Students can begin applying for New York State's free college tuition plan, the Empire Scholarship program, on June 7.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Mark the date: New York State college students can apply for the governor's free tuition plan beginning June 7.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC)Board of Trustees approved Excelsior Scholarship regulations last week.

The tuition scholarship program was a key priority for Cuomo. It covers tuition at state and city universities -- including the College of Staten Island -- for full-time, in-state students whose families earn $125,000 or less. For New York City, the governor's office estimates about 85 percent of the more than 460,000 families with college-age children would be eligible for the plan.

Students must pay out of pocket for room, board and other expenses.

Tuition scholarship recipients also must remain in New York for as many years as they received the benefit and repay the money as a loan if they take a job elsewhere.

Cuomo says the board approved regulations that waive or postpone repayment in "cases of extreme hardship" and provide flexibility for military service members and disabled students.

For students attending private colleges and universities in New York State, the HESC also approved the Enhanced Tuition Award, which applies the same income, credit and residency requirements and provides up to $6,000 to students who apply. Private universities have the option whether to participate in the scholarship, program however.

Students who get the awards but leave the state will have to pay back the scholarship in the form of a 0-percent loan in 10 years. 

Applications for the scholarships will be posted on the HESC website  June 7. The scholarship will be available for students this fall. 

Under gray skies the College of Staten Island graduated some 2,636 students Tuesday.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The skies were cloudy and gray, but the future bright for the more than 2,636 new graduates of the College of Staten Island.

Graduates and their families filled the Great Lawn on the Willowbrook campus to hear a parade of speakers and honorees -- including 103-year-old artist Margaret Ricciardi and New Dorp High School Principal Deirdre DeAngelis, who received honorary doctorates from CSI President Dr. William Fritz -- at the college's 68th commencement Tuesday.

Fritz reviewed the history of the college and its role in Staten Island community, as CSI marked its 60th anniversary year.

He began by recalling the first commencement speech, in 1958, by Walter L. Willig, the first President of Staten Island Community College, otherwise known as SICC, and also saluted college founder Arleigh B. Williamson -- whose daughter, Dr. Sally Williamson, was in the audience -- and the late Borough President Albert V. Maniscalco, who told the first class of 111 graduates that they are "the product of long cherished dreams of the people of the borough for their own community college."

 "From an initial student body of 111 to 14,000 today  -- our mission remains the same. From an upstart community college, to CSI now being recognized among the top colleges in the country by national publications -- our mission remains the same," Fritz said.

"To the class of 2017, congratulations on realizing your opportunity to ascend by graduating today.  You are now forever part of our CSI legacy. We are the College of Staten Island, and you are now all Dolphins for life," he declared.

Fritz conferred honorary doctorate degrees on DeAngelis, Ricciardi, Peter and Robin Jovanovich, and Dr. Andy Shih.

DeAngelis, who has been principal of New Dorp since 1999, created the school's eight small-learning communities, creating a more-personal small-school feel within a large school. New Dorp graduates in the audience stood to applaud as Fritz presented her with a doctorate of humane letters in recognition of her "passionate commitment to the borough's students  and our community."

"Follow your dreams and never give up, and learn to think outside the box," DeAngelis told students.

Peter and Robin Jovanovich were honored for their support of the Ellen Knowles Harcourt scholarships awarded to honors students in education. The two visit the campus to mentor student recipients, and "have had a personal impact on the lives of these students."

Shih, a senior vice-president for Autism Speaks, was honored for his role in helping the organization "enhance autism awareness, research and access to services."

AGELESS MESSAGE

It was the diminutive Ricciardi, however, who received a sustained standing ovation as she was escorted on stage to receive an honorary doctorate of arts degree.

"That's correct, Margaret is 103 years old," Fritz said. Ricciardi earned her bachelor of arts degree from CSI in 1986, at the age of 72, "and since then has had a 31-year-career" as an award-winning artist and mentor, he said. She continues to commute to the college twice a week, where she "captures the interest of students eager to be in the presence of a phenomenal artist."

"Follow Margaret's lead and you can do anything you want with your CSI degree, at any age," Fritz  said.

Intending to escort her to her seat, Ricciardi instead asked to be brought to the podium, where she took the microphone to deliver her own unscripted remarks to graduates.

"I am overcome. You have the whole world in front of you, and all beautiful things to come your way. I wish you much happiness, love  -- and lots of fun," she said, as graduates stood to cheer and applaud.

Fritz also acknowledged Presidential Medal honorees Michael Kress, Patrick McDermott, Beatrice Victor, and the Friends of CSI, who received their awards in December during CSI's Celestial Ball.

Kress is former director of the City University's Interdisciplinary High-performance Computing Center. McDermott is a director and past-president of the College of Staten Island Foundation. Long-time Advance columnist Beatrice (Bea) Victor is founder of the borough's Senior Olympics, which bear her name.

VALEDICTORIAN

Class valedictorian Palwasha Syar, who earned a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry, summa cum laude, and is on her way to medical school, shared her experiences of coming to the United States with her family from her native Pakistan.

She said her experience, and those of others are typical of CSI, "which is full of diverse and tough students who went through many obstacles to sit here today and graduate."

"These challenges. . . show that you are strong and that you are committed. It means that all of you today have perseverance and the tenacity to follow through with your goals. And I am extremely proud to be a valedictorian and represent you all."

Co-salutatorians Naomi Gaggi, who earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology, and Vincent Jost, who earned a bachelor or arts degree in English, were also recognized. The two delivered remarks during CSI's honors convocation last week.

Graduates were elated about obtaining their degrees.

Robert Sullivan, 21, of Rosebank, who received a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and political science, was waiting for his parents and sister in the atrium of the Center for the Arts.  He said his studies at CSI "taught me a lot about life and understanding human nature."

Samantha Diaz, a paraprofessional at the Petrides School in Sunnyside, said it took her four-years, going part-time,  to earn a master's degree in education. The Bulls Head resident she said she would now be able to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher.

COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND 2017 GRADUATES 

 JANUARY 2017

 Associate in Applied Science

Travis Adams, Kathryn Agner, Silvia Alva, Daniyar Amanov, Marsel Azhiev, Crystina Baetz, Fatime Bllata, Brittany Bonfiglio, Natalia Brown, Erica Brunett, David Chechel, Henry Cho, Kenny Choi, Thomas Darcy, John Dowling, Toufic Eid, Natalie Elias, Anjula Epasinghe, Feh Jean Francois Gonne, David Grace, Nujoma Halls, Yingfa He, Brandon Helfer, Dziana Herasimenia, Thomas Herold, Amanda Jacovino, Abanob Khalil, Steven Kong, Joshua Lawson, Liang Li, Qingquan Li, Qiaoling Lin, Quintus Lin, Kai Liu, Gabriela Lopez, Brian Lykes, Samantha Mccauley, Siobhan Murphy, Anas Mutwakil, Mohamed Muyir, Sunali Nonis, Alyssa Pappalardo, Julie Petch, Jaime Petrosino, Victoria Pezzengrilli, Charmaine Pierce, Sophia Pimentel, Ahmad Qadan, Jennifer Raduazzo, Valerie Rrakulli, Indhira Santos, Fatima Shaikh, Nicholas Sica, Maria Luisa Simeon, Stephanie Tufano, Hong Hao Zhong.

 Associate in Arts

Gadeer Abdullah, Nicole Abruzese, Katharine Acevedo, Leonardo Acquatico, Alyssa Addonizio, Taiwo Victoria Ajayi, Sameeha Ali, Fahad Almathbahji, Ahmad Alzandani, Ali Alzandani, Fatimh Alzandani, Mohamad Alzandani, Vincent Ancona, Jacinta Andrade, Olawunmi Arowolo, Victor Arroyo, Larissa Athoe, Victoria Balderas, Oumou Barry, Brielle Basso, Amarilis Baylor, Amanda Beach, Ana Beltran, Henry Berrocal, Teresa Bonello, Christopher Bossert, Jonathan Buscemi, Gionna Calabrese, Genevieve Cannistraci, Robert Cantasano, Stephanie Cardona, Crismelly Caso, Nicholas Cavaluzzi, Jennifer Chan, Patricia Chan, Alison Checo, Alice Chen, Cindy Chen, Theresa Cialino, Alissa Cianci, Rosalia Cicala, Daniel Corazza, Iolanda Dagostino, Kenneth De Young, Mina Deaf, Alyssa Ditre, Cheng Dong, Thomas Donohue, Louisa Entsuah, Agnes Fallah Kamara Umunna, Marina Farag, Yovanna Feliz-Colon, Patricia Ferro, Nackeitha Forbes-White, Nicole Gagliardo, Nalini Galpotthawel, Anthony Gelardi, Rebecca Giammarino, Vounedejon Grange, Anzhelika Guchinskaya, Tatiana Gutierrez, Amber Hardamon, Wafa Hussein, Ammar Imam, Ashley Jenkins, Binghui Jiang, Symone Julien, Mafanta Kajakhe, Jennifer Kaya, Hyo Eun Kim, Karen Koag, Shefki Kodza, Victoria Krumer, Stephen Krute, Precious Kwakye, Esther Lambert, Alyssa Larocca, Kristine Lauro, Rachel Lee, Krystal Leung, Natalie Lewis, Prince-Michael Lewis, Atenas Lezcano, Jing Lin, Piaoer Liu, Donna Ann Long, Alexander Loparnos, Rosangeles Lora, George Maalouf, Zhuchang Mai, Bryan Maldonado, Molly Maloy, Nicole Manirampa, Jack Manno, Jason Mansour, Arlinda Marke, Suliman Masoud, Bukurie Mati, Joan Mbamaonyeukwu, Lauren Mckenna, Kelliann Mcnamara, Nihada Mehmedovic, Chelsea Mercado, Veronica Monahan, Shannon Mooney, Dzemilje Musa, Ahmed Mustafa, Shanee Navon, Nan Ni, Ayat Odeh, Rachael O'Donoghue, Ona Odum, Simone Odusanya, Yan Qing Ou Yang, Oluwabusola Oyenuga, Alexis Pabon, Taylor Pace, David Pacheco, Samantha Paholek, Amber Patsakos, Amir Pelinka, Kellie Peralta, John Perez, Alexa Perrone, Alexis Picone, Aristotle Popwell, Iryna Pylypchuk, Esma Qadan, Danielle Quevedo, Marianna Ragone, Alexis Rajpersaud, Amanda Ramos, Stephanie Rando, David Randolph, Jacqueline Reagan, Giuseppe Reali, John Reig, Sydney Resto, Salvatore Riechel, Amanda Rios, Gabrielle Robateau, Jessica Robinson, Justin Rodriguez, Kristina Rodriguez, Tanya Rodriguez, Toni Rodriguez, Ivan Rogers, Yesenia Rosario, Erick Rubin, Lorenzo Ruffo, Emil Ruvinov, Isabelle Sanchez, Indhira Santos, Janay Sawyers, Ashley Schoberl, Negwe Seidi, Gregory Shapiro, Abisola Shittu, Tylar Simon, Daniel Slevin, Kimberly Sosa, Keziah Sterling, Steven Strommen, Madjula Tague, Jeffrey Tamburro, Basma Tawfik, Abigail Taylor, Rodiesha Thomas, Danny Tolentino, Cherry Tom, Marie Torres, Anna Trotta, Yashira Valentin, Desiree Vasquez, Nicole Venditti, Allison Vrobleski, Kelly Ann Walsh, Lehr Wiener, Ashley Wilkinson, Jade Williams, Ching Wong, Makaida Wrong, Shuxin Wu, Lior Yakubov, Brittany Young, Jun Zheng.

 Associate in Science

Chukwudi Iwobi, Michael Kholodovsky, Karen Martinez, Kasie Okpala, Shery Philip, Justin Teutonico.

 Bachelor of Arts

Hanan Abdallaoui, Samira Aberkane, Radwa Ahmed, Leemia Alhadad, Hena Ali, Hawaa Aly, Ashley Ames, Steven Ammirato, Amanda Antomattei, Masooma Arshad, Faith Aurelia, Laura Ayzenberg, Nicholas Balzomo, Anthony Baratta, Gwendolyn Barnes, Brianne Barry, Deanna Bisogna, Robert Bonavoglia, Daniel Boston, Katrina Brady, Christopher Bray, Tilson Brito, Marina Burrafato, Samantha Cacace, Genesis Camacho, Aissata Camara, Laura Camelo, Besart Capa, Artan Capric, Gabriella Cardozo, Jeanne Carosone, Emily Castelli, Andreas Chamberas, Inna Chaplygina, Haroona Chaudhry, Yvonne Chen, Analilia Cholula, Jueun Chung, Carmine Cicero, Anna Cieslik, Alexandra Colalillo, Christina Coppola, Jennarose Cosenza, Christina Costagliola, Paulette Cougan, Kayla Cruz, Vivian Cruz, Nicole Cuce, Sean Cullen, Paige Cusick, Thomas Depaulo, Caitlin Derbyshire, Catherine Derosa, Jose Diaz, Elmire Didy, James Digiacomo, Samantha Ermendi, Hanan Fahmy, Agnes Fallah Kamara Umunna, Tanya Faye, Joseph Feaser, Fei Ran Feng, Nicholas Frangipane, Joseph Frazzetto, Julia Galvez, Aldrich Gamboa, Andrew Garafalo, Carmela Gemma, Zainab Ghanem, Amanda Giangiobbe, Gabrielle Gnall, Jose Hernandez, Yenifer Hichez, Zachary Hunold, Gabriella Iacono, Cassandra Iadicicco, Rebecca Jackson, Michelle Jimenez, Dylan Jones-Busch, Sivaruby Kajendran, Sasha Kennedy, Paul Khamish, Martin King, Nicole Kirby, Kevin Kucher, Christina Kulesa, Feiga Kushnir, Kristina Lapiedra, Holly Lauretta, Tiqon Lediard, Constance Lee, Lauren Lee, Ilona Legaspi, Kourtnie Lendino, Alexandra Levitsky, Ashley Logozzo, Kaholy Maduro, Richard Maldonado, Candy Mantilla, Victoria Manzo, Josephine Mariano, Melanie Mcnulty, Kayla Medina, Juan Medrano, Ahmed Moftah, Shemayah Moore, Andres Moro, Nyoka Newell, Stephanie Nunez, Yevgeniya Oksenkrug, Ibunkun Olorunoje, Jessica O'Mallon, Marilyn Omdahl, Yesenia Ordonez, Amane Othman, Fatjona Papraniku, Devlin Parent, Jessica Passione-Sanchez, Arielle Pearce, Michelle Persico, Allyson Principato, Janeth Puma, Sabrina Qasim, April Riccardelli, Crystal Rivera, Jailene Rivera, Andrew Robles, Ivanna Rodriguez, Kimberlyn Romhin, Melissa Rubino, Rachel Sagesse, Aba Sam, Chastidy Santana, Jacqueline Sarcone, Doaa Sarhan, Kristyn Sarkis, Robert Sbarra, Mallory Scerbo, Jaclyn Servidio, Adunola Sonaike, Esther Song, Marlene Soto-Rosado, Shanice Stephens, Nicole Tanna, Hager Twaiti, Christopher Valentine, Angelica Vasquez, Angel Velandres, Celeste Velez, Rosaria Verdone, Christopher Wallace, Kaitlyn Walsh, Victoria Wegrowski, Jalisa Williams, Jessica Wolchak, Lijuan Ye, Daniel Zelarayan.

 Bachelor of Fine Arts

Amanda Kow, Hao Luo.

 Bachelor of Science

Sara Abdallah, Nadia Abdelatif, Maryam Abdullah, Ferdinand Aboagye, Linda Abramova, Aroona Akhtar, Romana Akter, Briggitte Alcivar, Zain Ali, Marcus Allen, Radfan Alokab, Alhusain Alzendani, Laeeq Amjad, Sardia Anderson, Kirill Antonov, Stacy Appiah, Daniil Arbuznikov, Jessica Ardi, Ashley Argentine, Joseph Argento, Arcangelo Asaro, Summer Ashour, David Bababekov, Anthony Balzano, Bidemi Bamisile, Louis Barbaria, Nicole Baron, Marina Bekker, Joanna Belkowska-Palacios, Daniel Bibawy, James Blackburn, Keith Blackwood, Iulia Blagodar, Fatime Bllata, Mario Bnyamin, Edward Boljonis, Matthew Brown, Victor Brown, Can Peng Cai, Jacqueline Cajo, Jeffrey Calderon, Aneita Campbell, Besa Capri, Raquel Carabajo, Roberto Carazas, Gelti Celiku, Christina Certo, Nadine Chahine, Andreas Chamberas, Anum Chaudhry, Arnold Chen, Edmund Chen, Jian Xiong Chen, Lin Cheng, Yujune Cheong, Eva Chiu, Dominic Chong, Sherill Christian, Dominic Cianciotta, Hayleigh Ciprello, Camile Cole-Crawford, Alexa Colucci, Anthony Comanda, Charles Connelly, Kristen Coohill, Franklin Cortez, Frank Costagliola, Karisa Crawford, Melissa Cubas, Ivan Cuenca, Adam Czulak, Joseph D'Alessio, Briana Delbuono, Jessica Deluca, Deonarine Deolall, Vincent Depaola, Sarah Derenzi, Tara Devlin, Anam Dil, Kaleigh Donahue, Cong Du, Chris Duffy, Mate Dugandzic, Joe Dugbo, Kastriot Duka, Cynthia Dunne Jaffe, Johnathan Duong, Brian Durkin, Brian Dwyer, Noorhan Elhaddad, Tiffany Eng, Katherine Espinal, Luis Espinal, Ivan Evans, Christopher Fajardo, Elisabeth Fausak, Alysa Feliciano, Carlos Fernandez Arreola, Shamen Fernando, Stephanie Finnegan, Karl Francis, Mirriam Francis, Shakeema Fraser, Allison Fremer, Thomas Gallagher, Aldrich Gamboa, Amanda Gargiulo, Shpresa Gashi, Kimberly Genau, Joseph Gentile, Chyanne Gilliam, Leonard Giordano, Mykovenski Gisomme, Alina Gluzman, Chris Gonzaga, Jason Grasso, Justin Guevarez, Louay Hajabed, Brandon Ham, George Hanna, Ryan Hapuarachchi, Aminat Haruna, Gregory Hershkowitz, Karina Hodan, Nicole Hoffman, Mohammad Hossain, Jinlong Huang, Catherine Hunter, Philip Huynh, Anthony Impellizzeri, Sergiy Ishchuk, Uran Jakupi, Yulin Jiang, Stephanie Jones, Bria Jordon, Alejandra Juarez, Jemima Kadima, Clare Kamertz, Mine Karakas, Weiting Ke, Elman Khaimov, Levani Khidisheli, Brittany Koerber, Pranvera Kola, Daniel Kolloori, Ousmane Kone, Rachel Koyfman, Aida Kucevic, Eugene Kurpakov, Deanna Kvetkoff, Bridget Kwansare, Pablo Lamberto, Xiaochen Lan, Radzhesh Laptev, Vincent Larosa, Stanislav Leskov, Jeffrey Li, Elaine Liew, Lulzim Liharevic, Qianghai Lin, Anna Litovchenko, Rebeccajo Liu, Ian Loch, Madison Lock, Christinejoy Lopez, Benjamin Louie, Osman Lunja, Joann Lynn, Sheryl Anne Macadangdang, Heather Mak, Anna Mampel, Greg Manassa, Victoria Manzo, Luisaidy Manzueta, Aysel Mardukhayev, Ilirida Marke, Jose Martinez, Tiffany Mcguire, Lillian Mcnamara, Andrew Mei, Jennifer Merz, Ali Raza Mirani, Senna Mohammed, Christina Morozov, Rema Moutraji, Jose Mozo, Francis Munoz, Muharrem Musa, Matthew Musicaro, Zurka Musliovski, Hina Naveed, Yan Mei Nie, Emmanuel Nnaji, Nancy Novoa, Kristian Nunez, Erin Otchet, Mohamed Othman, Vincent Panepinto, Chul Park, Juwon Park, Young Park, Shivani Patel, Gail Peeple, Luisa Penagos, Krysta Percaccio, Svitlana Petrashchuk, Sara Petrelli, Alissa Petruccio, Violetta Polyakova, Nicole Prota, Ashley Prudente, Danish Qamer, Huihong Qian, Jorge Quintana, Abdul Rahaman, Robert Ranelli, Marissa Ranello, Brandon Rego, Phillipe Renoird, Rachel Revzin, Jose Rivera, Alana Rodriguez, Maulin Rodriguez, Robert Rodriguez, Jennifer Rojas, Victor Romeo, Monica Ruiz, Nicole Russell, Monica Rydel, Michele Sakariasen, Laura Salazar Seul, Sonia Saleem, Kristina Salva, Jane Sanchez, Samantha Sanzone, Mayte Saucedo, Oluwatoyin Saula, Claudia Sencion, Sara Shakkour, Andrew Shed, Muhammad Sheikh, Diana Sheran, Diana Shulkin, John Sottile, Derrick Tam, Yaxin Tan, Lynette Thompson, Michael Tilelli, Andres Toledo, Vladimir Toussaint, Mona Trafalgar, Karolina Truchel, Sonya Tsiring, Nina Tuchowska, Kyara Umar, April Vanwagoner, Michelle Veksler, Yevgeniya Ventskute, Janelle Vincent-Peters, Pei Pei Wang, Josh Warner, Mark Wiesner, Michael Wilson, Edwin Wong, Tracy Wu, Ariana Xhelili, Talya Yelizarov, Lily Yu, Inessa Zakariashvili, Danyan Zhong, Huangxiao Zhu, Alesia Zhuk, Emily Zoda, Haseeb Zubair, Ewa Zwatrzko.

 Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling

Alexandra Anastasio, Kelly Arriaga, Diana Ciavarella, Dean Derenzo, Shaniqua Hamlet, Melissa Leaver, Casandra Molina, Victoria Monroe, Yousma Natalia, Linda Ollivierre, Michelle Perlongo, Waleska Salgado-Nunez, Desiree Salvaggio, Francis Stavola, Alexandra Tesnakis, Alexa Tsiolis.

 Master of Science in Accounting

Elizaveta Doumanski, David Grysman, Christa Tringali, Dmitriy Vituk, Kelly Zaia.

 Master of Science in Adult-Gerontology NP

Kristen Battiato, Danny Bronshtein, Andrew Capizzo, Francis Colonna, Dixie Ann Diamond-Patrou, Shilpa Nilavarath, Yunchao Niu, Lauren Ohara.

 Master of Science in Biology

Davindra Mohabir, Joseph Nwokocha, Emily Schnall.

 Master of Science in Business Management

Joseph Adrian.

 Master of Science in Computer Science

Swarna Antha Reddy, Michael Costantino, Samin Khan, Brian Kien, Steven Kuhfahl, Alekhya Mathukumilli, Yu Tian.

 Master of Science in Environmental Science

Christopher Familiare, Maria Ivanova.

 Master of Science in Neuroscience

Victoria Castagna.

 Master of Science in Education: Adolescence Education

Khalid Bakkas, Laurie Koncan.

 Master of Science in Education: Childhood Education

Pei Ying Ho, Daniel Muccio.

 Master of Science in Education: Special Education

Stephanie Helewa, Tiffany Helmy, Christian Jackson, Candace Johnsen, Elena Kim, Stephanie Schwall, Kristen Sleight, Natalie Tamarez, Christian Walker.

 JUNE 2017

CUNY Macaulay Honors College University Scholars Program

Sheriff Akanmu, Rebecca Arciprete, Aiman Chughtai, Sara Costa, Peter Cruciata, Brooke Dahl, Christina Dellaventura, Jaclyn Dibello, Zachary Diemer, Jeffrey Dietrich, Stephanie Finnegan, Rachel Furhang, Naomi Gaggi, Stephen Giglia, Anastasia Hayes, Vincent Jost, Spogmay Khan, Alec Kleyer, Michelle Kushnir, Lisa Li, Ryan Livote, Jessica Longo, Antonio Lynch, Anthony Massa, Christina Mazza, Christopher Morabito, Vincent Nicoletta, Chigozie Okoye, Dimitrios Pavlidis, Ashley Perry, Paul Piccirello, Christopher Pinto, James Raio, Miriam Sedrak, Courtney Sinodinos, Rachel Smalle, Timothy Sweeney, Palwasha Syar, Tetiana Vasyleva, Victoria Ventimiglia, Fina Vitale, Michael Weitzman, Nisma Zakria, Juliana Zaloom.

 The Verrazano School

Cecilia Alva, Kirill Antonov, Steve Arriaga, Michelle Barinskaya, Rachel Barracato, Gabriella Belfiore, Jean Boston, Thomas Carbonaro, Kristine Carrano, Mary Cawog, Christina Colucci, Paige Deprimo, Albana Duka, Toufic Eid, Noorhan Elhaddad, Kaitlin Frazier, Allison Fremer, Bishoy Gerges, John Gioeli, Jennifer Giordano, Catherine Hunter, Cailen Jennings, Kamal Kaur, Shahrukh Khan, Dhana Kindelpitiya, Sandra Kurylonek, Teddy Labarca, Artem Lapin, Tayla Lugo, Victoria Manzo, Christine Mcwatt, Kevin Mione, Sidhartha Mishra, Kenneth Morella, Tamara Moseley, Shanee Navon, Yan Mei Nie, Rachel Postiglione, Sabrina Qasim, Mahwish Razi, Shantel Rowe, Alexis Sciarrino, Scott Shouldis, Norhan Sobhi, Jessica Spensieri, Zahra Syed, Sean Thatcher, Liya Thomas, Anna Trotta, Roshani Udugampola, Gabrielle Viso, Suki Wong, Ariana Xhelili.

 Teacher Education Honors Academy

Alkida Budlla, Alison Mahoney, Heather Mak, Daniel Murray, Christopher Pinto, Sarah Sietz, Vanessa Marie Vitiello.

 Associate in Applied Science

Maria Nicole Abou Abdallah, Rasheed Afolabi, Tayyeb Ahmed, Omair Ali, Salman Ali, Alyssa Amonte, Natalie Anderson, Irene Aniagyei, Sadra Anis, Aynagozel Aytac, Barbra Balan, Emmanuel Bandoo, Thomas Barbaro, Zana Barrow, Gabrielle Bautista, Donna Bellone, James Berto, Amishee Bhadoria, Brittany Biagioni, Melanie Boland, Yekaterina Bourova, Nicole Bove, Philip Bracco, Alyssa Bruno, Aleksandr Bukhbinder, Gabriella Campbell, Kellyanne Caruso, Jacqueline Cautela, Gorgui Cisse, Gabriella Clemente, David Coello, Kristy Colangelo, Megan Coleman, Catherine Cunningham, Caterina Cusenza, Maria Decesare, Vincent Desouza, Frank Devito, Lizzie Diaz, Menaka Dodampe Gamage, Ruana Dzemovska, Raziya Epelbaum, Merouane Erraji, Thantrige Fernando, Michael Ferrigno, Georgia Filippides, Julie Forell, Jonathan Garas, Kevin Geocos, Tedhar Goldgraber, Elijah Gomez, Aleksandr Gorbach, Yasir Hammad, Lori Harkin, Storm Harper, Olga Haynes, James Henry, Joanna Hosie, Cassandra Hyppolite, Olivier Ilunze, Fatmir Isakoski, Sean Jackson, Jamel Jones, Christopher Joseph, Toniann Kirk, Matthew Kralik, Sara Lebbos, Chelsea Lebow, Donequa Lewis, Joan Loliva, Michelle Lvovich, William Ma, Stephanie Marino, Vianna Mark, Jamarie Marrero, David Mathurin, Jeremy Merchant, Anthony Modica, Stephanie Montemarano, Ahmed Mustafa, Franklin Nadar, Rocco Neis, Zaira Nogueroles, Kyle Oneil, Aaron Oquendo, Luz Palmieri, Brooke Panattieri, Miguel Panfilo, Cassandra Papa, Larry Pasqualini, James Pepino, Whitney Perez, Zhi Qiu, Mahwish Razi, Kasey Reems, Tema Regist, Kirsten Reina, Jesus Rodriguez, Angela Rong, Julianna Rossetti, Mashal Saeed, Sandra Samuel, Aneta Sanik, Karina Savino, Danielle Scafidi, Anna Sherman, Kaid Shohatee, Christopher Sorensen, Ashley Sosa, Trishanette Stewart, Angelica Stringer, Cristina Suarez, Irteza Syed, Jacob Szumanski, Amaliya Tkachenko, Qendrim Trepca, Natalia Truchel, Emmanuella Ulasi, Michelle Valdman, Vivin Varghese, Jenny Varughese, Karen Villegas, John Vuolo, Casey Wade, Nigel Williams, Dominick Wojtas, Junaid Yasin, Katherine Zapata, Xiaoyan Zhang, Xian Zhao, Gavin Zhu, Chris Zorbas.

Associate in Arts

Haya Abdalaal, Siham Abdelqader, Layla Aburmeileh, Mina Adly, Belal Alayah, Basilio Allen, Angelica Almanzar, Joseph Amorelli, Samantha Aquila, David Arteaga, Elijah Astor, Tony Aye, Danielle Aylmer, Nicole Bagliore, Samuel Bangura, Elizabeth Bannon, Sanie Bardic, Alexis Beckford, Kaitlin Bengtson, Brandon Bersch, Trenton Betts, Gabriel Beyruti, Alexa Billera, Dominique Blair, Elizabeth Bolobanic, Starrmasia Bonny, Kevin Borgersen, Temilope Browne, Woudeline Brun, Claire Burfeind, Alexander Cabrera, Evelyn Cabrera, Christine Cadayona, Dorentina Caka, Thomas Campione, Donna Cariello, Emily Carrillo, James Casella, Samantha Cassese, Justin Cayton, Carol Chan, Shadeique Chase, Maira Chaudhri, Michelle Chen, Joseph Chiorazzi, Tania Chunir, Carmela Cilenti, Jennifer Cirago, Theodore Clifford, Katherine Columna, Michael Connelly, Ellen Copeland, Rebecca Cortese, Salina Cruz, Janet Cruz Zeferino, Raven Dale, Taneijah Davidson, Nadia Davis, Whitney Decoteau, Matthew Delaguila, Michael Derobertis, Dialikatou Diallo, Alyssa Diaz, Tiana Dillard, Christina Dimaio, Z.anna Dinolfo, Frank Dolcimascolo, Comfort Dorbor, Constantine Drossos, Akaki Dundua, Skyler Edwards, Tamika Edwards, Sohila Elgaramouni, Melissa Escobar, Sochima Ezeude, Jason Failla, James Farrell, Tiana Febles, Tianna Fergus, Miguel Fernandez, Stephanie Figueroa, Melissa Finnegan, Denasia Fitch, Kassandra Gallardo, Rami Garah, Eulalia Garcia, Fabienne Geara, Brittany Genova, Ashley Gibbs, Joseph Goetz, Esteban Gonzalez, Nicole Goodale, Marina Gozkaman, Hakeim Granville, Talia Gregorio, Nicole Guzman, Monica Hanna, Qwaye Harrington, Alani Harrison, Sabecca Herard, Jennifer Hernandez, Viridiana Hernandez, Sabahat Hina, Cahshayah Hoilette, Nyasia Homward, Priscilla Hutchinson, Ross Inserra, Needa Iqbal, Lauren Jimenez, Maria Kakias, Christopher Karnbach, Anastasia Karpenko, Alexandra Kerney, Sada Khalil, Francisko Kim, Allan Korets, Wioleta Krupinska, Claire Laguerre, Shirmilda Lake, Victoria Lakeman, Annie Lam, Samantha Larstanna, Ivana Lawrence, Sabine Legros, Jasmine Lema, Gail Lemberg, Nicholas Lepper, Faith Lewis, Jalesia Lewis, Jia Xin Li, Huey Liow, Jessica Lista, Tekiyah Livingstone, Frederick Londono, Delba Lopez, Heaven Lopez, William Lundgren, Megan Mallon, Tei Mansro, Matthew Marchisello, Stephanie Marin Velasquez, Jean Daniel Mars, Yitzchock Mashiyev, Safyia Mcfarlane, Julise Mclean, John Mcnamara, Margarita Mejia, Nicole Melfi, Clavel Milian, Alicesa Miller, Jason Milman, Iris Mizhquiri, Anna Mohamed, Francelee Morales, Katherine Moreno, Steven Morris, Asad Muradi, Mannar Musleh, Aneesha Nadukudiyil Jose, Adrianna Najchow, Christina Napoli, Iman Nassef, Saba Naz, Karen Nelson, Rejsela Nikocevic, Amanda Nilsen, Tehrima Noreen, Brendali Nunez, Abimbola Oderinde, Amanda Oliva, Josselin Olmedo, Brian O'Neill, Katherina Opazo, Olivia Otten, Samantha Pace, Ralax Parmar, Yubrainy Pascual, Gloria Payne, Candace Perez-Gonzalez, Shannay Peterkin, Milton Pineda, Joshua Pinedo, Alexis Pinero, William Pinkava, Ashley Pinnock, Larglinda Pocesta, Yana Polkanova, Mark Pollock, Esdras Prado, Yasmeen Purvis, Mohammad Qadan, Jiajun Qiu, Vincent Quinn, Miguel Quintero, Thomas Quirke, David Ramos, Jordan Ramos, Alexa Rayski, Derrick Reuben, Stephen Riccio, Shannon Risbrook, Ariel Rivera, Amalin Robles, Anne Roszak, Authum Rowe, Megan Rufano, Ilir Rugova, Victoria Russo, Pharlande Saint Juste Gaspard, Sheila Salcedo, Alexandra Salmieri, Frank Sanchez, Jeselle Sancler, Andrea Sanders, Christina Schubert, Jared Schwartz, Sapna Sellahewa, Hosam Shaarawy, Kinza Shah, Shariq Shahabuddin, Ganna Shershnyova, Vlada Shvetsova, Aileen Sikorski, Saleh Smadi, Jonathan Socol, Eric Sogomonian, Miakalei Soto, Kadiatou Sow, Michael Sparago, Ashley Spence, Marquita Spicer, Ericka Stanley, Junequa Stokely, Matthew Suarez, Abraham Swaray, Nia Swinney, Dorothy Syllien, Melissa Tales, Hoda Tantawi, Hamza Tariq, George Taylor, Nicholas Taylor, Reann Taylor, John Teelucksingh, Samijo Teryll, John Thilletd, Yekaterina Tokmakova, Johansen Toro, Vincenzo Tragni, Elizabeth Travieso, David Tsang, Roshani Udugampola, Ashley Varela, Ashliane Vazquez, Priscilla Velasco, Cindy Velazquez, Damaris Velazquez, Lauren Vereb, Tyrone Vines, Stephen Vitale, Nicole Vitolo, Nicole Volper, George Vytka, Miyoravi Walikada, Shanna Walker, Devin Ward, Makhalia Watson, Chaklene West, Akeem Williams, Alphonso Williams, Cemmone Williams, Quiana Williams, Tyra Williams, Odetta Woodruff, Xing Yun Wu, Helen Yang, Siting Ye, Anthony Yuan, Aidan Yurich, Saman Zahara, Martina Zakir, Luis Zaragoza, Betty Zhang, Michely Zhong Chen, Justin Zouhari.

 Associate in Science

Mohammad Butt, Ryan Chen, Soukaina Chyat, Regina Dilorenzo, Mirna Elhawafri, Mardia Fahnbulleh, Essence Fogarty, Zachary Ginsberg, John Grainger, Sabon Johnson, Admir Kacic, Alexander Katz, Amir Ljulja, Jacky Mai, Tony Mai, Johane Marque, Athula Mayadunna, Anthony Nunez, Olakumbi Olowofela, Rajan Patel, Aysegul Polat, Tyla Rizzo, Brianna Sampson, Sarun Shrestha, Mathura Sothylingam, Marissa Tatar, Samith Welarathna, Yesitha Welarathna, Michael Weyand, Ling Fang Zhang.

 Bachelor of Arts

Suzanne Abdelmessih, Omar Abdllatif, Najah Abdul-Qawiyy, Diana Acaba, Anthony Accardo, Lisa Acquan, Patrick Adamo, Maxwell Adjei, Danya Afaneh, Claudia Alaimo, Krystal Alamo, Iqra Ali, Frederick Alvarez, Alexa Amoroso, Vincent Ancona, Halimatu Ango, Dillan Aponte, Rebecca Arciprete, Beatrice Armer, Emily Arredondo, Steve Arriaga, Maria Arteaga, John Azudey, Adolfo Balbuena, Samuel Bangura, Daniel Barrios, Andrew Battaglia, Gabriella Belfiore, Ana Beltran, Victor Benavidez, Kaitlyn Berger, Johanna Bibbins, James Borowski, Lisa Bosco, Katherine Brillante, Jadine Brissett, Corey Brooks, Stephanie Bryant, Domenico Buono, Nicole Burns, Christie Byrnes, Tyler Cabell, Andrew Caddell, Fiorella Cafferata, Christopher Callaghan, Michael Cammilleri, Anthony Carter, James Casella, Michael Casella, Melissa Casertano, Kimberly Castano, Carmelo Catapano, Katherine Catricola, Jessica Cavallo, Jazlyn Cerbin, Gerardo Cerrati, Brittany Chadwick, Harmon Chan, Jennifer Chan, Patricia Chan, Veronica Chan, Paul-Anthony Chin, Christina Chitnarain, Lauren Christopher, Ashley Cianci, Cheyenne Clardy, Kristina Colak, Peter Colon, Christina Colucci, Alexandra Conanan, Victoria Connelly, Kaitlyn Conroy, Mary Conway, Ilana Cooperstein, Lindsey Cortopassi, Jennifer Cosenza, Sara Costa, Michelle Cottone, Chris Court, Amanda Courtright, Victor Cruz, Jamie Cunningham, Iolanda Dagostino, Brooke Dahl, Christina Daigbe, Kirsten Dalland, Amanda Dasaro, Gabriella Davila, Briana Davis, Christina Debonis, Gianna Decesare, Leonora Dedovic, Marcus Del Valle, Caitlin Della Rocca, Christina Dellaventura, Victoria Demonte, Shuangfeng Deng, Lauren Dente, Dawn Derbyshire, Caroline Derosena, Jared Deserio, Christina Dirienzo, Shelley Disla, Cheng Dong, Taylor D'Orazio, Ermina Dragovic, Xingru Duan, Besa Duka, Bleron Duka, Megan Elder, Samantha Escobedo, Gladys Estrada, Mabel Etuknwa, Christina Eugenio, Christina Fargo, Awatef Fatah, Jacqueline Fattorusso, Stephanie Figueroa, Alissa Fonte, Nackeitha Forbes-White, Vlora Frangu, Kaitlin Frazier, Vasylyna Ganushchak, Alexa Garetano, Besa Gashi, Rocio Gaspar, Papa Bouna Gaye, Anthony Gelardi, Stephanie Genco, Noelle George, Joanne German, Cree Gilbert, Jennifer Giordano, Thomas Giordano, Gabriella Giovinazzo, Agnes Giron, Joseph Giuga, Zachary Glass, Marjorie Gomez, Sarahi Gomez, Demi Gonzalez, Janet Gonzalez, Joann Gonzalez, Tiffany Gonzalez, Apollonia Goodridge, Yakov Gorban, Alexandra Grande, Toniann Grossman, Christopher Gualtieri, Vincent Guarna, Gajaanan Gugendiran, Danielle Hall, Rehulita Hall, Zeina Hamada, Renee Hamati, Janaya Haney, Aatika Harchan, Amber Hardamon, Anastasia Hayes, Caitlynn Hemmer, Ashley Hernandez, Sarai Herreros, Nivia Herron, Anndrew Heyward, Rosemary Hines, Christopher Hood, Bryan Howell, Danielle Ianazzi, Anissa Induddi, Michael Inoa, Farhana Islam, Francis Italiano, Nafisa Jabbie, Gabriel Jaime, Nicholas Jastrzebski, Adar Johnson, Vincent Jost, Caroline Kaluski, Kadiatu Kamara, Nicholas Kanellopoulos, Olawunmi Kassim, Ryan Kennedy, Ayseh Khalil, Shahrukh Khan, John Kilada, Tulay Kocer, Valbona Kostrista, Teddy Labarca, Andrew Lauria, Amanda Lenza, Jill Levenberg, Gilana Levin, Donique Lewis, Khanshea Lewis, Jason Lichtman, Mathew Lichtman, Julie Linden, Alexander Liverano, Ryan Livote, Nicole Loconte, Jian Qi Long, Ariel Lontoc, Krystal Lopez, Laura Losada, Anjelica Loutfi, Stephanie Lu, Roseanne Lubrano, Tayla Lugo, Katherine Luna, Melissa Lynch, Christopher Magurno, Jillian Malcolm, Jessica Mamakas, Alissa Mangiacapre, Angelica Mannino, Sarah Mansour, Joseph Mansur, Kaitlyn Marcowitz, Caitlin Marino, Ashley Martinez, Eimy Martinez, Victoria Martino, Olivia Massaquoi, Theadora Mastoros, Diana Mati, Takuma Matsuda, Carissa Mazzeo, Taylor Mccarthy, Andrea Mcferren, Shanal Mcrae, Dena Meawad, George Medina, Warda Mehak, Phillip Mendel, Natalie Mercaldo, Brian Michel, Julianne Millen, Kevin Mione, Nada Mohamed, Mezana Mohsin, Victoria Moley, Clara Montoya, Christopher Morabito, Kenneth Morella, Alyssa Morganti, Lina Movchan, Ashley Mullen, Cheryl Munro, Dzemilje Musa, Toluwalase Muse, Emily Nacchio, Roberto Naso, Emily Ng, Shannon Nielsen, Titianna Nieves, Udochukwu Nkemakolam, Rose Noto, Jessica Nowack, Genesis Nunez, Angel Ocampo, Jinan Olabi, Oluwadamilola Olufon, Amara Oluigbo, Melissa Pacheco, Rene Palaguachi, Sandy Palaguachi, Christina Palmieri, Stephanie Paolino, Amir Pelinka, Richard Perrotta, Desirae Pesce-Brosnan, Caitlin Phelps, Alan Piasecki, Chloe Piazza, Paul Piccirello, Vincent Pimpinella, Gabriela Pineda, Gyancarlos Pinto, Christian Placencia, Juliette Poplaski, Aristotle Popwell, Rachel Postiglione, Chanel Pranckevicus, Sabrina Prestia, Alyssandra Marie Puglisi, Christina Quiles, Jessica Quiroz, Stephanie Quizhpi, James Raio, Rangashikha Rajakaruna, Sylvia Rajanayagam, Amanda Ramos, David Ramos, Brianna Rasile, John Reig, Sharon Rendon, Loyd Justin Respicio, Winston Richardson, Bobby Ridgel, Jose Rivera, Christina Rodriguez, Jennifer Roncancio, Nicole Rondinelli, Hailey Rosado, Destiny Rosario, Nyasia Rose, Deanna Rosenberg, Shantel Rowe, Lauren Roy, Erick Rubin, Michelle Rutman, Gracie Saad, Evelyn Saetama, Brianna Salomon, Maria Sanchez, Corisha Sanders, Yessica Sandoval, Dominique Santana, Patricia Santana, Joseph Scaffidi, Gabriella Schimenti, Joseph Schwab, Matthew Sciascia, Tori Serio, Gabrielle Serpe, Kayla Serrano, Luz Serrano, Senedra Sewell, Mohammad Shahout, Matthew Shapiro, Precious Sherman, Olabode Shittabey, Gwendoline Simon, Roberto Slama, Rachel Smalle, Keirra Smith, Mathew Sokoloff, Oluwakemi Sokoya, Faith Song, Crystal Sosa, Destiny Soto, Mark Soto, Victoria Spadaro, Kristen Spano, Jessica Spensieri, Uri Strauss, Briana-Marie Strazza, Matthew Styles, Robert Sullivan, Sherine Sumoul, Caroline Swift, James Swift, Zahra Syed, Jammel Sykes, Lillian Taylor, Lynda Taylor, Jennifer Terranova, Akeem Tiamiyu, Joseph Tilghman, Karima Timchenko, Leandra Tirro, Danny Tolentino, Marisa Toth, Sara Uciechowski, Joshua Ulloa, Jose Valentin, Anthony Valentone, Sirys Vega-Fernandez, Sidney Veloz, Dani Venditti, Anastasiya Verenich, Kaitlynn Viola, Kristie Vitalone, Gabrielle Wilhoit, Justin Williams, Basante Yassein, Dyanna Yat, Nisma Zakria, Alejandra Zaldana, Talia Zeferino, Natalia Zemlyakova.

 Bachelor of Fine Arts

James Merlis, Shanee Navon, Amanda Ramos, Patrick Serao.

 Bachelor of Science

Nawal Aamer, Ali Abbasi, Israa Abdalla, Mohamed Abdelmoamen, Mariya Abramchuk, Nicole Abruzese, Enas Abuelaynein, Ibrahim Abughallous, Layla Aburmeileh, Miriam Aburmeileh, Marufa Adams, Davis Adebanjo, Gailann Adeleke, Tutu Adenekan, Gifty Adusei, Rasheed Afolabi, Dea Aga, Carmen Agosto, Chioma Agu, Hasib Ahmed, Worood Ahmed, Matthew Aimone, Bernard Ajayi, Sheriff Akanmu, Hilal Akici, Magdy Akramy, Sakib Alam, Diana Alcaraz, Danielle Alexandrini, Omair Ali, Syed Ali, Syed Farhan Ali, Tabish Ali, Ayah Alkayyali, Tyra Allen, Diana Alongi, Yuliya Altynnikova, Cecilia Alva, Gary Ambartsumov, Agossi Amoussou, Alexa Anderson, Vincent Andruzzi, Wendell Appleton, Jonathan Arabit, Rebecca Arciprete, Domenic Ariaudo, Nicholas Arnold, Nicholas Aronoff, Kareem Ashour, Tarek Atairi, Simona Attanasio, Christopher Auletti, Christina Autore, Fedan Avrumova, Geony Ayyad, John Azudey, Amanda Baez, Faith Ann Baird, Kayode Bamisile, Rafiat Banwo, Jacqueline Barbarino, Lorraine Barcellos, Michelle Barinskaya, Taylor Barizone, Rachel Barracato, Brielle Basso, Jay Bastawrose, Diana Belinsky, Nancy Bello, Phylicia Bendter, Kristin Benenati, Samarie Bennett, Luis Bermudez, Umair Bhatty, Dwayne Black, Michael Blaine, Charity Boadi, Abigail Boatemaa, Heba Boktor, Nicolina Bolognese, Danaelle Bonheur, Jean Boston, Philip Bracco, Joseph Brown, Christina Buchholz, Alkida Budlla, Vivian Bui, David Bulatowicz, Stephen Buremi, Timothy Burke, Moises Cadena, Ilse Calixto, Francesca Candela, Sara Cannizzaro, Matthew Caposio, Anthony Carbonaro, Thomas Carbonaro, Rachel Carbonella, Kristine Carrano, Emily Carrillo, Anthony Carter, Justine Carucci, Freddy Castaneda, Toni Ann Catapano, Mary Cawog, Gianna Celiberti, Nicholas Ceraso, Adeel Chaudhary, Meeru Chaudhary, Faisal Chaudhry, Amara Cheema, Olena Chekmak, David Chen, Emily Chen, Sunny Chen, Xiaojing Chen, Nikita Chernyshev, Christopher Chin, Christina Chitnarain, Saima Chowdhury, Aiman Chughtai, Eunjin Chun, Nicole Cimei, German Cimers, Theresa Cimino, Albion Civuli, Ardiana Civuli, Nicole Clifford, Karen Colindres, Chethani Colonne, Paul Compere, John Cosentino, Shannon Crisalli, Peter Cruciata, Marlene Cruz, Samantha Cruz, Joseph Cuomo, Latoya D'Abreau, Vincent Dacunto, Bianca D'Aguanno, Shadesha Daley, Matthew Dalmeto, Thomas Darcy, Gabriel Davila, Titilayo Dawodu, Mina Deaf, Dennise Dejesus, Jenee Del Priore, Mateamarie Denoble, Paige Deprimo, Pin Desilva, Gabrielle Devoti, Edgar Diaz, Yaira Diaz, Christina Dibella, Jaclyn Dibello, Joseph Dibello, Zachary Diemer, Jeffrey Dietrich, Brandon Digirolamo, Louie Dimeo, Kate Dipaolo, Louis Dipasquale, Minh Doan, Nura Doleh, Ysmelda Dollison, Adrianna Doria, Marina Dosta, Kathryn Dowling, Greata Dreyzina, Akeem Duesbury, Albana Duka, Suela Duka, Ink Duncan, Juan Duran, Vitaliy Dvorkin, Nataliia Dykhtiar, Joseph Egan, Adnan Eid, Toufic Eid, Youmna Eladma, Nadia Elattar, Anisa Elezi, Shadw Elgndy, Asmaa Elsayed, Katherine Enriquez, Anjula Epasinghe, Nerissa Etienne, Steven Falcone, Caren Fall, Magatte Fall, Ying En Fang, Elizabeth Farag, Marina Farag, Alexxis Farenga, Fatima Fares, Michael Farina, Winston Farrell, Nicholas Fasano, Frida Fatia, Anna Fayman, Yovanna Feliz-Colon, Josanna Ferreira, Danielle Fiandaca, Brandi Figueroa, Andrew Finn, Donato Fiorello, Kevin Flannery, Nick Florio, Moisoko Fofana, Salvatore Fontana, Sydney Ford, Brian Fox, Russell Franceschini, Juan Franco, Shellyann Francois, Bruce French, Angela Fried, Eileen Frydberg, Jason Fu, Jonathan Fullman, Rachel Furhang, Gino Gadaleta, Amir Gadelsayed, Naomi Gaggi, Veronika Galitskaya, Lakshmi Gamage, Trystan Gangi, Miranda Gardner, Susana Gaspar, Jacqueline Gaynor, Kevin Geocos, Dana Geraci, Bishoy Gerges, Tiffany Giammarino, Brianna Gianfortune, Carlo Giannone, Stephen Giglia, John Gioeli, Lawrence Giordano, Leonardo Giordano, Jacqueline Giron, Sheila Glover, Mirabella Golod, Yekaterina Golub, Feh Jean Francois Gonne, Cheyanne Gonzalez, Janet Gonzalez, Jessica Gonzalez, Stephanie Gonzalez, Nathaniel Good, Divahar Gopal, Monica Gouda, Krystal Graziano, Aleksandr Groys, Marlin Guerrero, Mariana Gulyak, Omar Guzman, Pricilla Gyamfi, Sandy Hachicho, Ambere Hafizi, Ali Haider, Sheila Hall, Nujoma Halls, Mohamed Hamada, Aisha Hamidu, Karunarathnage Hapuarachchi, Rea Harry, Reem Hassan, Kimberly Hayes, Yingfa He, Brandon Helfer, Kailey Hernandez, Michael Herod, Roksolana Hlukhova, Brittney Hollingsworth, Jamshed Holmuradov, Yuki Hoshino, Sierra Howard, Yue Hu, Andy Huang, Michelle Hubbard, Kyle Hueston, Allan Hughes, Mert Humusoglu, Sheraz Hussain, Ashley Iannacone, Angela Iannuzzelli, Nabil Ibrahim, Peter Ibrahim, Ammar Imam, Jonathan Ingwer, Vincent Iovine, Mina Iskaros, Florim Islami, Hagar Ismail, Palvishah Ismail, Yasien Ismail, Julia Jacob, Marta Jarocha, Phillip Jarrell, Ehab Jawad, Haaziq Jawed, Cailen Jennings, Alexandra Jimenez, Alexa John, Quelmi Johnson, Stephanie Johnson, Tierra Johnson, Ceonne Jones, Jamel Jones, Jenae Jones, Muhand Jumah, Guzal Kalimullina, George Kaluski, Arjon Kapica, Caroline Kardaszewski, Uliya Kashchak, Lasith Kasthuriarachchi, Kamal Kaur, Nadine Kawas, Alexander Kazdan, Kassim Keita, Abanob Khalil, Spogmay Khan, Elizabeth Khmelnitsky, Hyo Eun Kim, Joon Kim, Karen Kim, Yearnsun Kim, Kami Kimmel, Alec Kleyer, Jennifer Kline, Liridona Klobucista, Esin Koc, Daniel Konchakovskiy, Steven Kong, Yao Kra, Caesar Krit, Danil Kukovitskiy, Nicole Kulpowsky, Sandra Kurylonek, Michelle Kushnir, Chun Hang Kwok, Justine Kwok, Stefano Paolo Lacertosa, Dorothy Ladyzhensky, Vincent Lagana, Artem Lapin, Rebecca Larkin, Athena Laskaris, Alexandra Lau, Philip Lee, Thomas Lee, Wendy Lee, Lianna Lee Chong, Richard Leem, Ruth Lema, Alicia Leoncini, Nicholas Lepper, Lauren Levert, Camile Lewis, Hanjia Li, Lisa Li, Qingquan Li, Jennifer Lin, Jia Min Lin, Quintus Lin, Wendy Lin, Yuling Lin, Changyu Liu, Kai Liu, Anupama Liyanagamage, Vjollca Ljubanovic, Jessica Longo, Shuan Loo, Kenya Lopez, John Louis, Ronide Louisma, Sixin Lu, Vikram Lucky, Antonio Lynch, Joseph Maggio, Melissa Magrone, Ghada Mahgoub, Areeba Mahmood, Mohamed Mahmoud, Alison Mahoney, Alexandra Maida, Ali El-Hadi Makki, Marina Malandro, Elizabeth Malave, Daniel Mallon, Dominick Malloy, Barbara Maloney, Jamilia Mambetalieva, Anthony Manfre, Morgan Maniscalco, Jason Mansour, Sara Mansour, Rima Mansour Basha, Christine Manzo, Cathy Marra, Vincent Marzella, Suliman Masoud, Anthony Massa, Angela Masullo, Marika Matheson, Pauline Matlok, Marina Matta, Nia-Shana Mayers, Jesse Mazor, Christina Mazza, Melissa Mccarthy, Christopher Mcfee, Marketta Mcgarrell, Delores Mckinley, Christine Mcwatt, Kiara Medina, Arsim Mehmedi, Joalan Melendez, Roberto Melendez, Marian Menkarious, Estefania Merino Nando, Julio Mezarina, Jason Miani, Andrew Mikhail, Jordan Minchew, Marina Mironova, Yana Mironovich, Miriam Mishkin, Sidhartha Mishra, Heba Mohareb, Michael Mojica, Sydney Mojica, Jenny Mok, Liridona Molic, David Molina, Veronica Monahan, Allen Montenegro, Alexa Moran, Angel Moran, Selvana Morkos, Tamara Moseley, Jorge Mota, Tammy Moy, Maxime Muller, Rufina Muniz, Prince Munya, Lobar Muratova, Elizabeth Murphy, Daniel Murray, Chris Musicaro, Mohamed Muyir, Angel Nakazibwe, Jackson Neil, Diana Nerguti, Marie Neri, Daniel Newman, Irvelt Nicolas, Vincent Nicoletta, Valbona Nika, Dylan Niquette, Elad Nissan, Chinedum Nkemakolam, Janelle Norman, Ahmad Obeid, Mohammed Odeh, Cynthia Odili Actie, Jean Odney, Idowu Odufunade, Aduragbemi Odumosu, Ryan O'Gara, Chigozie Okoye, Matilda Okyere, Abiodun Olorunfemi, Adetokunbo Olufon, Janelle Anne Ong, Katherina Opazo, Jennifer Orvis, Jalisa Osbia, Deanna Otero, Nick Ou, Ursula Pachas, David Pacheco, Henryka Paczkowski, Sandy Palaguachi, Kevin Pangilinan, Alyssa Pappalardo, Maria Parente, Katherine Park, Leonardo Paucar, Eduardo Pavia, Dimitrios Pavlidis, Taylor Pearsall, Alexa Pedersen, Josue Perez, Yan Perov, Alexa Perrone, Nicholas Perrone, Ashley Perry, Komal Pervaiz, Lenny Pesce, Fredley Petit-Homme, Corrine Pettersen, Shery Philip, Krystyna Pieniazek, Sharon Pinhasov, Christopher Pinto, Vladislav Pipins, Dana Pistilli, Gary Pizzolo, Aysegul Polat, Amanda Poli, Bernadine Pook, Leonid Prazdnik, Ilya Presler, Matthew Provenzano, Christina Putilina, William Putman, Esma Qadan, Mohammad Qadan, Yohanna Quezada, Tyler Quinn, Marieli Quintero, Miguel Quintero, Juliana Quiroz, Orinda Qyshka, Krystal Raiford, Divya Raju, Dardan Ramadani, Jose Ramirez, Christina Randazzo, Furqan Rashad, Nidah Rashid, Jaclyn Rauchut, Michael Ravelo, Casey Redmond, Leslie Reyes, Erin Richards, Kaitlyn Riley, Amanda Rios, Tiffany Rios, Kerry Robinson, Samantha Roccanova, Khari Rollock, Marco Romano, Nicole Romano, Gary Romeo, Tyler Romero, Karen Roos, Dylan Rosenthal, Irena Roseto, Robert Rositano, Dana Rota, Yuliya Rozenberg, Ryan Rubino, Joseph Russo, Alyssa Ryan, Heba Saad, Louisa Sabino, Andrew Sadek, Igor Safronov, Salwa Saif, Eldona Sainovski, Sidrah Sajid, Natasha Salonia, David Saman, Dinuk Samarasinghe, Kared Sampedro, Abiola Sampson, Jayson Santiano, Moshe Saul, Amanda Savo Garzone, Janay Sawyers, April Scarcella, Frank Schettino, Robyn Schiff, Alexis Sciarrino, Gabriella Scolaro, Frank Sconzo, Miriam Sedrak, Hosam Shaarawy, Emanoil Shafik, George Shafik, Mohammad Shalodi, Amy Shao, Jihad Shargawi, Priya Sharma, Mohammed Shehadeh, Mustafa Shehadeh, Hong Shi, Elane Shnaidman, Adam Shonubi, Scott Shouldis, Kasandra Sia, Nicholas Sica, Sarah Sietz, Roxana Silva, Kristin Singh, Rakesh Singh, Courtney Sinodinos, Breanna Smith, Dyessenia Smith, Nyah Smith, Stuart Smith, Ilona Smotrikina, Shefali Sonal, Seung Hwan Song, Moussa Sowe, Deana Spensieri-Rice, Gianluca Spinelli, Angela Spitalieri, Carla-Ann Spoto, Tatsiana Stadolnik, Brigid Stamberger, Cameron Stuckey, Xhejni Sula, Kaitlin Sullivan, Timothy Sweeney, Katy Sy, Palwasha Syar, Assita Sylla, Sara Szubart, Kristi Taddoni, Chong Tam, Trisha Tangeres, John Tanna, Michael Tavani, Carmine Taverna, Nicholas Taylor, Kerkula Tengbeh, Rangana Thabrew Wijeratne, Anchana Thas, Sean Thatcher, Benjamin Thi, Liya Thomas, Alyssa Tierney, Violeta Titoka, Rigers Topi, Corey Torjesen, Nozima Toshpulatova, Lamoussa Traore, Jacqueline Travolino, Anna Trotta, Daniel Tsygankov, Valerie Tsymbalenko, Robert Urbanski, Cory Valdez, Danielle Vandaley, David Vasquez, Tetiana Vasyleva, Edna Vega, Victoria Ventimiglia, Joseph Verga, Ioanna Verteouris, Stacey Viciere, Jerry Victor, Rebecca Vidal, Takera Vinson, Gabrielle Viso, Fina Vitale, Vanessa Marie Vitiello, Viktoriya Volkova, Ashley Volpe, Metin Vrlaku, Allison Vrobleski, Michael Vuotto, Jordan Wagner, Shella Waheed, Rachel Waldman, Kelly Ann Walsh, Shaojuan Wang, Theresa Weissensee, Michael Weitzman, Buddhika Welhenage, Yasas Wickramarachchi, Suhadi Wickramasinghe, Ashley Wilkinson, Shawntavia Williams, Elana Wofford, Steven Wojcik, Anthony Wong, Chingchung Wong, Joseph Wong, Suki Wong, Suling Wu, Fernando Xochicale, Jack Xu, Batoul Yaghi, Pi Yan, Vicky Yang, Yanping Yang, Usfa Yaqoob, Derick Yhap, Hyeseung Yoo, M.achraf Youzbachi, Jiahui Yu, Katherine Yu, Vicki Yu, Jennifer Yusupov, Brandon Zahra, Juliana Zaloom, Emmanuel Zambrana, Christopher Zamora, Breana Zavala, Rita Zeng, Michael Zhen, Ting Zheng, Haoyang Zhou, Gavin Zhu, Weiming Zhu, James Zhuang, Justin Zouhari.

Master of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies

Anita Gillette, Robert Grabowski, Hitomi Oda.

 Master of Arts in English

Tarah Mcgregor.

 Master of Arts in History

Timothy Borsilli, Abeer Husein, Michael Loock, Jason Passalacqua.

 Master of Arts in Liberal Studies

Kristen Addessi, Anellee Mcsween, Angelina Raio, Aneta Wszeborowski.

 Master of Science in Accounting

Sema Ajredini, Wing Yee Cambio, Andres Maldonado, Joseph Maniscalco, Anetta Marticek, John Ntiudis, Lauren Pernice, Lauren Stella.

 Master of Science in Adult-Gerontology CNS

Marina Debanich.

 Master of Science in Adult-Gerontology NP

Olesya Beygelman, Malika Cobb, Margaretmary Darling, Arianna Freyre, Yunkyoung Kim, Chuyu Li, Fatima Olude, Maria Melody Smallridge.

Master of Science in Biology

Sarah Ahmad, Ahmed Almaflehi, Gabriella De Marinis, Leonella Gatti, Ramon Gayle, Antonella Guadagnino, Sara Haidery, Giuseppe Minniti, Abhishek Naik, Dinali Obeysekera, Koswattage Perera, Thomas Wallace.

 Master of Science in Business Management

Michael Ackalitis, Luis Alban, Ewelina Kolakowska, Brian Miller, Amanda Panzera.

 Master of Science in Computer Science

Gunamuni De Silva, Jonathan Parziale, Harsh Patel, Krishnaben Thummar.

 Master of Science in Environmental Science

Nadia Asfar, Vanessa Barbosa Oliver, Jessica Haley, Yuan Hu, Ahmed Hussain, Irina Khadinovich, Daniel Kurzweil, Doruntine Rexhepi, Umair Tariq.

 Master of Science in Neuroscience and Developmental Disabilities

Azunne Anigbo, Nicole Gadaleta, Elva Herrera, Mairim Melecio-Vazquez, Viktoriya Morozova, Maria Saldarriaga, Alan Wood.

 Master of Science in Education: Adolescence Education

Cristen Abato, Suzanne Ahmed, Kiana Balacich, Kristina Caggino, Joseph Caruana, Alexandra Ferguson, Frances Fiasconaro, Suzanne Frank, Christian Gargiso, Samantha Haimowitz, Zana Ismail, Megan Mahoney, Ashley Mavaro, Yolanda Minardi, Jenesis Muniz, Stephanie Palumbo, Catherine Picozzi, Jenna Theuret.

Master of Science in Education: Childhood Education

Rumsha Bhatti, Kimberly Carroll, Jeanine Casalino, Daniella Colello, Michelle Cuce, Heather Dalton, Natali Danilova, Jessica Delise, Audrey Hesch, Beauty Jinadu, Deanna King, Theresa Luciano, Marielle Petimar, Andrew Pollock, Jennifer Reyes, Salvatrice Stephen, Tiffany Stroming, Bianca Vasaturo, Lucille Villa.

 Master of Science in Education: Special Education

Awatef Abdelaziz, Marina Bello, Mallory Carchietta, Allison Cespedes, Jennifer Chan, Kelli Cooney, Karin Demaio, Samantha Diaz, Jennifer Diorio, Dana Dipalo, Rachel Franchi, Anne Fredrickson, Matthew Goodhartz, Brigette Jara, Jessica Keller, Nicolette Mazzara, Christopher Mione, Deja Mullings, Elliot Neiman, Nicole Paloscio, Sara Pascarella, Amanda Pepe, Jessica Schiazza, Alyson Sherman, Heather Sutterlin, Jessica Turkus, Alexis To, Jessica Vega, Amanda Verner, Karina Waisome.

 Master of Science in Education:  Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Briana Castelao, Dana Draper, Nicole Iacona, Lourdes Moscol, Erica Mulkay, Ramije Qoku, Julise Valentin.

 Master of Social Work

April Albritton, Geizel Amador, Mark Brusas, Dana Carney, Katelyn Cermenello, Farrah Cohn, Hope Elzahab, Michael Fiorellino, Tabitha Ford, Jessica Geraci, Alexsis Gilles, Jaimie Grangio, Meghan Higgins, Raquel Hollander, Tonia Johnson, Chandra Keller, Kristina Kovtonyuk, Allyssan Kuhl, Sabhire Ljulja, Sara Mckeon, Genevieve Montevecchi, Vildana Pelinku, Marina Pollack, Anna Schofield, Dana Scotto, May Tan, Lisamarie Valenza, Elena Ventslovskaya.

Advanced Certificate Post-Baccalaureate in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Jacqueline Blake, William Long, Marina Matta, Nicolette Varvaro.

 Advanced Certificate in Business Analytics of Large-Scale Data

Austin Krauza.

 Post-Master's Advanced Certificate in Adult-Gerontology Nursing:  Nurse Practitioner

Jinyoung Kim, Nephili Magalong, Yuan Zhang.

 Post-Master's Advanced Certificate in School Building Leader/School District Leader

Michael Ammirato, Dana Carroll, Michael Cosentino, Elizabeth Duberstein, Esmah Elchoum, Lafleur King, Natasha Moore, Kathleen Mulgrew, Anthony Rodriguez, Avigail Schoss, Ross Terelle.

 CSI Recipients of CUNY doctoral degrees

Kerlin Alendry, Brittany Baudanza, Brittany Brown, Mohammed Bhuiyan, Amanda Cavallo, Stephanie Cipriano, Tziril Czermak, Sean Doyle, Rochy Flint, Paige Godfrey, Miha Habic, Mihai Hadju, Danielle Imbesi, Nathan Kind, Goldie Lazarus Sherr, Karl Levy, Man Li, Anthony Liguori, James Liu, Yang Liu, Kaethe Minden, Jan Misaylidi, Edward Myers, Claudia Olender, Jessica Patz, Steven Rozov, David Seff, George Wakeham, Hu Wang.

AUGUST 2017

 Associate in Applied Science

Dylan Clarson, Jason Fuchs, Kristen Gilbride, Anthony Grillo, Adem Liharevic, Jessica Lin, Entri Miruku, Ayomiku Ojetola, Ifeayichukwu Okonkwo, Alexander Rivera, Andrea Toliver.

 Associate in Arts

Chelsea Andrews, Memunatu Ba, Nadia Capasso, Shanice Christian, Guerdelie Dieudonne, Sophia Disimone Biggins, Nicholas Esposito, Peunde Gaye, John Gilhooly, Conny Gordon, Donna Hansen, Nadia Hemraj, Sherrieshevona Jones, Steven Stome Joseph, Daisy Juarez, Felicia Lewis, Shujun Lv, Michael Mauceri, Elisa Music, Luz Pacheco, Aldo Rodriguez, George Trombetta, Krystine Vargas.

Associate in Science

Brian Keegan, Roberto Merlos, Peizhu Yuan.

 Bachelor of Arts

Joseph Angelo, Nadia Assani, Larissa Athoe, Saffire Borras, Michael Bottigliere, Crismelly Caso, Vincent Cassano, Teofilo Cuevas, Josephine Desena, Ashley Dicrescento, Alyssa Ditre, Sarah Fabisenski, Obdulia Famania, Ali Fares, Kassandra Gallardo, Jeremiah Harris, Sylvia Hernandez, Catherine Hill, Vanessa Lewis, Tricia Lors, Daniel Maica, Liliana Maldonado, Nicole Manirampa, Nino Marino III, Benjamin Martin, Brittany Mccoy, Kelliann Mcnamara, Noelle Mejias, Lillian Morales, Elizabeth Munafo, Rebecca Nimalasiri, Noelle Nocera, Lofatou Paye, Yadira Pereira, Zachery Pierre, Jessica Pinto, Joseph Priolo, Vincent Quinn, Nazar Rak, Mahwish Razi, Cheyenne Rodriguez, Authum Rowe, Marisa Ryan, Andrea Sanders, Jessica Scicchigno, Donika Shala, Daniel Sherman, Iman Taha, Dorottya Tauer, Regina Tesoriero, Shek Turay.

 Bachelor of Fine Arts

Cameron Rodriguez.

 Bachelor of Science

Felipe Ambrosio, Kofoworola Badero, Rashika Battu, Yan Borisovskiy, Francesco Bosa, Nicole Bove, Victoria Cantalupo, Arijeta Capric, Joseph Carrara, Miguel Carrillo, Lorraine Chawki, Yu Hang Chen, Shanell Coleman, Matthew Collins, Michael Collins, Daniela Cruz, Dialikatou Diallo, Amanda Edouard, Ricardo Espinoza, Yannely Ferreira, Allison Filomeno, Sharadee Fortune, Tedhar Goldgraber, Peter Guerriera, Saadatu Hamidu, Damelsa Hatmil, Shaima Ikhmayes, Fargana Islam, Osatohanmwen Izevbuwa, Ashley Joseph, Kerri Joseph, Jason Khachmanian, Dhana Kindelpitiya, Alec Lian, Stephanie Linares, Huey Liow, Kainat Malik, Frank Mancino, Drilona Marke, David Mathurin, Robert Mazzarella, Narmin Mekawy, Yenitza Mendez, Sher Mohammad, Sinduri Monichetty, Ziya Movsumov, Anas Mutwakil, Victoria Muzzio, Sreedevi Natarajan, Buu Lam Nguyen, Arlind Nika, Kasie Okpala, Oluwaseun Omotoye, Victoria Orlick, Oluwabusola Oyenuga, Binita Patel, Lauren Perdomo, Alexandra Pierre, Daphney Pierre, Carla Piscitello, Joseph Piscopia, Albert Ptashnik, Karen Ragnanan, Sairam Raguthu, Mahwish Razi, Lisamarie Rodrigues, Carol Mae Roldan, Regina Romandetti, Olga Ross, Michael Rossi, Svetlana Rozigov, Bertha Ruiz, Javlonkhuja Rustamov, Mohamed Safa, Angelica Sander, Mohammad Arfan Sanjide, Bryanna Sanville, Jessica Scicchigno, Samantha Scott, Kaid Shohatee, Sukchain Singh, Paige-Ashley Smith, Norhan Sobhi, Samiratu Sore, Ashley Sosa, Elizabeth Tcharnyi, Diana Tlatenchi, Nicole Tombasco, Esmeralda Jasmine Tsai, Roshani Udugampola, Christian Vasquez, Melanie Vosbrink, Stephen Wiackley, Fannie Wu, Maria Xholi, Anna Yermolitskaya, Arslan Younis, Inna Yushuvayeva, Pei Ming Zhong.

 Master of Arts in History

Christianne Nakhla.

 Master of Science in Accounting

Priscilla Torres.

 Master of Science in Adult-Gerontology NP

Luz Lucero-Calabro.

 Master of Science in Biology

Arlinda Draga.

 Master of Science in Computer Science

Sandeep Kanaparthi, Akshara Pratapaneni.

 Master of Science in Education: Adolescence Education

Steven Herman.

 Master of Science in Education: Childhood Education

Amanda Tobia.

 Master of Science in Education: Special Education

Amanda Klein.

 Master of Science in Education: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Brianna Fago.

The state Education Department has released questions from the 2017 English and math standardized exams.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The state Education Department Thursday released more than 75 percent of the questions from the 2017 English Language Arts and math standardized exams students completed in April and early May.

This is the second year in a row that questions have been released, to promote transparency. The test material is posted online at EngageNY.org

"Our goal is to provide our teachers, administrators and parents with as much information as possible about their students' performance and make it available as quickly as possible," said State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. 

Here's a few of the third-grade math questions released. See if you can answer them correctly:

• 1. What number makes the equation 35 divided by X = 7 true? a)5; b)6; c)7; d)8

• 2. A coach rounded out the number of runners at a track meet to 400. What number could be the actual number of runners? a)383; b)397; c)406; d)447

• 3. Last weekend Sanjay watched 3 television shows that were each 30 minutes long. He watched one movie on television that was 90 minutes long. What is the total number of minutes he spent watching television? a)100; b)120; c)150; d)180

• 4. What number multiplied by 4 equals 36? a)6; b)7; c)8; d)9

• 5. Ms. Perez drove a total of 40 miles in 5 days. She drove the same number of miles each day. How many miles did Ms. Perez drive each day? a)5; b)7; c)8; d)9

Answers: 1. a)5; 2. b)397; 3. d)180; 4. d)9; 5. c)8

Borough President James Oddo will be reviving the Patrick F. Daly Memorial Award for outstanding borough educators.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Borough President James Oddo has announced that he is reviving the Patrick F. Daly Memorial Award for outstanding borough educators.

The award is given to those in the education field who exemplify the values of the late principal Patrick Daly, who was gunned down in Red Hook, Brooklyn, while enroute to a student's home, 25 years ago this year.

"The Daly family approached me and asked to bring back the award and I'm happy to do that,"  Oddo said.

"This award gives us as Staten Islanders an opportunity to honor Mr. Daly, his legacy and sacrifice, as well as recognize outstanding educators in our community."

Daly, who lived on Rose Avenue, New Dorp, was fatally shot Dec. 17, 1993, outside the Red Hook Houses, in what police said at the time was the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug gangs. 

Daly was known for taking the unusual step of walking children home if they were sick, in trouble or targets of bullies, and had been searching for an errant student who had left school suddenly.

The first Daly Award was presented in 1993 by then-Borough President Guy Molinari, to the late educator Arnie Magenheim, who died last year. In subsequent years the award was presented to a who's who of educators, including: Lawrence Ambrosinio, then principal of PS 57, Clifton, and the late Sister M. Raimonde Bartus, the beloved assistant principal at St. Joseph Hill Academy, Arrochar.

The Daly Award was suspended several years ago, in the aftermath of 9/11.

"As we approach the 25^th Anniversary of my father's death, we are honored and most appreciative to Borough President James Oddo for re-instituting the Patrick F. Daly Award. This award will ensure my father's dedication and sacrifice will be remembered and the work of a new generation of dedicated educators will be recognized," said Patrick Daly, son of the fallen educator.

Those eligible for the Daly award are principals, assistant principals, teachers, and guidance counselors who live or work on the Island within public, parochial or private schools with children grades pre-K through 12th grade. Those retired from their fields and those who have been nominated in previous years are also eligible.

Nominations may be submitted by colleagues, superiors, students, parents or other members of the community.

 The nomination form is available on www.statenislandusa.com/dalyaward

Nominations will be accepted until July 1.

The Staten Island Federation of PTAs presented $32,000 in college scholarships to graduating public high school seniors.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Staten Island Federation of PTAs this week awarded $32,000 in scholarships to graduating public high school seniors from the Class of 2017. 

During its annual luncheon on Tuesday at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, the parent-advocacy group awarded $2,000 scholarships to 16 students, as a way to celebrate their achievements, and help them with college expenses.

A borough tradition for more than 25 years, the event brings together a who's who from Staten Island's education community, past and present, including parents, teachers, principals and representatives from each of the borough's public schools, to celebrate the graduating class.

"There's no other place like Staten Island, where you can bring the entire education community together in single place just to celebrate our kids," said Federation President Miguel Rodriguez. "We are so honored we are able to do that."

 Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) and Public Advocate Letitia James also  attended the event and offered congratulations to the seniors.  

The scholarship recipients include: Yenifer Rivera, Concord High School; Nizan Howard, CSI High School for International Studies; Anna Siewers, Curtis High School; Darrion Brown, Great Kills High School; Nicolas Correale, the Hungerford School;  Kyle Rockhill, Gaynor McCowan Expeditionary Learning School; Lauryn McCrimon, McKee High School; Morisa Mcaulay, New Dorp High School; Rawan Raja, Petrides High School;  Malama Toure, Port Richmond High School; Kaz Walker, South Richmond High School; Amanda DeSouza, Staten Island Technical High School; Tyler Lormel, Tottenville High School, and Emily Higgins, Susan Wagner High School.

Additionally, David Orshansky received the District 31 Special Education Award, and Erykah Cain of Susan Wagner High School, received the art award.

New York State has begun accepting applications for its new tuition-free college program. .

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- High school seniors, we know it's a busy time, what with proms, exams, and graduation, but have you applied for New York State's new free college tuition program yet?

A mere 3,000 students signed up for the Excelsior scholarship Wednesday, the first day the applications were available. They'll be accepted through July 21.

Students attending private colleges and universities in New York State can also sign up for the Enhanced Tuition Award, which provides up to $6,000 for tuition.

Applicants should know within a week whether they're eligible to receive funding.

The free tuition scholarship program covers tuition at state and city universities -- including the College of Staten Island -- for full-time, in-state students whose families earn $125,000 or less.

Students must pay out of pocket for room, board and other expenses. They must also carry enough credits to be considered as a full-time student.

Tuition scholarship recipients also must remain in New York for as many years as they received the benefit and repay the money as a loan if they take a job elsewhere.

The Enhanced Tuition Award  applies the same income eligibility, credit and residency requirements for students attending private colleges.

Applications for the scholarships are posted on the HESC website .The scholarship will be available for students this fall. 

For New York City, the governor's office estimates about 85 percent of the more than 460,000 families with college-age children would be eligible for the plan.

Mark Cannizzaro will be the next president of CSA, the union presenting principals and in city public schools.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Former Staten Island principal Mark Cannizzaro is poised to take over the presidency of the Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA), the union representing principals and administrators in city public schools.

The union represents more than 6,000 Department of Education employees citywide.

Cannizzaro, who is currently executive vice president of the union, will move into the top spot with the retirement of long-time union president Ernest Logan.

Logan announced he will be stepping down on Aug. 1. 

An educator for more than 30 years, Cannizzaro, 53, a former Prince's Bay resident, served as principal of Paulo Intermediate School/I.S. 75, Huguenot, from 2003 to 2012. Before that he was a teacher and assistant principal at Totten Intermediate School/I.S. 34 in Tottenville.

He credits Logan as his mentor.

Logan, who served four terms as CSA president, has more than four decades of experience with the city school system.

In 2014, Logan, with Cannizzaro as lead negotiator, secured a contract that included substantial pay increases for members.

"It has been a great honor to work side by side with such a wonderful mentor and trusted friend for the past five years," Cannizzaro said. "I have learned a great deal by watching Ernie's staunch advocacy for our members, our school system and our students." 

With Cannizzaro in the top spot, both of the city's powerful school unions will be lead by presidents with ties to Staten Island. United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew is an Oakwood resident.

Mulgrew praised Logan for being "a great partner" with the UFT and said he hopes the partnership between the two unions would continue under Cannizzaro.

CSI High School seniors celebrated their prom like a bunch of ballers inside a New Jersey mansion

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- CSI High School of International Studies seniors celebrated their prom like a bunch of ballers on Thursday night in New Jersey.

The graduating class danced the night away inside the Shadowbrook mansion at Shewsbury, with music provided by Sound Explosion.

Check out our photo gallery from the festivities! And take a look back at 2016's prom to see how the two compare.

DRESSED IN STYLE

Eltina Vojka, Ariana Ciulla and Ethan Gilmore were straight up stuntin' to their prom on Wednesday night.

Eltina wore a light-pink, Terani Couture dress with a white-lace choker; Ariana pulled out a two-piece, red dress with gems stones and golden shoes; and Ethan went black-on-black with a floral suit design, crock-skin loafers and WeSC X SUPER sunglasses.

JOIN OUR COVERAGE

As part of our coverage, we invite you to join in on the fun by tagging all prom photos #SILive. Not going to the prom, or just curious as to how much fun everyone is having? You can follow along as we provide live coverage on Instagram and Twitter. Want to buy a photo print? You can do so by clicking the "Purchase Photo" button in the gallery above.

2017 STATEN ISLAND PROM SCHEDULE

May 5
St. Peter's Boys High School
May 11
Moore Catholic High School
May 17
Monsignor Farrell High School
Eden II, Grace Foundation & On Your Mark

May 25
McKee High School
Notre Dame Academy
St. John Villa Academy
May 26
New Dorp High School
Petrides High School
June 2
Staten Island Academy
Port Richmond High School
June 3
Curtis High School
June 5
St. Joseph by the Sea
June 7
St. Joseph Hill Academy
Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School
The Hungerford School
Great Kills High School
June 8
College of Staten Island High School for International Studies
Bishop Patrick V. Ahern High School
June 9
Wagner High School
June 10
Tottenville High School
June 15
Staten Island Tech
June 20
New World Preparatory Charter School

Did we leave your school out? Let us know by clicking on the comment box!

Stop & Shop presented a check for just under $22K to Staten Island's St. Charles School, through its A+ School Rewards Program.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --  Stop & Shop presented a check for just under $22,000 to St. Charles School, Oakwood, Friday, for its participation in the supermarket's 2016-2017 A+ School Rewards Program.

The donation is the largest contribution being made to a metro-area school.

Mike Handerhan, manager of the Oakwood store, located at 2754 Hylan Blvd., within walking distance of the school, presented the check to St. Charles principal J.C. Kiernan and Sister Jeanine Conlon, former principal, who has spearheaded the school's involvement in the A+ School Rewards Program over the years.

St. Charles will use the donation to maintain affordable tuition and to equip its small "blended learning" class groups with Chromebooks and iPad Minis.

Stop & Shop also made a donation of just over $8,500 to St. Clare's School, Great Kills, through the A+ School Rewards Program.

The A+ School Rewards Program allows schools to earn funds to support school programs and enrichment activities every time a customer makes a purchase using their Stop & Shop loyalty card. Stop & Shop customers can designate up to two schools to benefit from their purchases.

This year Stop & Shop distributed more than $890,000 to more than 1,400 schools in the New York metro area.

The state is reducing the number of days that students have to take standardized exams in reading and math from three to two.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The state Board of Regents voted Monday to reduce the number of days that students have to take standardized exams in reading and math from three to two.

The change takes effect beginning with the tests that will be administered in spring 2018 and applies to grades three to eight.

Students now take the English Language Assessment (ELA) exam over three days in April, and the math exam over three days in early May.

"The Regents have taken a bold step forward today," said Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa.

"This decision not only reduces the amount of time children will spend taking tests, but also returns valuable instructional time to our teachers. We will make certain the tests continue to provide a valid and reliable measurement of student achievement, " she said.

In addition to reducing the number of test sessions, Regents members expect the decision to reduce scoring time for teachers and help more schools tansition to computer-based testing.

"The Regents and I continue to listen to the concerns of parents and teachers and to make additional adjustments to the grades 3-8 exams," said State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.

"In response to those public concerns, last year we reduced the number of test questions and moved to untimed testing. Today's decision is another important step in our efforts to deliver a rigorous testing regime that is responsive to the public's concerns."

Staten Island's Hungerford School is one of the semi-finalists for the $25K Elizabeth Rohatyn Award Watch video

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Richard H. Hungerford School, a special education school incorporating eight sites throughout Staten Island, is in the running for the national Elizabeth Rohatyn Award given for innovative teaching methods that benefit students.

The award carries a $25,000 grant for the winning school.

Hungerford, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017, was named a semi-finalist by the awards panel, and now needs online votes to put them over the top for the prize.

The school was cited for developing the New Teacher Institute (NTI) to address the needs of first -year teachers. 

"NTI provides a stress free environment for these teachers to share their thoughts and challenges and engage in collaborative brainstorming with guidance from a mentor," explained veteran Hungerford Principal Mary McInerney.

To vote for the school go to the Teaching Matters Rohatyn Prize page http://teachingmatters.org/rohatyn/r721.html. You can vote every day until Sunday.

Watch the school's graduation video below.

The Department of Education is sponsoring the first Staten Island Student Soap Box Derby Sunday.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- You will not hear "start your engines" at the Petrides School campus Sunday, but you can be assured there will be a race going on, as students get ready to compete in the inaugural Staten Island Student Soap Box Derby Sunday.

The Department of Education will sponsor the race in partnership with the Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation (SASF) on June 18, 2017, during Father's Day weekend. 

The race will bring out the borough's best and brightest students, ranging from ages 7 to 14, for a chance to compete with each other using self-built cars.

 Derby races will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Michael J. Petrides Educational Complex at 715 Ocean Terrace in Sunnyside.

Winners of the race will have a chance to advance to the national competition and represent the city at the 80^th First Energy All-American Soap Box Derby on Saturday, July 22, at Derby Downs in Akron Ohio, home of the original Soap Box Derby. 

 The genesis of the Staten Island Student Soap Box Derby came from the DOE initiative to institute STEM- based education programs in local schools.

The Soap Box Derby movement began three years ago in teacher Patricia Lockhart's third grade science class at PS 57, Clifton. 

Schools competing in Sunday's derby spent weeks using special kits to build the cars in the classroom. A step-by-step layout was provided as a guide for students to construct the basic lean forward style car. 

The modern gravity-powered racers will start on a ramp on top of Campus Road attaining exhilarating speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. 

 "Having students roll up their sleeves to build the cars together was  a rewarding experience," said Kevin Moran, executive director of the DOE's Staten Island Field Support Center.

"Not only did they get to learn basic engineering concepts through STEM, but it was  a great exercise in team work and collaboration. We're looking forward to working with the community for a great turnout," he said.

 The citywide race includes schools from Staten Island and Brooklyn along with  cars from the New York City Parks Department.  Lockhart, who is derby director, worked with Mark Scuderi, regional Soap Box Derby director from Rochester, to collaborate on the event for New York City.

The citywide race will occur immediately following the Staten Island race (1:00pm-5:00pm). There will also be a "Super Kids" race for students with special needs.

 For more information about the Staten Island Soap Box Derby and general resources for schools and parents, visit the website at soapboxsi.wixsite.com/soapbox, and check out the Staten Island Field Support Center's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

Watch video of students at Staten Island's Tottenville High School cover the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody". Watch video

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When Tottenville High School concert choir members were searching for a show-stopper to perform, the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" came up in their discussion.

Students see Freddie Mercury's existential lyrics, although written more than 40 years ago -- long before the teens were born -- as apropos to today's world, said choir director and music teacher Joanne Nolemi.

"We went with 'Bohemian Rhapsody' because it is a hallmark of great pop music.   Forty years later, today's kids love it. It's a masterpiece that resonates with every new generation," Nolemi said.

"Freddie Mercury composed a piece that works well for chorus with amazing solo opportunities, and a nebulous, surreal story that we were able to make into our own personal creation," she explained.

After the teens spent weeks and months practicing and rehearsing, they teamed up with students in Tottenville's TV production class to create a music video of the performance.

The chorus students recorded all of the music and vocals. 

Jake Weyand, Alexa Martino, Michael Raguso, Alessia Randazzo, Luigi Caiazzo, Paul DiStefano, Joseph Bentivegna, Nicholas Reynoso, Sam Montanaro,  Sara Pabst, Jillian Delaney and Cheyenne Poidomani were soloists.

Annie Nuara accompanied her peers on piano.

The video took more than three months to complete, from filming to editing, with students coming up with concepts for the scenes to coordinate with lyrics.

It was an amazing, sensational, and remarkable experience," said Caiazzo, a senior and soloist heard in the video.

"Creating this music video was a blast," agreed chorus member Jillian Delaney, 17, a junior.

The scenes were filmed in classrooms and various locations in the building. 

"When we started filming, we were all over the place in school -- the law room, the auditorium, the culinary kitchens," Delaney explained.

Various faculty members also appear in the video, lip-synching the lyrics

Laura Monico, of ET Studios in Charleston, supplied the studio support and the sound editing and mixing for the video.

"Imagine going to a music studio with 30 of your friends and jamming out. This project wasn't your typical high school project -- you wanted to be there, working on it," said Delaney, who described the experience as something she will always remember. 

For good measure Nolemi and TV production teacher Aaron Aflitto brought in Justin Bryte -- their former student -- and Justin (Slavo) Slaven -- the duo behind "Fly By Midnight" -- as consultants. The two filmed many of the shots and did some of the editing, Nolemi said.

See the final video version above.

Use the Comment button to let us know what you think.

10 Staten Island schools with a rich history.

Science students at PS 57 recently traveled upstate to release the trout they'd been growing in their classrooms since October

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The trout are swimming upstream again, thanks to a group of two dozen fourth-graders from PS 57 in Clifton.

Science students, aided by staffers from the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Trout Unlimited, gathered recently at the city's upstate watershed to release juvenile trout that the students had been raising in their classrooms since October.

This year, through Trout Unlimited, more than 3,000 students from schools in New York City incubated trout eggs in their classrooms and raised them into juvenile trout, which are also called fingerlings.

The 8-month-long program, called Trout in the Classroom, culminates with students taking part in a field day, where they release the fingerlings into New York City watershed streams from April through June.

The fingerlings were released into the Cross River, where it passes through the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Westchester County on its way to the city's Cross River Reservoir.

"Ever since DEP began its partnership with Trout Unlimited 15 years ago, tens of thousands of students from New York City and beyond have had the opportunity to gain an appreciation for our shared water resources and to visit the watershed streams and reservoirs that supply their drinking water," said DEP Acting Commissioner Vincent Sapienza.

"Trout in the Classroom is an engaging, hands-on program that provides a tangible and practical way to educate students from pre-K through high school about the source of their drinking water and the importance of protecting our watershed lands that supply the world-class water we enjoy every day."

CSI returns to its roots in St. George: The college's predecessor institutions both resided on Stuyvesant Place

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The College of Staten Island (CSI) is going back to its roots on the North Shore.

The CUNY school held a ribbon cutting Tuesday for its new St. George site at 120 Stuyvesant Place.

Administrators hope the new site will make education more accessible to Staten Islanders. 

The 16,000-square-foot facility, within walking distance of the St. George Ferry Terminal, the Staten Island Railway and bus hub, has 10 fully equipped smart classrooms, a state-of-the-art computer lab, an on-site student services center and a lounge.

The college will begin offering classes at the site in late August for the fall 2017 semester. Registration is underway.

CSI's predecessor institutions, Richmond College and Staten Island Community College (SICC), resided in adjacent addresses on Stuyvesant Place. The CSI Tech Incubator, which opened in March, is housed in the former space of the SICC Library. 

"We are returning to our roots in the St. George community," said CSI President Dr. William J. Fritz. "I suppose you could say we're going back to our future."

The college just celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Fritz said the new site should make a college education more accessible to the 18,000 recent high school graduates across the borough, as well as prospective students in Manhattan.

"Our goal is to make access easier for Staten Islanders who want to stay on Staten Island to study," Fritz said.

The St. George center will also help foster goals of the 30,000 Degrees initiative, a collaborative effort among the borough's three colleges -- CSI, Wagner College and St. John's University -- to encourage more Staten Island residents to pursue a college degree.

CSI's mission is to give out 30,000 degrees by 2025, he said. The state's new free-tuition policy will also make earning a CSI degree more affordable.

Fritz said the St. George site "will also be part of a rebirth, and a significant reimagining, of the beautiful North Shore waterfront neighborhood" that will come with the opening of the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets next year.

The Advance was the first to report on plans for the St. George site, which have been in the works since 2015.

It's good to be home again. @csinews returns to St. George at 120 Stuyvesant. #csistgeorge #closerthanyouthink pic.twitter.com/7bLREieZDh

-- Ken Iwama (@IwamaKen) June 20, 2017

The Clifton school partnered with Power Center Church and Pastor Al Cancela to have barbers give haircuts to fifth-grade boys

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- They're too young for a shave, but not too young for a haircut.

PS 57 in Clifton partnered with Power Center Church and Pastor Al Cancela to have local barbers to give free haircuts to fifth-grade boys before their graduation takes place Friday.

The barbers set up shop Wednesday in the school auditorium, where they cut the 10- and 11-year-olds' hair.

The Family of Power Center Church, which holds its worship services at PS 57 on Sundays, wanted to do something special for the graduates, explained Principal Karyn Lind.

"We asked the barbers in the area, and many agreed to give free haircuts to the boys," Lind said.

The participating barbers and shops were Brian J. Prince, aka "Prince the Barber," of VIP Hair Studio, 158 Canal St., Stapleton; Bruce Mason Jr., an independent barber; Jose Alvarez, aka "El Patron," of JA Dominican Barbershop, 580 Richmond Rd., Concord; Jose Colon, aka "Bory," of JA Dominican Barbershop; and "Ricky the Barber" from Rickey's Rincon Barbershop, 2071 Clove Rd., Concord.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasts state Legislators for leaving Albany without renewing mayoral control of city schools.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened to call a special session of the state Legislature if lawmakers don't convene voluntarily to renew mayoral control of the city's public school system.

Legislation authorizing mayoral control elapses at midnight June 30; without action, on July 1 the city would revert back to the seven-member Board of Education and cede control of schools to the 32 local community school boards.

Legislators left Albany on Wednesday, without taking action on the measure.

 Cuomo said it was a "dereliction of duty" for the Assembly and Senate to leave the Capitol without reauthorizing mayoral control.

"For all the education money we spend in this state -- more than any other state per pupil -- for a Legislature to leave with one million children returning to what we know was a failed management system is a dereliction of duty. They voted for the Board of Education. That's what they did," the governor said.

Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature are split over the issue of authorizing and funding more charter schools in the city.

Republicans, who control the state Senate, favor adding more charter schools, but Democrats, who control the Assembly, led by Speaker Carl Heastie, of the Bronx,   have refused to do anything for charter schools, believing they drain resources and funding from the public schools.

While charter schools are funded by the state as public schools, they operate similar to smaller, private schools, and are not under the Department of Education. 

The governor also said he was pleased by some of the items included in the legislative session, in particular his new college program for middle-class families.

The free tuition scholarship program covers tuition at state and city universities -- including the College of Staten Island -- for full-time, in-state students whose families earn $125,000 or less.

 Students attending private colleges and universities in New York State can also sign up for the Enhanced Tuition Award, which provides up to $6,000 for tuition.

Both programs are signing up students now for the fall semester.

The city will kick off its free summer meals program June 29, offering breakfast and lunch for persons under 18.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When school is out, free summer meals are in.

The city's 2017 Summer Meals program will kick off June 29 at nearly 1,100 sites across the five boroughs, providing free, healthy breakfast and lunch to millions of children over the summer, city Department of Education officials announced Thursday.

Anyone 18 years old and younger is eligible to receive a meal, and participation does not require any form of identification or application. Sites stretch across all five boroughs at various locations, including schools, parks, pools, libraries and city Housing Authority facilities.

This year the program is expanding to include partnerships with Police Athletic League (PAL) Playstreet sites as well as Youth Police Academies.

"Eating a nutritious breakfast and lunch is essential to a child's development, and the Summer Meals program helps ensure students return to school in September focused and ready to learn," said City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina.

 This year's menu features bagels, an egg and cheese sandwich, and yogurt and granola for breakfast and pizza, hamburgers, deli sandwiches and antibiotic-free roasted chicken for lunch. It also will introduce new items, including BBQ roasted chicken, grilled chicken pasta salad, and fruit juice ices. The yogurt and apples provided are all locally sourced.

Daily menus and location details are available on the SchoolFood app, which can be downloaded and installed on phones, laptops or tablets, and can also be found online at http://www.schoolfoodnyc.org/sch_search/summermeals.aspx 

Last year 7.5 million free meals were distributed by the DOE's summer meals program, an increase of 400,000 compared to 2011, department officials said Thursday. The program costs about $7 million annually.

Staten Island Borough President James Oddo joined with members of the Department of Education Friday to host a civics education workshop for teachers.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Borough President James Oddo is a man on a passionate mission to make sure kids get lessons in civics in their social studies classes

Oddo joined with members of the Department of Education Friday to host a training workshop for teachers on how to use the iCivics program in their lessons.

iCivics is a not-for-profit program founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2009. The program teaches students how government works by having them experience it directly through a series of interactive games.

iCivics offers 19 free interactive games that focus on different aspects of civics education. It is used by over 150,000 teachers in all 50 states, reaching over 5 million students every year.

Through a partnership between the borough president and the DOE, teachers from Staten Island public schools received training in how to use the digital educational tool as part of their curriculum, during a workshop at the Petrides Educational Complex in Sunnyside.

Starting in the fall teachers will use the program as part of their social studies curriculum, beginning in third grade and continuing through the high school level. Previously, civics was only taught briefly in high school.

At the training session, teachers received an orientation from iCivics representatives on how to implement the game-based learning program in the classroom.

Participants were able to explore the site, create accounts and start their virtual classrooms. The workshop put an emphasis on the train-the-trainer model, encouraging teachers to return to their schools and train other teachers. Teacher guides were also distributed to participants.

 "This is a priority of ours," Oddo said. "We live in an era where we have more access to information than ever before, yet people still don't understand how our government and country works."

"We want to re-emphasize the teaching of civics, and iCivics is a great tool to do this. It draws students in through games and creates better informed citizens, who will be the true leaders of tomorrow.

"Focusing on teaching civics in our schools is a great way to get at society's challenges. The more students learn about civics, the more likely they are to be positive agents of change in the future," he told teachers .

 Christine Zapata, of the DOE's Borough Field Support Center, organized the session.

"iCivics allows us to grow better civic-minded students," she said. "It allows kids to get deeper into topics they normally wouldn't have learned about so early in their careers. Why wait until kids are 17 or 18 years old to make them better civic-minded citizens?"

Michael Parise, who teaches social studies at the Staten Island School for Civic Leadership,  said he thought the iCivics program would foster classroom debate and discussion among students. "It's a way of engaging them on their own level." 

"Students love iCivics," said Amber Coleman-Mortley, digital media manager for iCivics. "It puts them in the driver's seat, where they can get firsthand experience in civics. We support the games with a curriculum for teachers to make sure that students understand the concepts fully."

 Oddo's office, along with Staten Island School District 31, is underwriting the $10,000 cost of training teachers and introducing the program to the classroom.

Oddo said he hopes that improving civic engagement and education in the schools now will ultimately produce civic-minded adults, who educate themselves on issues in politics and their community and go to the polls and exercise their right to vote.