HFEE to Honor Mike Schwendemann & Darin Reed

The Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education has announced it will honor Huntington High School English teacher and drama club advisor Michael Schwendemann and Huntington High School Class of 1984 member and photographer extraordinaire Darin Reed at the organization’s annual gala set for Thursday, March 20 at the Harbor Club at Prime.

The Huntington Foundation recently sent out a “save the date” electronic message to hundreds of supporters announcing the two honorees and the date and location of this year’s festivities.

Details will be announced soon on how to secure tickets to this year’s gala, which will run from 6-10 p.m. and include dinner, dancing, music and the awards presentation to Messrs. Schwendemann and Reed.

Darin Reed

Born on October 3, 1966, Mr. Reed, the youngest of three, grew up on Pennington Drive, about a mile from Huntington High School. A Blue Devil through and through, he began kindergarten at Jefferson Primary School and continued his education through Huntington High School where he graduated in 1984. That same fall, he chose to attend Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York where he met his wife Karen.

Graduating with a degree in economics in 1988, he began his work in the insurance industry and has been working as an Allstate Insurance agent for 35 years. He and Mrs. Reed have three children Matthew, Madelyn and Michael, all Huntington Blue Devils.

His love of photography began when his oldest son, Matthew, was in seventh grade. He started volunteering for the Huntington School District in 2010 where his photographs quickly became a staple. He has photographed everything from music concerts to sporting events to robotics competitions and commencement exercises.

Mr. Reed has been capturing beautiful Blue Devil moments for many years and he has become an integral part of the Huntington community.

Michael Schwendemann

A graduate of John Adams High School in Ozone Park, Queens, Mr. Schwendemann, or “Schwendy” as most students know him, earned a BA at CUNY-Queens College in communication arts and sciences and drama, theatre and dance. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama.

Mr. Schwendemann worked as an adjunct faculty member at Long Island University-C.W. Post College in the department of theatre, dance and film from 1996 to 2001. He was in Huntington UFSD during parts of 2001-2003 performing outreach for the National Shakespeare Company, but he never envisioned himself as a Huntington teacher.

“It was luck that landed me at Huntington High School,” Mr. Schwendemann said. “I was actually offered a job at Bay Shore High School, where I was student teaching, but the teacher I was to replace changed his mind about leaving. Nina Wolfe, the chair of the English department felt terrible and secured for me an interview at Huntington. The rest, as they say, is history!”

Mr. Schwendemann began working full-time at Huntington High School in January 2003 and quickly became a student favorite. He has taught freshmen English along with the elective classes Holocaust in Literature, Bible as Literature, Multicultural Literature, Public Speaking and Theatre Arts.

“I can’t imagine teaching any place else,” Mr. Schwendemann said. “From day one I was accepted into the high school community. I love my colleagues and most of all the kids. Some days they make it hard to love them, but that passes quickly. The support I have received from all parts of the administration is unparalleled.”

Mr. Schwendemann has graced the stages of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where he worked with Michael Emerson and Norbert Leo Butz, the Roundabout Theatre Company, The Folger Shakespeare Library Theatre with Allison Fraser, The Fringe Festival, Genesis Repertory Theatre and The New York City Opera. He is currently a member of the Airmid Theatre Company with whom he recently performed two shows of Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” starring Margaret Colin at the newly renovated Suffolk Theatre in Riverhead.

As the faculty advisor to Huntington’s Class of 2006 and Class of 2010, Mr. Schwendemann maintains fond memories of those particular groups of graduates.

The drama club continues to energize the veteran educator. “The club has given me more happy memories than I can count,” Mr. Schwendemann said.