The Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education is already looking ahead to next year and seeking volunteers interested in assuming leadership roles for the 2021/22 school year.
“The organization is seeking individuals interested in transitioning into integral roles such as president, grant funding and development,” said Toniann Mangan. “We always welcome new members to come and see what we are about.”
Interested in learning more about becoming active with the Huntington Foundation? Send me a message to Mrs. Mangan at hfeeonline@gmail.com.
“We are a volunteer group of education supporters who work with a board of directors to fund innovative and exciting educational opportunities for all children in the district,” Mrs. Mangan said. “This funding affords our teachers access to educational programs that are not funded by the school budget. Often these programs are then incorporated into the curriculum on an ongoing basis.”
The Huntington Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of the Huntington Public schools in education, the arts and athletics. “From state-of-the-art technology and equipment to cutting-edge teaching techniques, the educator-generated grants we fund expand upon students curriculum as well as their enthusiasm for learning,” Mrs. Mangan said.
Huntington Foundation history
Parent Nancy Lundell came up with the original idea for an educational foundation in 1993. She pulled together a group of people, including fellow district parents Beverly Wayne and Elliot Levine, an attorney who performed the legal work necessary to formally create the Foundation’s corporate structure.
That small group of parents, along with several others, began meeting in the superintendent’s conference room in what was then the administrative wing at Woodhull School. It was from those meetings that the Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education emerged, becoming a non-profit organization in 1994, with formal bylaws, a logo and a board of directors.
In addition to Mrs. Lundell, Mrs. Wayne and Mr. Levine, the original directors included Diane Kirchner, Tom Webster, Susan Agolia, Paula Schneider and Susan Jouard. The first fundraiser was held on a Sunday afternoon at the old Coco’s Water Café on New York Avenue in Halesite. (The site is now occupied by Prime.)
The original volunteers devoted enormous amounts of time to the organization, helping to insure its long-term success. Since 1994, the Huntington Foundation has donated over $1.2 million to the district in grant monies and equipment.