Students, musicians and artists honored at North Babylon school board meeting

At the North Babylon Union Free School District Board of Education meeting, students and staff highlighted a string of end‑of‑year activities and competitive honors that district leaders said the community budget helped sustain.

Seventh‑grader Eva Benedict of Robert Moses Middle School told the board that “there have been many trips happening to celebrate the end of the school year and make memories with classmates before the summer begins,” citing a May 15 adventure‑park trip for seventh graders, a May 16 ice‑skating outing for sixth graders and an eighth‑grade May 19 trip to Philadelphia to visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Franklin Institute. Student Sophia Core, also a seventh grader, noted the district was again named one of the best communities for music education by the National Association of Music Merchants.

Administrators and teachers showcased visual‑arts achievements and invited the public to the districtwide art show scheduled Saturday in the high school north gym from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. “Tonight we are celebrating visual artists from every building and grade level across the district,” Miss O’Brien said, praising students who represented the district in statewide and regional exhibits.

Jackie Kane announced several math awards, including Belmont Elementary fourth‑grader Declan Flood, who “placed in the top 20th of an international competition” in the Kangaroo Math contest; Kane said the event drew roughly 11,000 fourth‑grade competitors internationally. District teams also earned regional placements and plan to compete at the state level on June 13.

Superintendent Dr. Graham thanked residents for supporting the recently passed district budget, saying the funding “allows us” to continue programs that support music, arts, STEM and extracurricular experiences praised at the meeting.

What’s next: the district’s art show this Saturday and several upcoming state‑level student competitions; no formal board action was taken on the recognitions beyond routine congratulations and invitations to community events.