Huntington Principals Recharge their Batteries
Everyone needs to recharge their batteries every so often and for Huntington School District principals, the time to do it is often during July and August. Principals are required to work four weeks between the end of the school year and the start of a new one, but the rest of July and August are frequently spent traveling and relaxing and planning for the future.
Huntington High School Principal Carmela Leonardi was reached in Vico Ecquenze, Italy for this article. “I am here with my family visiting the southern part of Italy,” she said. “We plan on going to my hometown as well as my husband's. Also, we have been catching up with relatives and friends.” Dr. Leonardi said she will be back at work on August 17.
John Amato, principal of J. Taylor Finley Middle School said he’s spending time this summer with one of the loves of his life, a 33-year old sailboat named Andiamo which in Italian means “let’s go.” “When the weather permits, I am working on her to make improvements or repairs,” Mr. Amato said. “I also love to sail her around the Great South Bay. Andiamo began her life up here in Huntington Bay when she was called Celtic Mist. My wife and I love to sail her. I am the third owner. She was on the cover of a 2007 calendar, which is in my office. I am also taking a trip to San Diego, California in August before school starts.”
“My summer is my time for having fun with my family relaxing by the pool and doing what I love most, painting, and not the Sherwin Williams kind of painting, the canvas type,” Southdown School Principal Michelle Marino said. “We're going to Disney World, the second happiest place on Earth, next to Southdown, and I'm determined to train my crazy one-year-old German shepherd puppies to come when they're called!”
“My summer so far is going well,” Woodhull School Principal Kenneth A. Card, Jr. said. “My boys and I just returned from a week long trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. In addition to traveling, I have spent some time catching up on my reading materials and just relaxing. Plans are to continue reading and enjoying the summer.”
Dr. Card said he’s also spending time planning for the upcoming school year. “For example, I'm thinking about how to implement components of the Response-to-Intervention model presented at our workshop in early July. Additionally, I am working on Woodhull's continuous improvement plan based on the use of data to inform instruction to improve student learning. And finally, I'm thinking about the new testing schedule put forth by SED and how we will implement changes to our curriculum, benchmark testing program and scheduling the exams.”
“I spent the first week with my immediate family in the Western Caribbean on a Disney cruise,” Washington School Principal Marsha Neville said. “We'll spend a week in August in Bethany Beach, Delaware with my side of the family - 14 of us in the same house! We always hope for good weather. I think this is our 10th year straight.”
Mrs. Neville said that other than traveling this summer “I enjoy being home cleaning, reading , spending time with friends and family and going to a variety of sporting events with my two kids - church softball, field hockey camp, soccer, surfing, etc.”
Jack Abrams School Principal Mary Stokkers is busy, too. “My daughters, Kelly and Alyson Stokkers and I are visiting my son, Kyle Stokkers in South Korea,” she said. “He works for Gale International and they are having the opening of a new city they designed and built called Songdo City in Incheon. If you look up Songdo, Korea or Gale International you can see how exciting this is. It is the first "Green" planned city to be built.”
All of Mrs. Stokkers’ children are Huntington High School graduates. She said that Kyle’s high school economics teacher was Joseph Leavy, who is now the director of humanities for the district. “I remember that being the course that peaked Kyle’s interest and here he is working halfway around the world,” she said.
Flower Hill School Principal Marlon Small is spending his summer in a classroom or doing class related work. “I have been taking courses at Dowling [College] for my doctorate,” Mr. Small said, adding he hasn’t had time to do “much else.”
Jefferson School Principal Margaret H. Evers said she likes “to unwrap the gift of summer vacation very slowly enjoying each quiet, peaceful day as it comes. My favorite summer activities include staying close to home and enjoying family, friends and some ‘me’ time. And this summer is no exception. First and foremost, I’ve been catching up on my reading. I think it’s one of life’s greatest pleasures to have the chance to lose yourself in a good book without ever needing to look at the clock!”
Mrs. Evers and her daughter “had great fun putting in a new little patio and building three new, small gardens in our backyard,” the principal said. “My husband and I took a long weekend and traveled through the back roads of scenic upstate New York in the Finger Lakes region. It was so relaxing to surround ourselves with the beauty of the mountains, the lakes and the fields! We’ve also attended a couple of Long Island Duck baseball games, enjoyed a day or two at the south shore beaches and visited the museums and sights of Manhattan. New York is such a beautiful place to live! Our family is also taking time this summer to learn as much as we can about Thailand since our daughter, who graduated college in May, will be leaving in October to live in Thailand for six months. We are all so excited for her!”
When the new school year rolls around next month, Huntington’s corps of principals will be ready to tackle all the new challenges associated with their positions.
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