Harborfields High School senior Joseph Costa was recently announced as the winner of the Science Teacher’s Association of New York State (STANYS) Award, which is given to the top science student in each high school in Suffolk County, one who has consistently demonstrated the greatest aptitude for and performance in science throughout their high school career. Costa was honored at a May 22 dinner at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook, where he was introduced by Harborfields science teacher Mike Pinto.
“I’ve known Joe Costa for many years,” Pinto said. “I had his older brother on my robotics team back when Joe was in middle school. Joe would come to our competitions eagerly awaiting his chance to join the high school robotics team. Unfortunately, his opportunity came as a freshman, right when we were returning from the pandemic. We were limited in the activities that we could do but Joe still showed up every day with a smile. From that time on, Joe served as a leader for our robotics program, holding offices as both the treasurer and vice president. When we needed to get something done, I could always count on him to spearhead the activity with the rest of the students. Joe was also an active member of our science research program throughout his four years in high school. Again, he served as a leader for both the Envirothon and Science Olympiad teams over the course of many years. After taking AP Environmental Science as a sophomore, he led his Envirothon teams to place well for the past three years. On the Science Olympiad team, he used his math skills to earn a medal in Fermi Questions and his engineering skills to earn a medal in Wright Stuff. When it came time to select the top science student at our school, I knew who I wanted to nominate, but it wasn’t solely up to me. I polled all of our science teachers and a few names came up, but Joe’s name came up the most. His AP Physics teacher said that Joe was his top student, no question, as Joe took both AP Physics 1 and 2 in his junior year and AP Physics C in his senior year. The math department was impressed with his work in AP Calculus, AP Statistics and AP Computer Science. The school adviser for the National Honor Society is a biology teacher in the classroom right next door to mine, and she said that Joe was the most reliable officer of that club. Throughout all of the events that I’ve seen Joe compete in throughout the years, he’s always kept a calm, cool and collected demeanor, even when our robot short circuited or a wheel fell off. He served as an excellent role model for our younger club members. I think that he’ll carry those problem-solving skills and leadership qualities with him through college to lead an excellent career as a computer engineer.”
Date Added: 6/5/2024