Ron Wilson to be Honored at Unity Day Parade & Festival

Huntington UFSD will be participating in Saturday’s Huntington Unity Fun Day parade and festival, which will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Stimson Middle School.

The Blue Devil marching band will march in the Unity Day parade on Oakwood Road. This year’s honorees including Betty Miller, Raymond Spatafora and Huntington High School dean of students and athletic coach Ronald E. Wilson.

Multiple school district and dozens of community groups are coming together for the parade and festival. The parade will kickoff at 10 a.m. from Huntington High School.

This year’s event includes music and live performances, games and activities for children, animals from the Little Shelter, parade floats, food trucks, classic cars, vendors, US Armed Forces veterans, free health screenings and food donation services.

Reach out to Kimberly Jerideau at 516.757.2700 or huntingtonday@yahoo.com for information on becoming either a vendor or a sponsor.

Huntington Superintendent Beth McCoy and assorted district officials will be among those participating in the parade. The event will provide community outreach, recovery, mental health and wellness resources, face and rock painting and even a therapy dog and much more.

Born, raised, educated and employed here, Ron Wilson is pure Huntington. A member of Huntington High School’s Class of 1994, he participated in a variety of after-school activities including the mentoring program, Student Associates Business Alliance, Black History Day, culture club and athletics.

As a Huntington High School junior, Mr. Wilson would go back to his old elementary school, taking part in read-aloud sessions with sixth graders and discussing with them what would be expected of them in high school. It was through such programs and activities he identified a strong inner desire to work with children.

While studying elementary education at St. John’s University, Mr. Wilson started volunteering with Teacher Opportunity Corps, serving as a mentor and tutor for inner-city at-risk youth. After obtaining a BS degree in May 1998, he began working as a substitute teacher in the Huntington and South Huntington school districts. He earned a master’s degree at Stony Brook University in 2005.

In October 1998, Mr. Wilson was hired by Tri-Community & Youth Agency to work with the young people that utilize that organization’s facilities and services. He also started volunteering as a coach with the J. Taylor Finley Junior High School football team. Players and their families quickly took a liking to him and he proved to be a highly effective motivator.

Mr. Wilson joined the Huntington School District’s full-time faculty in 2001. After working for many years as a second and third grade teacher at Flower Hill School and as a sixth grade teacher at Huntington Elementary School, he was appointed a dean at Huntington High School.

Mr. Wilson got his start by volunteering with Finley football coaches Rick Eriksen and Phil Lowe in 1999. He continued to assist the pair during the 2000 season, working with the “C” and “D” squads.

Mr. Wilson has never forgotten where he came from and he likes to give credit to those who have positively impacted his life.