Joseph A. Edgar Students National Finalists in 'Made On A Mac' Competition

Four students from became national finalists in Next Vista's "Made On A Mac" competition for a one-minute video initially created for the schools' Veterans Day.

Students Anna Lee, Jade Pinkenburg, Nina Santoro, and Kaitlyn Walsh submitted a video entitled "POW/MIA Rememberance Table" they made under the direction of technology teacher Laurie Variale.

“I am really proud of the students,” Variale said. “After the Veterans Day
assembly, they volunteered additional time to further edit and enhance this video and learned a lot in the process.”

The video was shown at the Macworld 2011 expo in San Francisco.

Heather Hill Worthington Visits JAE

Long Island children's author Heather Hill Worthington, best known for her picture book, Miles of Smiles: The Story of Roxey, the Long Island Railroad Dog, spoke with students at JAE about the research done for her book and what it takes to be an author.

“When I wrote the book, I was thinking like an historical fiction writer,” Worthington said during her presentation. “I had to learn things and stretch my imagination 100 years back. I became a history detective.”

Worthington read to the students the true story of Roxey, a mixed-breed dog who traveled the Long Island Railroad for 15 years during the early 1900’s and even visited President Theodore Roosevelt, and shared postcards from the 1900's that helped with her research. Students were able to create their own Roxey postcards as well.