Teachers work tirelessly to receive tenure, and Manhasset High School athletics director James Amen has earned the distinction six times.
Amen and 29 other teachers across the district were honored Tuesday at the annual tenure ceremony in the secondary school’s black box theater.
“You’re impacting the lives of 3,000 kids per year, roughly,” Superintendent Vincent Butera said. “If you take that out 20 years or so, you’ve been given a ticket to change the lives of 50,000 to 60,000 kids in a career. I can think of no greater responsibility and certainly given what you’ve done so far, you’ve earned the right to that ticket.”
Teachers were honored individually throughout the ceremony by Butera, Board of Education President Regina Rule and their respective principals and administrators while Charles Leone, the assistant superintendent for curriculum, read what stands out in each teacher’s journey through the tenure track at Manhasset.
“I’ve been given the opportunity to challenge, encourage and motivate students each and every day,” Leone read on behalf of secondary school special education and science teacher Karalyn Schoepfer. “It wasn’t until I worked with students who needed me the most that I realized what an impact I can have on their lives. I’m so grateful to be given the opportunity to work in a district that provides extensive support to students of all talents and abilities.”
Three teachers assistants, Kevin Larke and Anne Leavy from the secondary school and Josh Guerrieri from Shelter Rock Elementary School, and one teacher from Munsey Park Elementary School, Mallory Anger, were granted tenure.
Shelter Rock Elementary School special education teacher Amber Manzi, English as a second language teacher Christina Arata, music teacher Samantha Goldberg and elementary teacher Caryn Shackel were also among the 30 honored.
From the secondary school, 19 teachers were celebrated, including Lynne Aloia, Nicholas Armstrong, Kristin Benson, Jeremy Berman, Nikki Buckley, Andrew Clark, Kimberly Crawford, Nancy Diaz, Nancy Domenech, Matthew Kaufman, Traci LeDour, Margarita Leonard, Jacklyn Medina, Kimberly Pleines, David Rupp, Karalyn Schoepfer, Lauren Tallarine, Annie Tear and Manoj Thadhani.
Three district-wide staffers, Allison Goldstein-Calderon, Thomas Elkins and Amen, rounded out the group.
“I could not be more excited, more proud and more grateful to celebrate each of you tonight,” Rule said. “It is an absolute honor for us to be able to welcome you into the Manhasset district, and I just want to say to you all, thank you for sharing your devotion, your love, your passion for learning with our students, most importantly, but you inspire all of us at the same time.”
