The Islip Board of Education honored 10 admired and dedicated 2021 retirees, including Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ellen Semel, during its June 15 meeting in the high school auditorium. An additional dozen retirees were recognized during previous board meetings this spring.
Dr. Semel, Islip’s superintendent since 2018 and previously the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and K-5 director of instruction, received heartfelt tributes from Board President Philip Dineen as well as district administrators. High school senior and accomplished vocalist Leah Cyran, accompanied by Dr. Rich Harris on keyboards, serenaded Dr. Semel with a touching rendition of “Rainbow Connection” from “The Muppet Movie.”
“Dr. Semel has dedicated at 33-year career in education – the last 15 here in Islip – to being a champion for public schools, students and staff,” said Dineen. “Beginning her career as a classroom teacher, Dr. Semel developed a passion for educating and inspiring young minds. Although her titles have changed throughout her tenure, what remained permanent was Dr. Semel’s focus on ensuring all students were provided a robust education that met their diverse learning needs and personal interests. Embracing the notion that one’s learning should never stop, Dr. Semel completed undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the areas of the arts, including her doctorate. With this focus, we are confident that she will continue to seek out personal learning opportunities as she enters the next phase of her life. We are thankful to have had Dr. Semel at the helm of our school district over the past few years and wish her all the best in the future.”
“I want to thank you for your gratitude and your wonderful extension of love,” Semel said. “I thank you all for sharing not just your children, but your stories, your celebrations, your weddings, the births, the wonderful times and the sad times too, the mourning and the losses. We shared them all together and it is by sharing all of those experiences that we get to be human with each other. I am so fortunate to have landed in a town like Islip. The community, the quilt of people who have offered their support, has been truly remarkable.”
Also recognized at the board meeting that evening were 2020-2021 SCOPE Award for Excellence for Support Staff Service winners Donna Bushelon and Michelle Hickey; the high school’s varsity teams that earned Scholar-Athlete recognition (boys basketball, girls basketball, boys bowling, girls bowling, boys cross-country, girls cross-country, boys golf, boys soccer, girls soccer, girls tennis, girls volleyball, boys winter track, girls winter track and wrestling) and Sportsmanship Awards (varsity girls cross-country, varsity boys golf, junior varsity girls soccer and varsity girls tennis).
SPRING 2021 RETIREE RECOGNITIONS:
April 20, 2021
• Barbara Briggs-Wilcox – Central Office clerical
• Joanne DeLuca – Sherwood monitor
• Christine Piano – Islip High School clerical
May 4, 2021
• Patricia Austin – Commack Road teacher
• Ingrid Mileski – Sherwood teacher
• Kristine O’Malley – Wing teacher
• Elaine Perrillo – Sherwood teacher (music)
June 1, 2021
• Rita Dockswell – Islip High School teacher
• Cheryl Hegermiller – Islip High School teacher
• Maria LaCascia – Islip High School teacher
• Donna Ruggiero – Islip High School social worker
• Karen Volkmann – Islip High School teacher
June 15, 2021
• Michelle Hickey – Central Office clerical
• Denise Branch – Commack Road clerical
• Ellen Parsons – Islip High School teacher assistant
• Amelia Esposito – Islip Middle School monitor
• Laura Greco – Islip Middle School teacher assistant
• Mary Carroll – Islip Middle School nurse
• Elizabeth Hauck-Hicks – Islip Middle School/Islip High School teacher
• Suzanne Lange – Islip Middle School teacher
• Dr. Ellen Semel – Superintendent of Schools
• Rosemarie Yazdanseta – Islip Middle School teacher