From the Desk of Superintendent Dr. Hynes: Celebrating our school’s history

After officially rolling up my sleeves and working with our Board of Education for the past month, I am excited that the first day of school is right around the corner (September 7).

My favorite day of the year is the first day of school. Every year I find it almost impossible to sleep the night before. There is nothing better than watching our children come to school with high expectations and the excitement to start anew. For kindergarten parents, I understand why it’s difficult to let their children go on the first day. It’s a major milestone for both parent and child because attending school is the one common experience we all share. At some point, we all sat in a classroom, took tests, ate lunch in the cafeteria and did our homework. It’s an experience we can all relate to.

This past month, I have been reading and reviewing all of our Pogatticut yearbooks, starting with the first edition I found from 1940. All of the yearbooks contain many wonderful pictures and stories; I find it almost impossible to put them down.

The forward from the 1949 yearbook states: “We know in future years, whenever we review these pages, we will once again relive all the joyous times and cherished experiences that were once part of our school days.”

After reading this statement, it made me wonder why we don’t celebrate and showcase the magnificent history and experiences of the Shelter Island School District within our own school building. After talking with over 100 community members the past few weeks, I have listened to many stories. The stories were fascinating.

As a result of the stories I’ve read and heard, I would like to see a renaissance unfold within our school. I am looking for a commitment to resurrecting our lobby and creating a historical showcase. I want our lobby to highlight photographs, documents and school artifacts. We also want to build an encasement to highlight our student athletes outside of the gymnasium.

We want to make our lobby appealing and comfortable for our parents, grandparents, former students and community members to visit. I want to bring the community back into our school. If you have any stories, pictures, or other Shelter Island School “things” you would like to donate, please feel free to call me. Our hope is to finish this project by the end of this school year.

As the class of 1944 wrote to our school: “We appreciate the privileges which are the inheritance of every student. We hope that, in the years to come, as we review these pages, we recall to mind more vividly, the joys, the thrills, and the ecstasies of our school days, and cherish more deeply the memories.”

Let all of us cherish the memories by working toward embracing the history of our fine school.

I look forward to working with you all. Enjoy the last moments of summer as our children (and parents) get ready for school in a few short weeks.