Schools

S. Huntington Celebrates Its Homecoming

Parade, Hall of Fame inductions mark big weekend.

The South Huntington school community inducted its newest members of the Hall of Fame and marched in a parade Saturday to celebrate homecoming.

Under beautiful skies and pleasant temperatures, school district officials welcome seven people  to the Hall of Fame, a biennial honor bestowed on accompished alumni. After the awards ceremony on the Whitman field sidelines, bands and marchers, units from the Huntington Manor Fire Department and others, accompanied by the inductees, paraded through the nearby streets before the football game against Centereach.

"What a way to end the week," Whitman principal Kathleen Acker said. "The crowd, the kids are so proud."

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The Board of Education squeezed in a public meeting lasting about one minute, to handle an old, confidential personnel matter. The roundup of board members to form the quorum took far longer than the meeting.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday were:

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Laura Schroff, Class of 1970, is a former advertising executive who is best known for her book: “An Invisible Thread," an account of how a busy sales executive befriends an 11 year old panhandler on the streets of NYC. Laura epitomizes what mentoring can do for a child’s life.

Stuart Udell, Class of 1985,  serves as president and CEO of Catapult Learning LLC at Literacy First and is Chairman of the Executive Board of The National Dropout Prevention Network/Center. Stuart has been active in the field of education, especially dropout prevention.

Andy Farber, Class of 1987, an award-winning jazz composer, arranger and saxophonist has spent years performing with the likes of Jon Hendricks and Wynton Marsalis. Since 1994, he has been part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center stable of writers and performers. Andy has written arrangements for people like Shirley Horn, Bobby Short, Stevie Wonder, Wynona Judd, Bob Dylan, Fantasia, Joe Cocker, Ray Charles and George Benson, just to name a few.

Shirley Chaikin Mayer, Class of 1968,  As administrator-on-call for the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Shirley established the first Northeast Regional Burn and Trauma Center, which has saved the lives of countless critically injured patients over the last three decades. Shirley is the co-founder and president of Generation to Generation, an organization staffed by children of survivors aiming to preserve the lessons of the Holocaust.

Daniel Levin, Class of 1973, has served as chief of staff to the director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, William Barr, acting assistant attorney general, and Office of Legal Counsel, where he wrote the replacement opinion concerning the statue prohibiting torture

Michael McGuinness, Class of 1990. Lt. McGuiness is a 19 year veteran of the New York City Police Department where he has been assigned to the Emergency Service Unit, the department’s special weapons and tactics team, and the Rescue Unit. He has been a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agencies and New York Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue team, where he serves as manager.

AJ Preller, Class of 1995, Senior director of player personnel for the Texas Rangers, a major league baseball team. He is in charge of player acquisition, where he oversees the team’s scouting operations around the world and manages approximately 50 amateur, professional, and international baseball scouts.

Ronaldo George, Class of 1989, Owner of the Law Offices of Ronaldo C. George, LLC, a New Jersey firm that specializes in consumer and commercial bankruptcy as well as residential and commercial real estate, litigation, and collection. Ronaldo attended Fairleigh Dickerson University as a Presidential Scholar and member of the university’s Leadership Counsel.


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