Riley Avenue: Reading, robotics, rocketry and research light the way to learning

Riley Avenue Elementary School hosted a two-week Parents as Reading Partners program March 7-18. Activities during the program included a night of robotics, a science fair, an evening with LI authors, a bridge building contest, a mad scientist and more.

This year’s theme was “Reading Lights the Way to Learning.” Parents were asked to read with their child for at least 15 minutes each evening and to fill out a “light bulb” worksheet. On each light bulb, the students wrote the title of the book and the main idea of the book they had chosen to read. The light bulbs were posted in the hallway to “light the way to learning.”

During the first evening event, the Riverhead Robotics Club, along with high school technology teacher and Robotics Club advisor Luke Ferland, visited Riley Avenue as part of Riley’s science emphasis during PARP. The Robotics Club introduced third-grade students to their custom made robot and demonstrated how the mechanical, electrical, and computer components work together. Most notably, the Robotics Club gave students a taste of computer science by allowing Riley students to change the computer coding which programs the robot to launch a ball into one of three hula-hoops at varying distances.

PARP’s second week included an Author and Illustrator Family Reading Night. Several LI authors came to share their books with the students and their families. One of the authors, Rose Nigro, donated autographed copies of her book, entitled A Duck’s Tail, to each of the classroom libraries. A Duck’s Tail tells the story of The Big Duck.

Because this year’s reading emphasis was science, events like rocket building in the library and bridge building in the classroom were scattered throughout the week.

The winners of this year’s bridge building contest were:

Ms. Vengilio’s class-
Carly Pavuk, Ashley Kenter and Abigail Sullivan

Ms. Brennan’s class-
Payton Choma, Kim Cerifico and Carlos Valesquez

Ms. Gaare’s class-
Alexi Re, David Funfgeld, and Ethan Caskie

Ms. Messina’s class-
Teddy Gosker, Paige Rider and Michael Romeo

Ms. Seal’s class-
Santiago Cardenas, Rudy Goodale, Philip Boulier*

*Santiago, Philip and Rudy now hold the school record of 1,838 grams held.

The class with the highest average weight held was Mrs. Seal’s class with an amazing average of 991 grams.

Fourth-grade teacher Terry Messina coordinated Riley Avenue’s annual science fair. Student experiments were on display during the Family Reading Night.

The winners of this year’s science fair are:

Kindergarten
First Place Nicholas Sabatini
Second Place Maddie Burns
Third Place tie Eliot Ramsey and Cora D’Alsace

First Grade
First Place Logan Levasque
Second Place Grace Belmonte
Third Place tie Ella Giles and Baelin Leyble

Second Grade
First Place Farisa Zeman
Second Place Angelina Pace
Third Place Antonia Cerderna

Third Grade
First Place Mark Burns
Second Place Josh Pokorny
Third Place John Ellis

Fourth Grade
First Place Caden Lesiewicz
Second Place Brenden Lamonica
Third Place tie Jack McCormick and Skyler Jager

The week concluded with School Spirit Day and a Mad Scientist Assembly. The mad scientist engaged students in experiments and shared information about solids, liquids and gases, topics which are part of the elementary science curriculum.