Yanixa Valencia Wins
Howard Munson Scholarship
Yanixa Valencia has plans. The Huntington High School senior will begin studies at Suffolk County Community College in health information technology in the fall. The teenager was clearly happy when she was presented with the $3,000 Howard N. Munson Scholarship by the Huntington Fire Department earlier this month.
Ms. Valencia has a 1½ year old daughter and wants to make a good life for both of them. She has been attending the full day parenting program at Wilson Tech. Huntington guidance counselor Gloria Jaramillo said the senior "finished out the year very strong. We are very proud of her accomplishments." The Munson Scholarship will go a long way toward helping Ms. Valencia pay her first year's tuition.
Although Mr. Munson once admitted that he never really enjoyed school, he knew it was important. So he did what needed to be done, graduating Port Washington High School and keeping his eyes glued to the future. The award presented in his honor is made payable to the recipient's college of choice.
Born June 28, 1908 to Frank and Dora Hill Munson, Howard "didn't like school very much," said Neil D. Getter, an ex-chief and the current financial secretary of the Huntington Fire Department, who was on hand in the Huntington auditorium for the annual senior academic awards night. "He liked being around cars and told his dad to forget about the new car he had been promised if he stuck it out and graduated, because he would rather use the money to study engineering at Pratt Institute, which he did, graduating in 1928. After Pratt, he went on to graduate from General Motors Tech."
Mr. Munson opened an auto repair shop in Huntington in 1930 and continued running it until the very day he passed away on October 22, 1999. "During the almost 70 years he was in the auto repair business he served the local fire department, the rich and famous, the poor who could not pay, the local town folk and those who came from afar," Mr. Getter said
An insightful episode in Mr. Munson's life was shared with a crowd 300 at the awards night. "On one terribly cold and icy night, when there was a very bad fire in Huntington, he worked all night to keep a truck pumping and got it out of the way when the building started to collapse," Mr. Getter said.
"Over the years, the business continued to grow, largely due to the fact that he cared about his customers, never once over charged nor cheated them in any way and while he got his hands dirty, he was noted for always wearing a necktie with his uniform and keeping the shot neat, clean and organized," Mr. Getter said about Mr. Munson.
Mrs. Jaramillo built a strong relationship with Ms. Valencia, encouraging and guiding the teenager. The guidance counselor speaks with a noticeable pride in her voice when discussing Ms. Valencia and will continue doing whatever she can to nurture and support the senior.
Mr. Getter closed his remarks by wishing the same type of success Mr. Munson enjoyed on the soon-to-be Huntington grad. "Though he chose blue collar work, he died a wealthy man and we hope that you will do as well in your chosen career," Mr. Getter said.
This marked the eleventh year the Munson Scholarship was presented to a Huntington senior.