Press Releases

April 26, 2002
Love of Teaching Leads to Top Honors from Southampton College

Hampton Bays High School English Teacher MaryAlice Griffin Named "Teacher of the Year"

Contact:
Patricia Conway (PR@southampton.liu.edu)
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

"I teach because it allows me to combine two things that I love-the power of the written word and the rewards that come from working with young people," said Maryalice Griffin, a 10-year veteran of Hampton Bays High School. That combination has paid off for Griffin. She been named the 2002 Secondary Teacher of the Year by Southampton College of Long Island University.

Griffin will receive her award on Sunday, May 19 at 2 p.m. at the commencement ceremonies at Southampton College. She will receive a $500 honorarium, and the Hampton Bays School District will receive $1000 at a special morning brunch for the College's honorees.

Griffin teaches Advanced Placement courses in English Literature and Composition, 12th grade Regents Level English, and Yearbook Journalism/Desktop Publishing. She wrote the current curriculum for AP English Literature and Composition course and serves as the Yearbook Advisor. She is a member of the selection committee for National Honor Society as well as the College Scholarship selection committee. She mentors in the District Mentoring Program for new teachers and has been responsible for training and monitoring the progress of student teachers.

Griffin came to teaching later in life, after raising her four children, but was never far from teaching. During that time, she taught weekly oil painting classes at St. Joseph's School in Lake Ronkonkoma and substituted in Sachem School District to keep herself current both with educational standards and with the pulse of the students. She says that the choice to put off her full-time teaching career proved to be an advantage. "I came to the realization that being a mother had actually enabled me to be a more productive teacher," explained Griffin. "I found that I had developed more empathy and understanding of their needs and concerns, as well as a real feel for the natural behaviors that go with adolescence."

Griffin earned her B.A. in English from Molloy College in Rockville Centre, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and was the Valedictorian and received her M.A. in Liberal Studies from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.