Health and fitness should be a significant part of a student’s life. The World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics suggests children get sixty minutes of exercise each day. Unfortunately, this is not happening for most children. The value of being healthy and getting exercise has slowly, but clearly, decreased over time. Instead, kids are glued to their iPads, iPhones, and other electronic devices for hours a day. Children need time to play, they need socialization, they need to get dirty.

Patchogue-Medford’s Superintendent Dr. Michael Hynes believes this as well. With the support of the Board of Education, he has initiated a movement to promote health and fitness once again. This issue of the Red & Black features several articles and videos about the value of health and fitness to a student’s overall well-being. As Editor-in-Chief of this publication, I am proud to support the “whole-child” initiative that has been so vehemently advocated by Dr. Hynes. I had the pleasure of speaking with him about this endeavor to which he had only positive things to say about how the children in our district have reacted.

     Since starting his job as Superintendent for the district in 2014, he has had a very large impact on our schools and community. He is known for many things, such as: his Whole Child movement, being vocally against Common Core and standardized testing, and the obvious love he has for his job and for helping students. He truly is an inspiring man. The Pat-Med School District and community are very lucky to have him as our leader. Fortunately, I was able to ask Dr. Hynes some questions about his job as Superintendent.

     This school year Dr. Hynes has stated his goals and plans as Superintendent. “My plan for this year is to make sure that our new initiatives regarding the whole child are phased in effectively.  We are also investigating if we could bring vocational education back into Patchogue-Medford. It’s important to me that we make sure that we tap into the talents of our high school kids in the areas of carpentry, plumbing, nursing, and cosmetology. We may be looking at other opportunities as well.”

     Although he makes the job seem like an easy one, there are some struggles Dr. Hynes faces being the Superintendent. He states, “I think my biggest struggle is trying to make as many events as I can. It’s important to me to connect with our students, parents, and school community. There’s only so much time in the day and I try to make the most of it.”  In relation to Dr. Hynes’ whole child movement, he was able to present his philosophy to Stony Brook University. In regards to that, he was able to tell me about his experience there stating, “The experience at Stony Brook was outstanding. I’m very fortunate to be able to have a platform to talk about what I think is best for kids. We had a lot of people in attendance and it seems like everyone agreed with what we’re trying to do here in Patchogue-Medford.  It’s a no-brainer when I explain to people that the simple formula to success is social plus emotional growth equals higher student achievement.”

      I also was able to ask what his favorite part of being the Superintendent is considering there are so many aspects to the job. He responded with a simple, but powerful statement, “The best part of being the Superintendent in Patchogue Medford is I get to help people every single day. I mean this when I say this. I pinch myself and can’t believe I get to do what I do.” The passion he has to help this school district and community is simply amazing.

     One of Dr. Hynes’ most cherished memory here at Pat-Med so far has been “watching our children play at extended recess at the elementary level. It’s amazing to see such pure bliss when our kids are happy and present in the moment.”

     Lastly, one of the biggest events this school district and community holds showed Dr. Hynes our true Pat-Med pride, Homecoming. He stated “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Pat-Med takes it to a whole new level! I absolutely love it.”    Dr. Hynes is truly an amazing person. He works hard every single day to make sure the students’ minds and creativity are put first rather than being evaluated based off of a number. The amount of heart and passion he puts into his work is such an inspiration. Patchogue-Medford is very fortunate to have such a hard-working administrator like Dr. Hynes.