Schools

Babylon Resident Donates $200,000 for New HS Research Center

Huge donation by Babylon entrepreneur will help create school's state-of-the-art research facility.

Babylon School District is celebrating a huge donation of $200,000 by a Babylon resident to help build the school's first science research laboratory center.

The Babylon Board of Education formally accepted a donation in the amount of $200,000 from Theresa Santmann, a known health care adovcate and entrepreneur, and her Theresa Patnode Santmann Foundation, Inc. at its public board meeting on Monday evening. The funds will be used to transform an existing art room at Babylon High School into a state of the art science research center.

"We have been fortunate to have a generous member of our village step forward and make a sizeable donation," said Babylon Interim Superintendent Dr. Peter Daly at the board meeting. "We have already started to work on this project. We want this operational by October."

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Santmann was given a Babylon lab coat by the high school's director of science Jeff Kenney and research science teacher Claire Birone as well as a group of students from the program. Santmann, beaming from ear-to-ear, hugged a few of the students after they gave speeches thanking her.

"On behalf of the science department, we are extremely grateful and thankful to Miss Santmann," said Birone. "The room is already completely gutted and it's extremely exciting." She also thanked the district parents for being supportive of the department.

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"I want you all to know this was Dr. Daly's idea to begin with," said Santmann, still smiling.

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Santmann, a Babylon resident who founded the Little Flower Nursing and Adult Homes in East Islip, also donated $5,000 in recognition of the Babylon School District's participation in the second annual Babylon Art Festival, which was held earlier this month in Old Town Hall.

 

The board also approved Babylon's James A. Campbell Architects to lead the project. No further information on the design plans of the research center were available at this time.

Santmann has for to Farmingdale State College for scholarships, a 9/11 memorial on the Farmingdale State campus, laboratory improvements, nursing faculty awards, and landscaping projects. She was honored at the Farmingdale College Foundation’s annual Business Hall of Fame Gala in 2010, was named Farmingdale’s Alumna of the Year in 2005, was recognized as one of Long Island’s Top 50 Women by the Long Island Business News three times and received an honorary doctorate from Dowling College in 1999.


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