Twenty-three Nassau County Educators Receive NASTECH NASTAR Awards

Nassau BOCES and the Nassau Association of School Technologists (NASTECH) held its fourth annual Nassau Association of School Technologists Award Recipient (NASTAR) awards ceremony recently at the Nassau BOCES Brookville Outdoor and Environmental Education Center.  

The NASTAR awards were created by NASTECH to honor individuals for their innovation, leadership and support of technology initiatives in their school districts. Each recipient is selected by their district based on this criterion. This year, a total of 23 Nassau County educators were acknowledged for their achievements in a ceremony led by Data Privacy and Security Service Supervisor Laura Pollak and Program Specialist Barbara Deal.  

“Barbara (Deal) and I feel so fortunate to have the privilege of recognizing the educators who work tirelessly to promote technology programs in our Nassau County districts,” said Laura Pollack, Nassau BOCES Data Privacy and Security Service Supervisor. “The NASTAR awards event highlights how brightly these educators shine, and we look forward to honoring even more NASTARs next year.” 

The 2022 NASTECH NASTAR award recipients are: 

Jack Bixhorn, Oyster Bay-East Norwich CSD 
Stacey Bowden, Plainview-Old Bethpage CSD 
Mary Brower, Diocese of Rockville Centre 
Margeaux Calemmo, Garden City UFSD 
Edward Courtney, Long Beach City SD 
Samantha Gallagher, Great Neck UFSD 
Heather Graham, Valley Stream 30 UFSD 
Harold Gutierrez, Evergreen Charter School 
Casey Hauptman, Freeport UFSD 
Kathleen Jay, Syosset CSD 
Wayne Jensen, East Williston UFSD 
Sylvia Kallich, Uniondale UFSD 
Amy Leo, Jericho UFSD 
Dr. Paul Lynch, Lynbrook UFSD 
Peter Niceforo, Manhasset UFSD 
Darlene O’Hearon, East Meadow UFSD 
Frank Seier, East Rockaway UFSD 
Maria Sidor, Locust Valley CSD 
Andrea Swicord, Bethpage UFSD 
Christine Talbot, North Merrick UFSD 
Giselle Taylor, Glen Cove CSD 
Robin Wilensky, North Shore Hebrew Academy 
Dena Zornberg, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park UFSD 

Additionally, a special retirement tribute was given by Garden City UFSD and Nassau BOCES to Dr. Rita Melikian for her dedicated years of service, and certificates of appreciation were awarded to NASTECH Executive Committee Members, presenters, NASTECH Mentors and NASTECH “Rookies.” After the ceremony, award recipients had the opportunity to experience some of the activities at the Brookville Outdoor and Environmental Education Center led by Nassau BOCES Naturalists.