Huntington Foundation Continues to Make a Difference

More than three decades after its founding, the Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education continues to make a difference in the daily life of Huntington UFSD students.

Washington Primary School reading teacher Nicole Lennon was awarded a $334 grant for six sets of “Off We Go!,” decoding text early learners books.

“First grade students were eager to read these new decodable texts, which provide practice with the phonic skills they are learning through the Fundations program,” Ms. Lennon said. “The books were purchased with a grant from the Huntington Foundation. Early readers need to feel successful and these books allow the students to see that they are readers.”

Huntington UFSD 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 Coco’s Water Café on New York Avenue in Halesite. (The site is now occupied by Prime.)

The original group of volunteers devoted an enormous amount of time to the organization, helping to insure its long-term success.

Huntington alum Tara Poli became the Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education’s new president on September 1.

“I loved Huntington when I was a student here and now that I have the opportunity to see my kids experience the amazing teachers, variety of classes and extracurriculars, I love it even more,” Ms. Poli said. “It’s special to experience it again through their eyes. I look forward to leading HFEE in its third decade of supporting Huntington teachers and the school district.”

The Huntington alum has been active in the district for many years. Her son, Jackson, is a rising sophomore and daughter, Phoebe is a sixth grader in the dual language program at Woodhull Intermediate School.