Community Update

March 14, 2025

Dear Syosset Community:

Today was a marathon of school visits – our annual Board of Education Learning Tour. There are so many good things happening that we need to focus ourselves with a theme. This year we visited students engaged in: “Multiple Ways to Succeed,” examining points of pride beyond the usual awards and achievements.

At Syosset High School, we saw a student’s culminating project to earn the Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish, met students working on their Seal of Civic Readiness, saw a TV production, the Student Art Gallery, and learned about the Breaking Borders Program. South Woods students were learning about statistics and their peers by charting data from a student survey, while newcomers to Syosset described their language learning journey alongside leaders of our Multicultural Club. At H.B. Thompson, we enjoyed coffees with our RISE students, a “music around the world” performance, and a comparative literature class.

Our elementary schools welcomed us with stirring excerpts from Annie Jr. at Willits; problem solving skills in the Tabletop Gamers Club and the Coding Club at Baylis; and critical thinking skills using a decision-making matrix at South Grove.

Not to be outdone, Robbins Lane first graders were designing their own zoos to house hybrid animals they invented. Berry Hill students demonstrated an enrichment project that magically (ok, magnetically) moved an object through mazes of their own design. We ended our day with two #SoSyo programs where older students mentor their younger peers – at Walt Whitman, 5th graders were reading and building skills with their kindergarten buddies (just as our now 10th graders did with them five years ago), while Village 4th grade “book buddies” were working with their youngest peers.

In countless ways, our educators build opportunities for our students to learn, grow, and forge community. As much as we admire the many quantifiable successes our students achieve, the character they build through these experiences will be the most important quality of all.

Community PSA

As you may be aware, Propel NY will begin an underground electrical transmission project in our community sometime in 2026. The project entails installing two buried lines, one from the South Woods Road substation to the Shore Road substation, and the other from the Ruland Road substation to the Shore Road substation via Robbins Lane. Propel NY is hosting information sessions to provide the community with more details about their construction plans. Additional information can be found in this flyer.

#SyoSports🏀

Congratulations to our girls varsity basketball team who won the county championship for the second consecutive year after a back-and-forth battle against Plainview-Old Bethpage. Their season continues at the Long Island Championship tomorrow (Saturday) at 6pm when the team takes on Suffolk Champs Brentwood at SUNY Farmingdale. Come cheer on the team! You can buy tickets here. #GoSyo!!

#SyoStars ⭐

Syosset Pole Vaulter, Junior Jonah Kim, is flying high, having been named Nassau County’s “most outstanding field athlete” by the Nassau County Track and Field Coaches Association. Only one student in the entire county receives this recognition. This season, Jonah tied the Nassau County indoor pole vault record of 15’3” at States, breaking Syosset’s school record. That’s like jumping over my mom standing on a basketball hoop (don’t ask me why she’s up there, I’m just saying if she was, Jonah could still clear her). He earned All-State honors and won 3rd place at the NYS Championships last weekend and he’s headed to the Indoor Nationals this weekend. The award came as a surprise to both Jonah and his parents, who Coach Cafiero invited the day prior with the hint that something big was up! Congratulations Jonah!

Two of our young artists are among the best on Long Island! Sophomores Xavier Tian and Jessie Wan submitted their work to the Long Island’s Best Young Artists competition at The Heckscher Museum. Hundreds of works of art are submitted from students across Long Island and only 80 are chosen for display in the exhibition. The Heckscher Museum is the only juried exhibition on Long Island that offers high school students the opportunity to show their work in a museum. Xavier and Jessie’s works will be on display beginning April 5th. Congratulations!

Bright Spot

Carrie Burlin graduated from Syosset High School over two decades ago, but when she was a second grader at Walt Whitman Elementary, her classroom teacher left an indelible mark. Mrs. Wiest (formerly Ms. Bozza) was just 21 years old and beginning her career as a Syosset teacher. Carrie remembers Mrs. Wiest as being compassionate, understanding, and showing “pure love in everything she did.” The two developed a bond – and Carrie says Mrs. Wiest inspired her to become a teacher herself, eventually returning to Mrs. Wiest’s class as a student-teacher because in her words: she wanted to learn from the best!

Carrie wrote me this week to share another #SoSyo full-circle moment: Mrs. Wiest, recently retired, was the mystery reader for Carrie’s class!

I was touched by Carrie’s message: “In every school building, every classroom, it is the teachers who hold in their hands the ability to make a difference.” So true! Who knows how our teachers might inspire today’s students and what amazing future emails we might receive? Thank you, Ms. Burlin, for sharing that story – and congratulations, Mrs. Wiest, on the fruits of your extraordinary seed of inspiration.

Enjoy the weekend!

#SyoSpring

Tom Rogers