'Annie' Sells Out; Bridge Withstands Weights: Deer Park School News

DEER PARK, NY — From engineering to the arts, Deer Park students have been busy.

Seventh-grader's bridge is tech class record

Mikaela Ponte, a seventh grader in Jeffrey Cifelli’s technology class at Deer Park’s Robert Frost Middle School, recently constructed a bridge capable of holding 210 pounds without breaking.

“Mikaela’s bridge has been the strongest – without breaking – in my five years of doing this project,” Cifelli said. “We stopped testing to preserve Mikaela’s hard work, not to mention, we had run out of weights. Very impressive engineering.”

In this annual project, students are tasked with designing and building their own truss bridge made out of balsa wood and glue, competing to see who can build the strongest bridge.

Middle school theater club sells out

The Music Theater Club at Deer Park’s Robert Frost Middle School again sold out both performances of its musical. The fabulous production of “Annie” was directed by Lauren Stein and Lori Sullivan, with Nicole Hock serving as stage manager. A talented cast list included seventh grader Emily Hofacker as the title character, eighth grader Radiah Zaman as Tessie and sixth grader Jillian Wagner as Molly.

“Theater is my passion and performing in ‘Annie’ was probably one of the best moments of my entire life,” Hofacker said. “I have loved theater and the movie and play ‘Annie’ for forever, and when I found out we were doing ‘Annie Jr.’ this year, I knew I had to try out, and I ended up getting the part of Annie! Although theater is acting and singing, it is also about the people that come with it. I have made so many friends from theater.”

“I loved learning everything and watching how everything played out,” said seventh grader John Reina, a member of the stage crew. “I saw the actors learning how to do everything and it was really cool to see their growth. Also, I have always wanted to be in lighting, but didn’t know how to work it. Now that I know, I will hopefully be able to do lighting more in the future.”

“We are so proud of all our performers and the hard work and dedication they put into the show,” Sullivan and Stein said. “They are not only talented, they are kind, and take care of one another as if they were all family. Watching them grow as performers and as individuals with beautiful hearts is one thing that we as directors love the most.”