The Huntington PTA Council’s executive board is set and the group is up and running, doing what it does best: Providing a voice for families in the district and as a resource for faculty members and serving as strong advocates for the 4,600 students in Huntington UFSD.
The 2020/21 executive board consists of Kristin Kanzer (president), Jennifer Carrillo (co- vice president), Tonya Guandique (co-vice president), Shannon Delaney (treasurer) and Colleen Perfetto (secretary).
“We are a district-wide group of parent and teacher volunteers aspiring to be a voice for all the families in our district, a resource for administrators and staff and powerful advocates for every child in Huntington UFSD,” Mrs. Kanzer said.
The roots of Huntington UFSD’s PTA date to 1923 and Lowndes Avenue School in Huntington Station (which was located on the plot on which Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School stands today).
“The nucleus of the first PTA of Lowndes Avenue School/Roosevelt School, consisting of about six parents, met together in Room 115 to discuss ways and means of providing free milk to a large number of undernourished children whose parents were economically unable to supply their children with the necessary amount of milk for good health,” wrote Roosevelt Principal Agnes B. Bailey in 1958. “This was about 1923.”
The parent’s milk campaign was the start of something special in Huntington. “At this time we were buying milk in quart bottles (retail price) and serving it in paper cups,” wrote Mrs. Bailey. “The front of our auditorium was the area used for this purpose.”
The group’s first organized fundraiser was a roast beef dinner prepared and served on the second floor of the old four-room School Street School. It was located across the street from the current Jack Abrams School parking lot (the one with the basketball courts on the south side of the building).
Huntington UFSD’s PTA units so little sign of slowing down, even after 97 years.
“This year is unlike any other,” Mrs. Kanzer said. “Our fundraising, events and meetings look different during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite our presence in our schools being virtual for now, we are still committed to providing opportunities and resources to our school community. We need everyone’s help, ideas and energy now more than ever.”
The National PTA bills itself as the “oldest and largest child advocacy association in America.” It boasts 24,000 local units and more than four million members. It’s moto is: “Every child. One voice.”
“PTA membership makes a measurable difference,” Mrs. Kanzer said. “Last year, our Huntington students were the recipients of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours donated by our community to PTA. Among the many services we provided were family engagement events, arts-in-education programs for our schools, school beautification projects, child anxiety and stress informational programs, a senior scholarship, a ‘get to know the high school through its students’ eyes’ program, thank you lunches for our amazing staff and input into the district’s budget process.”
Send a message to HuntingtonPTACouncil@gmail.com to share your thoughts with the Huntington PTA Council.