...and the winners are

[Chris_Wendt]

Wantagh High School Seniors Trent Kowalik and Maggie Tigue, recognized by The National YoungArts Foundation’s YoungArts New York program. Notable accomplishments, indeed. Quoting from Debbie Piciotto's Patch Article: "Maggie won for classical voice (soprano) and Trent won for dance (tap)." Congratulations are certainly in order.

The article does not mention any WHS faculty members. That leaves me wondering: to what extent did Wantagh High participate in this program, or prepare our winners for their participation?

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Uh-oh!

I have received information from a reliable source that

"... this was done completely on their own. School was not involved. They (Maggie & Brent, the winners) found out about the program from a senior last year who applied. Maggie has been taking vocal lessons outside of school for years; Trent was once a student of Dorothy’s in Bellmore and has performed on Broadway...."

Even more to the point that these two young people are to be heartily congratulated for their own accomplishments arising out of their own hard work and their parent's support.

Their accolades certainly reflect well upon our community, Wantagh, although any direct connection between the school district and these awards should be considered purely coincidental rather than causative. We should avoid making the classic logical error: Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

Chris Wendt