They’ve never sought the spotlight — but on Wednesday, 11 excellent educators got their due.
The winners of the 2014 Daily News Hometown Heroes in Education are shining examples of the humility and daily dedication that make a lifelong difference for New York City’s more than 1.1 million schoolchildren. The all-star guidance counselors, principals, superintendents and teachers each demonstrate the tireless commitment seen in all Hometown Heroes.
“Few things in life are more important than giving all children the best opportunities to have a good education,” Daily News Editor-in-Chief Colin Myler said. “New York has some of the best educators in America and the Daily News is proud to host an awards ceremony that salutes and honors everyone, from principals to teachers’ aides, who sacrifice so much to give the city’s children an enriching education.”
Each honoree — from the city’s traditional public schools, charters or parochial schools —received his or her award from a New York celebrity in awe of the educators’ accomplishments. “Sex and the City” actress Cynthia Nixon, hip hop artist Run of Run-DMC, and beloved former New York Met Mookie Wilson were among the presenters.
But Wednesday was about the honorees — selected from more than 200 nominations.
“For a few hours, the winning teachers are the stars,” said NY1’s Pat Kiernan, who emceed the second annual gala. “Some of these teachers have been doing this for decades — not for the money but because they love their jobs. So it’s nice that we can fuss over them for a morning.”
The winners’ long list of good deeds would fill a book. The superstars of city schools were feted at the Edison Ballroom in Times Square.
“Our final list shows the breadth of talent we have in our public schools,” said teachers union president Michael Mulgrew. “It is an honor to be able to recognize such passionate teachers.”
The winners were selected by an esteemed panel of judges that included Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña.
“Hometown Heroes offers us a great opportunity to celebrate great teachers, principals and school staff across all five boroughs, and I congratulate this year’s winners on their inspiring work lifting up our students. It was an exciting process to work with other judges and discuss the hard work and the many lives that have been impacted by our educators,” Fariña said.
The feel-good event is a favorite of Ernest Logan, head of the principals union. “There’s something so inherently right about honoring educators … who extend their professionalism and generosity beyond their students and staffs to the community at large,” he said.
The ceremony presented a perfect opportunity for the city’s top educator to assign all Daily News readers some easy homework.
“I encourage everyone to take this opportunity to acknowledge an educator in your life today,” Fariña said. “It is crucial to recognize the thousands of New York City educators who may not have been nominated this year but continuously find amazing ways to engage and enrich students and bring high-quality learning to our classrooms.”
Following are the 2014 Hometown Heroes in Education.
Adrienne Albera spends every day helping new students, as a secretary who focuses on admissions at Junior High School 189 in Queens. In the spring of 2011, one of Albera’s recent admits, a 13-year-old girl, needed to be removed from her home because she was in an unsafe situation. That’s when Albera went the extra mile and took in the girl to live with her own family. The girl, now a sophomore, is doing very well in school, despite having almost no education when she arrived in New York. Adrienne Albera is a Hometown Hero.
Charismatic chemistry teacher Tom Sangiorgi mesmerizes the kids at Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, Queens, with lectures that synthesize the scientific method into life lessons. With years of experience, Sangiorgi said he honed his style by imitating what works for colleagues. Fun, he realizes, sticks in students’ minds. On the first day of class, he always begins by setting a flask of water on fire. His love of science is contagious and pays off for his students. Tom Sangiorgi is a Hometown Hero.
Special education teacher Carla Bentley of Public School 84 in Queens has devoted herself to her students for more than three decades while also tutoring children in homeless shelters. Her longstanding commitment to helping students overcome adversity inspired her to take a second career as an afterschool academic helper for kids in a trio of Queens shelters, and she also works as a tutor at Antioch Baptist Church in Corona, where she tutors children in Spanish in an effort to bring them up to speed for state exams. Carla Bentley is a Hometown Hero.
Renaissance Charter School math teacher Ramil Buenaventura emigrated from the Philippines in 2004 as one of 169 Filipino teachers recruited by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a push for international teaching talent. Having achieved his American dream, he draws on that experience to help students achieve their own dreams. Buenaventura finds the relatively informal culture of U.S. classrooms particularly suited to his engaging, relationship-based approach to teaching. In his class, you’ll catch him singing, dancing and even making videos to get his students interested in math. Ramil Buenaventura is a Hometown Hero.
As a counselor at Passages Academy, Vallerie Cleveland is transforming the lives of the Bronx’s most at-risk youth. Her students are in juvenile detention and they come to her with a variety of social, emotional and psychological needs. Cleveland strives to reach every one, and her dedication has led to an impressive completion rate of more than 85% of the school’s curriculum. Cleveland starts by earning her students’ trust — a challenge she says is the best part of her job. Vallerie Cleveland is a Hometown Hero.
Sister Mary Elizabeth Mooney has devoted herself for four decades to making sure her school is a safe haven in the underserved South Bronx. Each day she wakes up at 5:30 a.m. in the convent next door to St. John Chrysostom’s School, to open the doors for kids getting dropped off early by parents bound for work. Mooney, who’s been principal of the school for 20 years, strives to maintain an atmosphere of safety and respect. She greets the kids personally and visits them in class. Sister Mary Elizabeth Mooney is a Hometown Hero.
As AIDS ravaged the city in the early 1990s, Bronx teacher Thomas Porton took it upon himself to ensure students understood the deadly disease. So Porton, who now teaches English and drama at the Monroe Academy for Visual Arts & Design, founded Bronx Youth Creating Compassion in 1991 to educate the next generations. Now it’s the longest-running student-run HIV/AIDS education program in the country, reaching 300 new students each year. Thomas Porton is a Hometown Hero.
Principal Beth Rudolph of the John F. Kennedy Jr. School in Queens is credited with transforming her school into a model of high-quality instruction that better serves its 525 special-needs students. Kids at the school speak 27 different languages, so Rudolph hired teachers who have both English as a second language and special-education certifications. And she opened the city’s first Chinese program for disabled kids. Her supplemental programs for English Language Learners attract more participants than the school can afford, so she makes up the difference with her own money. Beth Rudolph is a Hometown Hero.
Eye exams, GED programs and healthy food for the family are all available at Public School 188 in Coney Island — thanks to principal Fred Tudda. The tireless educator with 30 years of experience has converted the school surrounded by public housing projects into a “one-stop shop” for all of the Brooklyn neighborhood’s needs. The first parents to graduate from PS 188’s GED program are already thanking him, and his school now boasts a dance studio, robust after-school programs, financial literacy classes and weekend activities. Fred Tudda is a Hometown Hero.
Culinary arts teacher Geoffrey Tulloch helps students at Manhattan’s Food and Finance High School cook up culinary careers. The Harlem resident and chef said helping his students land gigs in the restaurant industry encouraged him to pursue his own career in education. Tulloch keeps students at the city’s only public culinary high school engaged during kitchen cleanliness training and sauce preparation by telling stories of his own work as a chef and how he learned from his mistakes. Now, many of his former students are pursuing culinary arts degrees in college. Geoffrey Tulloch is a Hometown Hero.
Veteran city educator Robert Zweig brings boundless creativity and energy to his job as Deputy Superintendent of District 79, which enrolls students with interrupted studies across the city. Zweig helps guide the policies of the citywide district but also finds time to give students one-on-one lessons, a performing arts program and even trips to ice skating rinks. Those measures mean the world to the students, many of whom have learning disabilities, are battling addiction or have been incarcerated. Zweig helped steer his district to a more comprehensive curriculum that includes training in career readiness. Robert Zweig is a Hometown Hero.
