Newsday is&nbsp;highlighting the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island in its Teacher Spotlight feature. Nominate those who create curriculums that advance&nbsp;learning, leave lasting impacts on students for years to come or have received state or national recognition by sending details to&nbsp;<a href="https://mailto:LILife@newsday.com/">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

Long Island

Education

TEACHERSPOTLIGHT_GALLERY

Arlene Gross

From a young age, Jamie Meyer knew she wanted to be a teacher. What she didn’t know was how long it would take for her to get there. 
“I was such a shy, in-my-shell high school student,” said Meyer, 43, of Baiting Hollow. So shy that she majored in accounting in college&nbsp;and crunched numbers for three years before she realized she’d rather be helming a classroom and went back to school for a master’s degree in education at Stony Brook University. 
After a year as a leave replacement physical education teacher at <a href="https://www.hbschools.us/our_schools/high_school">Hampton Bays High School</a>, Meyer shifted in 2015 to teaching juniors and seniors about early childhood education. She has since added College and Career Exploration for ninth graders, and Hospitality and Tourism and Child Psychology for 11th and 12th graders to her course load. 
Meyer’s education students study child development, from reading to&nbsp;basic math. Then they spend two period getting hands-on experience at the district’s in-house preschool. 
“My students are able to apply what they’re learning in the classroom directly with the children overseen by me and the preschool teacher,” she said. 
By the end of their studies, students sit for a Level 1 Teaching Assistant certification, a credential for an entry level teaching assistant job. 
Conor Curtis, who teaches Food Prep, Cooking With Confidence and Culinary Arts 1 and 2, said he considers Meyer a mentor. 
“She just knows how to really relate to the kids and make connecting relationships,” he said. “She breaks the units down into sections and puts the students into groups where they’re learning about a specific thing and then teaching it to the class.” 
Some kids take the class to see whether they want to go into education; others already know, Meyer said.&nbsp; 
Chris Scott, 24, took Meyer’s early education courses from 2017 to 2019. He now works as a substitute and leave replacement teacher for Hampton Bays Elementary School. 
“I just went into this class thinking it would be a cool thing, teaching in a pre-K, and didn’t think I would get a lifelong job out of this,” Scott said. “I felt like I was really able to shine with her direction and guidance.” 
Meyer teaches about restaurants, hotels and recreation in her Hospitality and Tourism class, adapted from a St. Joseph’s University course. It includes cooking competitions, where students are graded on taste, presentation, creativity and other factors. The students demonstrated how to make smash burgers, a thin patty smashed in a hot pan, for a Newsday photographer during a recent visit. 
“They love this kind of stuff: anything that they can compete and add their own spin and their own creativity,” she said. “They really don’t feel like they’re learning, but they are in a roundabout way.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

LI Life

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Teacher spotlight: Jamie Meyer of Hampton Bays High School

Teacher spotlight: Making smash burgers in class? LI educator champions hands-on instruction

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Gary Haber

Elizabeth Dukeman wants her first grade students at <a href="https://locust.gardencity.k12.ny.us/">Locust School</a> in the Garden City school district to feel like a family. 
They are encouraged to bring in family photos and talk about family trips, and Dukeman, 47, of Floral Park, said she gets to know her students’ interests and encourages them. Dukeman said she works to create an environment where her students feel respected and supported. 
“They need someone to be in their corner,” she said. “Otherwise they get lost.” 
Graziella Simonetti’s son was in Dukeman’s class last year. Simonetti said he is passionate about the solar system, so Dukeman invited him to bring his telescope to show classmates. When he broke his foot and had to miss school, Dukeman sent him a set of figurines of the planets. 
“It was as if he’d won the lottery,” said Simonetti, who called Dukeman “an all-star.” 
Dukeman’s connection to her students doesn’t end when the school year is over. 
In August, Dukeman organized a class outing at a local park — complete with snacks and a bubble machine — for her former students and their families. Most of them showed up, Simonetti said. 
“She builds a connection with families,” said Eileen Vota, Locust School principal. 
That may stem from her having grown up in a large one in Hillside, New Jersey. 
Dukeman said she is one of 12 children. Two sisters also became teachers like their father, who taught high school math and social studies. 
And Dukeman and her husband, William, a New York City firefighter, have five children. Dukeman credits being a parent with making her a better teacher and being a teacher with making her a better parent. 
“You might say I like being around people,” she said. 
In October, Dukeman received a Long Island School Hero Award from the <a href="https://licab.org/">Long Island Coalition Against Bullying</a>. 
Dukeman bolsters her students’ self-esteem and encourages them to speak up, said Lisa Pasch, a psychologist whose son&nbsp;was in Dukeman’s class last year and who nominated Dukeman for a <a href="https://licab.org/news/long-island-school-hero-awards/">Long Island School Hero Award</a>. 
Dukeman’s compassion also left a large impression on former student Erin Molloy. 
Molloy, 25, had Dukeman as a teacher in fourth and fifth grade about 15 years ago. Molloy’s mother died near the end of fourth grade, a loss Molloy didn’t share with her classmates. But Dukeman knew and showed kindness in quiet ways. 
Molloy remembers Dukeman giving her a box of Dunkin’ Munchkins. Inside, she’d placed a handwritten note of encouragement. 
“It made such a difference,” Molloy said. 
Dukeman’s compassion stayed with Molloy, who wrote her college application essay about her. 
Molloy went on to become a teacher at South Woods Middle School in Syosset in part because of Dukeman, who she said is “the example of what I want to be as a teacher.”

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Teacher Spotlight: Elizabeth Dukeman is an 'all-star' educator

Teacher Spotlight: The kind of 'all-star' educator students write college essays about

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Jim Merritt

<a href="https://rphs.rockypointufsd.org/">Rocky Point High School</a> math teacher Jay Rand likes to challenge his students&nbsp;with a classic head-scratcher on the first day of class: Sum up the digits from 1 to 100, without counting. 
But first, he tells them about 19th century German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, who famously came up with the quickest solution while still in elementary school. “Your challenge is to figure out how he did it,” Rand tells his students. 
Most can’t, but that’s the point, Rand said: “The lesson is that problem solvers don’t always get the solution, but they don’t give up either.”&nbsp; 
Rand, 50, who grew up in Rocky Point, has a bachelor’s degree in math education from LIU Post in Brookville&nbsp;and masters’ degrees from Stony Brook University and Queens College. He lives in Southold and began teaching at Rocky Point High School 28 years ago. 
Over the years, Rand developed a teaching perspective that fellow math teacher Janece Alfredson said “helps students view math in a different light.” 
Another math department colleague noted something else. “He has an uncanny way of connecting with students of all backgrounds and experiences,” said Rich Brons. 
Rand’s students work in groups of three, utilizing what he calls a “growth mindset,” a technique he adopted after reading “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” (Ballentine 2008) by psychologist Carol S. Dweck. 
“The whole idea of the mindset is getting kids to understand that with effort they will improve, and rebranding mistakes as being part of learning, ” Rand explained. “If you work hard and learn from your mistakes, you’re going to keep getting better and better.” 
Some assignments reflect challenges Rand faced as a home contractor before he became a teacher. “A lot of geometry is making parallel and perpendicular lines, and triangles and rectangles, which are fundamental to building anything,” he said. “The hope is that when they leave my class in high school, they can apply their problem-solving skills to the real world.” 
As a youth, Rand also worked as an educator at Fire Island National Seashore. He is an avid bird-watcher&nbsp;and founded the high school’s Ornithology Club two years ago. He takes its 30 members on nature walks on campus and in local parks, where he said they’ve spotted a bald eagle, a great egret and a rare yellow throated Vireo. He also surveys local dragonfly populations and lectures on moths and butterflies at district STEAM events. 
Rand “has been amazingly beneficial for myself and many of my classmates,” Class of 2025 valedictorian Matteo Gravinese wrote in an email. “His attitude toward self-teaching fosters a deeper understanding” added Gravinese, a freshman at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. 
For the Gauss solution, students have to wait until the next day of class, “to encourage them to keep working on it,” their teacher said. “If I give you the answer, the learning stops.” 
Answer: Gauss’ solution is to realize that each pair at the opposite end of the number series (1+100, 2+99) gives you 101. You then multiple 101 by 50, the number of pairs. 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com.">LILife@Newsday.com.</a>

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Jay Rand challenges students with Gauss' classic math puzzle on day one

Teacher spotlight: On day one he asks students to sum up the digits from 1 to 100, without counting. Can you solve it?

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Michelle Gladden

Five years ago, educators Melissa Levonick and Nicole Collins used their experience at <a href="https://www.swrschools.org/112759_3">Wading River School</a> to create a social studies curriculum that prioritizes student needs. Today, their curriculum is being taught in 38 districts. 
“We participate in an Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) program that combines students from both regular and special education,” said Levonick,&nbsp;a fifth-grade teacher. 
The duo’s curriculum relies on fluidity, often shifting from a parallel teaching model to co-instruction, or quickly shifting to a teach-and-assist model, depending on student needs. 
“We group students for reading, math and word study, tailored to their needs,” said Levonick, 46, of Rocky Point. 
The pair said lessons are adapted in real time to ensure that all 24 students, including 12 with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), meet the same educational goals. 
“Structure is key,” said Collins, 46, of Port Jefferson Station. “We use lots of visual tools to help them succeed.” 
Collins&nbsp;— an early childhood special education teacher — was first paired with Levonick when she began teaching at Wading River School 24 years ago. Currently, they co-teach a fifth-grade class and help oversee the implementation of their curriculum across Nassau BOCES classrooms. 
“Sometimes the best curriculum and products are written by teachers themselves,” Shoreham-Wading River school district Superintendent Gerard Poole said. 
“They recognized the resources needed to meet the standards in New York State and created a curriculum that aligns with those standards, engages students and makes sense to teachers.” 
Levonick and Collins spent summer breaks developing a curriculum and then tested it in class. Most recently, they spearheaded its expansion via support from Nassau BOCES — the Board of Cooperative Educational Services for Nassau County. 
The public agency offers shared educational programs to 56 local school districts in New York, according to its website. The agency is the largest BOCES in the state and helps districts offer costly programs they couldn’t develop alone. 
Emily Kravitz, a fifth-grade teacher at Wading River School, has used the program for two years and said it is easy to navigate and implement. 
“Students are given many opportunities to collaborate with others, including discussing as a class, working with partners and completing hands-on activities, to deepen their understanding of the materials and support their learning,” she said. “All of which has helped ensure students have an opportunity to share their ideas and engage within each lesson.” 
Poole added: “They are just two shining stars in our school district. They’re just a great example of the care, passion and skill of the teachers in our school district, and I’m really proud of both of them.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>. 
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the curriculum and the number of school districts in which it is taught.

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These Shoreham-Wading River educators tag team class lessons

Teacher Spotlight: These Shoreham-Wading River educators tag team class lessons

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Donna Kutt Nahas

David Cordeau, a math and coding teacher at <a href="https://ms.roslynschools.org/">Roslyn Middle School</a> in East Hills, was convinced that the key to unlocking algebra was making it fun — that way his eighth graders could crack complex concepts and tackle tricky word problems. 
That’s why Cordeau, 45, of Massapequa, came up with the digital Venn diagram-themed game <a href="https://vennten.com/">Venn Ten</a>, which uses overlapping circles to show comparisons and contrasts between two or more concepts. Players sort nine words into three categories and then are asked to come up with a word that fits all three categories to solve the puzzle. 
“Instead of teaching it [algebra] the normal way this past year after winter break, I thought, ‘I’ll try some sort of word association that makes it challenging and fun,’ ” Cordeau recalled. “All of a sudden, it hit me like a bolt of lightning in the middle of the night, and I got up and wrote it down.” 
The game, which offers two difficulty levels, quickly attracted a fan base. It was meant to be a one-time exercise, but the following week, kids asked where the next puzzle was, he said. 
Within two months, Cordeau said, nearly 200 people — students and students’ friends and relatives — had requested the puzzle. A rising eighth grader suggested Cordeau make a website for the game instead of emailing it to students, so he could access it at high school. 
Cordeau agreed, but lacked the time to build a website, so he reached out to his friend and former colleague, Eric Ruhoy, a computer science teacher at <a href="https://hs.mtsinai.k12.ny.us/">Mount Sinai High School</a>, for help. 
Ruhoy, 32, of Miller Place, instantly loved the game.&nbsp; 
“I knew it [the puzzle] was special, and I wanted to be part of that,” Ruhoy said. “I call him [Cordeau] the puzzle master. He wrote the puzzles, and I built the website and got it hosted.” 
While Cordeau still uses the puzzle to introduce his students to word problems in algebra, he and Ruhoy also use it as an educational tool to teach coding. 
“My students love it,” Ruhoy said. “When I’m teaching a lesson, and I know I’m teaching a concept that I use in the game, I can see them light up, and they see that it’s something that can be used in a real-world application.” 
Since the website&nbsp;launched, the game, which draws on pop culture themes, has attracted a large number of daily players, Ruhoy said, “with hundreds, even thousands” of people playing in more than 20 countries. 
Jessica Lombardo, 38, mathematics department chair at St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in West Islip, where the two teachers used to work, reflected with admiration for the puzzle designed by her former colleagues. 
“If you’re a good teacher you want to engage your students, and that means you have to be super creative,” said Lombardo, of Deer Park. “These two guys came together and used their creative skills to create something special to share with people.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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Long Island teachers build a fun online word game — and a fan base

These teachers built a fun online word game — and a fan base

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When <a href="https://www.lbeach.org/schools/long_beach_middle_school">Long Beach Middle School</a> teacher Natasha Nurse wanted to inspire her students’ thinking for a NASA program, she drew upon resources from ancient Greece and brought them to the digital age. 
Nurse said she showed her sixth grade students a GIF of a camera encapsulated in a water bubble while floating in space and asked them to formulate open-ended questions about what they observed. By doing so she was using the Question Formulation Technique, based on the Socratic method, she said. 
“The goal was for them to eventually answer their own questions through research and experimentation, just like real scientists do,” Nurse said, adding the experiment helped her students understand the effects of low gravity. 
For the past three years, Long Beach Middle School STEM projects have been selected for the NASA Student Spaceflight Experiment Program. At a virtual launch party Nurse hosted on Zoom in 2023, the students and their parents counted down as a rocket carrying their experiment took off for the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/">International Space Station</a>. 
“It was one of those experiences students and their families will never forget,” Nurse said. “They became actual scientists. They weren’t just learning about space, they were doing the work.” 
Jennifer Gallagher, Long Beach school district superintendent, said Nurse “is the type of teacher that students often cite as having made a huge difference in their life.” 
“She . . . will go to any lengths to make things happen for kids,” Gallagher said. 
Nurse grew up in Long Beach, the daughter of one of the city’s first Black police officers, Alonzo Charles Merkerson, Sr. She wrote about the community-building values her father taught her in a chapter for a book by Lauren M. Kaufman, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leader-Inside-Stories-Mentorship-Inspire/dp/1948334755#:~:text=Book%20overview&amp;text=%E2%80%9CWho%20is%20the%20leader%20you,sense%20of%20purpose%20and%20meaning.">The Leader Inside: Stories of Mentorship to Inspire the Leader Within”</a> (Impress 2024). 
Nurse attended the city’s public schools, running track and playing forward on the girl’s high school basketball team. She earned a master’s degree in education at Hofstra University in Hempstead. 
After teaching public elementary school for three years in Far Rockaway, Queens, she returned to Long Beach in 2005 as an elementary school teacher and instructional coach in literacy and math for other faculty. When the district was looking to introduce STEM in the middle school, Nurse collaborated with three other district teachers to write a sixth grade STEM curriculum. 
“My goal is to connect the real world and what’s happening in their [students’] lives with what’s going on in the classroom,” she said. 
In May, the middle school STEM students spoke with two astronauts aboard the International Space Station via NASA Downlink. 
Stella Bogdan, a seventh grader who took the STEM class last year, called Nurse “an awesome teacher.” 
“I looked forward to going to her class every day,” Stella said. “She always makes her lessons exciting.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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Long Beach teacher helps tween scientists team up with NASA

Teacher Spotlight: Long Beach educator helps tween scientists team up with NASA

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Denise M. Bonilla

For Connor Dennehy, when it comes to physical fitness, it’s not about being a star athlete. 
The physical and health education teacher at <a href="https://cordello.centralislip.k12.ny.us/">Cordello Avenue Elementary School</a> in Central Islip said instilling a love of movement and a sense of confidence in students can lead to so much more in life. 
“It’s about being able to grab a group of kids and get them moving, get them confident, get them educated and hope that they take these skills on into their future,” he said. “My goal is to get students active so they can achieve a lifelong physical fitness, and that leads to happiness and that joy we all look for.” 
Dennehy at first sought to become a physical therapist, he said. But the influence of his mother and stepfather, both teachers on Long Island, “intrinsically motivated” him to become a teacher. 
After studying physical education at <a href="https://www2.cortland.edu/home/">SUNY Cortland</a>, he joined Cordello in 2021. 
“I love teaching kids that are innocent and willing and open to learn and move,” he said. 
Dennehy coaches Central Islip’s high school boys’ junior varsity volleyball team and helps organize student participation in the Fit Club run by <a href="https://nysahperd.org/suffolk-zone/">New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s Suffolk Zone</a>. He’s also part of a team teaching Special Education Life Skills students with disabilities. 
For students who aren’t inspired to move, Dennehy said the key is finding the motivating factor. 
“It’s trying to unpack what’s going on in their mind,” he said. 
That doesn’t always mean probing questions, he said, but using inflection and body language to try to reach students, even those who might feel they aren’t athletic. 
“It’s finding what they’re good at,” Dennehy said. “You take one thing that they’re good at and you make them feel amazing for doing it.” 
Cordello Principal Nathaniel Marner called Dennehy a “forward-thinking” educator. 
“He’s constantly thinking up new, creative, fun ways to engage students,” Marner said. “Some students who are not used to playing athletics, they find gym class a struggle. So he tries to include them to make them feel like they can accomplish goals.” 
Fourth grader Angeli Canas Lopez has been a student of Dennehy’s since she was in kindergarten. When asked what she thinks of Dennehy, she offered the highest of compliments a child can give an adult: “He’s cool.” 
Angeli said she has enjoyed Dennehy’s activities, ranging from pushups and jumping jacks to basketball, soccer and volleyball. Not to mention some games like tag thrown in for good measure. 
“He has a great personality,” she said of her teacher, adding that he’s also funny and kind. 
Dennehy said the most rewarding part of his job is when he stands at the edge of the gym and sees it buzzing with every student moving and smiling. 
“You look around and it’s contagious,” he said. 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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Teacher Connor Dennehy says gym class is a route to joy

Central Islip teacher says gym class is a route to 'that joy we all look for'

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Sam Kmack

Brian Haldenwang fell in love with biology thanks to a “great teacher” he had as a freshman at <a href="https://www.wi.k12.ny.us/wihs">West Islip High School</a> — Dianne Munno, who, he said, “just made class exciting.” 
He ultimately became a biology teacher at the same high school, and the two were colleagues for years before her retirement in 2021. 
“The kids absolutely love him,” said Munno of her former mentee, whom she described as “one of the best teachers West Islip has ever had, I’m proud to say.” 
Haldenwang, 48, said he tries to incorporate the unexpected, for example teaching students to build their own scientific equipment for labs. 
“I want them to see how exciting biology actually is. And it’s all around you — it’s your body, it’s how you interact with the environment,” he said. “That’s where I focus. The grades are great, but I want them to appreciate science.” 
For Haldenwang, it’s not just about his students getting high marks. His goal is to make class memorable so students walk away with a better understanding of the world around them. 
“Let’s learn it to learn it so that you become a better person and you know about what’s going on, rather than ‘I’ve got to get this 95% so I can get into whatever college I’m trying to get into,’ ” he said. 
Mary Kroll, another teacher at the high school, said Haldenwang is “the science teacher that everyone wishes they had in high school.” 
She described one instance when students had to use an electrophoresis chamber, which uses electric currents to separate molecules. But rather than just handing out the machines, Haldenwang helped students build their own “so they can truly understand how it’s working so they can visualize their experiment.” 
“He makes science fun. He has such a passion for it that it’s contagious to his students,” Kroll said. “He just has that natural ability to get kids to want to learn.” 
Haldenwang’s educational approach won him the 2025 Suffolk Section Teacher of the Year award from the <a href="https://stanys.org/">Science Teachers Association of New York State</a>, as well as high praise from the person who first inspired him to pursue biology. 
Ryan Deegan is among the West Islip students who name Haldenwang as a favorite teacher. He described Haldenwang as a mentor. 
Deegan graduated last year and now attends <a href="https://www.qu.edu/">Quinnipiac University</a> in Hamden, Connecticut, where he is studying biology.&nbsp; 
“He really did play a big role in shaping me into the science student I am now,” Deegan said.&nbsp;

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West Islip teacher Brian Haldenwang is a link in a chain of inspiration

This West Islip bio teacher is a link in a chain of inspiration

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Some people have a talent for art. Others are comfortable using the latest technology. Tim Needles is good at both. 
Needles, an art teacher for many years, is a technology integration specialist for the <a href="https://www.smithtown.k12.ny.us/">Smithtown Central School District.</a> His job is to stay on top of advances like artificial intelligence and virtual reality and train the district’s educators to apply them in the classroom. 
Needles’ job also includes producing weekly five-minute videos on tech topics. He comes up with the topics — sometimes with suggestions from his fellow teachers — and produces the videos in which students sometimes appear. 
“AI is new for everyone, and he has been in the forefront of that for Smithtown,” said John Nolan, Smithtown Central’s director of information &amp; technology services. 
Needles, 50, has been with the district for 26 years. He said his role is still evolving and that he enjoys the more traditional aspects of teaching. 
“It grows with my time in the job, which is great,” he said. 
Needles pointed to an ongoing project he is working on in which, as part of a lesson about water quality on Long Island, students paint murals on storm drains. 
“It’s nice because it becomes a project that students come back to see,” he said. 
For the teachers Needles instructs, they walk away from his presentations with practical tools they can apply right away, said Paul McNeil, principal at Smithtown High School East. 
“His understanding of emerging technologies in the district is second to none,” McNeil said. 
Needles, who lives in Sound Beach, wrote “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/STEAM-Power-Infusing-Into-Curriculum/dp/1564848213">STEAM Power: Infusing Art Into Your STEM Curriculum,</a>” for which he also illustrated the book and its cover, and is at work on a second book on technology and education. 
In 2024, Needles received a Making It Happen award from the International Society for Technology in Education. He said he is on top of the evolving world of technology. “We’re in a world where technology is moving quicker than ever before,” he said. 
Needles is also an artist, filmmaker and animator. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he studied photography. And he likes to draw. A lot. 
“I have a sketchbook and I’m drawing all the time,” he said. 
Before transitioning into the technology specialist role three years ago, Needles taught art classes for years including cartooning, illustration and fashion design. 
He said he sought the change because he thought he could put his tech skills to work for teachers during the pandemic and he wanted a different challenge. 
Needles was recognized recently by the <a href="https://www.smithtown.k12.ny.us/News/Art-Educator-of-the-Year.htm">New York State Art Teachers Association, which named him its 2025 Art Educator of the Year.</a> 
“That was pretty unexpected,” he said of the award, which was announced at the group’s annual conference in Binghamton last November. 
One of Needles’ most high-profile projects is the video “Four Freedoms Today,” which he produced as part of an exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In the video, Needles asked 40 people what Rockwell’s iconic paintings “Four Freedoms” mean to them. The “Four Freedoms” are a series Rockwell painted in 1943, at the height of World War II, depicting the four basic human rights of Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want that President Franklin D. Roosevelt invoked in a 1941 speech to Congress. 
In addition to his talent behind the camera, Needles has a way with words. He’s an actor and has done stand-up comedy and storytelling events. And, as Nolan said, “He’s an all around nice person. We like him.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>

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Smithtown educator Tim Needles brings his love of tech and art to the job

Smithtown educator brings his love of tech and art to the job

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Ava Epstein

As the daughter of an immigrant family from Guyana, Alison Matthews said the importance of education was instilled in her from a young age. A career in teaching felt like the natural path. 
Matthews pursued a degree in business education from Delaware State University, bringing together two of her passions. Matthews also earned a Master of Science degree in educational technology and a professional diploma in education administration from Long Island University&nbsp;and a doctorate in education from St. John’s University. 
She became one of two business teachers in the <a href="https://www.harborfieldscsd.net/">Harborfields Central School District</a> in 2001. In 2013, she earned a certification in work-based learning. 
Now as Harborfields’ work-based coordinator, Matthews places students in&nbsp;internships, such as at Drake Media Studios in Melville,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.catholichealthli.org/st-catherine-siena-hospital">St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center</a> in Smithtown and <a href="https://www.kumon.com/">Kumon learning center</a> in Huntington. 
“It’s such an amazing thing to help students explore their interests and . . . become college- and career-ready . . . on their path to the future,” she said. 
In this role, she also launched the&nbsp;Career Readiness Network. Beginning with&nbsp;one class, the program now includes four New York State Education Department recognized Career &amp; Technical Education (CTE) pathways offered to students starting their junior year: Business &amp; Entrepreneurship (2020); Education &amp; Child Development (2023); Media Production (2024); and Marketing (starting 2025). 
Former student Bobby Constatantos earned 30 CTE pathway credits and is now on his way to earning dual&nbsp;bachelor’s degrees at Long Island University in Brookville.&nbsp; 
“The business classes . . . are the only reason I am able to get two bachelors in four years,” he wrote in a statement. 
Cathleen DeSimone, who graduated in 2025 with credits from the business and education pathways, said she is excited for her future as a marketing major.&nbsp; 
“I was exposed to it at a really young age and knew it was right for me,” she said. 
Throughout her 24 years at Harborfields, Matthews has practiced real-world, project-based teaching, allowing students to learn through individual synthesis and analysis. 
“They’re getting as much out of the classes as I’m getting from teaching the information to them,” she said. 
For example, students in the Career Awareness class are tasked with creating their own business plan, and those who take part in the Education &amp; Child Development pathway have the opportunity to intern at the elementary school. 
Matthews was named the 2025 Business Teacher of the Year by Long Island Business Teachers’ Association. 
“She’s a teacher, she is a mentor&nbsp;and she’s even someone that I can go to with . . . non-school stuff,” DeSimone said. “I really looked up to her and I always say I want to become [her] because I want to give kids the experience that I was given.”

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Alison Matthews named 2025 Business Teacher of the Year

Harborfields educator who champions career readiness named 2025 Business Teacher of the Year

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As the youngest of six children growing up in Farmingville, Locust Valley Middle School teacher Ann Monsees curiously watched as her oldest sister, Jean Monsees, now 61 and a teacher in the Half Hollow Hills school district, pursued a career in education. At 8 years old, Ann would listen to stories from her sister’s day, watched her prepare lessons and helped organize materials for class. 
Jean “would do a carnival at her school and raise money, and all the kids came and helped her. . . . I still remember going to that and being like, ‘Wow, she did this.’ ” said Ann Monsees, 46, a mother of three. “I was definitely inspired by her and all of the things she did, and I still look up to her.” 
In 2002, after attending Adelphi University in Garden City, where she played soccer and lacrosse, Monsees began her career as a fourth grade teacher at Bayville Intermediate School in the Locust Valley school district. After 11 years, she went on to the middle school as a math and science teacher. 
Nearing her 24th school year in the Locust Valley Central School District, Monsees is known to be “really funny . . . very patient and kind,” said Kaylee Jewell, 12, a current student in her class. “She gives opportunities to kids to answer every question . . . all her students love her.” 
Monsees said teaching elementary school allowed her to develop strategic classroom management skills. Her embrace of flexible seating, for example, originated while working with younger grades. 
As her sixth grade students engage in different activities during a typical lesson in her classroom, they will encounter various seating arrangements — from high tops to floor seats and bouncy balls. 
“I think they love it. It creates more of a relaxing environment,” she said. “It gives them that freedom that middle schoolers want . . . to take ownership of their learning and be able to go to a spot that works best for them.” 
The idea came during conversations with another sister, Mary Lupo, who is a teacher in a Longwood, Florida school and an inspiration to Monsees. She had previously adopted this model. 
“I was like . . . I’m just going to try it and see how it goes,” Monsees recalled. 
Monsees’ efforts extend beyond the classroom as co-creator of the Fifty Nifty Club, a group of 10 to 15 students interested in American geography and history. 
“Her commitment to her students, their parents and her colleagues is nothing short of inspirational,” Locust Valley Middle School Principal Michael Cestaro said in a written statement. 
Monsees, who said taking risks and relying on others are fundamental to teaching, credits her most memorable lessons to collaboration. 
This past year Monsees teamed up with English and social studies teachers as well as the librarians, to create an interactive exercise where the students built kites. 
She used station-based, hands-on lessons to do so, she said, 
“It makes them understand it better when they have those real-world experiences and they’re able to be creative,” she said. “They remember it.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:lilife@newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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Ann Monsees of Locust Valley embraces strategic classroom management (like bouncy ball seating)

Inspired by her big sisters, Locust Valley teacher has been organizing classroom material since age 8

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Each year, <a href="https://oakpark.bufsd.org/">Oak Park Elementary School in Bay Shore</a> holds a moving-up&nbsp;ceremony to salute fifth-graders graduating to middle school. 
Fifth&nbsp;grade teacher Michele Bodanza always gives a speech, and she tears up each time&nbsp;— but&nbsp;said she expected this year’s ceremony&nbsp;to be extra emotional. 
After teaching&nbsp;thousands of students and keeping&nbsp;in touch with many of them as they’ve grown into adulthood, raised&nbsp;families and embarked on careers, Bodanza, 55, of Wading River, retired in June from the Brentwood Union Free School District. 
“I love seeing what their&nbsp;lives are up to and the amazing people they’ve become,” she said.&nbsp; 
Years after former student Katie Reidy graduated, she said Bodanza remains a part of her life. 
“She’s created a legacy of love and kindness,” said Reidy, 39. 
Reidy, who attended the school&nbsp;30 years ago and is a muralist and graphic artist in Westchester County, returned&nbsp;to Oak Park for two days in April to paint a mural in the cafeteria. The design&nbsp;shows whimsical woodland animals enjoying a dance party. 
Bodanza said she has been a strong advocate for her fifth&nbsp;graders, making sure their last year in elementary school is a special one, whether that means organizing a field trip or arranging for a Mister Softee ice cream truck to come to school. 
“She’s not a shrinking violet,” said Oak Park Principal Lisa Catandella. “She’s not afraid to say what needs to be said." 
Bodanza’s involvement extends beyond the classroom. 
Robin Holdforf, a longtime friend and fellow Oak Park fifth&nbsp;grade teacher, called&nbsp;Bodanza “an unwavering cause for good.” 
Bodanza started an early morning running club for students and ran a fund drive that collected more than $1,200 for cerebral palsy research. She organized&nbsp;Oak Park’s annual Thanksgiving fundraising drive to buy gift cards for needy families in the district. Enough money was raised last year to provide 22 families with a $150 card&nbsp;for Thanksgiving groceries. 
“She’s always looking for ways she can make a difference,” Holdorf said. 
Catandella said Bodanza’s legacy is the thousands of children she’s taught and nurtured over the years. 
“Her students love her,” Catandella said.&nbsp;"She really makes a connection with the kids and their families. She knows the kids appreciate what she does and that’s what makes the job fulfilling.” 
Holdorf, whose classroom is next to Bodanza’s, said she will miss having her longtime friend next door. 
“I think what I’ll miss most of all are the daily conversations and the shared laughter,” she said. 
In retirement, Bodanza is looking forward to traveling —&nbsp;she’s planning a European vacation with her college roommates —&nbsp;and spending more time fostering dogs for&nbsp;Last Chance Animal Rescue. She hopes to return to Oak Park to mentor first-year teachers. 
“I don’t feel like I’m stepping away,” she said of retirement. “My best friends are here. Emotionally, I will always be a part of this community.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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Oak Park teacher retires after 30 years, leaving 'legacy of love and kindness'

No 'shrinking violet': Retiring Oak Park teacher leaves 'legacy of love and kindness' for Bay Shore fifth graders

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Miao Li

After nearly four decades of shaping young minds in the classroom and on the field, Scott Gerken is saying goodbye to <a href="https://eastrockawayschools.org/schools/east_rockaway_high_school">East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School</a> and will retire at the end of the year. 
Once a strict, by-the-book teacher, his colleagues and students said he grew into a school mainstay known for patience, humor and heart — one they said they won’t forget. 
“There is one adjective that describes very few of us, but encapsulates what Mr. Gerken is: irreplaceable,” said Assistant Principal TJ Terranova. “Staff members know they can turn [to him] for wisdom and, when needed, a day-changing corny dad joke.” 
Gerken, 63, began teaching at the school in February 1987, stepping in during a colleague’s medical leave. Over the next 38 years, he primarily taught life science to seventh graders and later led anatomy and physiology and EMT courses that brought science to life through hands-on labs and real-world applications. 
“What I enjoy most is seeing students get excited about learning, especially in the lab,” Gerken said. “When they’re doing the work themselves, you see them start to think critically instead of waiting to be handed all the answers.” 
Former student Isabella DeCunzo said Gerken could even make a “science hater” love the subject. 
“He is always willing to help, whether in his own class or just life itself,” she said. 
Gerken also made a lasting impact through athletics <a href="https://www.facebook.com/east.rockawayfootball/">by coaching both football</a> and softball since the early 1990s. In 1995 he launched the school junior high football team — he fondly calls it “the minor leagues” — to help younger athletes prepare for JV. 
Coaching gave him a new lens into his students’ lives. “In the classroom, they behave one way. But on the field, you see who they really are,” Gerken said. “You build a different kind of respect.” 
That respect, he believes, flows both ways. “Once kids know you as a coach, they see you differently as a teacher. There’s more connection, more trust.” 
While changes in science education and his own health played a part in his decision to retire, Gerken said he also looks forward to spending more time with family and maybe sipping a pi&ntilde;a colada or two on the beach. 
He will continue a summer job he enjoys with a pool maintenance company, owned by a former teacher friend. Beyond that, he’s open. “Come September, who knows?” he said. 
Looking back on his career, Gerken said what mattered most was learning to truly listen. “You need to hear what they say and understand where it comes from,” he said of his students. “It took me a few years to get that.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com.">LILife@Newsday.com.</a>

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East Rockaway teacher Scott Gerken retiring after 38 years

Teacher spotlight: This retiring East Rockaway teacher could make even a 'science hater' love the subject

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Heather Rand is the kind of teacher who goes the extra mile for her students — even after they’ve graduated from her sixth grade&nbsp;classroom. 
Rand, 49, co-teaches a class of English as a New Language students at <a href="https://jfkms.comsewogue.k12.ny.us/">John F. Kennedy Middle School</a> in Port Jefferson Station, in the Comsewogue School District. 
The students come from around the globe, mostly from Central America, and Spanish is the first language for many. 
Rand’s co-teacher, Natalie Rubenstein, said Rand’s goal is for students to find joy in being able to speak two languages. 
“She’s constantly reminding them to be proud of who they are and to share that with the world,” said Rubenstein, 35. 
Rand also shares her love of sports with them. She played varsity field hockey at Rocky Point High School and was on the varsity tennis team at LIU Post in Brookville. Though JFK’s students aren’t eligible to sign up for sports teams until seventh grade, Rand has made it her mission to help former students sign up for the middle school’s teams. 
She spends hours of her own time assisting students and their parents in completing the necessary paperwork, and has even bought athletic shoes for students whose parents can’t afford them. 
Sports can help students improve their English skills and “builds confidence, physical strength, camaraderie and connections with other students,” Rand said. 
Rand also runs the Future Teachers Club at JFK, where she helped organize a book collection drive and start an herb and vegetable garden. 
“She’s known throughout the building as someone who’s always willing to help,” Rubenstein said. 
Rand’s connection to her students endures when they move up in grade. Many continue to go to her for advice, and some have invited Rand to their high school graduation. 
Rand is in her 29th year of teaching and has spent her entire career at JFK, where colleagues say she is well-respected among fellow teachers and the administration. 
“She’s just an all-around team player who makes all of us better,” said Amanda Prinz, 44, JFK’s principal. “It’s all about the kids. It’s never about her.” 
Rubenstein recalled that her fellow teachers told her she “hit the jackpot” when she learned nine years ago that she would be paired with Rand, and she said the more experienced Rand welcomed her ideas from the beginning. 
“She was open, flexible and supportive from Day 1,” Rubenstein said. “Working with her has made me a better person and a better teacher.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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Heather Rand, of JFK Middle School, helps kids feel pride in their 2 languages

Teacher spotlight: Comsewogue teacher helps kids feel pride in their 2 languages

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Claude Solnik

<a href="https://school7.oceansideschools.org/">Oceanside High School</a> math teacher Yves Jean-Pierre&nbsp;learned an important lesson early on in his career. He started by picking extremely difficult, challenging problems for students. Then a teacher told him to focus not on stumping students, but setting them up for success. 
“You have the knowledge you need to teach. You have to teach ‘for’ the students,” Jean-Pierre, 59, of Valley Stream, said the teacher told him. “And I started to do that. Every year, I got better.” 
A Haiti native,&nbsp;Jean-Pierre has succeeded by helping students understand concepts and not simply to get the correct answers. 
“You have to make them believe that they can be successful,” said Jean-Pierre, known to&nbsp;students as J.P. “Every day I tell them that success today doesn’t guarantee success tomorrow. But you have to have the desire and the drive to work hard every day.” 
When students have questions, they can call him over and get time they need, rather than only answering in front of the whole class, said Madison Moore, a 17-year-old senior at Oceanside. 
“J.P. gives you the tools to learn and grow for yourself. It’s very personalized,” she said. “It’s a class setting, but often, it feels like it’s one-on-one.” 
Fellow teacher Jim Smith, 59, of East Northport, noted Jean-Pierre has a perfect attendance record, difficult to maintain over so many decades. “He, in 23 years at Oceanside, has never once been absent,” Smith said. “Students come back and want to visit him. He’s an unassuming, low-key guy. The kids love him. He’s very popular in the math department with his colleagues.” 
Jean-Pierre grew up in Haiti, in the Caribbean, speaking French and attending Institution <a href="https://islghaiti.org/">Saint-Louis de Gonzague</a> in Port-au-Prince, a primary and secondary Catholic school, and in 1985 came to New York, where his aunt lived, to study. 
“I really wanted to come. My dad believed in education. He wanted me to go to a good university,” he said. 
Jean-Pierre graduated from what is now the <a href="https://www.buffalo.edu/">University at Buffalo</a> in 1989 with a degree in aerospace engineering. “I thought it was going to be for flying airplanes,” he said. “It wasn’t really that. It was mostly research.” 
His cousin, who got a degree in math from the same school, started to work as a math teacher. “I thought I could try to be a math teacher, because I was really good at math,” Jean-Pierre said. 
He taught in Manhattan and then Brooklyn, he said. 
He was hired by Oceanside in September 2002 and pretty soon was known by a new nickname. “One kid said, ‘Can I call you J.P.?’ I said, ‘You can.’ I didn’t think it would last,” he said. “It stuck. Everybody in Oceanside knows me as J.P.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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Oceanside teacher Yves Jean-Pierre has 20-plus year perfect attendance record

Nassau teacher has 20-plus year perfect attendance record

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When Chelsea Gundrum walks into her third grade classroom at <a href="https://www.lynbrookschools.org/schools/west_end_elementary">West End Elementary School</a> in Lynbrook, she said she is not just teaching math, she is building a family. 
Gundrum, 33, of Massapequa Park, has taught in the Lynbrook school district since 2014, starting as a permanent substitute teacher before moving into Math AIS (academic intervention service), where she provided targeted support to students needing extra help. For the past five years, she’s led a third grade class, where her personalized approach&nbsp;earned her the <a href="https://www.lynbrookschools.org/news/article.aspx?id=182120">2025 Elementary Math Teacher of the Year</a> award&nbsp;from the <a href="https://ncmta.memberclicks.net/">Nassau County Mathematics Teachers Association</a>.&nbsp; 
“She consistently goes above and beyond — making meaningful connections to her students’ personal lives, celebrating their milestones and serving as their biggest cheerleader,” said Principal Leah Murray. 
Gundrum said her classroom is a place where students are challenged&nbsp;and celebrated. 
“Starting on Day One, we build a community where every child feels safe to be themselves,” she said. “It’s about creating a space where it’s OK to make mistakes, take risks and know they can come to tell me everything.” 
Growing up, Gundrum was inspired by a long line of educators in her family — her mother, grandmother and uncle all taught. From a young age, she knew the profession was more than a job. “It was something I wanted to do to help children grow into who they are meant to be,” she said. 
She said working with the AIS program taught her to meet students where they are and make math feel accessible and exciting. That experience now guides her third grade lesson, where students explore concepts like the Fibonacci sequence and celebrate Pi Day. 
One of them, Nash Cornicello, recalled being fascinated by a class reading about hummingbirds. Gundrum encouraged students to take their curiosity further by coaching a classwide persuasive writing project to install a birdfeeder on campus. They put together a proposal that&nbsp;was sent to the principal. 
“She helped us prepare to go to Mrs. Murray,” Nash said. “We made our idea happen.” 
Gundrum’s passion extends beyond her classroom. As committee chair of the school’s Multicultural Team, she played a key role in organizing the school’s annual cultural celebration, where students walk a runway wearing traditional dress and share ethnic food with the school community. “It’s powerful to see kids proud of their backgrounds and celebrated by everyone around them,” she said. 
In addition to her elementary role, Gundrum has taught courses in the literacy department&nbsp;at Adelphi University in Garden City, where she earned her master’s degree. 
Most of all, Gundrum said she hopes the kindness felt in her class helps prepare kids for the future. “In a world that’s always changing, I want them to remember who they are, and always be proud of that.” 
Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>.

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West End teacher Chelsea Gundrum helps kids make their ideas happen

Teacher Spotlight: Lynbrook teacher helps kids make their ideas happen

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This month Newsday will begin highlighting the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island in a new Teacher Spotlight feature. Nominate those who create curriculums that advance&nbsp;learning, leave lasting impacts on students for years to come or have received state or national recognition by sending details to <a href="https://mailto:LILife@Newsday.com">LILife@Newsday.com</a>. 
<a href="https://chs.commack.k12.ny.us/">Commack High School</a> band teacher Frank Hansen sees his job as a collaboration with his students. Hansen, who will retire this summer after 28 years with the school, noted that some of his students have gone on to become professional musicians or music educators. Some have even played with him in Broadway orchestra pits, he said. 
“Being a music teacher, you’re working side by side with these kids,” said Hansen, 62, of Babylon. “Even though you’re in charge and you’re up in front of the podium and you’re conducting the groups, you’re still kind of in it with them.” 
Hansen’s career began when he was 14 years old and started playing gigs at jazz clubs like the now-closed Sonny’s Place in Seaford and Rampart Street in Port Washington, where he met famous jazz musicians who mentored him. “That was a very important part of my education,” said Hansen, who was a professional musician before switching to teaching. “I think of myself as a working musician.” 
Hansen started teaching while at <a href="https://www.berklee.edu/">Berklee College of Music</a> in Boston, where he was required to teach according to the terms of his scholarship. 
In 1985, he began working at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, where he’d eventually teach every music class it&nbsp;offered, from band to music theory, later reprising that role at Suffolk County Community College, where he will continue to teach at the Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood. 
At Commack, Hansen began as an orchestra teacher in 1997 and helped develop its international baccalaureate and guitar ensemble programs. He currently helms the student ensemble the Jazz Messengers, the marching band, the concert orchestra, the string orchestra and the ICA (Independent Creative Arts) chamber orchestra. 
Hansen and the Jazz Messengers have serenaded people arriving at the high school Friday mornings for years, said Carrie Lippenholtz, principal of Commack High School. 
“He’s made such an impact on the students and staff,” Lippenholtz said. 
And for the past two years, Hansen and members of his Jazz Messengers participated in a Thanksgiving event held at <a href="https://gurwin.org/">Gurwin Jewish Nursing &amp; Rehabilitation Center</a>&nbsp;in Commack, said Nicole Hopper, director of therapeutic recreation for the Commack facility. 
“He truly brought joy to every single resident and staff member in the building,” she said. 
One former student, Izzet Mergen, said Hansen always encouraged his students to engage in divergent thinking: approaching situations through various lenses, which inspires creative thinking. 
“He’s a real artist who also teaches,” said Mergen, director of fine and performing arts for Northport-East Northport schools. “And he’s a real teacher who happens to be an artist.”

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Frank Hansen, of Commack High School, practices what he teaches

Teacher Spotlight: Commack band teacher practices what he teaches

Teacher Spotlight: See all the teachers featured

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