Juliana Coraor Wins
Robert K. Toaz Award
More than 70 years after he passed away suddenly, the name of Robert K. Toaz wafted through the air in the Huntington High School auditorium. An award given in the legend's honor was presented to Class of 2012 valedictorian Juliana Coraor during the recent senior academic awards night.
Mr. Toaz was the first superintendent of the district, serving from 1906 to 1933. During this career here, the high school was located several miles northeast of its current site at what is now Huntington Town Hall. Yet, while Mr. Toaz has largely disappeared into history, the annual academic award that bears his name allows a new generation of students, teachers and parents to become familiar with one of the district's legendary figures.
Ms. Coraor, Huntington's first Intel Science Talent Search finalist since 1950, hopes to double major in physics and molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University. She has shined across all academic disciplines
"Ultimately, I hope to be successfully prepared for graduate school by the time I graduate from Yale, as I plan on being accepted into an MD/Ph.D. program," Ms. Coraor said. "One of my plans at Yale is to become a member of the Yale Outdoors Club so that I can be involved in hiking, backpacking and canoeing trips in New England."
The Robert K. Toaz Award was originally presented to the top student at the junior high school bearing his name. That building was located at the intersection of Woodhull and Nassau Roads and its property extended along Spring Road. When Toaz Junior High School closed on June 25, 1982, the annual award recipient became the valedictorian of the graduating class. The award presented to Ms. Coraor carried a stipend of $100.
"Juliana Coraor is a wonderful young lady who has brought credit to her high school and community," Superintendent James W. Polansky said. "All of us are proud of Juli and her many accomplishments. Her record at Huntington High School speaks for itself."
Robert Kennedy Toaz was born on August 23, 1869 in Rochester, New York, where he was educated in the local public schools. A member of the Delta Psi fraternity, he graduated from the University of Rochester in 1893 and soon after began a career in education that brought much honor to him.
Prior to coming to Huntington, Mr. Toaz served as a teacher and head of the science department in Canandaigua for a year, as an assistant principal in Waterloo for four years and as a high school principal in Marion, New York.
In 1899 Mr. Toaz became principal of Oxford Academy and Union School and stayed there until February 1906 when he began a 27-year career in Huntington, landing a position as the high school principal and superintendent of the district. He also taught English and Math at Huntington High School and coached the football team. Needless to say, this was a much different era in the world of education.
Mr. Toaz earned a master's degree at Columbia University and also studied at Albany Teachers' College and Clark University. He was extremely active in community affairs, serving as president of the board of trustees of the Old First Presbyterian Church, charter member and president of the Huntington Rotary Club, director of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, master of Jeptha Masonic Lodge, director of the Bank of Huntington & Trust Co., chairman of the Suffolk County Boy Scouts, member of the board of directors of the Huntington Hotel and a trustee of the Heckscher Trust, which administered Heckscher Park and the art museum.
During his long tenure in the district, Mr. Toaz oversaw the construction of the School Street School (also known as the Station School) in 1906, Halesite or O'Hara Street School in 1908, a new Huntington High School in 1908, Lowndes Avenue School in 1913, Lincoln School in 1923, Woodbury Avenue School in 1923-24 and a large addition to Lowndes Avenue School in 1927, when it was renamed Roosevelt School in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Mr. Toaz relinquished his title as principal of Huntington High School in 1930 when Robert L. Simpson took over, remaining in the post through June 1950 when he was succeeded by Robert Cushman, who then led the school for the next 18 years. Thus, the high school had just three principals over a 62-year period.
On June 2, 1933, shortly before he retired as superintendent, Mr. Toaz was awarded an honorary doctorate by State Education Commissioner Frank P. Graves at the commencement exercises of the New York State College for Teachers. He went on to serve as vice-president of the New York State School Masters' Assn.
After his retirement in November 1933, Mr. Toaz continued to reside in the family home located at 9 Myrtle Avenue, not far from the site where a school bearing his name would eventually be erected during the Great Depression. He continued to be active in the community and was a treasured resource for educators locally and across the state.
On Friday evening, April 15, 1938 Mr. Toaz, who suffered from heart trouble, told his family that he didn't feel well. The family physician was called in and shortly thereafter the longtime educator went to bed. He never woke up, passing away in his sleep during the early morning hours of April 16. He was 68 years old.
Four months earlier, construction had begun on what tentatively called Huntington Junior High School. In the aftermath of Mr. Toaz's death, Huntington School Board members voted unanimously to name the new structure after the former superintendent and principal. When it opened in September 1939, it was Suffolk's first junior high school and almost instantly became a state and national leader in the education of students in grades 7-9, winning many awards over the next four decades.
On Monday afternoon, April 18, 1938, a private funeral service was conducted in the Toaz family home by Old First Church Pastor Rev. E.J. Humeston, DD. Internment followed in the Cold Spring Harbor Memorial Cemetery.
Ms. Coraor wasn't even born when Toaz Junior High School closed its doors in 1982 and she obviously never met Mr. Toaz, who passed away almost 75 years ago. Yet, by virtue of the award that bears the former superintendent's name, the two are linked in district history.