East Meadow Schools: Clarke High School senior earns top award

The East Meadow School District announced last week that W.T. Clarke High School senior Ava Giannitelli was selected as a merit award winner for the Long Island Scholar-Artist Award.

Presented by the Long Island Arts Alliance, the Scholar-Artist Awards program highlights outstanding high school-age artists to the public in monthly profiles that will appear in Newsday and on Newsday.com. The program is honored to serve as a pathway toward connecting its award winners with Long Island’s nationally recognized universities.

Giannitelli has had a deep passion for music for as long as she can remember, though her journey began modestly. “In fourth grade, I almost quit because I couldn’t produce any sound, and that would have been a huge mistake,” she said.

She is also grateful for her eighth grade music teacher. “I have to thank her for making me feel special and guiding me through my musical journey,” Giannitelli said.

From there, Giannitelli’s musical journey truly began to shine in high school. She actively participated in various school ensembles, including the marching band, wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, and pit orchestra. Additionally, she joined the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and the Long Island Youth Orchestra. Giannitelli was particularly drawn to orchestral music and cherished the flute’s role within it. She took private lessons and, despite not having participated in NYSSMA in her earlier years, auditioned for All-State as a sophomore. This year, she achieved an impressive score on her All-State Solo.

Scholar–Artists are chosen from five disciplines— Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Dance and Media Arts. Selections are made from a pool of students nominated by Long Island’s public school districts, and from independent and parochial schools. From these nominees, the Scholar-Artist selection committees choose one monthly award winner from Nassau and one from Suffolk for 10 consecutive months throughout the school year. In addition to the 20 students selected to receive Awards of Distinction, 20 additional students are selected to receive an Award of Merit at a year-end LIAA recognition event.