Massapequa Freshman Reaches Presidential Award Semifinals

MASSAPEQUA, NY — Massapequa High School freshman Ryan Engrassia had an impressive showing this month, as he was named a semifinalist for a Presidential 1776 Award, the Massapequa school district announced Tuesday.

The Presidential 1776 Award is a national civics competition open to students in grades nine through 12, giving them a chance to flex their history knowledge with a focus on the ideas that shaped the country they now live in.

Engrassia started his 1776 award journey off by scoring highly in an online exam in February, at which point he was invited to a second round competition taking place at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, MA. In that May 2 second round, he was one of just four New Yorkers competing among 173 students nationwide.

Next came the regional semifinals, in which Engrassia answered six of nine questions correctly, mostly focusing on colonial and revolutionary-era history and the structure of U.S. government.

While six-of-nine wasn’t sufficient to make it out of the semifinals, Engrassia’s history teacher Tara Camilleri said he had done well representing his school on a larger stage.

“He’s a very smart, enthusiastic student,” Camilleri said. “He invested a lot of time preparing for the competition. He’s good at retaining information and he really understands it.”

For Engrassia, who had competed against juniors who currently take A.P. U.S. History and seniors who have already completed the course, the experience was a positive one even if it didn’t end with any hardware.

“I think it was a great experience,” Engrassia said. “I got to meet a lot of new people.”