Huntington Teachers Receive Hometown Accolades
Who knew it? Huntington School District teachers Chris Dugan and Tricia Dugan Klee earned hometown accolades during their alma mater's homecoming day festivities. The brother-sister faculty duo was inducted into the Hauppauge School District Athletic Hall of Fame along with the entire Dugan family.
Who knew that the two Huntington teachers had such a distinguished background in athletics? Did their students? Did their colleagues? They are both humble educators who don't particularly like to toot their own horns. Mr. Dugan is a special education teacher at Southdown School. Mrs. Klee is a speech therapist at Huntington High School.
Academics and athletics seem to be in the Dugan family's bloodline. All three Dugan children received the Hauppauge High School Scholar Athlete Award for being the best athlete in the school with the best grades. James and Chris Dugan both went on to attend Cornell University while Tricia Dugan Klee is a graduate of SUNY Geneseo.
Chris and Tricia attended the Saturday induction ceremony with their children. "It is a nice honor for our family," Chris said during an interview at the induction brunch. "It is a nice recognition of what our parents instilled in us in terms of sports and education. It's an honor to keep the Dugan family name going in Hauppauge."
"This is a great honor," Tricia said. "Athletics has always been in a big part of our lives as well as academics and we want to pass that on to our children."
Chris Dugan was a two-year starter on Hauppauge's varsity soccer team, starring on defense. He was also the captain and MVP of the golf team. Tricia Dugan Klee was a four-year varsity soccer player, team captain, All-League honoree and MVP, three-year varsity basketball player All-League, All-County All-Academic, team captain and MVP and four-year varsity softball player, a sport in which she earned All-League and All-Conference recognition. She was also the Hauppauge's Athlete of the Year as a senior and a Gold Key recipient.
During his formal remarks, Chris Dugan thanked his parents. He said they came to every game their children competed in and they still come to their grandchildren's games. He also said that his father was inducted into the Hofstra University Soccer Hall of Fame, so he knows what an honor it is to be so recognized.
"Hauppauge was just a great experience for me," Tricia Dugan said. She said soccer led her to other sports and that it was always a great experience for her to be part of a team.