JMMS 7th-Graders Honored

Joseph Mellilo Middle School held a ceremony Thursday to award seventh-grade students for their academic achievements during the 2010-2011 school year.

Parents were directed to the auditorium holding brightly colored invitations sent home last week to attend the ceremony. The entire seventh-grade student body was invited.

Assistant Principal Phyllis Savo was on hand to congratulate her students, accompanied by teachers from the Blue and Gold teams, along with guidance counselors and special education teachers.

Guidance counselor Keith Karaffa opened the ceremony thanking parents and students for a wonderful year and their dedication to education. Karaffa quipped about all of the great help guidance counselor Debbie DeMaio has been to him throughout the year.

“I’m giving the mic to Mrs. DeMaio, because once I start talking I can’t stop,” he said.

 DeMaio emceed the awards ranging from honor status, unified arts, teacher awards for academics in core classes, as well as specialty recognitions for Most Improved Student, leadership and Student of-The-Year.

In a separate category, special awards were given for Pillars of Character.  Citizenship, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring and respect fall into this area. These awards are not based on academics, but solely on character.

 "These awards are very dear to me," said DeMaio. "Together with your teachers, Mr. Karaffa and I have watched all of you throughout the year grow academically and personally. Throughout the year, you have all worked very hard. We will continue pillar standards until the end of your time here and hopefully you will take them with you throughout high school and the rest of your lives.”

All of the students who received awards monthly all year long were asked to stand and be recognized as team achievers and students-of-the-month. Peer students, parents and teachers applauded loudly.

DeMaio made a special point of telling the seventh-graders that she expected great behavior from them.

“Yesterday the sixth-grade class was so great. You have a high bar to meet here today, and you are older," she said. "So Ms. Savo [assistant principal], Mr. Karaffa and I know you will exceed our expectations.”

Unified Arts Awards: Music at JMMS is very important with three categories in band, choir and general music. Nicholas Defaranos, Samantha Esposito, Chelsea DellaRocca and Shannon Wynne received awards for their participation in the school band. Amber Roberts, Samantha Mortimer, Brittney Gagnon, Angela Casner and Dana Ross were cited for their excellence in school choir. General music awards were presented to Antonio Avallone, Joey D’Albero, Victoria Dogolo and Julia DelGuidice.

There were quite a number of athletes awarded in physical education: Ben Bagnoli, Jon Aceto, Ken Araujo, Trevor Angelo, Conor Koziatek, Aliza Esposito, Rachel Korwek, Sabrina Didiano, Alyssa Estabrooke and Cailey Korwek. Many of these students are also members of youth football, baseball, softball and soccer teams. They also participated this year on school athletic teams ranging from soccer to volleyball and other sports such as track and field. In addition to taking physical ed classes, seventhgraders are required to take a half-year of health. The top two students for this citation went to Alexis Orozco and Garret Pates.

Awards for library were bestowed upon Kush Patel, Caitlyn Keish, Samantha Esposito and Antonio Avallone. Computer students cited for their attention to detail were Alicia Moore, Celeste Martindale, Kush Patel and Nicholas Garafalo.

Spanish class falls into world language. Students who had remarkable strides for speaking, reading and writing in Spanish and achieved award status were Jordyn Zembrowski, Nicholas Latella and Kush Patel.

Art at JMMS is taught by Al Camera, and a very special award went to Alyssa Estabrooke as a state finalist in the Drug and Alcohol Awareness Prevention Contest for a poster she created. Other students honored for their achievements in art were Kayla Collins, Dalton Petroccio, Celeste Martindale, Toni Julianelle and Caitlyn Keish.

Academic Awards: Math, gold team members included Gabriella Carrano, Tyler Sangiovanni, Toni Julianelle, Duncan Bennett and Rosalia. From blue team: Katherine Heer, Julia DelGuidice, Chelsea DellaRocca, Richard (RJ) Purpora and Jordyn Zembrowski.

Science: Students who were commended for hard work in science were Samantha Ettore, Lillian Anderson, Giselle Ramirez, Radha Patel, Samantha Mortimer, Angela Casner, Rachel Korwek, Isabella Poirier, Dana Ross and Jacob Kapusta.

Social studies: Recognition by teachers in this field was handed to Ben Bagnoli, Kush Patel, Nicholas Defaranos, Stefan Daniel and Long Trish from the gold team. Awards for blue team members went to Trevor Angelo, Cailey Korwek, Samantha Esposito, Ariel Acampo and Ashley Hernandez.

Language arts: These honors went to Ben Alberino, April Moss, Alyssa Estabrooke, Shannon Wynne, Nicole Barulli, Deidra O’Connor, Caterina Esposito,Gayatri Patel, Nashalie Lugo, Hailey Gonsalves, Dylan Zimmerman and Melissa Palma.

Integrated  language arts: Presented to Julia Shatz, Amber Roberts, Sabrian Didiano, David Popolizio, Josh D’Agostino, Grace Riveccio, Payton Green, Crystal Rivera, Julia Ryan and Victoria Dogolo.

Most improved students were Frederik Andrade from blue team and Brittney Gagnon, Alejandra Guajaia and Christian Otero from the gold team.

Pillar character students: Honored for their status as pillars of character were Matthew Scoopo and Anna Krawiec in citizenship. Ben Alberino, Celeste Martindale and Michael Riveccio for respect. Leadership pillars were Jared Hoyt and Antonio Avallone for their ability in handling situations and delegate responsibility. April Moss, Nicholas Maniscalco and Nallely Magana were deemed responsible. while the citations for responsibility went to April Moss, Tori Ramrattan and Ryan Hanlon. Students awarded as pillars for caring included Tianna (Tia) Speringo and Shivani Patel. The two students awarded for fairness were Alexis Orozco and Joseph D’Albero.

“Congratulations to all of the students who received these awards," said Phyllis Savo at the conclusion of the assembly. "Your work ethic and dedication have shown through. Parents, thank you for entrusting us with your children, and thanks also to my staff for putting this all together.”

Savo told the students they will be held to even higher standards as they embark on eighth grade.