To kick off Black History Month, student members of the Hampton Bays High School Music Department had the opportunity to see “Underground: Hear the Sound of Freedom” at the Avram Theater at Stony Brook Southampton. “Underground” is the first show produced at the Avram Theater in 17 years, and the musical play “captures one man's faith and determination to gain freedom for his family,” according to the Avram Theater. The book and lyrics are by Akil DuPont and the lead composer is Lili Forbes. After the show, students participated in a Q&A with the production team and some of the actors and took a picture with Forbes.

 

Date Added: 2/5/2025

Three Hampton Bays High School students have been named local winners in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 535’s annual Voice of Democracy essay contest. Their impressive essays were written on the contest theme of “Is America Today Our Forefathers' Vision? Achieving honors in the Voice of Democracy essay contest and a chance to earn accolades at the state level were Olivia Allen, Eman Khalid and Parker Molina.

 

Date Added: 2/4/2025

Hampton Bays Middle School Life Skills students will gain new vocational skills thanks to a grant from Tanger Kids, which provides funding to teachers for enhanced learning.

The grant, presented to Hampton Bays Middle School special education teacher Vicki Manzulla, will allow for the purchase of items that will simulate a coffee business in her classroom and school.

“We are so grateful for this grant,” said Manzulla. “It gives my students the opportunity and skills needed to learn how to create, operate or work at this type of a business in the future, while also offering them the chance to work on pre-vocational and vocational skills.”

With the simulated coffee business, students will learn aspects of making coffee, taking orders, greeting customers, stocking items and delivering drinks.

“We will be starting with hot and iced coffee, tea and hot chocolate, with the hopes of adding other items in the future,” said Manzulla.

Date Added: 2/4/2025

Hampton Bays Elementary School kindergartners and first graders were all smiles on Jan. 27 when they had an opportunity to meet, via Zoom, the star of Heggerty, a new phonemic awareness program that was introduced to them this school year.

Students cheered as Marjorie Bottari, director of content development for Heggerty, appeared on their classroom screens to speak and read to them. Bottari is featured in the videos that students and teachers use for daily phonemic instruction.

“She’s become a celebrity among students, since the kids love the videos so much,” said kindergarten teacher Melinda Brown. “She provides short, engaging and structured lessons specifically designed to teach phonemic awareness skills.”

The Heggerty program aims to provide fun and an effective curriculum that is designed to build essential phonemic awareness and phonics skills, giving students a strong foundation for reading success.

“The lessons involve physical movement that translates into a high-energy, multisensory experience that students enjoy,” said Mike Carlson, assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. “It’s almost like we’re pairing physical education with literacy instruction.”

As part of the lessons, hand gestures are paired with the sounds that students learn. Students then recall the gestures and remember the sounds quickly using a kinesthetic approach.

The addition of the Heggerty program came after twenty-seven teachers and administrators across each of the Hampton Bays School District’s schools received training related to the new program through a 35-hour SUNY New Paltz Science of Reading Fundamentals Microcredential course. The course covers training on the building blocks of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

“This training has allowed our district to enhance our reading instruction, as well as increase our awareness of how students develop into readers,” said Carlson. “It also allowed us to examine our programming and practices more deeply and make the necessary improvements for all students to be successful.”

Date Added: 2/3/2025

Hampton Bays Elementary School second grade students in Stephanie Tam’s class recently learned about Lunar New Year and its customs. Tam taught her students to read and write some numbers and characters in Chinese and students explored which animal year they were born in. The students also made dragons to celebrate the holiday and then participated in a parade with the dragons in the classroom. Gung Hay Fat Choy (Happy New Year)!

Date Added: 1/31/2025