The Board of Regents and the New York State Archives have selected Susan Stessin-Cohn to receive the 2006 Bruce W. Dearstyne Annual Archives Award for Excellence in the Educational Use of Local Government Records by an Educator.
The award will be presented to Stessin-Cohn at a luncheon ceremony at the State Education Building in Albany on October 23, 2006. The Dearstyne award is named for a former division director of the State Archives who was a strong advocate for the use of historical records in the classroom.
The award recognizes Ms. Stessin-Cohn, who is an instructor of teachers and a historical consultant, for making extensive use of historical records to foster student and teacher interest in local history. She has written numerous successful grants that result in professional development and curriculum materials for teachers.
These materials build on the state's learning standards and enhance a student’s higher level reasoning skills with activities that require analysis, interpretation and evaluation. The award also cites two of Stessin-Cohn’s teaching packets, The Builders of Ulster County, A Curriculum on the History of Immigration and Who’ll Weep for Me? as outstanding examples of using historical records to encourage student creativity and achieve good performance.
Previous winners of the Dearstyne Award include Marilou Abramshe of St. Columbanus School in Cortlandt Manor (2000), Sherry Tu of Liberty High School in New York City (2001), Mary Borden/Ruth Shippee of the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES (2002), Larry Slanovich of the Yorkshire Pioneer Central School District (2003), Deborah Escobar of the Guilderland Central School District (2004), and Victor Town Historian Babette Huber (2005)
The annual Archives Awards program recognizes outstanding efforts in archives and records management work in New York State by a broad range of individuals and organizations. A complete list of this year's award recipients follows:
William Hoyt Advocacy Award
Archivists Roundtable of Metropolitan New York
Excellence in Research Using the Holdings of the State Archives
Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Department of History, Loyola University, Chicago
Debra E. Bernhardt Award for Excellence in Documenting New York’s
History
The Rochester Museum and Science Center and the Latino Alliance
Program Excellence in a Historical Records Repository
Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz, New York
William H. Kelly Award for Excellence in Local Government Archival
Program Development
Saratoga County
Cheryl Steinbach Award for Excellence in Local Government Records Management
Town of Cheektowaga
Excellence in State Agency Records Management
New York State Emergency Management Office
Bruce W. Dearstyne Educator Award for Excellence in the Educational
Use of Local Government Records
Susan Stessin-Cohn, Ulster County
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 4-5 and The Regents Award of Distinction for Student
Research
The Walden History Group, Walden Elementary School, Walden. Educator: Nancy
Phelps
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 6-8
Edward Bugniazet and Nicholas LaSorsa, Windward School, White Plains. Educators:
Marjorie R. Gleit and John Manganiello
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 9-12
Lauren Koenig, tenth grader at Solomon Schechter High School, Glen Cove. Educator:
Dr. Linda Rubino