man his age,” Panzenbeck said. “He’s going places.”