Erin Plante Ready for College
Erin Plante loves horses and she’s not shy about saying it. The Huntington High School senior has been working with the magnificent animals for nearly nine years and at she plans to take her involvement to an entirely new level when she begins classes at Morrisville State College in the fall.
A very fine student, Ms. Plante was honored earlier this spring as a Distinguished Senior after compiling an outstanding academic record over the past four years. She has built many strong relationships with Huntington teachers and is even interning this year with Erica Jessen, a high school special education teacher.
Ms. Plante has pursued her goals with steely determination. “I have volunteered at many different barns and have met many great people who have taught me so much,” she said. The teenager has participated in Western Suffolk BOCES Wilson Tech’s Equine Studies program for the past two years and it has proved to be quite beneficial.
“My oldest sister had gone to Wilson Tech for cosmetology, so I looked to see if they had an equine program and they sure enough did,” she said. “I could only start it in eleventh grade because I had to get most of my high school credits done first. So I started as a junior and fell in love with it.”
“Equine Studies develops the skills and knowledge of caring for horses including feeding, grooming and such daily tasks as turnout; riding and exercising horses for a variety of purposes; cleaning and maintaining horse and riding equipment; diagnosing and treating general injuries and ailments of horses and farm management,” according to the Western Suffolk BOCES website. “Skills developed in this program may be used for entry- level jobs or for college level equine programs.”
Thomas School of Horsemanship
Ms. Plante attends the Thomas School of Horsemanship in Melville each school day, arriving at about 11:30 a.m. after she complete five periods of classes at Huntington High School. “As I learned more and more in my equine program, I was inducted into the National Technical Honor Society last year,” she said proudly. “This year I became the FFA (Future Farmers of America) president of my class.”
The teenager has a “broad spectrum of close friends.” She has also had an opportunity to get to know many teachers. “I think that I was very fortunate and am thankful now to have had teachers that definitely made an impact.”
“Mr. [Michael] Graziano taught me that I can re-use old jokes and they still will be funny such as ‘is there a vet around because these pythons are sick’ and he then goes on to show his teacher muscles,” Ms. Plante said. “Ms. [Judy] Pazienza has taught me how to be a strong person and a helpful teacher. My mentor Mrs. Jessen has taught me about so many teaching aspects and ways to teach. Mr. [Fred] Bisongo has taught me that common sense really helps in Global History and U.S. History. But, there are so many more teachers that I am so grateful that I have had during high school as well as well throughout my time in the school district. Last but certainly not least, Mr. [Ken] Gilbert, who is retiring this year, has taught me that hard work certainly pays off!”
Eager to begin college
The senior said she is “eagerly” looking forward to studying at Morrisville State College. “This is a four year school and it’s a SUNY school,” Ms. Plante said. “I am going for my Associates in Equine Science and Management and my Bachelor’s in Animal Science, focusing on Equine Science.”
Ms. Plante has big plans for the future. “I have a dream of opening my own farm with mostly horses, but I would like to have other animals, too,” she said. “The purpose of the farm would be to help American war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. So with that being said, my major might change because I need to get some physiology practice. Overall, I am having an open mind.”