Six Shoreham-Wading River High School photography students were recognized with honors by The LongHouse Reserve’s Student Annual XIV. Sophomore Gavin Meltcher earned a first-place honor in the digital manipulation category. In the photography category, sophomores Kaitlyn Coster earned first-place honors, Annabella Barget received third-place honors and Hasnain Rana received an honorable mention. Freshmen Jenny Mensche received second-place honors and Matthew Dinowitz received an honorable mention.

The Virtual Challenge encouraged the students to think outside of the box, to dream their dreams and to create based upon their inspirations found at LongHouse. They were inspired by a field trip earlier this spring to the famed East Hampton acres of gardens, contemporary sculptures, walkways and evergreens where they learned about the history of the LongHouse and viewed the artwork, nature and landscape design on the premises. Back at school, art teacher Nicole Massaro’s encouraged the entries, which now allows each student the opportunity to use their achievement as criteria if they apply for a LongHouse Scholarship in their senior year of high school.

“It was such a wonderful opportunity to not only be motivated by being outdoors and enjoying this beautiful Long Island gem,” Ms. Massaro said, “but to have all of the students in the class submit amazing photos. I am so proud of our winners for earning this incredible accomplishment.”