Whiz Kid: Mount Sinai's Kyle Cullin

Name: Kyle Cullin, age 18

School: Mount Sinai High School Class of 2014

Accomplishments: Kyle challenged himself with seven Advanced Placement (A.P.) courses and his high scores on those exams garnered him the College Board’s A.P. Scholar with Distinction Award. He was on the High Honor Roll for every quarter of his high school career. Kyle was a member of the National Honor Society and the Tri-M Honor Society, serving as treasurer his senior year. He received the Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Science and Psychology.

Over his four years on the Mathletes Team, Kyle received First Place Division and Second Place County and also participated in the American Math Competition and Moody’s Mega Math Challenge. He served as a mentor and facilitator for Peer Support and as a group facilitator for the Mount Sinai Awareness Night.

Kyle played the double bass in the Chamber Orchestra and competed in the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) competitions. His exceptional performances garnered him spots with the Suffolk County Music Educators Association (SCMEA) festival, Long Island String Festival Association (LIFSA) and the New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education (NYSCAME) festival.

On the varsity tennis team for four years, Kyle was recognized as a Scholar-Athlete and was the recipient of the Coach’s Award.

Kyle became involved in Boy Scouts as a first grader and continued as a scout through his senior year. Through scouting, he was involved in many community services activities, including town clean-ups, Calverton National Cemetery Memorial Day flag placements, Thanksgiving food drives and Adopt-A-Family for the holidays. He has received awards of recognition from the Town of Brookhaven for re-blazing of the Benjamin Tallmadge Historic Trail and for a planting project at Heritage Park in Mount Sinai. He has volunteered his time for Relay for Life and the Cedar Beach Polar Plunge for Special Olympics.

Kyle earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest honor that a Boy Scout can achieve. His Eagle project involved the construction of two chimney swift towers at Cedar Beach. The towers provide a protective roosting and breeding site for chimney swift birds. These birds help control the insect population.

Employed as a snowboard instructor during the winter months and with a construction company during the summer, Kyle is headed to Binghamton University in the fall where he will be enrolled in the Scholars Honors Program and the Freshman Research Immersion Program. He was the recipient of the Gregory Mantone Memorial Scholarship, Mount Sinai Teachers Association Citizenship Scholarship, Mount Sinai Administrators Robert Petrilak Scholarship for Leadership and the SCMEA Scholarship. He will be majoring in cellular and molecular biology with a minor in Spanish, with the career goal of becoming a surgeon.