She is a great student and is also involved in the Girl Scouts.

Students throughout the district participated in a special celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Thursday, Jan.. The event also recognized social worker Joseph Aquino and community leader and former Malverne High School principal James Brown with the district’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, as well as with citations from local politicians.

As a social worker for more than 25 years, Joseph Aquino impacts our students’ lives every day. He graduated with his master’s degree in social work from Adelphi University and began working in the Diocese of Brooklyn. By 1999, Mr. Aquino had joined the district as a part-time social worker at HTH and by 2000 was working fulltime at the high school. He is responsible for individual and group counseling for more than 120 students each year, crisis intervention, drug and alcohol education, and organizing guest speakers and presentations on substance abuse and mental health awareness.

James (Jim) Brown was born in Georgia and served in the Army prior to entering college. Graduating with a degree in business administration from Hofstra University and his educational administration degree from NYU, his first position in 37 years of education was as a substitute teacher at Roosevelt High School. He then moved on to Freeport Public Schools, where he served as both assistant principal of the high school and then principal of Dodd Middle School before retiring in 2000. Mr. Brown was asked to serve as an interim principal at MHS and stayed for five and a half years, spreading his positive influence to our students each day before retiring again.

Congratulations to both on this tremendous honor!