ATH Presents Scholarship to Michael Funk
The Associated Teachers of Huntington presented a $2,000 scholarship to Huntington High School senior Michael Funk at last week’s senior academic awards night. He hopes to one day be an English teacher and possibly branch out into special education.
Huntington math teacher Joan Lehnert made the presentation on behalf of the ATH before a crowd of hundreds of students and their family members in the high school auditorium. The ATH is the professional organization representing teachers in the district. For the past four decades, the group has presented an annual scholarship to a graduating senior who plans to become a teacher.
Mr. Funk has been accepted into a joint admissions program with Suffolk County Community College and St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue. “While attending Suffolk, I will be participating in their honors program,” he said.
As a Huntington senior, Mr. Funk has been involved in the school’s student internship program, working with a high school English teacher. “When I first realized that I wanted to be an English teacher, I was in eleventh grade,” he recalled. “I was a student of Mr. [Ken] Krummenacker’s, and always excelled in English.”
Those seeking the award are asked to complete an application that includes an essay detailing their plans to become a teacher. The scholarship is supported by membership dues paid by Huntington’s teachers.
“English and social studies have always been my top classes, but English has always been a passion of mine,” Mr. Funk said. “The scholarship award is very important to me because with this unstable economy, even though I work, I want to lessen the burden on my parents. Since both my parents work, and my father holds not one, but two jobs, I want to be able to put the least amount of pressure on them.”
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