ALBANY, N.Y. Sept. 13, 2016 – New York State United Teachers today applauded the selection of Amy Hysick, a high school science teacher at Cicero-North Syracuse High School, as the 2017 New York State Teacher of the Year, saying she represents the best of what the state's knowledgeable, highly skilled and dedicated teachers bring to their classrooms every day.
Hysick has been teaching Regents Living Environment in North Syracuse – her alma mater – for the past 12 years and has also taught community chemistry in the district. Hysick, whose parents are career educators and retired NYSUT members, is known for challenging her students to meet learning targets, while also fostering a mindset in students that mistakes are opportunities to further their own learning and personal growth.
In congratulating Hysick, NYSUT President Karen E. Magee said, "Exemplary teachers and paraprofessionals are hallmarks of our public education system. Among all our state's great educators, Amy Hysick stands out. She brings passion, humor and intelligence to her work. She engages her students and makes science relevant to their lives. Amy understands learning is a process and that, when students are supported properly, even mistakes and wrong answers can be tremendous learning opportunities. That is the essence of teaching and learning."
On behalf of all the state's teachers and paraprofessionals, NYSUT Vice President Catalina Fortino applauded Hysick's selection and said, "Her commitment to students, her community and the teaching profession is evident in everything she does."
"Amy is adventuresome in setting goals for herself and designing creative lessons for her students. She takes risks in her classroom and is fearless in blazing unconventional paths in order to reach all of her students," Fortino said. "Her dedication to her students and community has made her a beloved teacher leader in North Syracuse and has inspired tremendous loyalty among her district's students, parents and faculty."
Hysick is a 1997 graduate of Binghamton University, where she also obtained her masters' degree in teaching in 1999. She succeeds Dana McDonough, a second-grade teacher in Newburgh, who served as the 2016 New York State Teacher of the Year.
NYSUT also saluted this year's finalists: Carolyn Dorritie, a high school math teacher at Port Jervis High School in the Port Jervis School District; Nicole Malone, an English teacher at William T. Rogers Middle School in the Kings Park School District; Natasha Murray, a math teacher at Copiague Middle School in Copiague; and Lauren Bakian Aaker, a fourth-grade teacher at P.S. 110 The Florence Nightingale School in Manhattan.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
>
-30-