Amityville, NY - June 26, 2017 - Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory presented proclamations at the general meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature held June 20 in Riverhead to Sofie Wilson and Jade Dickenson of Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School to congratulate them on being named semifinalists in the 2017 Siemens Competition.
The Siemens Competition is the nation’s premier competition in math, science and technology for high school students. Sofie and Jade were selected from more than 1,000 students who submitted innovative individual and team research projects, and were the first students selected from Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School in the school’s 50 year history.
“This is an amazing accomplishment for the Copiague school district and a testament to the passion, hard work and dedication of these students,” said Presiding Officer Gregory. “Congratulations to Jade and Sophie on a great project!”
The students’ project, “A novel investigation surrounding Geukensia demissa as a probable control mechanism for the invasive species Phragmites australis,” looked into the impact certain types of mollusks could have on the growth of a large, invasive perennial grass typically found in wetlands.