Bethpage-Tribune_2009-03-20

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Volume 47 Number 10 329 Broadway., Bethpage, NY U7H March 20- 26, 2009 ( 5l6) 68I- 0440 ext. 21 FAX ( 516) 661- 9354 Email; NusE2u^ gaol. com 50 Cents
Susan McGovern Yansick of
Bethpage High School Named
Harvard Club of Long Island.
Distinguished Teacher of 2009"
One of ten teachers to receive
this award — from across the 120-
plus school districts on Long Island
— Mrs. Yansick will receive her
award at the Harvard Club's
University Relations Lunch on
March 14th. Following the award
ceremony, Professor Emeritus
Marshall I. Goldman, of Wellesley
College and the Harvard Russian
Research Center, will speak on
" Petrostate: Putin, Power and the
New Russia." An expert on Putin,
Gorbachev, Yeltsin , and the
Russian economy. Dr. Goldman has
published widely in Foreign Affairs,
Atlantic Monthly, Boston Globe,
Harvard Business Review, New
York Times and Washington Post.
' These awards were created to
recognize teachers who have
transformed the lives of our Long
Island students," explained Dr.
Judith Esterquest, a board member
of the Long Island Club. " Teachers
like Susan Yansick, expending
countless hours and extraordinary
energy, day after day, year after
year, they shape our country's future
— and they do so one student at a
time."
Mrs. Yansick, who teaches AP
Literature, Creative Writing, and
SCALE ( a college credit course
given in conjunction with LIU C. W.
Post Campus) and began her
teaching career in 1971, will be
retiring this June after spending 24
years at Bethpage. Besides teaching
almost every English course offered
at Bethpage High School, she is an
active mentor to new teachers in the
district, hosts student teachers and
observers. Outside of class, she
works with students who need extra
help to succeed on the NYS ELA
Regents; organizes poetry readings;
and, with students who display
outstanding talent in writing, she
shares her considerable success as a
published author.
Her personal writing talent has
been honed over a long career. Her
twelve historical romances and one
novella have been published on five
continents and translated into more
than a dozen languages. In addition,
Mrs. Yansick has written for
newspapers, published articles and
book reviews in trade magazines,
and written articles on pedagogy
and education, such a " Expanding
Literary Frames of Reference:
Mythological and Biblical
Allusions," " Teaching
Shakespeare.. . And Everything
Else," " Why not Teach Reading in
the Content Area?" She has also
authored nearly a thousand
recommendations for students — for
as many as 23 students per year,
with seniors often requiring six to
nine recommendations each. Fewer
than ten have been for students
applying to Harvard.
The oldest of seven siblings,
Mrs. Yansick grew up in a town
with sixteen first cousins before
earning her B. A. at Marymount
College, her M. A. in English from
Hofstra, and a certificate in
Administration from C. W. Post /
LIU. Married to husband Gary, she
has two grown sons and what she
describes as " two very pampered"
dogs. She enjoys visiting historical
sites throughout the US and beyond
its borders, having traveled in Italy,
France, Spain, England, Russia,
( Continued on Page 7)
U. S. Open Golf Artist,
Elaine Thompson is Setting
All Time Record Sales
The Syosset Public Library will
be exhibiting the work of world-renowned
golf artist, Elaine Faith
Thompson. The work will be on
view now through March 31 at the
library's Art Gallery at 225 South
Oyster Bay Road in Syosset. On
Saturday, March 28,2009 there
will be an artist's reception from
9: 45 A. M. to 4: 30 P. M. Thompson
will be displaying her original 2009
U. S. Open at Bethpage Black golf
painting, which was commissioned
by The United States Golf
Association. The poster and tl
original painting are both finalists m
the " Best On Long Island Awards".
Jamie Mas, the eleven- year- old
caddie model in the painting, will be
making a guest appearance during
the entire reception. Refreshments
will be served. Thompson will also
be unveiling a surprise painting at
the reception. Who do you think the
celebrity in the painting will be?
The commemorative, 2009 U. S.
Open at Bethpage Black poster,
produced from the official painting,
is being sold at the Bethpage
ProShop at the Bethpage State Park
Golf Course and through the USGA
website, www. usgacatalog. com.
This work of art will also available
at the upcoming 109th U. S. Open in
June 2009 at the Bethpage Golf
Course. So far, Thompson's 2009
Bethpage poster is outselling *<
( Continued on Page 9)