Witherspoon Captures the Cohen Scholarship

Joel Cohen’s classmates aptly attested to the school spirit he displayed all through high school and well into adulthood. He loved Huntington High School and was known far and wide as one of its proudest and most accomplished graduates.

The legendary local business owner was so successful that following his death, the Cohen family endowed a generous scholarship fund to perpetuate his memory at his alma mater.

This year the fund presented a $2,000 award to Class of 2013 member Raynisha Witherspoon. The teenager is headed to the University of Rhode Island in the fall to study physical therapy.

Ms. Witherspoon wore the look of a proud young woman on her face as she was presented with the prestigious award during this year’s senior academic awards night in the Huntington High School auditorium. Smiling broadly, the teenager was clearly thrilled to be recognized in front of her classmates and a crowd of 300 that gathered for the event.

Sports, music and challenging classes have provided Ms. Witherspoon with a rich set of experiences over the past four years of high school. She played on the Blue Devil volleyball, basketball and spring track and field teams, starring on each one. A tuba player in the school band, the pleasant young woman is a hard worker with a great sense of humor.

Mr. Cohen was born in Huntington and was as thoroughly a Blue Devil as any one person can be. A 1939 Huntington graduate, Mr. Cohen was an exceptional student and an integral member of several athletic teams, including the powerful football squad led by storied head coach William Class. He later served a long and fruitful stretch as president of Huntington’s Alumni Association.

A large old-fashioned, non-mechanical megaphone that Mr. Cohen would use to whip fellow students into delirium during athletic events is in the collection of the Huntington’s School Heritage Museum. It symbolizes a bygone era in Blue Devil sports history.

The famed owner of a local business products company, Mr. Cohen was deeply involved in the community and many of its organizations. He organized the Town of Huntington’s celebration of America’s bicentennial in 1976. It was in this spirit of service to others that the Cohen family created the Joel H. and Selma D. Cohen Vocational Scholarship. The first award was presented in 1993 following Mr. Cohen’s untimely death.

Retired Huntington teacher Eileen Darwin, a close friend of the Cohen family, presented the scholarship to Ms. Witherspoon during Huntington High School’s senior academic awards night in the school auditorium. Mrs. Darwin spoke eloquently about Ms. Witherspoon’s accomplishments and future plans and potential.

Mr. Cohen’s contributions to Huntington are memorialized in Heckscher Park, where a Japanese cherry tree was planted in his honor. The tree is accompanied by an engraved plaque celebrating one of the most colorful characters and generous gentleman in local history.