Five Long Island students were among six recipients statewide of the "highest honors" designation at this year’s New York State Science Congress.

Aleeza Dhillon, of Valley Stream North High School, won highest honors in the senior division (grades 10-12), while Katelynn Cai, Vienna Choong, Chase Im and Naya Shah, of Manhasset High School, won highest honors in the junior division (grades 7-9). The annual competition was held last month at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse.

To reach the state level, students first presented their science projects to judges during the Long Island Science Congress held at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City in April. Approximately 3% of projects were nominated to advance to the state level, according to competition officials.

Aleeza's winning project explored the impact of the "Big 5” personality traits — openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism — on teacher burnout and job satisfaction among educators.

"I felt a mixture of shock and joy, knowing my project had impacted the judges meaningfully," Dhillon said of hearing her name called during the awards ceremony.

Naya and Katelynn collaborated on a project that evaluated the potential of chlorella vulgaris, a species of green microalgae, in the phytoremediation of microplastics, while Vienna and Chase collaborated on a project exploring the remediation potential of biochar, a form of charcoal derived from rice husk, on copper sulfate-contaminated water, according to competition officials.

ARTEFFECT winner

Jericho Middle School eighth grader Grace Zhang has been named among 34 winners worldwide in the 10th Annual ARTEFFECT Competition coordinated by the Lowell Milken Family Foundation and Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, a Kansas-based nonprofit. The competition asked students to create artwork championing largely unrecognized role models who made a "positive and profound impact on the course of history," according to the center.

Zhang won the $1,000 Middle School Second-Place Prize for her gouache painting featuring Irene Morgan, a Black woman arrested for refusing to give up her seat on an interstate bus in 1944.

"Irene Morgan’s impact on the Civil Rights Movement has been overlooked but was very crucial, helping launch the Montgomery bus boycott and inspiring figures such as Rosa Parks to act against segregation," Grace said in a statement.

Grant winners

Kevin Hutchins, a science teacher at Kings Park High School, and Matthew Swanson, a technology teacher at Alfred G. Berner Middle School in Massapequa, were first-place winners of $2,500 grants as part of Teacher’s Federal Credit Union’s Teacher Appreciation Week Contest. The awards recognize their "outstanding academic contributions to their communities," according to the bank.

The teachers were among about 1,000 educators nationwide nominated by members of their school communities and then selected following a week of online voting.

Hutchins placed first in the contest’s grades 9-12 division, while Swanson placed first the contest’s grades 6-8 division. 

ERASE Racism

Four Long Island students — James Corwin, of Locust Valley High School, Regina Gonzalez, of Westbury High School, Imani Lyons, of Elmont Memorial High School and Shekinah Ndika, of North Babylon High School — have been named winners of the 2025 "Raise Your Voice" Student Essay Contest coordinated by the Syosset-based civil rights organization ERASE Racism.

This year’s contest challenged participants to write 500-word essays on the topics of shaping change and transformative communication, according to ERASE Racism.

Each winner received a $500 college scholarship made possible by SCOPE Educational Services in Smithtown, the organization said.