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District honors long-serving aides and staff at year-end board meeting
Summary
The North Merrick Union Free School District board celebrated several retirees — including long-serving special education aides and an office clerk — and voiced gratitude for decades of service during its final meeting of the school year.
The North Merrick Union Free School District board opened its final meeting of the school year with a series of retiree recognitions, highlighting staff who together served multiple decades across district schools.
Presenter (the staff member who introduced the retirees) praised Catherine Kit Gayon of Old Mill Road School for decades in special education, noting her long service record and daily care for students. "You greeted them by name, making every child feel seen, safe, and valued before their school day even began," the presenter said. The board also honored Laurie Rotella, who returned to the district and served as a full-time aide since 2014, and Cindy Natoli, a senior typist clerk who joined the district in the 2002–13 school year and was promoted in 2018.
Colleagues gave personal tributes. One longtime coworker said of Natoli, "You have always been like a mother figure to me," and noted the personal as well as professional support she provided over nine years. The board recognized the retirees in sequence and invited each to be acknowledged by the assembled members and public in attendance.
No formal board action was recorded with these recognitions; they were presented as part of the meeting's opening remarks and personnel acknowledgments.
