The halls of the Jr.-Sr. High School were filled with gratitude on Sept. 5 as senior varsity football players stepped away from the field and into the classrooms to honor educators who have shaped their educational journeys. Each of the athletes personally selected a teacher who has made a lasting impression on their lives and presented each educator with a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “I Made an IMPACT.”

The gesture was designed to recognize the often unseen influence teachers have beyond academics.

“This is what education is all about – relationships, inspiration and the connections that last far beyond high school and the walls of the building,” ESM Touchdown Club President Michelle Beardsley said.

The ESM varsity players hope this small act of appreciation will inspire others to pause and recognize the difference teachers make every day. The following faculty were recognized: Adriana Loftus, Michael Biggs Robert Bolen, Victor Correa, Thomas DiGennaro, John DiMarco, D.J Eckert, Robert Fleming, Erich Grosse, Thomas Hayes, Michelle Heaney Rachel Neville, Michael Podstupka, David Shouler.

Date Added: 10/1/2025

Eastport-South Manor Jr.-Sr. High School is pleased to announce that 98 currently-enrolled juniors and seniors qualified as Advanced Placement Scholars by the College Board for their exceptional achievement on the college-level AP Program exams.

The College Board’s AP Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school and to earn college credit, advanced placement or both for successful performance on the AP exams. The district currently offers 20 AP courses, as well as opportunities to earn the distinguished AP Capstone Diploma.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on the students’ performance on AP exams.

36 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams and include: Jameson Ackley, Ryan Almeida, Andrew Baldini, Kate Boeko, Marissa Bogdan, Nicholas Calcaterra, Casse DeGorter, Jayden Dell’Isola, Trevor Flores, Szonja Gabor, Maeve Gayer, Jordan Goldhammer, James Grossi, Madison Heaney, Adam Ilgaz, Josephina Ingoglia, Sarah Issac, Hannah Jaccard, Bennett Leselrod, Brennan Morrison, Lee Pacello, Amelia Palace, Cesar Rivera, Lucille Romaine, Kiera Romond, Andrew Santangelo, Aryana Seymore, Alex Silbert, Logan Silbert, Brianna Silliman, Oreoluwa Somosu, William Steinacher, Hyan Sy, Dylan Torres, Makena Wood and Michell Zheng.

17 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all exams taken and 3 or higher on four or more of these exams and include: Kevin Ackerman, Felipe Alarcon, Evan Buckshin, Katelyn Byrnes, Katherine Chacon, Ava DiDonna, Sean Doherty, Nolan Douglas, Shahbaz Khan, Brianna King, Jillian Loben, Natalie Longo, Tayvin Mann, Yamileth Ortiz, Sabrina Pelo, Nicholas Roth and Victor Soler.

45 students were the recipients of the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with grades of 3 or higher and include: Adeena Abbas, Sophie Barnes , Kenneth Barrett, Sarah Benson, Giselle Bodon, Christian Bottcher, Anthony Bruno, Ashlyn Burst, Vincent Cafiso Jack Cain, Joseph Costanza, Bryan Cuzzone, Timothy Dodd, Andrew Dragos, Brendan Fabian, Serenity Flaherty, Aliessia Flores, Kathryn Frank, Payton Friede, Jillian Gmelch, Benjamin Grausso, Benjamin Grimmett, Jacob Hardina, Juliana Hille, Matthew Keller, Gabriella Kwok, Keelly Lala, Aidan Lee, Stella Lotardo, Sarah Midulla, Lucas Miller, Jake Misciagno, Matthew Munoz, Taylor Murtha, Jaylin Pentzel, Charles Peters, Olivia Pfeffer, Sophia Rivera, Georgia Saffren, Callie Schmidt, Alexa Shuman, Jeffrey Smith, Hudson Tucci, Chase Vinch and Pasha Wray.

Seven seniors were named AP Capstone Diploma recipients for having scored a 3 or higher on the AP Seminar and AP Research courses and on four additional AP Exams and include: Jayden Dell’Isola, Ava DiDonna, Hannah Jaccard, Jaylin Pentzel, Aryana Seymore, Brianna Silliman and Makena Wood.

Three seniors are AP Seminar and Research Certificate Recipients for earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Seminar and AP Research courses and include: Nicholas Calcaterra, Casse DeGorter and Pasha Wray.

48 students qualified to receive the College Board National Recognition Program Award for having acquired a 3.5 GPA or higher, PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state or having earned score of 3 or higher on two or more AP Exams in ninth and tenth grade and include: Kevin Ackerman (School Recognition), Jameson Ackley (School Recognition), Ryan Almeida (School Recognition), Giselle Bodon (School Recognition), Kate Boeko (School Recognition), Marissa Bogdan (First Generation Recognition Award), Evan Buckshin (School Recognition), Ashlyn Burst (School Recognition), Jack Cain (School Recognition, Madyson DesLauriers (School Recognition, Ava DiDonna (First Generation Recognition Award), Sean Doherty (School Recognition), Nolan Douglas (School Recognition), Trevor Flores (School Recognition), Szonja Gabor (School Recognition), Maeve Gayer (School Recognition), Jillian Gmelch (School Recognition) Jordan Goldhammer (School Recognition), James Grossi (School Recognition), Madison Heaney (School Recognition), Josephina Ingoglia (School Recognition), Hannah Jaccard (First Generation Recognition Award), Brianna King (School Recognition), Bennett Leselrod (School Recognition), Jillian Loben (First Generation Recognition Award), Lucas Miller (School Recognition), Brennan Morrison (School Recognition), Lee Pacello (School Recognition), Amelia Palace (School Recognition), Sabrina Pelo (School Recognition), Jaylin Pentzel (School Recognition), Cesar Rivera (School Recognition), Lucille Romaine (School Recognition), Jack Romond (School Recognition), Kiera Romond (School Recognition), Nicholas Roth (School Recognition), Andrew Santangelo (School Recognition), Aryana Seymore (First Generation Recognition Award), Alex Silbert (School Recognition), Logan Silbert (School Recognition), Brianna Silliman (School Recognition), Oreoluwa Somosu (School Recognition), William Steinacher (School Recognition), Hyan Sy (School Recognition), Dylan Torres (School Recognition), Makena Wood (School Recognition), Pasha Wray (First Generation Recognition Award) and Michell Zheng (First Generation Recognition Award).

Date Added: 9/29/2025

Junior-Senior High School students Sarah Issac, Lucille Romaine, Andrew Santangelo, William Steinacher and Michell Zheng were named Commended Students in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program for exceptional academic promise. Although these students will not continue in the 2026 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, this is an outstanding achievement. Commended students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2026 competition by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).   

The district congratulates these students for this exceptional accomplishment. 

Date Added: 9/29/2025

 

In recognition of Constitution Day on Sept. 17, Jr.-Sr. High School students enrolled in Advanced Placement Government, Global History II and the U.S. History Regents classes participated in an iCivics lesson and competition called Win the White House.

The students set their Chromebooks up in the library to collectively play the game, in which participants were put in charge of their own presidential campaign. As presidential candidates, they had to pick a slogan and develop arguments to support issues that resonate with voters; raise funds to support their campaign; poll voters and gain momentum through media campaigns and personal appearances, all the while keeping tally of their electoral votes.

Social studies teacher Thomas Hayes explained that the students learned about the electoral process and how it ties in with the U.S. Constitution. “The students are learning how the electoral process is conducted and the Constitution’s role in setting guidelines for elections,” Mr. Hayes said.

Dr. Stephen Posselt, K-12 social studies director, said, “This game helps students better learn this complicated information through personal interaction instead of just listening to a lecture.”

At the end of the lesson, each student was given a personal copy of the U.S. Constitution.

Click here to view the A Run to Win the White House slideshow.

Date Added: 9/22/2025