'Brilliant, Talented': Nassau County Star Student

OCEANSIDE, NY — Star Students are found in classrooms, on concert and theater stages and at debate lecterns, and out in the community doing good things to make life better for all of us.

Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize Star Students, and we’re working to tell the stories of these outstanding kids to their neighbors.

This submission comes from Angela Abend who nominated her student Lindsay, 12th grade, Oceanside High School of Long Island.

Star local student’s name

Lindsay, 12th grade, Oceanside High School

Star local student’s home state

New York

How do you know the star local student?

Teacher/Mentor

Why do you believe the star local student should be recognized?

I have a unique lens into the life of Lindsay as I have been her teacher/mentor since she was in the primary grades. With tremendous pride, I will share my experiences with her from elementary school, through middle school, and up to and including her final year of high school.

Lindsay entered the gifted and talented program as a fourth grader and quickly rose to the top of her class. She volunteered her time after school hours to familiarize herself with new technology to become a STEM-Tech Mentor. Lindsay also represented the gifted and talented program at Barnes and Noble serving in a professional development role introducing local teachers to a video game creation platform called Bloxels. As a result, Lindsay was invited to be a student-presenter at the Students of Long Island Maker Expo at the Cradle of Aviation in New York. This full-day Saturday event offered Lindsay the opportunity to share her many STEM-based experiences with the greater “Maker” community. Lindsay also held the tech reins at our “A Thirst For Change” charity event in which she helped her class raise over $2000 for the Georgie Badiel Foundation. Attended by local political dignitaries, school administration and teachers, and hundreds of students through the high school level, Lindsay literally “ran the show” which included last-minute changes to the heavily-practiced digital program. As with all the additional responsibilities she took on as an elementary-school student in the gifted and talented program, Lindsay handled this with a true sense of maturity, integrity, and grace.

Although Lindsay graduated from the gifted and talented program in elementary school, she remained connected through many leadership experiences while both in middle and high school. In middle school, Lindsay served as one of only three student representatives at an all-day long teacher-training conference “Life Changing Connections in the World of Gifted Education” at Molloy University. The session provided future teachers and their professors an opportunity to “learn how one gifted education program right here on Long Island has created a culture of connection that has set the course for creating change within their community”. Lindsay spoke of her experiences in the program, answered dozens of questions, and captivated the room with her thoughtful anecdotes and eloquent responses. She, simply, was a true rock star in the room!

Lindsay carried on this leadership role and her desire to create change through high school as she became one of the first Junior Ambassadors of the Limb Kind Foundation. She foraged her own path and designed successful fundraisers to sponsor models for their adaptive runway fashion show domestically and helped support their trips to provide free prosthetic care internationally. Lindsay also organized a heavily-attended Outdoor Movie Night for the entire Oceanside and Limb Kind community that raised over $3000 for the foundation. She inspired others to participate and increased the number of Junior Ambassadors by serving as a fine example of what it truly means to “Be Kind, Limb Kind”.

Lindsay is a brilliant, talented, passionate, and empathetic human being. This is who she is and who she has been since she was a child. How fortunate I have been to have been her teacher/mentor - she truly is a fine candidate for your "Star Student" Program!

What's one thing you want everyone to know about the star local student?

See above - too many to list! :) Lindsay is AMAZING!

Congratulations on your achievements, and all of our best wishes to you in the future, Lindsay, 12th grade, Oceanside High School!

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