Shelter Island Reporter editorial: A well-deserved honor

Distracted from good things happening right under our noses defines this era of data overload, with information coming at us with fire hose relentlessness and force, most of it bad, disturbing, puzzling, or sometimes all three at once.

Small things — to some — that are meaningful to keep a community alive, together and functioning, happen all the time on Shelter Island, and it’s to Islanders’ credit that these events are recognized as essential for the well-lived life.

An Island institution, and a dedicated individual, were honored recently, and it’s time to make room to celebrate both. Shelter Island School Athletic Director Todd Gulluscio received awards as County Athletic Director of the Year for Section XI, and was also honored with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) State Award of Merit from the New York State Athletic Administrators Association. (A full story will appear in next week’s Reporter.)

For a small school, and a small Athletic Department, Mr. Gulluscio leads, with hard work and total commitment, an exemplary program in every way. Exemplary is the word, since other honors have come the school’s way, including The New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s Exemplary Sportsmanship Award to Shelter Island School “for consistently demonstrating great sportsmanship characteristics.”

Playing sports the correct way, with respect for opponents, fans and each other, doesn’t come naturally, just as the skills to play a sport must be learned.

Thank you, Mr. Gulluscio, and the coaches, for showing young people the right way.

Perhaps even more significantly, for multiple years in a row, Shelter Island has been named a School of Distinction by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.

To earn that honor, 100% of the school’s athletes must maintain high academic averages.

Again the coaches, Mr. Gulluscio, and the teachers and staff of the school, deserve to take a bow for helping to form citizens who will soon take their parts in the wider world with solid foundations to rely on.