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Riverhead Middle School

Riverhead Middle School has approximately 695 students in grades 7 and 8.
Andrea Pekar, Principal, 631-369-6759
Riverhead Middle School
600 Harrison Avenue
Riverhead, N.Y. 11901
Visit Riverhead Middle School's website.

Riverhead Latinists dominate at Declamatio

Thursday, November 17 2011 16:12
Written by Daniel Raynor
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2011_1117_latinists
By the afternoon of November 14, 2011, it was for sure: Riverhead had yet again dominated in the SUNY Stony Brook’s annual Suffolk County Declamatio, a competition in which student dramatically deliver from memory selected passages of Latin literature.Through months of preparation, Latinists in Levels I and II memorized passages of roughly one hundred words, while those in the advanced level, or Level III, committed to memory passages of about one hundred fifty words.

Thanks to the diligent work of Middle School Latin teacher Ms. Custer, and High School Latin teacher, Doctor Greenberger, these memorized passages, though already remarkable, were transformed into dramatized declamations, which gave Riverhead an extra edge over their competitors.

At the middle school level, Level I, there was a first: the recitations were so amazing that the judges appointed three first place winners. They were, in no particular order, Gwen “Aqua Columba” Hilles, Peter “Argentus” Cook, and Helene “Abelinda Lunae” Drozd. Second place went to Emily “Hibernia Rosa” Pearce, and third went to Aidan “Ignis Lux” Saltini. The five Level I competitors from Riverhead took all three places. Most people did not know that that was even possible.

Due to a large number of participants in Level II, the participants were split into two groups: Cicero and Seneca. In the Cicero Division, James “Octavius Aurelius” Rios took first, Erin “Pandibula” Plitt won second, and Emily “Marnibear” Behr placed in third, while in the Seneca Division Liana “Bellatrix Atalanta” Salgado won first place.

Finally, in the high school advanced level, Level III, second place went to Katelyn “Amystella” McKissick, a sophomore, and John “Odysseus Tyrannus” Rios, a senior, won first place along with the first ever “Suffolk Classical Society Scholarship” in recognition of his many triumphs in Declamatio and Certamen (a competition held in the Spring) over the past six years.

At the end of a very dramatic, eventful day, Riverhead returned home with a righteously earned 11 out of 14 awards. Not too shabby.

Photo Caption: (Front L-R): HS Advanced Level - John Rios (12th gr. /1st Place ) and Katelyn McKissick (10th /2nd ); MS Level - Peter Cook (8th/1st), Gwen Hilles (8th/1st); (2nd Row L-R): HS Regents Cicero Division: James Rios (9th/1st), Erin Plitt (9th/2nd) and Emily Behr (9th/3rd); MS Level - Emily Pearce (8th/2nd). The Latinists are pictured with the 7-8 Grade Latin Teacher and Latin Team Coach Lorene Custer (Center - Back Row).

Not pictured: HS Regents Seneca Division - Liana Salgado (1st place); MS Level - Helene Drozd (1st) and Aidan Saltini (3rd). 

Also not pictured: HS Latin Teacher and Latin Team Coach Dr. Jeff Greenberger

(Photos by Sandra Kolbo)

Riverhead Middle School students 'Exploring Long Island'

Wednesday, April 27 2011 17:01
Written by Admin
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2011_0427_seining

From left: Jason Yeung, Katherine  Maslankowski, Eddie Miller, and Claire Yannacone (HS Teacher) at Indian Island seining.

(April 27, 2011) Riverhead is bordered by the Peconic River, the Great Peconic Bay on the south, and the Long Island Sound on the north. Its unique location and glacial origin offers Riverhead students a rich scientific learning experience. Approximately 350 seventh grade students explore the varied geography of Long Island and discover firsthand the forces that created and still shape the Island today. This annual trip called ‘Exploring Long Island’ has become a culminating activity for the 7th grade Long Island Geology unit. It is, however, more than just a science outing, the field trip gives students a hands-on experience which enhances not only the science curriculum, but also the English and social studies curriculum. Students travel from the rocky North Shore beaches on the Sound through the farmlands of the North Fork, across the Peconic River to the sandy South Shore beaches of Ponquogue. At each stop, students work in groups and rotate through different activities designed to fit the unique features of that particular beach.

At Indian Island, the seventh graders climbed into water proof boots and overalls and learned how to drag a seining net through the water in the bay at Indian Island to see what they could catch. Some of the marine life caught in their nets included:

Ribbed mussels
Mud Snails
Hermit crabs
Fiddler Crabs
Small crabs
Northern Pipefish (Syngnathus fuscus) in Peconic Bay eelgrass
Atlantic Silversides Menidia Menidia"

"We created this field trip when we realized how many of our students had never even been to their local beaches," noted Earth Science teacher Claire Yannacone.

These seventh graders may not be fishing experts, but they weren't squeamish. After they pulled the net up to the beach, they sorted through the vegetation to see what they had caught. "Wow, look at that! Great catch," could be heard.

Another young woman with a clam rake proudly pointed out her catch -- three clams in a trench lay at her feet. "I can also tell you how to catch crab," she shared. "You take a chicken wing, tie it to a line, and drop it into the water off the dock. In just a few minutes, you'll catch a crab."

Source: Riverhead Central School District press release dated April 27, 2011. Photo courtesy of Riverhead Central School District.

When in Rome...

Friday, March 11 2011 09:29
Written by Peter Blasl
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Riverhead Middle School Latinists held their annual Roman Banquet last night at the middle school.

Banquet guests feasted on a variety of foods prepared by students and their parents.

The feast was followed by a performance of the play, "The Gift That Keeps On Giving: The Slightly Modernized Story of Pandora and Her Box," written by Bella "Leona Rosabel" Marcucci, Amy "Jillian" Methven and Liana "Bellatrix Atalanta" Salgado.

The banquet and accompanying performance of a student-authored play is an annual Middle School tradition dating back to 1997.

 

Middle School French students tour Quebec

Monday, April 25 2011 15:35
Written by Admin
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Each year during spring break (this year, from Friday, April 15 to Monday, April 18) the Riverhead Middle School French students take a trip to Quebec City to experience the language and culture of this predominantly French city. They tour historic sites, learn about honey-making, explore the Village Huron, order and eat French foods, read French road signs and literature, and immerse themselves in all things French. Follow them on this trip through the camera lens of one of the students, Caitlyn Peters.

Photo Caption #1: Group shot of Riverhead Middle School French students with their chaperones and teacher on the steps of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre. (Photo by Christine Peters)

Photo Caption #2: Some of the RMS French students in front of the Basilica-Cathedral Notre-Dame de Quebec. (Photo by RMS French Student Caitlyn Peters)

Photo Caption #3: Some of the RMS French students as they tour Old Quebec. (Photo by Caitlyn Peters)

Photo Caption #4: The RMS students participated in Quillorama Cosmic Bowling in Quebec City. (Photo by Caitlyn Peters)

Photo Captin #5: Group shot of Riverhead Middle School French students with their chaperones and teacher in the chapel in the lower level of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre. (Photo by Caitlyn Peters)

Middle School educates students about bullying

Monday, January 24 2011 14:16
Written by Denise Civiletti
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Riverhead Middle School holds workshops on byullying

Riverhead Middle School Anti-Bullying Project Workshops

(January 24, 2011 – Riverhead, NY) “The faculty and staff at the Middle School are committed to creating a school culture in which everyone is treated with dignity,” states RMS Assistant Principal Patricia Nugent. “We recognize that in order to do this we need to sustain a safe environment for all of our students. As in any school, to achieve this goal we must acknowledge that bullying can occur within the school community.”  

Bullying has consistently been addressed at the Middle School and the administration and teachers have enhanced the curriculum to include a specific Anti-Bullying unit in the seventh grade Home and Careers classes and the eighth grade Health classes.

Middle school students don’t always realize what “Bullying” means.

The first step is to help students realize what defines “Bullying” in a school setting. The RMS teachers have created units to help students with this realization, including:

- Participation in a student survey to generate conversations about bullying

- Clarification about the types and effects of bullying

- Discussion about the importance of reporting bullying situations

- Video clips depicting bullying situations

- Decision making and feeling empathy for peers in that situation

- Discussions about current events

- Posters and public service video announcements designed by students

- Reviewing school policies outlined in student agenda book

- Discussion about the importance of reporting bullying situations, the effects of bullying, decision making and feeling empathy for peers in that situation.

Bullying is a prevalent issue that is being addressed in the media and through the internet.
RMS is fortunate to have a licensed Clinical Social worker from the Pederson-Krag Center, Ms. Maria Spera, who provides support services for students at the Middle School. During January, Ms. Spera facilitated lessons about bullying with students in grades seven and eight and discussed with them very basic, real-life scenarios of bullying and provided them with problem solving strategies to address these possible situations.

The workshops and classroom discussions will be followed up in the Spring with an assembly and theatre production entitled Class Dismissed: The Bullying Project. This original musical will be presented by Theatre Three and addresses the issue of bullying in schools. The performance focuses on bullying in the classroom, cafeteria and the schoolyard, with strong emphasis on the rising incidents of bullying via the internet.

“We want all students to feel valued and respected in our school,” states RMS Principal Andrea Peakar. “As a school, we take any report of bullying seriously.  Bullying will be responded to through a continuum of consequences, which will be reviewed with all students. Some situations that occur can be resolved through mediations, either by peers or support staff."

"We encourage you to discuss bullying with your child," writes Ms. Pekar in a letter to the parents and guardians of her middle school students. "If you feel your child is being bullied or is involved in bullying, support for your child is available at the Middle School."


Also view the following websites:
www.bullying.org                                                                                          
www.pta.org/bullying.asp
www.nobully.com

Source: Riverhead Central School District press release dated Jan. 24, 2011

Photo by Sandra Kolbo, courtey Riverhead Central School District

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