FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 23, 2020 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
buzz
St. Francis Prep students earn national
recognition in art and science competition
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows has
been fortunate this year with multiple students
Courtesy of St. Francis Prep Music Department
Louis Armstrong House Museum launches online tour of massive collection
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e Louis Armstrong House Museum
in Corona launched “Th at’s My Home,”
a new online exhibition that shares with
homebound citizens around the globe a
glimpse into the jazz legend’s life at home
in Queens, where he lived the last 40 years
of his life.
Th e museum’s Research Collections
Director Ricky Riccardi created an online
portal documenting Armstrong’s life
at home through archival footage, rare
photographs, and priceless audio from
Satchmo’s own private reel-to-reel tapes.
In the coming weeks, the site will add virtual
tours of the Corona home, which is a
national landmark, as well as livestreamed
panel discussions.
“For 25 years, Queens College has
proudly preserved the Louis Armstrong
Research Collections and has opened its
doors to anyone with interest in this
monumental artist,” Queens College
Assistant for Governmental Aff airs and
LAHM’s Acting Director Jeff Rosenstock
said. “Today we celebrate the precious
time Satchmo spent at home in Corona,
Queens, as we spend time at home ourselves.
We hope that we can all draw
inspiration from Armstrong’s love for his
neighborhood, his community, and New
York, his adopted city.”
Th e Louis Armstrong House Research
Collections constitutes the world’s largest
archives for a single jazz musician.
Th e core of the collections is artifacts
and materials found in the Armstrong
House aft er the passing of Armstrong his
wife Lucille which includes 1,600 recordings,
650 home recorded reel-to-reel tapes
in hand-decorated boxes, 86 scrapbooks,
5,000 photographs, 270 sets of band parts,
12 linear feet of papers, letters and manuscripts,
fi ve trumpets, 14 mouthpieces,
Courtesy of Louis Armstrong House Museum 120 awards and plaques.
and academic departments earning
both local and national recognition, as it
continues to keep students engaged and
focused on their studies amid the coronavirus
outbreak.
Two senior students — Fiorella Delgado
and Brian Herrera — were honored within
their categories at the virtual Junior
Science and Humanities Symposia (JSHS)
held April 15-17. Th e competition is a
tri-service — U.S. Army, Navy and Air
Force — sponsored STEM competition
which promotes original research and
experimentation in the sciences, technology,
engineering and mathematics
(STEM) at the high school level and publicly
recognizes students for outstanding
achievement.
Of the 12 seniors selected to participate
in the competition, fi ve students were
then selected to compete as semi-fi nalists
at JSHS. Delgado had won fi rst place
for the behavioral sciences category and
advanced to the fi nal round for the region.
Herrera was awarded third place for his
project in the engineering category.
“We’re so proud of all of our seniors
in the Science Research Program at St.
Francis Prep. Every year, students continue
to impress with their innovation and
passion and this year has only continued
that trend,” said Casey Clark, director
of the Science Research Program.
“Th eir work has been focused on some of
the most pressing issues we face as a society
and demonstrates their connectedness
and concern.”
Th e entire senior class also competed
in the New York City Science and
Engineering Fair. One student, Sabrina
Chen, was selected to return to compete
in the fi nals. Unfortunately, the fi nals
round has been indefi nitely postponed
due to the current coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, students from the St. Francis
Prep Art Department were announced
as winners once again in the National
Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards — the
nation’s longest-running, most prestigious
recognition initiative for creative teens,
and the largest source of scholarships for
young artists and writers.
Th e Gold Keys winners are Joshua
Balina, Xuanchen Zhu (Kyle), Shulin Song
and Nicholas Nestola.
Th e Silver Keys winners and honorable
mentions include Isabella Agate, Ashley
Adamkiewicz, Jomarie Almeus, Joshua
Balina, Keying Lai, Christina Fernandez,
Bryan Herrera, Xuanchen Zhu (Kyle) and
Taryn Liello.
“Th e art teachers at SFP are so proud of
their talented students. Th e students spent
months preparing artwork to submit to
the competition,” said Jeanne Buccino,
chair of the art department. “Each year it
is a true honor to be part of such a wonderful
event.”
For a second year in a row, the St.
Francis Prep Music Department has been
recognized with a National Association of
Music Merchants Foundation (NAMM)
Support Music Merit Award for its commitment
to music education.
“We were chosen for this award because
the music program at St. Francis Prep is
both a quality program and also a very
extensive program,” said Robert Corbino,
chair of the school’s music department.
St. Francis Prep’s music program supports
11 performing ensembles as well
as courses in music theory, orchestration,
music technology and music history,
according to Roberto Corbino, chair of the
music department. Th e program contains
courses for the beginning level student
as well as the more advanced student. Its
music theory II course is also an AP course.
“Th e music faculty consists of individuals
who are very experienced in their fi eld,
but more importantly they are very caring
individuals,” Corbino said. “Th e best
part of the music program and the school
as a community are the students. Th ey are
truly exceptional.”
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