Great Neck Educators Among 2020 Rauch Fellows

GREAT NECK, NY — Four Great Neck Union Free School District educators will participate as Rauch Foundation Fellows in this year’s Reimagining Education Summer Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University, according to a Thursday announcement from President of ERASE Racism Elaine Gross.

A total of 30 educators from 10 Long Island school districts, including Syosset Central School District and Jericho Union Free School District, were awarded funding from the Rauch Foundation — a Long Island-based family foundation that "invests in human development and sustainability" — to participate in the renowned, four-day, professional development institute. This year's fellows include teachers, an assistant superintendent, four principals and eight assistant principals.

This is the first year in which the Great Neck School District has had Rauch Foundation Fellows, and this is the third year of the fellows. All four of the fellows from Great Neck School District are from Great Neck North High School: Principal Dan Holtzman, Asisstant Principals Kathy Snyder and Ron Levine, and teacher and Dean Cathy Behar.

The Reimagining Summer Institute will be held virtually July 13-16 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and focus on "Teaching, Learning, and Leading for a Racially Just Society."

"In light of the racial and ethnic inequalities and health disparities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," the institute’s website reads,"we believe that the work we are doing at Teachers College to reimagine education for a racially just society is even more timely and urgent."

Each year, the institute is designed to help all educators learn how to create integrated schools and classrooms that "tap into the educational benefits of racial and ethnic diversity." The Teachers College at Columbia University, where the institute is held each year, is one of the nation’s top graduate schools of education.

This year's institute takes place amid nationwide protests against racial injustice following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died when a police officer held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

In addition, the coronavirus outbreak has been found to disproportionately affect Black and Latino people throughout the country, across all age groups. Blacks and Latinos are three times as likely as their white neighbors to become infected, and they have been found to be nearly twice as likely as white people to die from COVID-19, according to new federal data.

"The benefits of diverse education are profound, and all Long Islanders should have access to them," Gross said. "Funding from the Rauch Foundation has made it possible for these 30 educators to participate in the Reimagining Education Summer Institute and the superb professional development experience for which it is renowned. This year’s Rauch Foundation Fellows will gain this impressive experience and be able to put it to work for Long Islanders."