Coram Elementary teacher shows up for students in and out of the classroom

Lori Cebul used to play “school” in her Middle Island basement with a cousin. Using a double-sided chalkboard, she taught from one side and her cousin from the other.

“As early as I can remember, I always wanted to be a teacher,” she said.

Cebul, 48, of Ridge, now teaches second grade as a general education teacher in the Longwood Central School District in Middle Island, working alongside a special education teacher in an integrated class of 20 students.

“She’s an absolute pleasure to be working with every single day,” said co-teacher Ryan Nolan.

Cebul graduated from Longwood High School in 1995 and began her career as a kindergarten teacher at Coram Elementary School in 1999. She graduated from St. Joseph’s College (now a university) in Patchogue and later earned a master’s degree while teaching. Her husband, Joe, is a math instructor at Longwood Junior High School and their three children attend district schools.

Personal challenges — including the death of nephew Dominic Trionfo, a ninth grader in the district, in a personal watercraft accident in 2012 and her diagnosis of breast cancer in 2024 — have only strengthened Cebul's commitment to the community she calls home, she said. The community has rallied around her in return. It has supported a charity the family founded in Dominic’s memory. During her cancer treatments last year, residents organized a meal train and youth cheerleaders supported her “Lions for Lori” team in a breast cancer walk — a nod to the district’s mascot. Cebul said she is now cancer-free.

Cebul has taught kindergarten, first and second grades at Coram Elementary.

“They come in as babies, and you spend the whole first half of the year just making connection with them, teaching them how to be in school, teaching them how to be social, teaching them how to be friends with each other,” she said of the youngest students. “Then by the end of the year, the amount of growth you see, it is amazing. You came to me in September, and now you’re reading. You came to me in September and now you’re able to sit in a chair and share with your friends.”

Cebul makes a point of connecting with students outside the classroom, attending their soccer games and other events. “We come back on Monday and they say, ‘You came to my game.’ They tell the whole class.”

Aliyah Ahmad, a fourth grader who had Cebul for first and second grades, remembers her teacher’s warmth. “She did fun crafts with us. She likes giraffes,” Aliyah said. Aliyah’s mother, Pauline, 44, of Medford, said she was impressed that Cebul called every student at the start of first grade. “That was a special touch,” she said.

Kimberly Longo, district assistant superintendent, called Cebul “a cheerleader for every child in the classroom.”

“She doesn’t just teach them,” Longo said. “She nurtures them.”

Nominate the passionate, engaging and innovative educators of Long Island to be featured in our Teacher Spotlight series by sending details to LILife@Newsday.com.

By Beth Whitehouse

Special to NewsdayBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.