PMHS Asst. Principal Receives Heroes Award

Lucille Martir, an assistant principal at , was recently recognized at a dinner ceremony held at Windows on the Lake in Ronkonkoma for her educational work with students at the high school.

Martir was nominated along with seven other Long Island teachers and administrators for the 7th Bi-Annual Heroes Awards awarded by ‘Long Island with Alicia.’

Alicia Figueras, ‘Long Island with Alicia’ President and CEO, began hosting these ceremonies several years ago to honor the unsung heroes of local communities, and chose to honor educators for the first time at this ceremony.

Martir was thrilled to be honored at the ceremony.

“[Alicia] said to me that someone had nominated me and said let’s celebrate you being a hero for children," Martir said. "I’m very excited and honored by this.”

Nominations were solicited from the school districts as well as word of mouth. A committee then chose the final recipients.

Tara Cataldo, a former co-worker with Martir, was not surprised that Martir was receiving the award.

“It is a well-deserved honor," Cataldo said. "She is a very dedicated person to all the kids in Patchogue-Medford. She really cares about kids and that is one of the most important things for an administrator."

Figueras said that Martir was her favorite among all of the honorees.

“Her background is very, very rich and she was so excited,” Figueras said. “She gave me the encouragement and excitement to continue honoring our teachers.”

One of Martir’s primary goals with the students that earned her this recognition is to encourage tolerance and acceptance.

“As an administrator, I try not to lose sight of what my passion really is and that’s students,” Martir said. “I deliberately co-advise with a teacher the Gay-Straight Alliance at PMHS. Last year was the rebirth of the program.”

Martir said the organization is now up to about 35 kids.

“Our goal this year is not just to bring awareness to the gay issues," she said, "but also issues of harassment and bullying."