Huntington Senior Parents Paint
The Rock
While their sons and daughters were at this year's prom, a group of Huntington High School parents was busy painting The Rock with their child's soon-to-be college logo in the respective school's colors.
The painting party was spearheaded by Christina Plant, mother of Rutgers-bound Dan Plant. Many fellow parents quickly signed on and they arrived at The Rock with the gear they needed to get the job done. "I thought that the kids should have it painted just for them since they all worked so hard to get into these great schools and to see it when they pull out of the high school for the last time together, which makes me cry," Mrs. Plant said.
After their children departed from various pre-prom festivities, the parents headed over to Huntington High School and quickly focused on the task at hand. "We had many beeps and cheers as we were painting from the many fans that drove by," Mrs. Plant said. "It was a lot of fun for the parents since we have been friends for so long. The kids have been friends since Woodhull Early Childhood Center and still are best friends today. Most of them have been lacrosse players together since fifth grade. Some of them even went to the prom together."
The college logos included the University of Delaware for Chris Napolitano (painted by his father Bill Napolitano) and Page Bond (Elizabeth Bond), Roanoke College for John Bosco (Michelle Bosco) , Babson College for Phil Cadorette (Karen Cadorette), Binghamton University for Jillian Kocis,(Nancy Kocis) Rutgers University for Danny Plant,(Christina and Mike Plant) University of Massachusetts-Amherst for Kari Peer (Chris Peer), Canisus College for Conor Reilly (Pam and Danny Reilly) Washington College for James Neary, (Barbara Neary), Syracuse University for Brad Dwyer (Karen and Bill Dwyer), Ohio State University for Cole Cook (Sharon Cook), University of Hartford for Garrett Arleo (Lynne Arleo), University at Albany for Jack Cutrone (Barbara Cutrone), SUNY Maritime College for Thomas Mulligan and Brandon Fiordelisi (Jennifer Mulligan and Liz Fiordelisi), Nassau Community College for Spencer Colwin (Stacey Colwin) and Ohio Wesleyan University for PJ Beach (Peter and Lisa Beach).
While Huntington High School "was great for all of them," Mrs. Plant said, the teenagers "are ready to move on to the next phase." Parent Sharon Cook was dubbed the "MVP painter" while Mrs. Plant kept everyone working. Who knew that so many Huntington parents possessed such artistic ability?
The colorful college logos are painted of the front of The Rock while the side features the phrase, "Always a Blue Devil." "So, even as they move on to college they will always remember where they came from," Mrs. Plant said.