By:Anne Marie Allocca
Mark Huestis, District 24 orchestra director, Nicholas Shmorhun, band director, presented certificates to students in the following categories: The NMEA (Nassau Music Educators Association) awards for All-County Orchestra were presented to Buck's Lisa Benison and Jaclyn Cannonito; Carbonaro's Nicole Casquarelli and Justin Corke; and Allen Kim and Kristen Wraith of Brooklyn Avenue. All-County Band awards went to Amy Ryan of Brooklyn Avenue, Amanda Celentano of Carbonaro and Erica McKee and Julia Poje of Buck. All-County Chorus awards were given to Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky and Matthew Socci of Carbonaro. LISFA, the Long Island String Festival Association, recognized Allen Kim, Alison Dash and Alexa de la Torre of Brooklyn Avenue along with Luca Negrino of Carbonaro.
Alster, who later announced his retirement at the meeting, presented Presidential Achievement Awards for Educational Excellence to Samantha Ariola, Jason Caballes, James Carey, John Donelly, James Golinkoff, Sebastian Gomez, Allen Kim, Amy Ryan, Joseph Stallone and Kristen Wraith. Presidential Achievement Awards for Educational Achievement were awarded to Alex Baize, Margaret Borgia, Michael Carlisi, Deidre Coleman, Maria Dominguez, Andre dos Santos, Jennifer Duffy, Steven Joseph, Dan Lu and Samantha Moore.
Arnone presented certificates for Educational Achievement to Jaclyn Cannonito, Deana Caraccio, Ali Freeman, Patrick Glanzman, Yaaseen Hossen, James Kim, Jennifer Kircher, Andrew Petitto, Nikki Rosella and Paige Switzer. The awards for Educational Excellence went to Lisa Benison, Samantha Howley, Erica McKee, Jessica Pak, Julia Poke, Nicole Silverstein, Adriana Tringone and Coral Valdez.
Conte presented Presidential Awards for Education Excellence to Maryah Kingland, Ann Starling, Jaclyn Jeffery-Wilensky, Christopher Kampel, Edward Banach, Stephanie Alfano, Deniz Oran, Alexa Gieco, Kelly Ann Lim, Jocelyn Parker, Brian Periera and Deigo Yangali. Receiving the Presidential Award for Educational Achievement were Criselda Sarmiento, Lyrisse Castano, Andrew Gardner, Eric Gulabchand, Rebecca Linares, Claudia Dominique, Christine Siewaten, Lisette Veltri, Michelle Sciortino, Tara Finnegan and Moree Ivgi.
