Floyd School District To Host Fine Arts Wall Of Distinction Ceremony

Press release from William Floyd School District:

April 4, 2022

The William Floyd Fine Arts & Music Departments will host their inaugural Wall of Distinction ceremony on Monday, April 11, at 6 pm, in the east lobby of the high school near the Nick Poulos Memorial Auditorium. The Fine Arts Wall of Distinction will serve as a permanent symbol of appreciation recognizing educators or graduates from the William Floyd School District who have excelled in the areas of art or music. The inaugural honorees include Jim Dungate, Richard Horton, Michael Merolla, Kamilla Ozman, Susan Plunket and Linda Tucci. The purpose of the program is to celebrate those who have made significant contributions to society and whose accomplishments, affiliations and careers have honored the legacy of excellence in the school community. Congratulations to the recipients and please see their bios below!

Jim Dungate

Jim Dungate served as an art teacher at William Floyd Elementary School from 1971 through his retirement in 2001. In 1990, as he began his 20th year of teaching, Mr. Dungate found time to enjoy painting. His work centered on commissions, gifts and personal enjoyment, which he continued after his retirement. Then in the fall of 2006, he entered a juried show sponsored by the East Islip Arts Council at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River. Winning a cash award for one of his paintings proved to be inspirational. For the next few years, Mr. Dungate hosted a solo exhibit at the Arboretum, displaying more than 100 paintings over the course of that time. Additionally, one of Mr. Dungate’s works was accepted for the Hudson Valley Art Association 76th Annual Exhibition held at the Tilden Mansion National Arts Club in New York City’s Gramercy Park. In November 2007, another piece was accepted for The American Artists Professional League 79th Grand National Exhibition held at the Salmagundi Club in New York City. Then the following year, at the same location, sponsored by the same league, another of his works was accepted. Although no awards came his way from these prestigious shows, simply having been accepted proved to be a feather in his cap. Around 2010, an old college friend, Rich Fielder, asked if Jim would like to display some of his work in his art gallery located in Greenport. He gladly took him up on the offer and his work remained there until Rich’s passing in 2018. In the last two years, Mr. Dungate self-published two books: My Paintings, My Life and Life on John’s Farm, both of which were written for family members and close friends. Mr. Dungate is still painting, almost every day, and feels very fortunate to have had a career at William Floyd. Jim said, “I have maintained my connection with my original principal, Carl Rosenblad. Over the years, he would tell me how nervous he was with hiring me. Having been honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in December 1970, he didn't know if I would be okay with little children. I'm glad I was able to put his mind at ease. One second grade teacher, while picking up her class after art, used to say; ‘Well, I see Mr. Dungate has achieved to get you all wound up again.’ I'll take that as a plus.”

Richard Horton

Mr. Horton taught instrumental lessons, band, and general classroom music in the William Floyd School District for 34 years. He founded the first high school jazz band and the first jazz band at Nathaniel Woodhull. Additionally, he directed the high school marching band for football and parades, participated in Hofstra marching band festivals, and arranged and traveled on many band exchange trips. Travel necessitated lots of fundraisers especially for the Disney trip with high school bands and their opportunity to participate in the iconic parade on Main Street USA. With support from the Board of Education, an original work was commissioned for the high school bands by widely acclaimed composer, Vaclav Nelhybell entitled “Overture for Band,” which premiered at William Floyd in 1985. During his tenure at William Floyd, Mr. Horton and his students earned many top honors at NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) competitions: at the high school they earned 13 consecutive 6A ratings and at Nathaniel Woodhull they earned seven gold with distinction ratings, including a perfect rating in 1994, “Best in State.” Also in 1994, Mr. Horton was voted “Teacher of the Year” by Nathaniel Woodhull faculty. In 2016, he was named an “Outstanding Educator” by the William Floyd Alumni Association.

Michael Merolla

Michael Merolla, NCTM (Nationally Certified Teacher of Music), has been teaching piano since 1970 and holds a permanent professional certificate in the area of teaching piano from the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). He began his career in the William Floyd School District in 1977 and worked in various capacities until his retirement in 2010, including serving as an elementary general music and chorus teacher, as well as a high school music theory teacher, group piano instruction teacher, and, for a short time, overseeing the select chorus.

Mr. Merolla has also served as a presenter at NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association), NYSMTA (New York State Music Teachers Association) and MTNA national conventions and has been a guest speaker at NYU for teacher education classes. He has also accompanied several SCMEA (Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association) festival choruses and served as secretary/treasurer of SCMEA for one term. Additionally, Michael was the state president of NYSMTA from 1990-1992 followed by several terms as treasurer. He has received numerous awards including LIU “Teacher of the Year” honors in 1995, the NYSMTA Citation in 1998, a William Floyd Renaissance award in 2001, and William Floyd Alumni Association Outstanding Educator award in 2010. Michael currently supervises student teachers for Queens College, part of the City University of New York system, a role that he served in since 2015.

Kamilla Ozman

Kamilla Ozman has been a conductor and music educator for more than 30 years. She began her career at William Floyd in 1985, having the opportunity to teach elementary school, junior high school and high school, until her retirement in 2012. During her tenure at William Floyd, Mrs. Ozman taught general music, piano class, conducted elementary choruses, mixed choirs, chamber choirs, jazz choirs, started a men’s a capella choir, women’s choirs and show choirs. She has accompanied and adjudicated for NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) solo festivals and NYSSMA major organization festivals. She has also guest conducted for SCMEA (Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association), NMEA (Nassau Music Educators Association), HMEA (Hampton Music Educators Association) and the Green Mountain District Festival in Rutland, Vermont.

In the fall of 2013, Mrs. Ozman started the East End Women’s Choir, an intergenerational community choir. This choir has performed at NYACDA (New York American Choral Directors Association), opened for the world-renowned Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, and continues to perform on Long Island. From 2015-2019, Mrs. Ozman conducted the Choral Society of the Moriches.

Continuing work in her field, Mrs. Ozman frequently lectures at local colleges and universities. Mrs. Ozman has taught at Suffolk Community College and is currently an adjunct professor at Hofstra University where she oversees student teachers and teaches classes in choral methods. She maintains a private voice and piano studio, as well as holds the position of organist and choir director at the Westhampton Presbyterian Church.

Susan Plunket

After being in the fashion industry for 25 years, Mrs. Plunket decided to make a career change; and to the benefit of the William Floyd school community, she became an art teacher. Happily, she taught for 20 years at William Floyd.

The first three years of Mrs. Plunkett’s teaching career started as “Art on the Cart,” as she shared her time in four William Floyd elementary school buildings. Following that, she became the art teacher for the sixth grade. The remainder of her career was in the high school, where she taught several classes including studio in art, painting, ceramics, sculpture, illustration and fashion design.

Mrs. Plunkett helped to establish the National Arts Honor Society in the high school and assisted with the installment of the Sue Hersh Memorial Art Gallery displayed in the north entrance lobby of the high school. She developed the high school’s first fashion design class, and painted alongside the students as they created several murals in Mastic Beach and won $5,000 in scholarship money from the WALK 97.5 FM radio mural contest. Additionally, Mrs. Plunkett contributes to the Art Scholarship Fund and continues to be involved with the William Floyd Beautification Committee.

Retirement for Sue has been exciting. She continues to travel and paint while enjoying her new grandchildren and volunteering at National Parks in the southwest.

Linda Lee Tucci

Born in Flushing, Queens, former Moriches Elementary School art teacher Linda Lee Tucci originally wanted to become a weather reporter. Ms. Tucci has two degrees in fine arts and education, and a masters in special education. She studied abroad in Europe through Hofstra University and has visited other countries as well as every state in the continental United States. She began her teaching career in 1975 and worked as an elementary art teacher in Southampton and East Quogue before joining the William Floyd School District. Ms. Tucci has seen the district grow as well as the countless students that she has had the privilege of teaching over the years. She has marked her time through the changing of lunch box designs over the years! The bonds she has made over the years with her colleagues, families and students have been invaluable. The buildings and technologies may have changed over the years, but the love and desire to learn have always been part of each day.

There were many exciting times she was able to experience, such as Moriches Elementary School’s U.S. School of Excellence and Blue Ribbon School awards. She remembers fondly the play the school performed in Albany as well – she laughed so hard with her colleagues until she cried. She enjoyed the challenges. Of course, the Moriches Annual Great Pumpkin Contest has been a cherished event for Ms. Tucci and the Moriches Elementary School community since 1978. She said she still sleeps with pumpkin seeds under her pillow! Over the years, she has been able to display her personal artwork at outdoor exhibits in East Hampton, Bridgehampton, Southampton, Cold Spring Harbor and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She received the News 12 Teacher of the Year award (sponsored by Hofstra University at the time), as well as other honors for her jingle writing. The hardest decision of her life was retirement due to the COVID pandemic in 2020. She continues to enjoy drawing, painting, origami, sewing, reading and collecting antiques. She hopes to sell some of her song parodies and has recently started writing a short fiction story.

Moriches Elementary School principal Deirdre Redding had the opportunity to work with Ms. Tucci for 13 years, 11 as an assistant principal and two as principal before her retirement. Mrs. Redding described her as a legend at Moriches Elementary School. “She has forever left her mark on the hearts of her colleagues, her students, their families and the entire Moriches Elementary School community. Entering her classroom was magical. You were instantly wrapped up in her stories and tales which were always relevant to the lesson she was teaching. Ms. Tucci is one of the most genuine and authentic teachers and human beings you will ever meet. It has been an honor and pleasure to work alongside her and watch her touch and impact so many lives in such a positive way.”

This press release was produced by William Floyd School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.