Port Jefferson 5th Graders Move Up In Virtual Ceremony

PORT JEFFERSON, NY — Fifth grade students from Edna Louise Spear Elementary School — 83 of them — celebrated their move to the next step in their academic careers: Port Jefferson Middle School, according to the Port Jefferson School District.

The virtual moving-up program of events included a performance of "God Bless America" by Benjamin Amadio; uplifting remarks from student government president Blake Weaver about looking forward to middle school together; congratulatory and inspiring remarks from parents, Superintendent of Schools Jessica Schmettan and Principal Thomas Meehan; and a message from physical education teacher Françoise Schachner.

Assistant Principal Amy Laverty presented Safety Patrol awards and Meehan presented awards in various categories including the New York State Attorney General’s Triple C Awards to Vincent Chen and Luca Caltagirone; the New York State Comptroller’s Student Achievement Award to Allie Blumenthal and the Suffolk County Executive Public Service Award to Matteo Cipriano.

Meehan also presented Elizabeth Speidell with the Safety Patrol Gold Badge, Sean Grossman with the Safety Patrol Lapel Pin and Allie Blumenthal, Michael Castro, Lina DeLeo, Avery Eisaman, Jack Krause, Thea Mangels, Ruby Mazuryan and Kenshin Sugimoto with the Principal’s Citizenship Awards.

The final honor for the ceremony was the School Community Service Award, which
was presented to Julie Friedman.

The fifth grade teachers then awarded the certificates of achievement to their students and the ceremony concluded with student Iris Park performing on the piano and a virtual art show highlighting classroom and at-home lessons that students created.