Elwood-John H. Glenn High School senior Cole Madden was named to the National Football Foundation Golden Eleven team at the Suffolk County Chapter’s annual Scholar Athlete Awards Brunch, held April 27 at the Melville Marriott. This recognition marked Madden as one of the county’s top 11 football scholar athletes.

Madden, the Knights quarterback, was named to the 2024 All-State sixth team offense, and his stats included 1,616 yards earned, 15 touchdownas and a 72% completion rate. He is a member of John Glenn’s National Honor Society, World Language Honor Society, International Club, Habitat for Humanity and Freshman Buddies Club.

Date Added: 4/29/2025

Elwood-John H. Glenn High School senior Melina Neofitos was selected to perform in the National Association for Music Education’s 2025 All-Eastern Honors Treble Choir. The All-Eastern Honors Ensembles bring together 600 of the most talented student musicians from 11 states across the Northeast, including Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, D.C. This year's NAfME conference and performances were held in Hartford, Connecticut on April 24-27.

To be accepted into one of the All-Eastern honors ensembles, students must undergo a rigorous selection process where they are evaluated by an All-State judge, and must be ranked in the top of their region. Neofitos was one of only 120 students selected to perform in the Honors Treble Choir, with only 31 participants coming from New York State.  Additionally, she was selected to perform a solo in the Paul David Thomas song “I’ll Never Study,” a piece written in honor of the centennial of the 19th amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote. The text was inspired by a satirical poem by feminist writer and suffragette Alice Duer Miller. 

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Neofitos said. “I was able to meet people from all over the Northeast and had the chance to sing one of my favorite solos I’ve ever done. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime, and I’m so grateful for having been chosen to participate.”

At John Glenn, Neofitos has been featured in the school’s annual spring musicals, including leading roles as Velma Kelly in “Chicago: Teen Edition” and The Witch in “Into the Woods.” She is a member of John Glenn’s concert choir and Acappelwood vocal ensemble, and serves as president of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. She will attend the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in the fall, pursuing a degree in music education.

Date Added: 4/28/2025

The new flag football program at Elwood-John H. Glenn High School, led by team captains Molly Brigmati, Christina Munch and Nicole Savitsky, is off to a successful start. Savitsky and Class of 2024 graduate Lauren LaMena had approached Athletic Director Dave Shanahan in January 2023 to propose that the school start a flag football team. In 2024, it became an intramural sport. This year, a varsity team of 21 girls was formed, coached by Craig Ash, for a 16-game season. In the team’s very first game on March 26, the Knights defeated East Hampton by a score of 27-6.

“It’s a first-year program for everyone, and not many people knew anything about football, so it was a great opportunity to learn a different sport and build the team,” Munch said.

“It felt amazing to finally get on the field and know because of us, flag football was brought here for the first time,” Savitsky said. 

“I think it was good for us, because although we obviously had a lot of questions, we really worked as a team,” Brigmati said. 

“What I told the girls is, as a first-year program, I really just want to just make the playoffs,” Ash said. “It’s a long season, but we will just take it day by day and keep getting better.”

“More importantly than winning a game is developing the life skills of working hard, trying something new and stepping outside your comfort zone, and they really have embraced that,” Shanahan said. “We are so proud from an administrative and teaching standpoint. Coach Ash has done an outstanding job bringing the girls together around him, working them hard, but having fun at the same time. I appreciate the parents for all of their support as well. They really came to the forefront and gave a great push in a positive manner to help the district get the sport of flag football.”

Date Added: 4/16/2025

Elwood-John H. Glenn High School senior Katherine Moravec participated in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Partners for the Future Symposium on March 24, where she presented her research, “Enabling Usage of Robust Ancestry Inferences through Data Synthesis (RAIDS) in the Galaxy Data Analysis Platform.”

Moravec worked with world-class researchers over the past six months to determine if genomic information derived from two different breast cancer types can be used to determine the genetic ancestry of unknown individuals. This research by Moravec and her mentors has established proof of concept that genomic sequences from cancerous tissue can be used to determine ancestry, and thus may be used to better predict specific cancer risks to individuals of specific ancestry and inform treatment decisions related to these cancers. 

“We are so proud of Kat's work at Cold Spring Harbor Lab,” counselor Kate Scuderi said.

Date Added: 4/14/2025

Elwood-John H. Glenn High School held its annual World Language Honor Society induction ceremony on April 8, welcoming over 50 students into various honor societies for world languages, with some inducted into multiple languages. A total of 32 were inducted into la Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, 18 into La Sociedad Onoraria Italica and 11 into the American Sign Language Honor Society. The ceremony was run entirely by WLHS senior officers Kristen Doherty, Brayden Klement, Grace Oliveri, Nicola Palisciano, Hafsah Raza, Bianca Recinos Romero and Caroline Weiss. A brief dessert reception followed the ceremony.  

“For me, the beauty of languages isn't just in their sounds or words, it’s in their power to bridge connections, foster understanding and open doors to new perspectives,” said Recinos Romero, who serves as the WLHS president. “Now, as a senior in AP Spanish, AP Italian and ASL 3, I have come to see languages as more than just subjects in school – they are pathways to deeper human connection and endless opportunities.”

Date Added: 4/10/2025