Natalie Gonzalez has claimed the Huntington Fire Department’s EC McGaul Award for Business. A member of Huntington High School’s Class of 2019, the teenager is headed to SUNY College at Plattsburgh.
Ms. Gonzalez was presented with the $500 scholarship at the high school’s senior academic awards night in the auditorium. The scholarship honors Edward (EC) McGaul, who served as the Huntington Fire Department’s chief from 1932-35 and was a member of the organization for decades.
![Huntington High School Class of 2019 member Natalie Gonzalez.](../../../assets/images/2019/august/cameo-02a.jpg)
Huntington High School Class of 2019 member Natalie Gonzalez.
“My time in Huntington USFD has been amazing,” Ms. Gonzalez said. “I’ve made so many friends and I had great teachers throughout the years. Huntington has shaped me into the person I am now. I will never forget the memories I made and I will miss Huntington UFSD.”
Ms. Gonzalez was among the founding student members of Huntington High School’s VE program, which is adding a third class section for the 2019/20 school year.
The teenager played a leading role with her Virtual Enterprise business class company. Ms. Gonzalez was the vice president for marketing for the VE company known as Poppy, which reverse engineered unwanted and stale bagels into bagel chips.
Poppy qualified for the Virtual Enterprise International National Business Plan finals at the Microsoft Technology Center in Times Square, Manhattan and went on to finish 13th in the world out of thousands of high school Virtual Enterprise companies.
Honored as a Distinguished Senior last spring in recognition of her spectacular academic record, Ms. Gonzalez is a mild-mannered, well-liked and extremely hardworking young woman with enormous potential. She plans to study nursing in college.
A member of Huntington’s Science Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society, Ms. Gonzalez was one of the stars of the high school’s choral program. She was a key player on the Blue Devil varsity girls’ soccer team.
In addition to Virtual Enterprise, Ms. Gonzalez completed has completed business courses in Career and Financial Management and Sports Marketing.