46 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • JUNE 29, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
school spotlight COMPILED BY BOB HARRIS AND ROBERT POZARYCKI
Excellence at Hillcrest High School
College adviser Nicole Conforti recently honored members of Hillcrest High
School who received 2017 academic excellence awards. Th ey each received certifi -
cates from the New York State Education Department for their achievements.
Hillcrest helps clean up Cunningham
Students from Hillcrest High School recently joined members of the West
Cunningham Park Civic Association to beautify Cunningham Park as part of “It’s
My Park Day.” Th e students, led by Student Government Adviser Haydee Recinos,
weeded, removed trash and planted fl owers. Th ey also had some help from Queens
students who are part of the Stuyvesant High School Nature Club.
Growing friendship
at Bayside school
Th e “Seeds of Friendship” have
sprouted in Bayside through a relationship
between P.S. 213 and a small special
needs school within it, P4. Th rough the
guidance of P4 Principal Marcy Berger
and P.S. 213 Principal Megan McCaulay,
students of both schools worked together
to plant seeds on indoor tables and
in an outdoor garden. Volunteers from
Goldman Sachs also came to the school
to help set up the program, assembling
outdoor cabinets to store equipment.
Parents and grandparents from the two
schools were invited to see the plantings
and watch a play that the students performed.
Elmhurst kids head up to Oneonta
Shirley Torres, college counselor at the Pan American International High School in
Elmhurst, recently visited SUNY Oneonta with students from the College for Every
Student Program to learn about the various courses they off er. Torres announced
that 100 percent of the school’s senior class is applying to college. It’s a real accomplishment
considering that the small high school’s 400 students are students from
Latin American nations who have been in the U.S. for less than four years.
Blood drive honors Van Buren alum and 9/11 hero
Martin Van Buren High School held a blood drive in May to celebrate the legacy
of Richard Dellacona, who spent fi ve years at Van Buren as a student, teacher,
assistant principal and athletic director. Dellacona was also a volunteer member of
the Westbury Fire Department who worked in the recovery at Ground Zero following
the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks; he died of illnesses related to his work. Dellacona’s
wife, JoAnn, was on hand for the blood drive, which collected 60 pints for the New
York Blood Center.
This Van Buren grad had plenty of
colleges to choose from
Th e salutatorian of the Martin Van Buren High School
graduating class of 2017, Jason Morency, ran up an amazing
number of college acceptances. He was off ered a full
scholarship from three Ivy League schools -- Cornell,
Columbia and Dartmouth universities -- as well as
Colgate and Sophie Davis Biomedical Program at
CUNY. In the end, however, he opted to attend Sophie
Davis because two other Van Buren graduates were
accepted there. During his time at Van Buren, Jason
participated in numerous activities including the school
orchestra and the National Honor Society.