Highland awards tenure, hails achievements at end of year

By Stacia Donaldson
Posted 6/19/19

The last meeting of the academic year for the Highland Board of Education was an end of year celebration, bringing together friends, family and students from throughout the district.

The first …

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Highland awards tenure, hails achievements at end of year

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The last meeting of the academic year for the Highland Board of Education was an end of year celebration, bringing together friends, family and students from throughout the district.

The first order of business was a motion, carried by board Trustees that awarded tenure to four very deserving Highland educators. Kevin Brennie, a social studies teacher at Highland Middle School, and Highland High School english to speakers of other languages teacher Dana DiStasi and math teacher Peter Forman were awarded tenure status as of September 1, 2019.

For her contribution to the Board of Education, student representative Christine Poluzzi was honored by the board for her dedication and insights into the lives of Highland students. Ms. Poluzzi will be graduating at the end of June, and will attend Marist College this fall. To show their appreciation, Superintendent Thomas Bongiovi presented Ms. Poluzzi with a gift bag full of Marist merchandise.

Next, the top ten students in the Highland High School class of 2019 were honored by the trustees. This all female group of high performers includes:
10. Teresa Mazzella: Attending Marist College, majoring in business, minor in political science

9. Megan Finn: Attending Coastal Carolina University, majoring in biology
8. Nicola Wilk: Attending the University of Connecticut, major is undecided.
7. Tanmaye Hulgundi: Attending Binghamton University, majoring in engineering
6. Sofia Crimivaroli: Attending the University of Notre Dame, majoring in architecture.
5. Jasmin Akter: Attending SUNY New Paltz, majoring in biology
4. Rylee Montelione: Attending Hofstra University, majoring in marketing
3. Cassidy McMann: Attending SUNY College of Environment Science and Forestry, majoring in Environmental Science.

Salutatorian- Marie Ling: Attending Colby College, double major in psychology and spanish.

Valedictorian - Carlie Relyea: Attending Drexel University, double major in biology and psychology.

Finally, the administration and Board of Education gave their thanks to the thirteen Highland Central School district educators and support staff who will retire at the end of the school year. Retirees include June Rossi, Patricia Miller, Christine Bloch, Patricia Hauck, Veronica Nelson and Belverly Bellizzi from Highland Elementary School, Mark Snyder, Mike Watts, Aliza Driller from Highland High School, as well as Ed Holder, buildings and ground, custodian Joe Williams, Diane Moshier from Operations and Marilyn Truax from Transportation. In total, this years 13 retirees have put in over 300 years of service to the Highland Central School District and will be missed greatly.

The Board of Education will hold a reorganizational meeting on July 2 at 6 p.m. During this meeting, the Board will finalize the meeting schedule for the 2019/20 academic year. The general Board of Education meeting will follow. The July 2nd meeting will be held at Highland High School.