At its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Feb. 12, the East Williston School District Board of Education appointed Thomas Fitzpatrick as the district's new director of physical education, athletics and medical services. His appointment will become effective on July 1, 2007. Tom will be replacing Dr. Fred Apgar, who will be retiring at the end of the current school year after having served as the director for the past seven years.

Tom started his East Williston career in 1989, when he was appointed as a health and physical education teacher at the Willets Road School. While at Willets Road, Tom was instrumental in the implementation of project adventure activities into the curriculum and the creation of a health week program. In 1999, Tom was assigned to The Wheatley School as a health teacher. In 2002, he was assigned the additional responsibility of attendance coordinator, a position in which he will continue to serve for the remainder of the school year.

Tom grew up on Long Island and attended St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip where he was a two-time New York State wrestling champion. He attended Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and upon his graduation in 1982, he taught health and physical education for five years at Sewickley Academy. After one year stints in Middletown and Baldwin, Tom joined the East Williston family.

During his tenure at East Williston, Tom has consistently demonstrated a commitment to the children by serving in a variety of important roles. For the past 10 years, Tom has served as the varsity wrestling coach, and under his leadership, the program has produced a Nassau County championship team and numerous qualifiers for the New York State Championship Tournament. Thanks to his planning and hard work, the annual Wheatley Wrestling Tournament has expanded to include 15 teams. Thanks to his leadership, Tom was the moving force that created a boys lacrosse program nine years ago. He introduced the sport at the middle school level, and as interest and participation in the program grew, Tom served as the JV coach and then assumed responsibility for the varsity program. Tom has also coached soccer and baseball at Wheatley.

In addition to his teaching and attendance coordinator responsibilities, Tom has been responsible for coordinating the annual health week program, has served as a class advisor, helped to create the Student Intervention Program, assisted the principal to develop a comprehensive eighth grade orientation program, and is currently assisting in the planning for an advisor program. Tom is a student-centered educator who cares deeply about his students, and throughout his career he has consistently demonstrated a desire and ability to provide positive learning experiences for the students.