It was an evening for applause as administrators, Board members, students, parents and residents gathered at Monday evening's Garden City Board of Education meeting to recognize the varied accomplishments of high school students.

"We really have just a phenomenal group of young men and women," said High School Principal Hank Hardy. "I really do believe that the individuals that we are going to recognize tonight are very reflective of what we have in the school as a whole. I am very proud of them. I am the educational parent in the school and I always talk about my kids. So I'm just like the parents who are sitting in here. These are my kids, and I am so proud of not only what they do, but who they are."

Honored at the meeting were National Merit Semifinalists Thomas D'Antonio, Michaela Pewarski and Madeline Ven John. According to Hardy, this is a very strenuous competition: 1.3 million students nationally took the PSAT, 16,000 were selected as semifinalists based on their scores and 8,300 will actually receive the scholarship.

National Merit commended students, who received outstanding scores on their PSAT exam, were also honored. They include: Gregory Baltz, Nicholas Mancusi, Andrea Tan, Valentino Wong, Michael Dooley, Nikhil Kothari, Alexandre Petraglia and Alexandra Rodman.

Alexandra Rodman was also recognized for winning the Young Women of Achievement Award from the Long Island branch of the National Organization of Women. Recipients must excel in academics, athletics, the arts, leadership and/or community service.

Five students were recognized by the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) and four students were invited to perform in a concert in December in Rochester. The students are: Nicole Mercer, Daniel Ohngemach, Michaela Pewarski, Ryan Torino and Nelson DeOliveira.

Hardy also honored the winners of the Adelphi University Prize for Leadership. The prize is awarded to high juniors in recognition of their exemplary academic achievement and community service. Adelphi offers each winner enrollment in one free Adelphi course in the fall 2005 semester and a second course in the spring 2006 semester. Applicants must show a record of superior academic performance in relation to academic potential, and demonstrate exceptional leadership skills in community service activities. The winners are: Nicole Albano, Jane Aldridge, Eric Bevilacqua, Nicole Diller, Michael Dooley, Nikhil Kothari, Alexandre Petaglia, Patrick Sullivan and Krista Tenaglia.

Students were not only the ones honored at the meeting. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen presented awards to school board members in recognition of School Board Recognition Month. "On the list of thankless jobs, board member must be pretty high up on the food chain," he joked. On a serious note, he acknowledged that he had worked on several boards and believed the Garden City board was comprised of "a remarkable group of people." He said they are a highly informed group who know a lot about education.

In other news, the Board approved the appointment of April Cornacchia to the newly-created position of foreign language teacher at the elementary school level. She was a teacher in a neighboring district who is scheduled to begin planning the program next week and start teaching second graders soon thereafter. School Board Trustee Dr. Nancy Fredericks said it is a big step for the district.

Garden City residents Susan and Robert Crinnion asked the Board to revisit its policy concerning special education services provided to children who are in private or parochial school. Their daughter is a kindergartner at St. Anne's School who is bussed every day to Locust School to be taught by a district-provided resource room teacher. The Crinnions want their daughter to receive services from the resource room teacher at St. Anne's. School Board President Kenneth Monaghan said the Board would review the issue and speak with administrators and Dr. Feirsen. He expected a response by the end of the week. "I am not going to give you an answer tonight," said Monaghan. "For obvious reasons, we would never comment in public on any particular child."

Dr. Feirsen reminded residents that the school district will work with the Village of Garden City to collect items for schools affected by Hurricane Katrina at Homecoming on October 29. Residents are encouraged to donate items by dropping them off at a truck that will be parked in the Village parking lot.

The recent "Rachel's Challenge" presentation made at the High School will have a lasting effect on the school community, said Dr. Feirsen. Rachel Scott was one of the students killed at Columbine High School in 1999. The program has been used by schools across the country to inspire, instruct and enable students to bring positive changes to their school community.

Dr. Feirsen congratulated the Garden City High School varsity football team for their record-breaking 63-0 win over Southside High School on Saturday. The team broke a record set back in 1984 by winning the game by such a large margin. Kicker Dillon Dwyer, who scored nine extra points, also had a noteworthy game. The game was scheduled to be away but was changed to a home game since the other team's field was flooded. Even though Garden City did have several fields that were covered with water due to last week's torrential rains, the high school field was playable thanks to its new artificial turf.