Brookhaven, NY - May 9, 2017 - Recently, the William Floyd School District held its annual College and Career School Fair, an event designed to provide students and their families with the opportunity to begin thinking about college and their future careers. Approximately 700 students and parents attended over the course of the evening and had the opportunity to meet with representatives from more than 95 colleges, universities and technical schools, as well as the Career and Technical Education program at William Floyd High School for the younger students in attendance.
The College and Career School Fair was held to coincide with College Awareness Day throughout the district which included many school events, a sampling of which is below and includes third-grade students at William Floyd Elementary School dressing for the career they would like to have some day.
Tangier Smith Elementary School first graders and future members of the class of 2028 attended presentations about colleges and universities that their teachers graduated from. Students rotated between classrooms and were able to get better acquainted with each institution. In preparation for the day, students decorated their classroom doors with the help of art teacher Deborah Zorn. School counselor Toni Rose Taddeo, wearing a graduation cap and gown, kicked off the event by reading excerpts from Dr. Seuss’s classes, “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”
At Moriches Elementary School, the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Club took a virtual tour of an active lab at the Koch Institute for Integrated Cancer Research at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Research scientist Dr. Rob Kimmerling, a 2007 William Floyd graduate and Moriches Elementary School alumnus, explained how his passion for science was sparked in the same school. Dr. Kimmerling demonstrated a device he helped design which is used to measure the mass of a single cell. STEM Club teachers Mr. Joshua Haight, Mr. Tom Short and Dr. Rich Kimmerling helped students draft questions about his research and his experiences in college and as a scientist. After graduating from William Floyd High School, Dr. Rob Kimmerling earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University. He was accepted into MIT for his graduate work, where he recently earned a PhD in Bioengineering.