Mount Sinai teacher honored as Champion of Diversity
Tom Lyon, pictured here with Suffolk Leg. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket), left, was recently recognized as a 2026 Champion of Diversity by the Suffolk County Legislature. Credit: The Office of Legis. Steven Englebright/Tevin Foster
Tom Lyon has spent decades trying to incorporate more compassion into community service.
The retired English teacher, 79, has handled duties ranging from supervising student volunteers at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket to promoting civic engagement in classrooms as a founder of the Long Island Regional Service Learning Network.
His biggest emphasis through it all has been making sure those contributing their time and energy realize the meaning behind their efforts as opposed to just checking off a box "to help them get into college," he said.
“We need more empathy in education,” Lyon said. “Instead of just having students do charity, it's important to make it an educational experience and have them understand why they’re doing it.”
The Mount Sinai resident taught English for approximately 40 years until his retirement in 2010 from the Three Village Central School District, where he strived to diversify the district’s staff as part of its first-ever Diversity Committee and spent six years overseeing a student volunteer center at its high school. The center, he said, consisted of as many as 75 students who would collaborate on projects including clothing collections and food drives.
Lyon has also engaged in service efforts of his own – the most recent of which focuses on reestablishing Irving Hart American Legion Post 1766 in Setauket, which he said had been inactive until recently and previously included many Black members and those with Native American heritage.
He is also among a group of residents working to recruit members and ultimately raise funds for the Post, he said.
“We would like to get the legion post very active and strong and maybe create a museum as part of our goal,” Lyon said. “I think it should thrive; it needs to thrive.”
Lyon's other volunteer endeavors include speaking locally dozens of times about impoverished farm families in developing countries as a representative of the hunger relief organization Heifer International. He has also helped build a network of community alliances in his town through the nonprofit Building Bridges in Brookhaven and combatted bias in schools as part of the Suffolk County-based Council for Prejudice Reduction.
Lyon was recently recognized for his wide-ranging work by being named a 2026 Champion of Diversity by the Suffolk County Legislature. Legis. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) described his impact on the community as "tremendously positive."
"I have had the privilege of knowing Tom for decades and have witnessed firsthand his love for his fellow human beings and his passion for advocating for all," Englebright said. "He is the type of person who restores my faith in humanity, and it has been a pleasure to know him and work with him."
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
