Dress rehearsal was held Thursday night for the annual Mattituck High School Variety Show.
Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday in the High School auditorium. Admission is $5 and tickets will be sold at the door.
This year’s show includes singing, dancing and comedy. The show is directed by Amanda Barney and produced by Kimberly Scheer, Sam Shaffery and Amy Macaluso.
See more photos below:
FIRST-QUARTER HONOR ROLL
Mattituck Junior-Senior High
HIGH HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: Cassidy Arnzen, John Batuello, Thomas Behr, Taylor Berkoski, Hayley Berry, Julie Dickerson, Taylor DiVello, Carly Doorhy, Jack Dufton, Alec Durkin, Jonathan Dwyer, Emma Fasolino, Daniel Fedun, Erin Feeney, Hannah Fitzgerald, Sarah Fogarty, Gwyneth Foley, Emily Gatz, Yianni Giannaris, Sarah Goerler, Joseph Graeb, Skyler Grathwohl, Christina Hatzinikolaou, Katerina Hatzinikolaou, Benjamin Herbert, Audrey Hoeg, Katherine Hoeg, Frank Imbriano, Chloe Janis, Raven Janoski, Caroline Keil, Anna Kowalski, Julie Krudop, Antonina Lentini, Alison LePre, Joseph Lisowy, Dylan Marlborough, Ryan McCaskie, Meghan McKillop, Matthew Mehalakes, Andreana Mineo, Daniel Nugent, Kristina Olsen, Lika Osepashvili, Meghan Pawlik, Courtney Penny, Brianna Perino, Ryan Reilly, Dawn Rochon, Miranda Sannino, Benjamin Savercool, Kimberly Scheer, Samuel Shaffery, Phurlamu Sherpa, Greg Sheryll, Sophia Sluyters, Samantha Smilovich, Andrew Stakey, William Stuckart, Kaitlyn Tapfar, Joseph Tardif, Lucas Webb, Charles Zaloom.
Grade 11: Devon Baker, Eshi Baldano, Amy Li Berninger, Alex Bradley, Karen Carrillo, Charley Claudio, Sean Gambaiani, Thomas Hoeg, Luke Karlin, Colleen Kelly, Joseph Kelly, Brendan Kent, Colette Kodym, Bianca LaColla, Amy Macaluso, Christopher Massey, Ryan McCaffery, James McDonald, Joseph Mele, Carter Montgomery, Johanna Pedone, Joshua Prager, Hannah Prokop, Corinne Reda, Autumn Reichardt, Sascha Rosin, Tyler Schroeck, Tyler Seifert, Sarah Shannon, Dale Stonemetz, Christopher Waggoner, Dylan Wilsberg, Mary Kate Wilton.
Grade 10: Talia Aiello, Alexandra Beebe, Alexander Bellavia, Ashley Burns, James Clementi, David Conroy, Mackenzie Daly, Joy Davis, Jane DiGregorio, Elizabeth Dwyer, Kaitlyn Ficarra, Samantha Fine, Daniel Folk, Brianna Fox, Jaime Gaffga, Jacqueline Galdamez SantaMaria, Macie Grathwohl, Rebecca Hammerle, Shawn Howell, Leah Kerensky, Jacob Kupecki, Justin Lake, Anthony Lopez, Chelsea Marlborough, Stephen Masotti, Grace McKeon, Lucas Micheels, Emily Mowdy, Madison Osler, Alexandria Peters, Jennifer Rutkoski, Thomas Sullivan, Alexandra Talbot, Martha Terry, Carly Woods, Kathryn Zaloom.
Grade 9: Lauren Bihm, Sarah Bihm, Charles Bordsen, Kaitlyn Brisotti, Max Cantelmo, Dorothy Condon, Christian Demchak, Gabrielle Dwyer, Anne Finnegan, Caleb Foley, Jillian Gaffga, Savvas Giannaris, Bryce Grathwohl, Gabriella Hassildine, Rachel Janis, Mason Kelly, Kristen Lisowy, Antonio Marine, Sean McDonald, Catherine McGrath, Cassidy Mullin, Alexander Nadel, Tyler C. Olsen, Tyler F. Olsen, Mikayla Osmer, Katherine Parks, Matteo Pellegrini, Stephanie Perez, Trevor Poole, Meghan Riley, Amber Rochon, Lily Russell, Madison Schmidt, Julie Seifert, Ryan Seifert, Madelyn Shannon, Matthew Sledjeski, Madison Storm, Christina Tomao, Courtney Trzcinski, Gabrielle Wahlers, Goksel Zaim.
Grade 8: Margaret Bruer, Kianja Christian, Mickala Cifarelli, Joseph Corso, James DiBartolo, Cole DiGregorio, Shelby Dufton, Gabrielle Finora, Justin Garbarino, Claire Gatz, Grace Golder, Viktoria Harkin, Miranda Hedges, Max Heilman, William Hickox, Mackenzie Hoeg, Charlotte Keil, Abigail Kerensky, Hayden Kitz, Adam Kobel, James Kowalski, Jenna Lisowy, Payton Maddaloni, Tyler Marlborough, Shannon Massey, Paige Mather, Jessica Mazzeo, Mildred Monroy, Taylor Montgomery, Christopher Nicholson, Jillian Orr, Jordan Osler, Rachel Park, Cade Patchell, Dane Reda, Emmet Ryan, Jessica Scheer, Julia Schimpf, Tyler Shuford, Rylie Skrezec, Joshua Starzee, Emily Sullivan, Christopher Talbot II, Kathryn Thompson, Sarah Wahl, Brett Walsh, Matthew Warns, Thomas Wilton.
Grade 7: Luke Altman, Rudy Alvarado-Carillo, Mia Xing Berninger, Silvia Borrayo, Ainsley Brewer, Jackson Cantelmo, Emily Chew, Kylie Conroy, Nathaniel Demchak, Renee DePinto, Nicolas Diaz, Hunter DiVello, Antonia Dris, Kendall Fabb, Connor Fox, Gabriel Gamboa-Boutcher, Katherine Hamilton, Annabel Hammerle, Jaimee Hanly, Madison Hansen, Sadie Heston, Weronika Jachimowicz, Jonathan Jacobs, Savanna Kelly, Julia Klibisz, Sean Kobel, Alex Koch, Julie Kosmynka, Rashad Lawson, Paul LoCascio, Jada Marine, Isabella Masotti, Samantha McNamara, Olivia Minguela, Emma Olsen, Lauren Onufrak, Nikita Palianok, Fernando Perez, Hanna Prager, Emma Reidy, Rylie Rittberg, Matthew Rodgers, Abigail Rosato, Nikki Searles, Nishant Seodat, Lily Slovak, Bryan Soto, Ashley Young.
HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: Alexandra Becker, Zachary Bokina, Meghan Corazzini, Tyler Corrigan, Eddie Dowling, Christian Figurniak, Liam Finnegan, Ava Gaines, Austin Gao, Jacquelin Gonzalez, Tristin Ireland, Justin Kirchberger, Garrett Malave, Joseph Melly, Ryan Mowdy, Michael Onufrak, Gabriella Pagano, Artemis Pando, Cameron Pase, Victor Proferes, Thomas Riley, Timothy Schmidt, Kendrick Schneider, Cecilia Stevens, Madison True, Parker Tuthill, Shane Uher, Mia Vasile-Cozzo, Rachel Voegel, Matthew Wells, Feng You.
Grade 11: Chance Anderson, Alya Ayoub, Thomas Beebe, Ty Bugdin, Alexander Burns, Joseph Considine, Dylan Drewes, Adriel Garcia, Kyle Gibbons, Michael Goodale, Sean Hall, Daniel Harkin, Cheyenne Harris, James Hoeg, Samantha Husak, Tina Imbriano, Grace Izzo, Matthew Mauceri, Liam McShane, Eric Momente, Karolina Morawski, Taylor Nietupski, Grace Pellegrino, Lilian Perez, Melanie Pfennig, Ally Robins, Thomas Salice, Christopher Schwamborn, Ryan Shuford, Emily Sidor, Julia Stapon, Gage Suglia, Amanda Young.
Grade 10: Brittany Benediktsson, Jack Bokina, Luke Bokina, Ashley Chew, Liam Corbley, Alissa Dabrowski, Brian Feeney, Sean Feeney, Rebecca Foster, Cavan Gardner. Drew Hahn, Sophie Jacobs, Chelsea LaColla, Taylor Larsen, Jordyn Maichin, Madison McDowell, James McKinnon, Mauricio Moran, Stephen Nyilas, Thomas Olsen, Jakob Olsen, Sarah Park, Jillian Pedone, Carlos Perez, Greta Peters, Riley Peterson, Chloe Piscatello, Peter Pugliese, Elvira Puluc, Jeremy Salazar, Britney Santos, Jake Sciara, Jacqueline Secaida, Dominick Skrezec, Connor Smith, Joseph Stuckart, Carly Unger, Julia Vasile-Cozzo.
Grade 9: Miranda Annunziata, Chloe Babajanians, Alexis Burns, William Burns, Heather Carita, Jake Catalano, Tyler Cirincione, Joseph DePinto, Annabel Donovan, Michelle Escalante, David Fasolino, Claudia Hoeg, Riley Hoeg, Christopher Imbriano, James Jacobs, Jonathan Lisowy, Kyle McFadden, Christopher Merz, Kacper Michalak, Brian Molchan, Teagan Nine, Ashley Perkins, Ethan Prager, Wylee Sanders, Francesco Sannino, Olivia Schutte, Christopher Siejka, Thomas Silleck, Mia Slovak, Francesca Vasile-Cozzo, Benjamin Webb, Caitlin Westermann, Desmond Whitehurst, Lauren Zuhoski.
Grade 8: Dylan Anderson, Jacqueline Avila Ramos, Ian Baker, Jack Burkhardt, Anna Burns, Rhiannon Cherney, Oswald Cuellar, Matthew Czujko, Emma Flint, Tia Flythe, Julia Gammon, Andrew Hildesheim, Emily Javier, Sean Jester, Madeleine Jimenez, Adam Kaya, Marissa Lechner, Jadyn Maichin, George McDowell, Hannah Murphy, Eric Palencia, Jennifer Palencia, Frankie Priolo, Veronica Pugliese, Morgan Puterbaugh, Sarah Santacroce, Ethan Schmidt, Mathew Schultz, Grace Shipman, Colby Suglia, Ethan Tandy, Taylor Zuhoski.
Grade 7: Christopher Catalano, Cassidy Celic, Jessi Clementi, Jose Cojon, John Condon, Kayla Corrigan, Madison Fitzpatrick, Britney Garcia-Yanes, Berkan Ilgin, Antonio Jimenez, Sophia Kalish, Hudson Kaufer, John Lajda, Zihao Li, Steven Moeck, Thomas Nemschick, Myah Orlowski, Filippo Pellegrini, Thomas Peters, Daniel Puluc, Olivia Sciara, Abigail Seifert, Claire Stevens, Dylan Szczotka, Tara Terranova, Aniah Thompson, Brighton Tucci, Jillian Tuthill.
COMMENDED STUDENTS
Grade 11: Maritza Diaz, Kyle Schultz.
Grade 10: Samuel Dickerson, Collin Kaminsky, Paige Starzee.
Grade 9: Bernard Hamilton, Ryan Mahon, Nicholas Perino, Scarlet Soto, Raul Veliz.
Grade 8: Christopher Dinizio, Joshua Masotti.
Grade 7: Evan Bailey, Dimitri Hatziminidakis, Luis Saravia.
Mattituck School District teachers no longer fear using online videos in their their lesson plans and students are now collaborating with fellow classmates on assignments with Google Chromebooks quicker than ever.
That’s because the district has replaced its residential cable modem — a system typically used in family homes — with a fiber optic network.
High school principal Shawn Petretti said the new high-speed Internet system, which was completed in October, gives teachers confidence to utilize technology inside the classroom.
Previously, teachers worried about videos or programs uploading during class because the district’s system was constantly overloaded.
“Teachers would become frustrated when web links or videos wouldn’t load,” Mr. Petretti said. “This project has removed a major hurdle because now they have the confidence to use technology that’s available.”
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday at the high school library, superintendent Anne Smith thanked several people for making the project come to fruition within a couple of months, including Lightpath and state Senator Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson).
From left, state Senator Ken LaValle and Mattituck school board president Laura Jens-Smith at Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo)
“You can’t see this,” Dr. Smith explained, “but we can see opportunity to engage our students in new ways … Not only to engage in higher-level thinking, but actually to become those problem solvers we know we need in the collaborative world they’ll be living in.”
The senator, who secured $15,000 in grant monies for the nearly $280,000 fiber-optic project, described the new system as a critical component to 21st century education.
“You are to be congratulated,” he said. “I’m just a small part.”
Gerri Doherty, the district’s director of technology, said that since Mattituck is now capable of providing 100 megabytes per 1,000 students, the district is expected to receive $273,000 through the state’s Smart Schools Bond Act over the next few years.
Those funds will be used toward security features and upgrades to the district’s wireless infrastructure, particularly at the elementary school, she said.
“We now have high-speed Internet access throughout the district — it’s setting us up for the future,” Ms. Doherty said. “The need has become more demanding over the years. This was a big step for us.”
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mr. LaValle toured the high school with district administrators to see how the high-speed Internet service is helping teachers and students.
In AP biology teacher Janine Ruland’s class, students were collaborating on a chromosomal abnormalities lab project using Chromebooks.
Students explained how the district’s new fiber optic system allows them to use Google software, such as Google Docs, more easily and instantaneously.
Ms. Ruland said the need for high-speed Internet is very important because students are learning and collaborating with each other on devices more so than meeting in a group with pens and notebooks.
“When we were younger, we had to physically meet up at one location to work on a document,” she said. “Those days are long gone.”
Top photo: Mattituck High School AP biology students use Chromebooks to work collaboratively on assignments. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo)
Toward the end of first period every Tuesday through Friday, students at Mattituck High School put away their work, settle into desks and gaze up at the television screens in each classroom.
A group of students, some wearing blazers over their sports jerseys or witty T-shirts, discuss the school news of the day: Cross country practice is canceled. Tickets for the homecoming dance are on sale. Some perform a comedy skit about a bathroom being off-limits while undergoing renovations.
The broadcasts, although unconventional, are how Mattituck creatively handles its morning announcements. Students themselves are mostly responsible, too, since one first-period course is dedicated to planning, filming and broadcasting the announcements. And for more than 17 years, John Roslak, an influential and revered technology and video teacher, has been behind it all.
Since he began teaching in 1984, Mr. Roslak has helped hundreds of students develop valuable modern skills and learn to work independently. Some have even gone on to careers in video production, motivated by their time in his class. For all his influential work in the school, Mr. Roslak has been named The Suffolk Times’ Educator of the Year in his final year of teaching before retirement.
“How many teachers can say that they created something from scratch that actually transformed education?” said retired superintendent James McKenna, who was also the high school principal when the video course was born.
A Mattituck graduate himself, Mr. Roslak began as an industrial arts teacher, but in the late 1990s, he had the idea of starting an innovative video program at the school.
So he did.
The morning show debuted in 1998 as live announcements, bloopers and all, broadcast into every classroom from a “studio” — a converted girls’ bathroom, complete with pink tiles and a drain in the floor.
Over time, the program grew. The class was moved into a larger, better-equipped room and Mr. Roslak began teaching Video I and Video II courses. Every eighth-grader got a sense of the teacher, too, as part of a rotating elective schedule.
“It was the true meaning of the word ‘hands-on learning,’ ” Mr. McKenna recalled.
(Credit: Chris Lisinski)
Mr. Roslak played a variety of other roles at the school, too. For a number of years, he was the district’s technology director before returning to full-time teaching. He also runs the AV club and manages lights and audio for most school productions.
“He knocks on your door and comes in and wants to discuss aspects of our school system that really don’t directly relate to his job or fall under his responsibility,” said high school principal Shawn Petretti. “If he sees something and he sees a way that we can improve as a school system, he’s going to bring it to the table and he’s going to do whatever he has to do.”
And throughout his three-plus decades at Mattituck, Mr. Roslak has been immensely popular with students. Mr. Petretti, who considers Mr. Roslak one of his best friends, compared the teacher to a “pied piper” who causes students to “flock” to him.
“I’ve witnessed students say they never would have made it through high school without him, that he gave them that safe place, that drive, that push to keep coming to school and to go on and become successful,” Mr. Petretti said.
Mr. Roslak gives his students plenty of independence, too. He supervises projects and offers advice, but places full responsibility for planning, filming and editing in their hands.
In the classroom, Mr. Roslak’s rapport with the kids is obvious. So too is his sense of humor. On Monday morning, a student asked where to find Final Cut Pro on the computer.
“It’s the one that starts with an ‘F’ and ends with an ‘-inal Cut Pro,’ ” Mr. Roslak quipped.
Some of Mr. Roslak’s students have launched successful careers in film and television after getting their first taste in his video production class. Several have won Emmys.
Jared Palmer, who graduated in 2007 after spending four years working on the morning show, has worked on programs such as “Deadliest Catch,” “1,000 Ways to Die” and “Storage Wars.” But he said he only got the chance to do so thanks to Mr. Roslak.
“He helped me learn … that I was going to go on adventures and I was going to tell stories and that I was going to do it all with a camera,” Mr. Palmer said. “He taught me there wasn’t a box to live in unless you made it for yourself.”
Mr. Roslak’s influence has also extended to other districts on the North Fork. In the 2014-15 school year, Southold High School started its own video program, modeled after Mr. Roslak’s and taught by Mattituck graduate Jason Wesnofske.
Mr. Wesnofske belonged to Mr. Roslak’s AV club before graduating in 2003, and when he joined the school’s staff in 2007, he co-chaired the club. So when the time came to establish his own video program in Southold, Mr. Wesnofske approached his former teacher and colleague for advice.
“He built that program from nothing, and he was way ahead of the curve,” Mr. Wesnofske said. “Here we are, 15 years later. We started our program in the 2014-15 school year, and he had that in 1998-99. You think about digital literacy, 21st-century learning, multimedia — he did that. That’s his legacy.”
Photo caption: (Credit: Chris Lisinski)
Previous Winners
2014 — Phillip ‘Skip’ Munisteri
2013 — Al Edwards
2012 — Daniel Goldfarb
2011 — Major William Grigonis
2010 — Jean Dempsey
2009 — Robert Feger
2008 — Charles Kozora
2007 — Kathy Williams
2006 — Dr. Stuart Rachlin
2005 — Mattituck Fund for Students
2004 — Ron McEvoy
2003 — Chris Gallagher
2002 — Brigitte Gibbons
2001 — Barbara Ackerman
2000 — Ruth Yoskovich
1999 — Tom Brennan
1998 — Peggy Dickerson
1997 — Elizabeth Goldsmith
1996 — Lee Ellwood
1995 — Linda Gates
1994 — Poppy Johnson
1993 — Peggy Murphy
1992 — Patricia Wall
1991 — Charles Nephew
1990 — Dennis Claire
1989 — Bruno Brauner
1988 — Winifred Billard
1987 — Jim Christy
Toss out the old pizza party playbook: Mattituck High School just made “salad party” the new standard for classroom events.
The name is fairly self-evident, of course. But the students in Eric Frend’s environmental science classes didn’t just wear festive hats while eating a bunch of healthy greens purchased from a store. They grew the crops themselves — in the classroom.
Mattituck High School had been planning for months to offer an innovative environmental science program that emphasized agriculture in a greenhouse on the school’s property, but when the greenhouse was stalled by the state Department of Education, the school didn’t let the state ruin their plans. The teachers simply moved the program inside.
Now, a previously unused classroom is filled with boxes of lettuce and bok choy plants, some in soil and some floating in a hydroponic box on the floor. Students file in every day to spray the plants with water, adjust the overhead lights and, of course, snack on their projects.
“Things kept getting held up,” said Sam Shaffrey, a senior in the class. “It was sort of like, ‘We need to grow something, like, now.’ So we decided that we’d take the ideas we had for outside and move them inside.”
The program was designed as part of the district’s sustainable agriculture initiative. Jamesport farmer Carl Gabrielsen donated and built the 1,200-square-foot greenhouse outside, but so far the school has not been able to use it because it does not meet Department of Education code.
So in October, teachers joined forces and came up with a solution: use an empty classroom and do the agriculture indoors. Last week, the students celebrated their first harvest — which led to festive in-classroom salad-eating.
Mr. Gabrielsen donated the lights that hang over the boxes for indoor growing. Mr. Frend, who also teaches earth science and meteorology, took the lead and garnered support from others in the building.
John Roslak, a TV production teacher (who was named The Suffolk Times’ Educator of the Year last week), handled the electrical setup, carpentry teacher Mike Jablonski built the boxes and earth science teacher Chip Henke set up the irrigation systems. Peconic’s Sang Lee Farms also helps the class with advice and consultations.
“This is so interesting because it’s like agriculture of the future,” said senior Raven Janoski. “It’s taking one more step into the farming of today.”
Mr. Frend teaches a lecture every day; every other day the students also have a lab period. But the level of independence and student involvement is apparent on a visit to the classroom. Students walk around the room with bottles to water the plants and scissors to trim them, and whenever questions arise about the amount of light or the variation of lettuce, they simply shout them across the room to Mr. Frend.
They have also learned how to manage a hydroponic box, a system in which plants essentially float atop a pool of water while they grow, thereby saving water and soil.
This level of hands-on learning is one of the main goals of the class, Mr. Frend said.
“Historically, this [farming] is what we’ve been doing out here,” he said. “Hopefully, some of the kids can find a job in this in the future, or a way of life. Hopefully, they can stay here when they get out of college.”
And the students themselves are aware of how important that hands-on learning is, especially in a region where agriculture is such a key industry. Sam, for example, has grown his own garden at home for years.
Raven, too, has worked at Long Season Farms in Aquebogue for five years, and she is “very passionate” about environmental science. Now, she can get even more of an idea about what a career in agriculture is like.
“It’s such a great opportunity for public schools to have this, especially in Mattituck, where a lot of kids are really passionate about environmental science and taking that extra step forward,” Raven said. “Farming is such an integral part of the North Fork and has been for centuries.”
The program isn’t finished evolving, either. Within a few months, Mr. Frend and his students should have virtually an entire miniature ecosystem set up within a single classroom. Fish will be grown in a tank and then moved into the hydroponic boxes to make them “aquaponic” boxes. Students will then need only to add fish food; fish excrement will serve as nutrition for the plants, which will in turn filter the tank.
The class will also experiment with “integrated pest management” by introducing ladybugs or aphids.
They won’t be getting any pizza when they arrive.
Photo caption: Madison True (left) and Raven Janoski, both seniors, work in a soil box in Mattituck High School’s indoor agriculture lab. (Credit: Chris Lisinski)
The 19th annual North Fork Invitational wrestling tournament at Mattituck High School has been postponed until Jan. 31 because on an impending snowstorm this weekend.
The tournament was originally scheduled for Saturday.
Teams competing include the Tuckers, Riverhead, Connetquot, Half Hollow Hills East, Patchogue-Medford, Bay Shore, North Babylon and Rocky Point. Mattituck finished fifth as a team in last year’s tournament. Both of the Tuckers’ champions from last year’s tournament, Tanner Zagarino and James Hoeg, will look to defend their titles this year.
Click here to read about last year’s tournament
Photo Caption: Mattituck/Greenport/Southold’s Tim Schmidt wrestling at 182 pounds earlier this season. (Credit: Garret Meade)
Eighteen members of the United States military are each getting a care package thanks to some community-oriented Mattituck High School students.
As part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Community Service Organization (CSO) participated in Adopt-a-Platoon, an initiative of the Brookhaven Veterans Association of the Brookhaven National Lab. This program lets community members help provide service members overseas with necessary items, such as socks, Chapstick, disposable razors, instant soups and hot chocolate.
The platoon the high school students sponsored is a group of 18 men and women based mainly in Saudi Arabia, but who also move throughout Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, said Andrea Nydegger, a BOCES student assistance counselor and social worker in the district.
Students collected items from Jan. 11 to Jan. 20, then packaged and shipped the care packages during the remainder of the week. Ms. Nydegger said that students worked on the project the week following Martin Luther King Jr. Day since schools are closed that Monday.
Members of CSO and SADD sent home a letter with students asking for donated items. In an effort to maximize donations, SADD offered a bagel breakfast to the junior high homeroom that brought in the most goods, she said (Sonya Brigham’s seventh graders won the challenge).
The organizations also asked the students who do the morning announcements to talk about about Adopt-A-Platoon.
“They did a really nice morning show clip,” Ms. Nydegger said. “They took the time out to educate the kids that these are men and women that volunteer to serve our country and help support our freedom in the world.”
The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service encourages people to “work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems,” according to the program’s website. Ms. Nydegger said the day inspires people to “make [the holiday] a day of service instead of a day of work.”
Interested individuals or organizations can go to the the national service website, enter their zip code and see a list of local volunteer opportunities. SADD and CSO’s project was sponsored by the Town of Southold Youth Bureau, Ms. Nydegger said.
“It was really refreshing to see them very excited to support the troops,” she said of the service project. “It was one of the most wonderful things.”
Photo Caption: Mattituck Jr./Sr. High School students with some of the items they sent to the troops (Credit: Courtesy).
The Mattituck High School Musical Theater Company will present Fiddler on the Roof this week at the Mattituck High School Auditorium. Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Tickets are available at the door for $10 ($5 for children 12 and under).
For more photos from the show, click through below. All photos taken by Katharine Schroeder:
On a recent Friday afternoon when most school students were wrapping up their usual routines for the day, Mattituck High School juniors Joe Kelly and Sascha Rosin were taking part in something never done before.
In fact, the two music students and band teacher Melanie Malusa were accomplishing a feat so rare it may land them in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The trio was among 277 musicians who assembled at Northport High School Jan. 29 to join the largest French horn ensemble ever put together. The event, which featured players ranging from fourth grade to the professional level, was staged to set the record.
They ended up shattering the previous standard, set in 2007 by the Fox Hollow Horn Club of Wisconsin with an 85-member group.
Ms. Malusa, 25, from Huntington said she heard of the event when Joe and Sascha approached her about attending.
“I thought that was really nice of them that they instigated the whole thing,” Ms. Malusa said, adding that because it’s her first year as Mattituck’s high school band teacher, she was thrilled to see the students showing so much interest. “They were both really excited to go.”
Ms. Malusa said the Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association previously briefly held a record for largest horn ensemble before being eclipsed by the Art of Living Foundation from India in 2013. This time they set their sights specifically on the French horn standard.
In order to be considered an official Guinness World Record a representative from Guinness had to be present at the concert. The representative, along with a SCMEA volunteer, stood at the door and counted each member who walked in. The doors were shut and blocked off to ensure no one left, Ms. Malusa said.
Additionally, each participant was given a number they had to repeat into a camera. During the performance, which consisted of four songs learned earlier that day, Guinness said there was close-up video taken to ensure that everyone was actually playing, rather than just sitting idly on stage.
Ms. Malusa said the footage is now being reviewed, but once the record is verified each member of the band who requested a certificate from Guinness World Records will receive one with their name on it.
“It’s really cool,” said Ms. Malusa, who’s been playing the French horn since ninth grade. “It’s just something so specific. Sitting in there with 277 horns, the sound is just unreal. It just feels like it’s all around you.”
Photo Caption: The view of the record breaking French horn ensemble from Ms. Malusa’s seat at SCMEA day of horn. (Credit: Courtesy)
Congratulations to the following students.
Mattituck Junior-Senior High
HIGH HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: John Batuello, Alexandra Becker, Thomas Behr, Taylor Berkoski, Hayley Berry, Meghan Corazzini, Julie Dickerson, Taylor DiVello, Carly Doorhy, Jack Dufton, Emma Fasolino, Erin Feeney, Hannah Fitzgerald, Sarah Fogarty, Gwyneth Foley, Emily Gatz, Yianni Giannaris, Sarah Goerler, Joseph Graeb, Katerina Hatzinikolaou, Christina Hatzinikolaou, Benjamin Herbert, Katherine Hoeg, Chloe Janis, Raven Janoski, Caroline Keil, Anna Kowalski, Julie Krudop, Antonina Lentini, Joseph Lisowy, Dylan Marlborough, Meghan McKillop, Joseph Melly, Andreana Mineo, Kristina Olsen, Lika Osepashvili, Meghan Pawlik, Courtney Penny, Brianna Perino, Dawn Rochon, Miranda Sannino, Benjamin Savercool, Kimberly Scheer, Samuel Shaffery, Phurlamu Sherpa, Greg Sheryll, Sophia Sluyters, Samantha Smilovich, Andrew Stakey, William Stuckart, Joseph Tardif, Parker Tuthill, Lucas Webb.
Grade 11: Eshi Baldano, Amy Li Berninger, Alex Bradley, Ty Bugdin, Charley Claudio, Thomas Hoeg, Svitlana Hoshko, Joseph Kelly, Colleen Kelly, Brendan Kent, Colette Kodym, Bianca LaColla, Amy Macaluso, Christopher Massey, Ryan McCaffery, James McDonald, Joseph Mele, Carter Montgomery, Taylor Nietupski, Lilian Perez, Joshua Prager, Hannah Prokop, Corinne Reda, Autumn Reichardt, Sascha Rosin, Tyler Schroeck, Tyler Seifert, Sarah Shannon, Dale Stonemetz, Gage Suglia, Christopher Waggoner, Dylan Wilsberg, Mary Kate Wilton, Amanda Young.
Grade 10: Alexandra Beebe, Alexander Bellavia, Ashley Burns, Ashley Chew, James Clementi, David Conroy, Mackenzie Daly, Jane DiGregorio, Elizabeth Dwyer, Samantha Fine, Daniel Folk, Brianna Fox, Jacqueline Galdamez SantaMaria, Macie Grathwohl, Rebecca Hammerle, Shawn Howell, Leah Kerensky, Jacob Kupecki, Justin Lake, Anthony Lopez, Chelsea Marlborough, Grace McKeon, Lucas Micheels, Emily Mowdy, Jakob Olsen, Riley Peterson, Jennifer Rutkoski, Alexandra Talbot, Martha Terry, Carly Woods.
Grade 9: Miranda Annunziata, Lauren Bihm, Sarah Bihm, Charles Bordsen, Kaitlyn Brisotti, Max Cantelmo, Dorothy Condon, Christian Demchak, Gabrielle Dwyer, Anne Finnegan, Caleb Foley, Savvas Giannaris, Bryce Grathwohl, Claudia Hoeg, Rachel Janis, Mason Kelly, Kristen Lisowy, Antonio Marine, Sean McDonald, Catherine McGrath, Cassidy Mullin, Tyler F. Olsen, Mikayla Osmer, Katherine Parks, Trevor Poole, Meghan Riley, Amber Rochon, Lily Russell, Wylee Sanders, Madison Schmidt, Ryan Seifert, Julie Seifert, Matthew Sledjeski, Madison Storm, Christina Tomao, Francesca Vasile-Cozzo, Gabrielle Wahlers, Goksel Zaim.
Grade 8: Ian Baker, Miguel Borrayo, Margaret Bruer, Kianja Christian, Joseph Corso, James DiBartolo, Cole DiGregorio, Shelby Dufton, Gabrielle Finora, Justin Garbarino, Claire Gatz, Grace Golder, Viktoria Harkin, Miranda Hedges, Max Heilman, Mackenzie Hoeg, Charlotte Keil, Abigail Kerensky, James Kowalski, Marissa Lechner, Jenna Lisowy, Payton Maddaloni, Shannon Massey, Paige Mather, Jessica Mazzeo, Taylor Montgomery, Hannah Murphy, Christopher Nicholson, Jillian Orr, Jordan Osler, Eric Palencia,Rachel Park, Cade Patchell, Dane Reda, Emmet Ryan, Jessica Scheer, Julia Schimpf, Grace Shipman, Tyler Shuford, Rylie Skrezec, Emily Sullivan, Kathryn Thompson, Brett Walsh, Matthew Warns, Thomas Wilton.
Grade 7: Luke Altman, Rudy Alvarado-Carillo, Mia Xing Berninger, Silvia Borrayo, Ainsley Brewer, Jackson Cantelmo, Kylie Conroy, Nathaniel Demchak, Nicolas Diaz, Hunter DiVello, Antonia Dris, Connor Fox, Katherine Hamilton, Annabel Hammerle, Jaimee Hanly, Madison Hansen, Sadie Heston, Weronika Jachimowicz, Jonathan Jacobs, Savanna Kelly, Julia Klibisz, Sean Kobel, Alex Koch, Julie Kosmynka, Rashad Lawson, Paul LoCascio, Jada Marine, Isabella Masotti, Samantha McNamara, Olivia Minguela, Emma Olsen, Lauren Onufrak, Myah Orlowski, Nikita Palianok, Hanna Prager, Emma Reidy, Rylie Rittberg, Matthew Rodgers, Nikki Searles, Abigail Seifert, Nishant Seodat, Lily Slovak, Ashley Young.
HONOR ROLL
Grade 12: Cassidy Arnzen, Jeffrey Avila Ramos, Zachary Bokina, Tyler Corrigan, Alec Durkin, Jonathan Dwyer, Daniel Fedun, Christian Figurniak, Liam Finnegan, David Folk, Ava Gaines, Austin Gao, Jacquelin Gonzalez, Skyler Grathwohl, Audrey Hoeg, Zachary Holmes, Frank Imbriano, Justin Kirchberger, Alison LePre, Garrett Malave, Ryan McCaskie, Matthew Mehalakes, Daniel Nugent, Michael Onufrak, Artemis Pando, Cameron Pase, Ryan Reilly, Griffin Rienecker, Shane Uher, Mia Vasile-Cozzo, Rachel Voegel, Matthew Wells, Feng You, Charles Zaloom, Madison True
Grade 11: Chance Anderson, Jennifer Avila Ramos, Devon Baker, Thomas Beebe, Ryan Buchholz, Alexander Burns, Karen Carrillo, Joseph Considine, Maritza Diaz, Dylan Drewes, Michael Filipkowski, Sean Gambaiani, Jacob Golanec, Michael Goodale, Sean Hall, Cheyenne Harris, James Hoeg, Samantha Husak, Tina Imbriano, Grace Izzo, Luke Karlin, Pawel Klibisz, Matthew Mauceri, Connor McKeon, Liam McShane, Eric Momente, Karolina Morawski, Johanna Pedone, Grace Pellegrino, Melanie Pfennig, Thomas Salice, Christopher Schroeder, Christopher Schwamborn, Ryan Shuford, Emily Sidor.
Grade 10: Talia Aiello, Brittany Benediktsson, Jack Bokina, Liam Corbley, Alissa Dabrowski, Joy Davis, Sean Feeney, Brian Feeney, Kaitlyn Ficarra, Rebecca Foster, Jaime Gaffga, Drew Hahn, Sophie Jacobs, Chelsea LaColla, Taylor Larsen, Stephen Masotti, Madison McDowell, Mauricio Moran, Thomas Olsen, Madison Osler, Sarah Park , Alexandria Peters, Greta Peters, Tucker Phillippe-Johansson, Elvira Puluc , Marilyn Ramirez, Britney Santos, Jason Scalia, Jake Sciara, Jacqueline Secaida, Connor Smith, Joseph Stuckart, Thomas Sullivan, Carly Unger, Logan Urick.
Grade 9: Chloe Babajanians, Alexis Burns, Jake Catalano, Tyler Cirincione, Cassidy Deerkoski, Joseph DePinto, Annabel Donovan, Michelle Escalante, David Fasolino, Jillian Gaffga, Charlie Hasel, Riley Hoeg, Christopher Imbriano, Lucas Kosmynka, Jonathan Lisowy, Kyle McFadden, Christopher Merz, Kacper Michalak, Brian Molchan, Alexander Nadel, Teagan Nine, Tyler C. Olsen, Matteo Pellegrini, Nicholas Perino, Ashley Perkins, Ethan Prager, Francesco Sannino, Olivia Schutte, Kyle Schwartz, Madelyn Shannon, Christopher Siejka, Thomas Silleck, Mia Slovak, Jaden Thompson, Courtney Trzcinski, Benjamin Webb, Lauren Zuhoski.
Grade 8: Dylan Anderson, Jack Burkhardt, Anna Burns, Rhiannon Cherney, Oswald Cuellar, Matthew Czujko, Tia Flythe, Julia Gammon, William Hickox, Emily Javier, Sean Jester, Madeleine Jimenez, Hayden Kitz, Adam Kobel, Jadyn Maichin, Tyler Marlborough, Kyle McCaskie, George McDowell, Mildred Monroy, Jennifer Palencia, Frankie Priolo, Veronica Pugliese, Sarah Santacroce, Ethan Schmidt, Kira Schroeder, Mathew Schultz, Parker Sheppard, Joshua Starzee, Colby Suglia, Christopher Talbot II, Sarah Wahl.
Grade 7: Christopher Catalano, Cassidy Celic, Emily Chew, Jessi Clementi, Jose Cojon, John Condon, Kayla Corrigan, Renee DePinto, Kendall Fabb, Gabriel Gamboa-Boutcher, Britney Garcia-Yanes, Berkan Ilgin, Sophia Kalish, John Lajda, Steven Moeck, Thomas Nemschick, Filippo Pellegrini, Thomas Peters, Lawrence Pugliese, Abigail Rosato, Olivia Sciara, Bryan Soto, Claire Stevens, Dylan Szczotka, Tara Terranova, Aniah Thompson, Brighton Tucci, Jillian Tuthill.
COMMENDED STUDENTS
Grade 11: Kyle Gibbons, Jacey Lengyel.
Grade 10: Dennis O’Rourke.
Grade 9: Bernard Hamilton, Jessica Lessard, Scarlet Soto, Raul Veliz.
Grade 8: Sean Urick, Taylor Zuhoski.
Grade 7: Daniel Puluc.
On Thursday, we presented the state champion Mattituck baseball team with our Sports People of the Year award at a ceremony at Martha Clara Vineyards. This is the video we screened during the ceremony and the original announcement from January.
It took some time for the magnitude of the momentous achievement to sink in.
Seven months have passed since that memorable Saturday last June in Binghamton, N.Y. It took a few of those months for Joe Tardif to gain a clearer perspective and a greater appreciation for what he and his teammates on the Mattituck High School baseball team had done.
Tardif said, “Some days when I wake up, I say to myself, ‘Wow! We’re the state champions.’ ”
How about that?
The first state championship in the Tuckers’ 95-year baseball history was immediately followed by what may be the longest postgame celebration in the program’s history.
Ian Nish gloved a routine bouncing ball, trotted to first base and stepped on the bag for the final out in a 4-1 victory over Livonia in the New York State Class B final. That set off the postgame party. Gloves were heaved high in the air. Mattituck players tackled relief pitcher Chris Dwyer. Tardif, racing in from center field, launched himself on top of the jubilant dogpile that formed in front of the pitcher’s mound at SUNY/Broome Community College’s Hornet Field.
Meanwhile, the Tuckers’ coach, Steve DeCaro, sought out his right-hand man and one of his assistant coaches, Gene Rochler, before being intercepted by the three team managers and other assistant coaches.
The celebrating didn’t stop there. Before the Tuckers lined up along the third-base line to receive their state championship medals, their second baseman, Jon Dwyer, executed an acrobatic backflip. “I’ve been saving it all year,” he said.
Moments later, DeCaro was presented with the state championship plaque.
Even after that, the celebrating wasn’t close to being over. Players posed for photos (some with Optimus, a hockey player figurine that an assistant coach, Rich Pisacano, found and the team adopted as its good-luck charm for much of the season), were interviewed by reporters and spoke with fans who followed them onto the outfield grass with cameras in hand to record the happy moment.
The occasional call to wrap things up was largely ignored.
“I don’t want it to end,” Tardif said during the midst of it all. “I really don’t.”
When they were finally ready, the Tuckers boarded the team bus. They had a long, happy ride back to Long Island ahead of them.
DeCaro was kept busy returning congratulatory text messages on the ride home. “I think I had my head down in my phone the whole time, and I probably had the state championship plaque on my lap and I know my medal never left my side,” he said.
Upon their return to Mattituck at around 2 a.m., the Tuckers received a welcome home reception befitting state champions, with music playing and plenty of people cheering.
“When we got home, the whole freaking town was there,” said Jon Dwyer, who is Chris Dwyer’s younger brother. “It was awesome.”
And so, the celebrating continued.
“I don’t even know if it’s ending now,” Jon Dwyer said a half-year later. “We still talk about it.”
Certainly, there is a lot to talk about. It has to qualify as the greatest season in the team’s history.
When it was all over, the Tuckers had finished with a sparkling 27-1 record, the sole loss being by one run to Babylon. After winning their first 15 games of the season, the Tuckers suffered that loss to Babylon, their first defeat in almost a year. No matter. The Tuckers went on to clinch their fifth league championship in 18 years and second in a row.
Then came the second season — the playoffs.
The Tuckers swept Port Jefferson in their Suffolk County semifinal series, 9-5 and 15-4.
From there it was on to the county finals against Babylon. Tardif drove in four runs, homering and allowing only two hits in the six innings he pitched for a 7-0 win in Game 1. The following day it was Chris Dwyer’s turn to shine. “Chris is about as good a hitter as I’ve ever coached … and today he showed it,” DeCaro told reporters after Dwyer went 4 for 4 as the Tuckers romped, 11-6, for their fifth county title in 13 years.
That earned the Tuckers a place in a regional semifinal against the Nassau County champion, Oyster Bay. Marcos Perivolaris, a senior in his fifth varsity season, hurled a two-hit shutout for a tidy 5-0 win and Mattituck’s third Long Island title in five years.
“That’s what we wanted to do,” Jon Dwyer said. “We wanted to keep winning.”
The Tuckers were brimming with confidence. Asked after the game if the thought had occurred to him that the Tuckers might actually lose, Ian Nish replied, “I don’t think we ever have that thought in our mind.”
And so they rolled along. Next up was a regional final against Albertus Magnus and a chance for redemption. Playing on the same Mamaroneck High School field where their 2014 season ended with a loss to Rye Neck in a regional final, the Tuckers faced their toughest test of the year. Albertus Magnus took Mattituck to 10 innings before the Tuckers prevailed, 9-5, with Chris Dwyer driving in five runs. It was only the second regional championship in the team’s history, according to DeCaro.
From there it was on to Binghamton.
Great things were expected of the Tuckers in 2015. “The coaches together, we had known for years that this was the year,” said DeCaro, a 31-year coaching veteran who took over the Tuckers in 2002. “For years we prepared for this.”
With those expectations came pressure, the pressure to grab a state championship.
“That’s the most stress I ever experienced playing baseball, but it was worth it,” catcher Mike Onufrak said. “It was well worth it.” He explained, “You feel a lot of pressure because you start to realize what you’re playing for and you start to realize that you could change history as you keep winning, so it’s stressful, but it’s baseball, so it’s fun.”
Because of the scheduling of the state semifinals and finals, which are all played on the same day, teams most likely use their top starting pitcher in the semifinals. That was the case with the Tuckers, who pitched Tardif in the semifinals against Ogdensburg Free Academy.
Half a year removed from the events of that day, DeCaro said it remains something of a blur to him. What he can recall sharply is that “our guys rose to the occasion.”
They did and they came away with a 7-2 win over Ogdensburg.
“It was almost too easy,” said DeCaro.
A short while later, on the same field, the ball was handed to Perivolaris as the Tuckers took on Livonia (25-2).
“We had a lot of confidence,” Tardif said. “We knew Marcos was going to throw strikes and we knew we’d put out a good defense to succeed and the batting was always there the whole season. We just had to play our game.”
They did. The Tuckers took a 4-0 lead by the fourth inning and Perivolaris (10-0) scattered eight hits over six and one-third innings for the biggest win of his life.
“We almost made it look easy because we came after them,” Jon Dwyer said. “We came out swinging, throwing strikes.”
Afterward, an ebullient Perivolaris said, “We showed it: We’re the best.”
Mattituck’s Joe Tardif sliding into third base during Game 1 of the Tuckers’ semifinal series against Port Jefferson. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Who could argue? It was truly a dream season.
The Tuckers had the talent and the experience, with six seniors and nine players who had experience as starters from the 2014 team that reached the Southeast Region final. It was a team that didn’t seem to have a weakness. The fielding, the hitting, the pitching. It was all there. Onufrak called it the best team he has ever played on, “by far.”
What fans didn’t see and may not have known was the degree of dedication and behind-the-scenes work that went into building this state championship team.
“Unless you go to Mattituck, you have no idea how much time these guys put into things,” DeCaro said. “They practice constantly. In March, we have five-hour, six-hour practices.” In addition to practices, there were extra workouts, time in the batting cage, weight training, dancing.
Dancing?
Jon Dwyer explained that the Tuckers are sometimes allowed to play music while getting their swings in during batting practice. “I dance a lot,” he said.
For Dan Fedun and Tardif, it was their second state championship in the same school year. Both had played for the Mattituck boys soccer team that won a state crown in the fall of 2014.
It was a second state championship for DeCaro, who was on the coaching staff of Levittown Division when it won a state title in 1996 along with his mentor, the late, legendary coach Doug Robbins. That, he said, had been the pinnacle of his career — `presumably until last year.
Mattituck Baseball defeated Oyster Bay in the Long Island Championship game at the Dowling Sports Complex in Shirley on 6-5-15. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)
After the season, the awards flooded in. Mattituck was selected the No. 2. team in the country for small schools and 19th overall by MaxPreps.com. Tardif was named the state Class B Player of the Year and DeCaro was chosen the state Class B Coach of the Year by the New York State Sports Writers Association. All-state honors also went to pitcher/left fielder James Nish, who made the fourth team, and Perivolaris, who was named to the fifth team.
Togetherness may have been the special sauce for this Mattituck team. “We’ve been playing since Little League together, and not many teams play as many games as we did together,” said Tardif.
The Tuckers were all together once again one night in October when they were presented with their state championship rings.
“We got them all sized and signed balls and pictures,” Jon Dwyer said. “Pretty legit. … It’s got our name, our position, our number. It says ‘champion’ on it. It’s pretty sweet.”
And yet, for all the awards and honors, what makes what the Tuckers did so special may be its lasting effect. Onufrak said he still gets the same chills he had that memorable day when he watches video clips of Mattituck’s state triumph on YouTube. “It’s something that I’ll never forget,” he said. “It changed me.”
What is the best thing about being a state champion?
“Just the memories,” third baseman Will Gildersleeve said. “I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”
DeCaro said Optimus will be retired and given a place in his physics classroom, overlooking the Mattituck High School baseball field. Also, the blue-and-gold Mattituck camouflage uniforms that the Tuckers wore in the state final will never be worn again, he said.
Is being a state champion all that it’s cracked up to be?
DeCaro said he recalled thinking to himself, while his team lined up before the state final, that it had been a great trip to Binghamton and even if the Tuckers lost, it would still have been a tremendous experience.
“I was wrong,” he said. “It was not even close. Being a state champion, it’s been tremendous.”
Last month DeCaro was asked if his feet had touched the ground yet.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he said, looking down at his shoes, “they’re coming back down now because now as a staff we’ve stopped. We’ve been on cloud nine, but now we have to look to next year, and now that’s starting. So, the 2016 season is on the horizon, so we’re ready to go.”
Photo caption: Mattituck Captured its first State Championship by defeating Livonia 4-1 in the NY State Class B Baseball Championship game at SUNY Broome on 6-13-15. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)
Previous winners:
2014 — Mat Litchhult
On Thursday, we presented Mattituck High School technology teacher John Roslak with our Educator of the Year award at a ceremony at Martha Clara Vineyards. This is the video we screened during the ceremony and the original announcement from January.
Toward the end of first period every Tuesday through Friday, students at Mattituck High School put away their work, settle into desks and gaze up at the television screens in each classroom.
A group of students, some wearing blazers over their sports jerseys or witty T-shirts, discuss the school news of the day: Cross country practice is canceled. Tickets for the homecoming dance are on sale. Some perform a comedy skit about a bathroom being off-limits while undergoing renovations.
The broadcasts, although unconventional, are how Mattituck creatively handles its morning announcements. Students themselves are mostly responsible, too, since one first-period course is dedicated to planning, filming and broadcasting the announcements. And for more than 17 years, John Roslak, an influential and revered technology and video teacher, has been behind it all.
Since he began teaching in 1984, Mr. Roslak has helped hundreds of students develop valuable modern skills and learn to work independently. Some have even gone on to careers in video production, motivated by their time in his class. For all his influential work in the school, Mr. Roslak has been named The Suffolk Times’ Educator of the Year in his final year of teaching before retirement.
“How many teachers can say that they created something from scratch that actually transformed education?” said retired superintendent James McKenna, who was also the high school principal when the video course was born.
A Mattituck graduate himself, Mr. Roslak began as an industrial arts teacher, but in the late 1990s, he had the idea of starting an innovative video program at the school.
So he did.
The morning show debuted in 1998 as live announcements, bloopers and all, broadcast into every classroom from a “studio” — a converted girls’ bathroom, complete with pink tiles and a drain in the floor.
Over time, the program grew. The class was moved into a larger, better-equipped room and Mr. Roslak began teaching Video I and Video II courses. Every eighth-grader got a sense of the teacher, too, as part of a rotating elective schedule.
“It was the true meaning of the word ‘hands-on learning,’ ” Mr. McKenna recalled.
Mr. Roslak played a variety of other roles at the school, too. For a number of years, he was the district’s technology director before returning to full-time teaching. He also runs the AV club and manages lights and audio for most school productions.
“He knocks on your door and comes in and wants to discuss aspects of our school system that really don’t directly relate to his job or fall under his responsibility,” said high school principal Shawn Petretti. “If he sees something and he sees a way that we can improve as a school system, he’s going to bring it to the table and he’s going to do whatever he has to do.”
And throughout his three-plus decades at Mattituck, Mr. Roslak has been immensely popular with students. Mr. Petretti, who considers Mr. Roslak one of his best friends, compared the teacher to a “pied piper” who causes students to “flock” to him.
“I’ve witnessed students say they never would have made it through high school without him, that he gave them that safe place, that drive, that push to keep coming to school and to go on and become successful,” Mr. Petretti said.
(Credit: Chris Lisinski)
Mr. Roslak gives his students plenty of independence, too. He supervises projects and offers advice, but places full responsibility for planning, filming and editing in their hands.
In the classroom, Mr. Roslak’s rapport with the kids is obvious. So too is his sense of humor. On Monday morning, a student asked where to find Final Cut Pro on the computer.
“It’s the one that starts with an ‘F’ and ends with an ‘-inal Cut Pro,’ ” Mr. Roslak quipped.
Some of Mr. Roslak’s students have launched successful careers in film and television after getting their first taste in his video production class. Several have won Emmys.
Jared Palmer, who graduated in 2007 after spending four years working on the morning show, has worked on programs such as “Deadliest Catch,” “1,000 Ways to Die” and “Storage Wars.” But he said he only got the chance to do so thanks to Mr. Roslak.
“He helped me learn … that I was going to go on adventures and I was going to tell stories and that I was going to do it all with a camera,” Mr. Palmer said. “He taught me there wasn’t a box to live in unless you made it for yourself.”
Mr. Roslak’s influence has also extended to other districts on the North Fork. In the 2014-15 school year, Southold High School started its own video program, modeled after Mr. Roslak’s and taught by Mattituck graduate Jason Wesnofske.
Mr. Wesnofske belonged to Mr. Roslak’s AV club before graduating in 2003, and when he joined the school’s staff in 2007, he co-chaired the club. So when the time came to establish his own video program in Southold, Mr. Wesnofske approached his former teacher and colleague for advice.
“He built that program from nothing, and he was way ahead of the curve,” Mr. Wesnofske said. “Here we are, 15 years later. We started our program in the 2014-15 school year, and he had that in 1998-99. You think about digital literacy, 21st-century learning, multimedia — he did that. That’s his legacy.”
Photo caption: (Credit: Chris Lisinski)
Previous Winners
2014 — Phillip ‘Skip’ Munisteri
2013 — Al Edwards
2012 — Daniel Goldfarb
2011 — Major William Grigonis
2010 — Jean Dempsey
2009 — Robert Feger
2008 — Charles Kozora
2007 — Kathy Williams
2006 — Dr. Stuart Rachlin
2005 — Mattituck Fund for Students
2004 — Ron McEvoy
2003 — Chris Gallagher
2002 — Brigitte Gibbons
2001 — Barbara Ackerman
2000 — Ruth Yoskovich
1999 — Tom Brennan
1998 — Peggy Dickerson
1997 — Elizabeth Goldsmith
1996 — Lee Ellwood
1995 — Linda Gates
1994 — Poppy Johnson
1993 — Peggy Murphy
1992 — Patricia Wall
1991 — Charles Nephew
1990 — Dennis Claire
1989 — Bruno Brauner
1988 — Winifred Billard
1987 — Jim Christy
There came a time in Ryan Rager’s life where he says he realized he just couldn’t throw a curveball. Instead, he knew he was on the path toward a career in music.
But unlike other young performers who might pursue opportunities playing local gigs or giving lessons to children, his band entertains audiences all over the world while in service of its country.
He is a member of the United States Air Force Rhythm in Blue Jazz Ensemble, whose next gig will be a free concert at Mattituck High School.
“We have very diverse backgrounds and we all came together to serve and perform,” Staff Sgt. Rager said of the 19 musicians who will teach a master class for the school’s jazz band before entertaining the community Monday evening.
The full-size big band, which includes two singers and performs a wide range of music, tours the eastern seaboard, playing about 125 gigs a year from Maine to South Carolina. Most of its members have also deployed to play for troops and local nationals overseas.
The ‘Rhythm in Blue’ jazz ensemble performs at Mattituck High School Monday, March 14, at 7 p.m.
Staff Sgt. Rager, who serves as the band’s tour manager and music director, is also the ensemble’s keyboard player. The South Sioux City, Neb., native deployed in 2012 to Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan and other locations in southwest Asia.
“That’s definitely been one of my favorite experiences,” he said. “We go into communities where they have no concept of the U.S. military. We play songs for them and within 30 minutes they’re our biggest fans.”
The band members also provide comfort for their fellow servicemen and women by bringing acoustic instruments and entertaining them during periods of downtime overseas.
It’s not a fluke that Staff Sgt. Rager and his fellow ensemble members play in the band. They are highly educated and skilled performers who, as with a symphony, had to audition for their roles. Only after they passed the audition were they asked to enlist.
Staff Sgt. Rager joined the Air Force in 2008, after first learning to play the piano more than 15 years ago. He studied music education in college, taught for a brief period afterward and even entertained crowds in local bars. While in the Air Force, he earned a Master’s of Music Theory from the University of Nebraska.
For each of the ensemble’s members, the military is their career. They will serve in the Air Force for 20 years and receive a full pension.
Afterward, Staff Sgt. Rager said, many will go back to school to pursue new career paths. He pointed to one recent retiree who now manages a BMW factory.
Some, however, will simply move on to the next chapter in their musical lives.
“They’re born a musician and will continue to do the musician thing,” he said.
The United States Air Force Rhythm in Blue Jazz Ensemble held a free concert at Mattituck High School Monday evening.
Despite the stormy weather, a large crowd turned out to see the full-size big band, which includes 19 musicians and two singers.
To read more about the Rhythm in Blue Jazz Ensemble click here.
See more photos:
There’s been a lot of name-calling and mudslinging at Mattituck High School lately.
The adjective “loser” has been thrown around quite a bit. The question of birthright has also been raised.
This isn’t an assignment for a debate class or an exercise in political science about reviewing the current U.S. presidential primaries.
This is Don Zolidis’ satirical play “The Election,” written in 2012 specifically to be performed by high school students.
The parody of presidential elections in the adult world opens Thursday, April 14.
The main character, high school junior Mark Davenport, decides to run for class president to pad his college résumé. His competitor, a very nerdy Christie, also decides to run, declaring that she’s always wanted to be class president. The influence of a slick campaign manager, the media and political action committees also factor into the comedy’s plot.
See ‘The Election’ at Mattituck High School
April 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the door:
$7 for adults; $5 for students and seniors.
MHS senior Ava Gaines, a student producer, said the fictitious student body gets riled up by “audacious and irrelevant insults slung from podium to podium” as the class president campaigns unfold.
“The parallels between what’s happening in this facetious debate — with basically children — is what’s happening when you turn on CNN and Fox News,” Ava said. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried that a high-schooler closely resembles someone that could run the country.”
English teacher Amanda Barney, the play’s faculty director, said she’d been waiting for an election year to present the play. Although it was written before the current election cycle, she said students often remark that the dialog appears to have been pulled from a recent primary debate.
“The audience is going to be able to relate to Mark Davenport’s frustration and outrage,” Ms. Barney said. “He starts out innocent — he’s trying to just be a kid and do the right thing — but the political pressure coming from the Super PAC and competition changes him as a person.”
Students said they’re also learning why real-life candidates sometimes say things they don’t truly mean.
Raven Janoski, a senior who plays the lead’s best friend, said she now has a better understanding of why candidates have to take a cutthroat approach in order to get ahead.
“Voters will choose whichever candidate is more charismatic — more out there — and has more slanderous things to say about the other person,” she observed. “Donald Trump has a huge following and a lot of it is because he’s a charismatic speaker who likes to slay words at the other candidates — and he’s entertaining to watch.”
While the play was written four years ago, there are a number of lines in the play that match controversial comments made during the current presidential election campaign.
Sarah Fogarty, a senior who plays Sasha, an actress, gave an example of how personal appearance is a common theme in both the play and in the current election.
“One of Mark’s lines is: ‘Look at that face. Who could vote for that face?’ And that’s exactly what Donald Trump said about Carly Fiorina,” Sarah said. “How candidates go after things as petty as personal appearance shows how ridiculous these candidates are attacking personal appearance.”
Sam Shaffery, a senior who plays Chip, a reporter, described the correlations as “almost taking the comedy away.”
“It is a satire, but the parallel between the extreme ridiculousness of the actual presidential election and the extreme ridiculousness that is built into the show is really right there,” he said.
Sam is one of a handful of cast and crew members who will also be eligible to vote for the first time in this year’s presidential election. He supports Democratic contender Bernie Sanders because he agrees with his economic plan, which includes extending public education by four years to cover college.
“Right now, much of the extreme poverty and lack of proper education can hold back massive amounts of humanity from getting ahead and building something for themselves,” Sam said. “Unless we have a government that helps people — that’s going to attempt to level the playing field a little bit — then the American Dream is more or less worthless.”
Sarah said she’s still undecided, but will vote for whoever wins the GOP primary.
“The Republican ideology is personal responsibility, which I believe in,” she said. “It’s hard to find a candidate to actually disclose what they want to do with the country instead of it just being this popularity contest.”
Photo: Mattituck High School performs ‘The Election’ beginning Thursday. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Mattituck High School students will perform Don Zolidis’ satirical play “The Election,” written in 2012 specifically to be performed by high school students, this week.
The parody of presidential elections in the adult world opens Thursday, April 14.
[Related story: A real lesson in politics with Mattituck High School play]
The main character, high school junior Mark Davenport, decides to run for class president to pad his college résumé. His competitor, a very nerdy Christie, also decides to run, declaring that she’s always wanted to be class president. The influence of a slick campaign manager, the media and political action committees also factor into the comedy’s plot.
See ‘The Election’ at Mattituck High School on April 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door: $7 for adults; $5 for students and seniors.
Click on the images below to see more photos.
Congratulations to the following students.
Grade 12: Thomas Behr, Taylor Berkoski, Hayley Berry, Julie Dickerson, Taylor DiVello, Carly Doorhy, Jack Dufton, Emma Fasolino, Erin Feeney, Hannah Fitzgerald, Sarah Fogarty, Gwyneth Foley, David Folk, Emily Gatz, Yianni Giannaris, Sarah Goerler, Jacquelin Gonzalez, Joseph Graeb, Katerina Hatzinikolaou, Christina Hatzinikolaou, Katherine Hoeg, Frank Imbriano, Chloe Janis, Raven Janoski, Caroline Keil, Anna Kowalski, Julie Krudop, Trevor Larsen, Antonina Lentini, Joseph Lisowy, Dylan Marlborough, Meghan McKillop, Daniel Nugent, Kristina Olsen, Lika Osepashvili, Gabriella Pagano, Meghan Pawlik, Courtney Penny, Brianna Perino, Dawn Rochon, Kimberly Scheer, Samuel Shaffery, Sophia Sluyters, Samantha Smilovich, Andrew Stakey, William Stuckart, Joseph Tardif, Parker Tuthill, Lucas Webb, Charles Zaloom.
Grade 11: Eshi Baldano, Amy Li Berninger, Alex Bradley, Ty Bugdin, Karen Carrillo, Charley Claudio, Joseph Considine, Dylan Drewes, Daniel Harkin, Cheyenne Harris, Thomas Hoeg, Svitlana Hoshko, Samantha Husak, Grace Izzo, Colleen Kelly, Joseph Kelly, Brendan Kent, Colette Kodym, Amy Macaluso, Christopher Massey, Ryan McCaffery, James McDonald, Eric Momente, Carter Montgomery, Karolina Morawski, McKenzi Murphy, Johanna Pedone, Grace Pellegrino, Joshua Prager, Corinne Reda, Autumn Reichardt, Sascha Rosin, Tyler Seifert, Sarah Shannon, Ryan Shuford, Dale Stonemetz, Gage Suglia, Christopher Waggoner, Dylan Wilsberg, Mary Kate Wilton.
Grade 10: Alexandra Beebe, Alexander Bellavia, Ashley Burns, David Conroy, Mackenzie Daly, Elizabeth Dwyer, Samantha Fine, Daniel Folk, Brianna Fox, Jaime Gaffga, Jacqueline Galdamez SantaMaria, Rebecca Hammerle, Shawn Howell, Collin Kaminsky, Leah Kerensky, Jacob Kupecki, Justin Lake, Anthony Lopez, Chelsea Marlborough, Lucas Micheels, Emily Mowdy, Jakob Olsen, Alexandria Peters, Riley Peterson, Jennifer Rutkoski, Connor Smith, Joseph Stuckart, Alexandra Talbot, Martha Terry, Carly Woods.
Grade 9: Sarah Bihm, Charles Bordsen, Kaitlyn Brisotti, Beverly Cahueque, Max Cantelmo, Dorothy Condon, Gabrielle Dwyer, Anne Finnegan, Caleb Foley, Jillian Gaffga, Savvas Giannaris, Bryce Grathwohl, Christopher Imbriano, Rachel Janis, Mason Kelly, Kristen Lisowy, Antonio Marine, Sean McDonald, Catherine McGrath, Cassidy Mullin, Tyler F. Olsen, Katherine Parks, Matteo Pellegrini, Trevor Poole, Meghan Riley, Amber Rochon, Lily Russell, Madison Schmidt, Ryan Seifert, Julie Seifert, Madelyn Shannon, Matthew Sledjeski, Madison Storm, Christina Tomao, Courtney Trzcinski, Francesca Vasile-Cozzo, Gabrielle Wahlers, Goksel Zaim.
Grade 8: Margaret Bruer, Jack Burkhardt, Kianja Christian, Joseph Corso, James DiBartolo, Cole DiGregorio, Shelby Dufton, Gabrielle Finora, Julia Gammon, Justin Garbarino, Claire Gatz, Grace Golder, Viktoria Harkin, Miranda Hedges, Max Heilman, William Hickox, Mackenzie Hoeg, Madeleine Jimenez, Abigail Kerensky, Hayden Kitz, Adam Kobel, James Kowalski, Marissa Lechner, Jenna Lisowy, Payton Maddaloni, Tyler Marlborough, Shannon Massey, Paige Mather, Jessica Mazzeo, Mildred Monroy, Taylor Montgomery, Hannah Murphy, Christopher Nicholson, Jillian Orr, Jordan Osler, Eric Palencia, Rachel Park, Cade Patchell, Veronica Pugliese, Dane Reda, Emmet Ryan, Jessica Scheer, Julia Schimpf, Tyler Shuford, Rylie Skrezec, Joshua Starzee, Colby Suglia, Emily Sullivan, Christopher Talbot II, Kathryn Thompson, Brett Walsh, Matthew Warns, Thomas Wilton.
Grade 7: Luke Altman, Rudy Alvarado-Carillo, Silvia Borrayo, Ainsley Brewer, Jackson Cantelmo, Emily Chew, Jessi Clementi, Kylie Conroy, Nathaniel Demchak, Hunter DiVello, Kendall Fabb, Connor Fox, Katherine Hamilton, Annabel Hammerle, Jaimee Hanly, Madison Hansen, Sadie Heston, Weronika Jachimowicz, Savanna Kelly, Julia Klibisz, Sean Kobel, Alex Koch, Julie Kosmynka, Rashad Lawson, Jada Marine, Isabella Masotti, Samantha McNamara, Olivia Minguela, Steven Moeck, Emma Olsen, Lauren Onufrak, Myah Orlowski, Nikita Palianok, Fernando Perez, Thomas Peters, Hanna Prager, Emma Reidy, Rylie Rittberg, Matthew Rodgers, Abigail Rosato, Olivia Sciara, Nikki Searles, Abigail Seifert, Nishant Seodat, Lily Slovak, Bryan Soto, Tara Terranova, Ashley Young.
Grade 12: Cassidy Arnzen, John Batuello, Alexandra Becker, Maria Capichana, Meghan Corazzini, Jose Diaz, Eddie Dowling, Alec Durkin, Jonathan Dwyer, Daniel Fedun, Christian Figurniak, Liam Finnegan, Ava Gaines, Rocco Genovese, Skyler Grathwohl, Liam Gregg, Audrey Hoeg, Zachary Holmes, Tristin Ireland, Samantha Kaelin, Justin Kirchberger, John Makucewicz, Ryan McCaskie, Matthew Mehalakes, Nicholas Mele, Joseph Melly, Andreana Mineo, Michael Onufrak, Victoria Pagano, Artemis Pando, Cameron Pase, Ryan Reilly, Thomas Riley, Miranda Sannino, Benjamin Savercool, Phurlamu Sherpa, Greg Sheryll, Brett Slack, Cecilia Stevens, Shane Uher, Mia Vasile-Cozzo, Rachel Voegel, Matthew Wells, Feng You, Madison True.
Grade 11: Chance Anderson, Jennifer Avila Ramos, Devon Baker, Thomas Beebe, Alexander Burns, Tabitha Conklin, Caitlyn Deerkoski, Maritza Diaz, Sean Gambaiani, Adriel Garcia, Jacob Golanec, Michael Goodale, James Hoeg, Tina Imbriano, Bianca LaColla, Matthew Mauceri, Liam McShane, Joseph Mele, Jocelyne Merino, Taylor Nietupski, Lilian Perez, Melanie Pfennig, Hannah Prokop, Ally Robins, Jonathan Rogers, Tyler Schroeck, Christopher Schroeder, Emily Sidor, Amanda Young.
Grade 10: Brittany Benediktsson, Cassidy Bertolas, Jack Bokina, Luke Bokina, Ashley Chew, James Clementi, Liam Corbley, Joy Davis, Brian Feeney, Sean Feeney, Kaitlyn Ficarra, Rebecca Foster, Jennie Fruin, Macie Grathwohl, Drew Hahn, Sophie Jacobs, Taylor Larsen, Jordyn Maichin, Stephen Masotti, Grace McKeon, Mauricio Moran, Dennis O’Rourke, Madison Osler, Sarah Park, Jillian Pedone, Carlos Perez, Greta Peters, Elvira Puluc, Britney Santos, Jason Scalia, Jake Sciara, Jacqueline Secaida, Paige Starzee, Thomas Sullivan, Julia Vasile-Cozzo.
Grade 9: Miranda Annunziata, Lauren Bihm, Alexis Burns, William Burns, Jake Catalano, Tyler Cirincione, Kaitlyn Cox, Cassidy Deerkoski, Christian Demchak, Joseph DePinto, Annabel Donovan, David Fasolino, Melina Harris, Charlie Hasel, Riley Hoeg, Claudia Hoeg, Jessica Lessard, Jonathan Lisowy, Brian Molchan, Brian Nicholson, Teagan Nine, Tyler C. Olsen, Mikayla Osmer, Nicholas Perino, Ashley Perkins, Ethan Prager, Wylee Sanders, Francesco Sannino, Matthew Schroeck, Christopher Siejka, Thomas Silleck, Mia Slovak, Benjamin Webb, Lauren Zuhoski.
Grade 8: Ian Baker, Anna Burns, Rhiannon Cherney, Oswald Cuellar, Matthew Czujko, Tia Flythe, Halle Foster, Andrew Hildesheim, Emily Javier, Sean Jester, Adam Kaya, Jadyn Maichin, Kyle McCaskie, George McDowell, Jennifer Palencia, Frankie Priolo, Morgan Puterbaugh, Sarah Santacroce, Ethan Schmidt, Kira Schroeder, Mathew Schultz, Parker Sheppard, Grace Shipman, Ethan Tandy, Sean Urick, Luke Wojtas, Taylor Zuhoski.
Grade 7: Mia Xing Berninger, Christopher Catalano, Cassidy Celic, Jose Cojon, John Condon, Kayla Corrigan, Renee DePinto, Nicolas Diaz, Antonia Dris, Gabriel Gamboa-Boutcher, Britney Garcia-Yanes, Berkan Ilgin, Jonathan Jacobs, Antonio Jimenez, Sophia Kalish, John Lajda, Zihao Li, Paul LoCascio, Filippo Pellegrini, Daniel Puluc, Aniah Thompson, Jillian Tuthill.
Grade 12: Austin Gao.
Grade 11: Jacey Lengyel.
Grade 10: Nick Andreadis and Alissa Dabrowski.
Grade 9: Abby Heffernan, Ryan Mahon and Scarlet Soto.
Grade 7: Dylan Szczotka and Claire Stevens.
If driving past Mattituck High School today, make sure to give your horn a little tap and join in on the fun unfolding on the front lawn.
Rather than lugging backpacks to school this morning, the graduating class brought volleyball nets, croquet sets, lawn chairs, blankets and grills as part of their senior prank.
The students also replaced the information board with a sign that read “Honk for the Class of 2016.” Every time a passerby did, the students cheered.
The idea is the brainchild of senior class president Greg Sheryll, who worked with the class vice president to pick a day for the prank.
“I have most people’s phone numbers, so I sent out group messages just updating everybody and then they told people and word got around,” Greg said of the idea, which took about a month to plan.
In addition to the beach party, students parked “horribly” in the teachers spots when they arrived this morning, with many cars parked diagonally across multiple spots, Greg said.
“I think it went pretty good, it was pretty funny,” he said. “As the teachers were pulling in they had to drive past the buses and all had to look at us and we were all parked over there and playing volleyball.”
Top photo: Seniors played volleyball and enjoyed burgers Thursday morning as part of a senior prank. (Photos: Nicole Smith)
At 6:40 a.m. Friday morning, Matthew Wells left his 1985 Chevy K10 truck at home, opting instead to drive his family’s John Deere tractor — which tops out at 13 miles per hour — to attend one of his final days at Mattituck High School.
“You have to leave early,” said the 18-year-old senior, who lives in Mattituck. “That’s the problem.”
Forgoing a few extra minutes of shut-eye was worth it to Matthew and the dozen or so other Mattituck High School students who participated in this year’s Tractor Day. As part of the 20-year-old tradition, seniors drive tractors to and from school on the last Friday before final exams.
“It’s something different that no other school really does,” said Justin Kirchberger of Mattituck, who was riding his family’s John Deere 440.
Caroline Keil rides her tractor home from school Friday. (Credit: Rachel Young)
Tractor Day dates back to 1996, when then-senior Peter Ruland rode a tractor to Mattituck High School one day in June. Similar to a game of Telephone, the facts behind the tradition’s origins have since become muddled.
“From what I heard, [Mr. Ruland’s] car broke down one day and he needed a ride to get to school,” said Justin Imbriano of Mattituck, 18, who was driving a New Holland TL Friday. “So he took his tractor from his family’s farm and that’s how he got here.”
When reached by phone Friday afternoon, Mr. Ruland laughed at that version of events.
“It was a gag with a couple of my friends,” the now-38-year-old said. “I said I would drive a tractor that day.”
Mr. Ruland, who currently lives in Aquebogue and worked in Mattituck High School’s IT department from 2003 to 2009, said he has long been aware of his prank’s evolution into a beloved annual tradition. To his surprise, however, he has never seen it in action.
“I’ve only heard tidbits,” he said.
Matthew Wells waits to make a turn of the school campus. (Credit: Rachel Young)
As school was being dismissed around 2:10 p.m. Friday, Mattituck Junior-Senior High School principal Shawn Petretti said he thinks Tractor Day is “great.”
“It’s something unique to Mattituck. It’s something that is theirs,” he said in reference to the students who participate. “The kids organize it and the kids do it. It really has no involvement from us.”
These days, Tractor Day is much more than a gag. For the seniors set to graduate in a couple weeks, 18-year-old Caroline Keil said, it’s a celebration of their time at Mattituck High School.
Still, driving a John Deere to class has its perks.
“It’s better than driving a car because you can kind of break the rules,” Matthew said.
Top Caption: Matthew Wells, left and Justin Kirchberger leave school Friday. (Credit: Rachel Young)
A Mattituck man arrested in connection with a gunshot incident that put nearby Mattituck High School on lockdown last October pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor charge and was fined, according a Southold Town court clerk.
Edward Hug was arrested on Oct. 19, 2015, two weeks after a report of possible gunshots in the neighboring area forced Mattituck school administrators to suspend a girls soccer game and clear the high school campus. Students were allowed to return home after police searched the area “door-to-door” to find the source of the gunshots, Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley said at the time.
Police said Mr. Hug had fired a shotgun while pointing it skyward. He was home alone at the time of the incident, the chief said.
Mr. Hug, then 28 years old, was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapons, a misdemeanor charge, due to a previous felony conviction. He pleaded guilty to the charge Friday before Town Justice Brian Hughes and was sentenced to pay a fine, according to the court.
The details of his fine were not immediately available. Mr. Hug is due back in court on July 8 to pay the fine and a court surcharge.
Mattituck High School had previously been involved in a shooting incident six years before, when a student suffered minor injuries when fragments from a bullet — which was fired through a classroom window by a 29-year-old neighbor of the school — grazed her, authorities said at the time. The man had accidentally fired the .22 caliber rifle while cleaning the gun at home.
Photo credit: Southold Town Police Department
