Weber Middle School’s Annual Career Day

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Lila Abbate

Dr. Lila Abbate is the owner and director of New Dimensions Physical Therapy located in Manhasset. Dr. Abbate earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, Master of Arts in Physical Therapy, and Advanced Masters in Manual Orthopedic Physical Therapy from Touro College. She continued on to pursue her Doctorate of Physical Therapy and is currently specializing in women’s health while pursuing her Ph.D. at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Abbate is board-certified by the American Physical Therapy Association as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and Women’s Health Specialist. She is a Diane Lee/LJ Lee, Integrated Systems Model graduate and completed the New York series in 2012. From 2003-2006, at Touro College, Dr. Abbate taught courses and lectured in the biomechanical approach to orthopedic dysfunction, therapeutic exercise and massage/soft tissue work that highlighted trigger points, and scar management /myofascial release. She is currently on faculty at Columbia University teaching the Women’s Health elective and also teaches nationally with the Herman & Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute

on topics including the pelvic floor, bowel pathology and coccydynia pain. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, the National Vulvodynia Association and the American Urogynecology Association.

Christina Alexander

Christina Alexander is an ex-captain in the Port Washington Fire Department, Fire Medic Company No.1. She has been a volunteer for the department since 1994 and has worked there in an administrative capacity, as an interior structural firefighter, and an emergency medical technician for critical care.

Maria Alfano-Hardy Ms. Alfano-Hardy is an adminstrator and chief financial officer for the Incorporated Village of Bayville.

Todd Alster Todd Alster received a Bachelor of Science in sports management. He is currently working part-time in sales and has high hopes to continue his education to become an athletic director. When not working, Mr. Alster is an assistant basketball coach at his local high school. He also spends his summer working at a camp on Long Island.

Silvia Alvarez

Silvia Alvarez is the state press secretary for U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). She has over 15 years experience

designing and executing successful communications strategies for great institutions and individuals in the fields of sports and entertainment as well as high-level politics and public policy. She is a veteran of New York City politics, media and government and an expert in multicultural engagement with an intimate understanding of New York City’s diverse communities.

Prior to joining U.S. Senator Cory Booker’s office, Ms. Alvarez worked as a director in Burson Martsteller’s public affairs department. There, she led a team of professionals in implementing strategic communications counsel and agency recommendations to a diverse client list. As a communications consultant for Bloomberg Sports, Ms. Alvarez worked on the brand launch and raised awareness of its consumer and professional baseball and football products Front Office and Decision Maker, all with the goal of achieving higher sales and usage. Working closely with business, sports and technology bloggers and writers, she secured a myriad of publicity for the brand and its products in just its first year. In fact, Bloomberg Sports shared the spotlight with some of the most trusted brands in the field (i.e. Turner Sports and ESPN) in being voted one of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Sports. When Ms. Alvarez collaborated with a team of professionals to generate support for the enactment of a proposed ban on smoking in public spaces, her relationship with the Bloomberg administration began. Mayor Bloomberg supported Ms. Alvarez’s initiative and its institution remains one of the proudest moments of her career. She subsequently joined the administration as the Mayor's deputy press secretary, overseeing media relations for city agencies with a focus on human services, youth, community affairs and housing.

In 2009, Ms. Alvarez served as a senior communications officer and community liaison for the 2009 reelection campaign of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg where she contributed to community engagement and helped secure prominent and strategic endorsements. Her communications career also includes work as the director of multicultural and charitable communications for Major

League Baseball where she developed the press strategy for special national events and community initiatives, including its annual all-star game and world series. In 2001, Ms. Alvarez’s team was recognized with the Silver Sabre Award from the Holmes Group for their public relations work on the “Close the Book on Hate” campaign. In 1999, Silvia was presented with the Silver Anvil Award from PRWeek for her work on the “Allergies en Español” campaign. She currently serves as a board member for Global Language Project and previously served on the board for the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC). She has also been a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). Ms. Alvarez earned her B.A. from Colgate University and M.A. from Middlebury College. A native of El Salvador, she, is a resident of Riverdale, NY.

Chris Avazis

Chris Avazis was born and raised in Port Washington, attended Port Washington schools, is a Port Washington parent and attended Adelphi University. He is president and founder of Arena Graphics, Inc. and Arena Sport Center located at 52 Main Street in Port Washington. Arena specializes in custom-imprinted apparel for sports teams, schools and businesses and its retail store services

local sporting goods needs in the community. Mr. Avazis has been a volunteer lacrosse, basketball, field hockey and volleyball coach for over 25 years through PYA and CYO. He is on the board of directors for Port Washington Youth Activities and the Port Washington Lions Club, where he also served as president.

Scott Beckstrand Scott Beckstrand is assistant director for the Office of Small Business Programs at US Army Corps of Engineers. He got his B.S. in Family Psychology at Brigham Young University and his J.D. at California Western School of Law.

Dawn Berkowitz-Ader

As the mother of two daughters who weren’t comfortable participating in team sports, Ms. Berowitz-Ader was determined to find out why so many girls felt the same way. She spent a lot of time researching and speaking to experts with the hope of changing this dynamic, and created GAALS (Girls Athletics and Life Skills). GAALS is a class designed specifically for young girls that teaches the fundamental skills needed in sports, reinforced by the valuable skills needed in life: confidence, communication, teamwork, leadership and problem-solving. Prior to GAALS, Ms. Berkowitz-Ader worked with cable companies throughout the world in various capacities - from writing, producing and directing, to marketing and branding. A 20-year veteran of the television industry, she has garnered dozens of prestigious industry awards.

As the head of on-air creative for History Channel’s international division, Ms. Berkowitz-Ader successfully launched more than a dozen international channels and oversaw their local on-air creative teams. Following her five years at History, she worked alongside executives at USA, A&E and Syfy on large-scale projects, and produced the rebranding of Bravo and Oxygen.

Ms. Berkowitz-Ader graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Ithaca College. After living in Manhattan for 17 years, she is acclimating to life in Port Washington where she lives with her family, and enjoys spinning, swimming, being outdoors and spending time with her daughters, husband and dog Ziggy in her free time.

Lisa Bondy

Lisa Bondy, E-RYT is a founder and partner of Practice Body Mind Soul where she is accountable for yoga, teacher trainings and quality. A yogi and meditator for 30 years, known for her satsang, Ms. Bondy challenges one to move beyond the bounds of the mind and expand into an empowering experience of authenticity and self-realization. Practicing breath, movement, and self-reflection, drawing on spiritual wisdom from many disciplines, Lisa's intention and expertise lies in her ability to lead students on a healing, transformational journey – body, mind and soul. Ms. Bondy received her B.A. in History and Philosophy from Adelphi. Since her first teaching certification from Be Yoga with Alan Finger in 2001, she has studied ashtanga, and vinyasa yoga as well as more alignment/therapeutic based yoga practices. Ms. Bondy’s additional trainings include Ashtanga Primary Series with David Swenson, Ashtanga Intermediate Series with Tim Miller, Advanced Rasa Vinyasa with Shiva Rae, Yoga Anatomy with Leslie

Kaminoff, YogaKids with Marsha Wenig, and Laughter Yoga! A dedicated ashtangi, she is forever indebted to her Gurujii, the late Sri K Pattabhi Jois and family. Ms. Bondy is also proud to be a founder of the nourishment program at Practice. She has been a part of the holistic health and lifestyle movement, and an environmentalist for the past 30 years. A passionate natural gourmet/farm to

table and macrobiotic cook, she wholeheartedly believes in the healing/transformational power of food. Furthermore, as chairperson of her children's elementary school nutrition committee for many years, Ms. Bondy worked with the district to make school meals healthier - adding vegetarian/vegan choices every day, a salad bar, soup offerings and BGH-free milk. Lisa also founded a neighborhood organic food cooperative, partnered in a natural food market and raised two beautiful healthy young men who were weaned on carrot/green juices and enthusiastically eat kale, sea vegetables, adzuki beans and quinoa! A certified health and wellness nutrition coach, Ms. Bondy specializes in clean living-eating and detox cleansing to enhance life force energy for a more direct experience of vibrant robust health and happiness.

Jeremiah Bosgang

In his 20-plus career in the entertainment business, Jeremiah Bosgang has worked as a senior executive at broadcast and cable television networks and production companies as well as a senior creative in theatre, film and television.

Mr. Bosgang’s credits include developing “Seinfeld” at NBC and “Martin” at FBC, serving as vice president of development at MTV (FANatic and Oddville, MTV), senior vice president of programming at FX (The X Show and Son of a Beach) and senior vice president of programming and acquisitions at Madison Square Garden Networks (The Andy and Landry Show). He also developed TV and digital content in his leadership roles at The Howard Stern

Production Company and SONY BMG Music Entertainment. On the creative side, Mr. Bosgang has written for Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, Dame Edna Everage and Son of a Beach. He also co-created and executive-produced The Best Damn Sports Show Period at Fox Sports Net as well as Howard Stern: The High School Years at Spike.

As a performer, Mr. Bosgang toured with Chicago’s Second City (the largest improv and sketch comedy school in the world) where he wrote, produced and directed the New York Comedy Film Festival “Best Feature,” the award-winning indie film, Good Money. He also produced the original musical Having It Almost at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Mr. Bosgang holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and certification from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management Executive Program. Today he works for Tribune Studios where he develops and produces new concepts for television series and lives in Port Washington with his wife, their two sons, dog and three hairless cats.

Judi Bosworth

Judi Bosworth took office in 2014 as the 37th Supervisor of the Town North Hempstead, following 6 years with the Nassau County Legislature as the representative for the 10th District, and 16 years serving the Great Neck School District Board of Education.

Throughout her career in public service, Supervisor Bosworth has forged strong working relationships with

federal, state, town, village and school officials and has distinguished herself as a consensus-maker and leader. She has always shown a strong commitment to public works and capital improvement projects, public safety and emergency management, environmental protection and restoration projects, transparent and open government and fiscally-conservative budgeting. Representing more than 230,000 residents, the priorities of Supervisor Bosworth’s administration include improving customer service throughout the Town; enhancing recreational programming for young families; strengthening the Town's already robust senior citizen programming, and taking the "Yes We Can" Community Center to the next level with improved and expanded programming. Supervisor Bosworth is also working to strengthen the environmental protection of our sole source aquifer and restoring our shorelines to their original healthful condition and splendor. Supervisor Bosworth has successfully lobbied federal representatives in Washington, DC, for much-needed Sandy Recovery funds to address several critical rebuilding projects in the Town including restoration of the Town Dock, rebuilding bulk heads and seawalls and aquatic sand removal in Hempstead Harbor and several ponds in the area.

From the start, Supervisor Bosworth has made a concerted effort to enhance public access to North Hempstead government and enhance public participation in Town Board meetings. Specifically, she spearheaded two significant procedural changes by live-streaming these meetings and moving the public comment portion to the beginning so residents don’t have to wait until the end to speak about important matters.

Supervisor Bosworth has also implemented measures to achieve increased transparency and enhanced customer service in the Town’s building department. On day one of her administration, she appointed a new applicant advocate who is solely dedicated to assisting residents in navigating the permit process. The applicant advocate holds community-based evening office hours to provide greater convenience for residents. In recognition of her strong advocacy and work on behalf of the community, Supervisor Bosworth has received the Lions Club of Great Neck’s George Carr Humanitarian Award; the Great Neck Arts Center’s Inspiration Award; the New York State Senate Woman of Distinction Award from former Senator Michael Balboni; the Trailblazer of the New Millennium by the Nassau County Legislature; and was named to the Town of North Hempstead’s May W. Newburger Women’s Roll of Honor. Supervisor Bosworth also served as a trustee of the Board of Education of the Great Neck Public Schools, serving as president, vice-president and board liaison to the Great Neck Senior Center. She was also instrumental in bringing government and health services directly into the community when she coordinated special projects for Assemblyman Thomas P. DiNapoli.

A former New York City public school elementary teacher, Judi received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education from City University of New York at Queens College. Judi and her husband, Dr. Jay Bosworth, reside in Great Neck. They have two adult children, Brian and Michael, and two grandchildren, Andrew Benjamin and Robin Elizabeth.

Eileen Brown Eileen Brown manages strategic relationships in the toy industry. She has been with The NPD Group since 2003 where she leads business development and market analytics. Prior to this, she managed research, client service, product development and data-related initiatives for the U.S. telecom marketplace, with emphasis on consumer acquisition of smartphones and accessories. Before Ms. Brown’s tenure at The NPD Group, she began her career at the Kellogg Company. During her 18-year tenure, she held a variety of product, marketing and executive sales leadership positions within the ready-to-eat cereal and breakfast snacks industry. She helped drive management initiatives that were centered on building successful cross-functional and profit-driven customer teams. Her executive level assignments were in foodservice and retail, collaborating with retailers that included Food Lion, H.E. Butt, Publix, Stop & Shop and Walmart. Following her long career at Kellogg, Ms. Brown was also a senior consultant at The Catalyst Group, where she developed marketing and sales strategies for clients such as Kraft and ConAgra that led to organizational restructuring. Prior to joining NPD, she was vice president of Channel Strategy and Development at Schoolpop, Inc., a school loyalty marketing startup.

Ms. Brown earned a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Delaware, and an A.A.S. from Cobleskill College. She also completed M.B.A. graduate courses in marketing from Fordham University. In her free time, Ms. Brown enjoys golfing, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.

Hayley Foster Byer

Hayley Foster Byer is an organization maven, master of time, space, and budgets, lover of spreadsheets, and queen of sweets. Before spending 10 years in client services at Organic, Inc., Ms. Byer worked at Wells Rich Green and Grey Advertising,

building online and offline advertising campaigns for some of the largest brands in the world. In 2002, she was recruited to help launch Verge Promotional Marketing, a distributor of promotional products for events, trade shows and corporate giveaways. Their focus was on finding creative, innovative and on-trend products. Over the course of building the business at Verge, Ms. Byer and her team ultimately shifted their hub to fashion, beauty and home accessories and changed their name to Verge Creative Group. VCG now designs and manufactures merchandise for mid-to-high end retailers such as Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, DKNY and Nautica. With a team of designers, brand strategists, trend analysts and marketing experts, Verge marries the world of strategy and style that results in fashion-driven solutions, including small leather goods, handbags, jewelry, stationery, home goods, packaging and tech accessories.

Thirteen years later, and never a dull moment, Ms. Byer still loves conjuring up new procedures, evaluating and managing the business, organizing the staff and company resources, schmoozing clients and assessing financial reports. When she is not wearing multiple hats and keeping her eye on the prize, you can find her juggling her

two gorgeous girls, skiing out west or entertaining the masses of the blogosphere.

Lilia Charno

Lilia M. Charno received her B.S.N. from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles and M.S.N. in Primary Care Pediatrics from the University Of California, San Francisco. Her role as a pediatric nurse practitioner is to deliver

comprehensive wellness and health care services to children ages 0 to 26. Ms. Charno works with her patients by conducting physical exams, administering immunizations and developmental assessments, counseling through anticipatory guidance, diagnosing, treating, and managing acute and chronic childhood illnesses. She has worked in a variety of settings over the past 20 years and is currently an associate professor of pediatrics at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, where she teaches nursing students the basics of pediatric nursing care.

Steve Charno

Steven Charno graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. in English Literature, and later received a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. He is currently president of Douglaston Development, a real estate company that develops and builds both luxury and affordable residential housing projects in New York City. You can check out the

Douglaston Development website at www.douglastondevelopment.com.

Jack L. Conrad

Jack Conrad is a paleontologist and herpetologist who received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He

currently works at the American Museum of Natural History and New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Conrad has done paleontological fieldwork in the American West, Sahara Desert (Niger), Canadian Arctic (Ellesmere Island), Andean Altiplano (Bolivia), and Rusinga Island (Lake Victoria, Kenya). His research focuses on the history of our changing planet and the evolution of lizards, snakes, and their relatives.

Tara Costa

Tara Costa is a teacher, personal trainer and motivational speaker.

Christopher Crowley

Christopher Crowley designs parks and playgrounds.

Christopher Czarkowski

Chris Czarkowski work at the SyFy Channel.

Amy Dash

Amy Dash is hired independently by non-profit organizations to write grants to help seek funds for specific programs.

Andrea Day

Andrea Day is a TV news reporter in New York. She is currently at CNBC investigating white collar crime. She spent the past 15 years at Fox 5 New York where she appeared live each night on the Ten O’Clock News and made appearances on Good Day New York, the Fox News

Channel and My9News. While working in TV news she was also an investigative reporter and has interviewed many political leaders, celebrity icons and sports figures including Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Congressman Peter King, Sarah Jessica Parker, Justin Bieber, and Eli Manning. To date, Ms. Day has received 11 Emmy Award nominations and won three.

Dina DeGiorgio Dina DeGiorgio, Esq. is a successful, enthusiastic and motivated professional with 19 years of experience in the practice of law. After graduating from Fordham University, Rose Hill Campus, summa cum laude with a B.S. in Psychology, Ms. DeGiorgio immediately gained entrance to Fordham University Law School. She received her law degree in 1992, was admitted to the bar in 1995 and established her law practice in 1995. She has dedicated the last 16 years to developing that practice and raising her children. Her Port Washington-based law practice specializes in family law and real estate. Ms. DeGiorgio is an active member of the community with documented positive results from participation in school and civic projects. She volunteered on several elementary and middle school committees, was a class parent for each

of her children and served as the chairperson for the Pride and Port committee at Daly School for two years. She also taught as an adjunct professor of law at the New York Institute of Technology from 1996 through 1999. In 2008 Ms. DeGiorgio began to shift her practice from divorce litigation to mediation and received a post graduate

Certificate in Mediation from the Center for Mediation in Law. With three of her colleagues, she founded the Long Island Mediation Group. Until recently, Ms. DeGiorgio was a member of the Legal Resource Network where she served as a pro bono attorney for the Nassau County Coalition for Domestic Violence. In December 2010, in connection with this work, she was featured in an article on the New York State Bar Association website. The article can be accessed at http://nysbar.com/blogs/TheGoodWeDo/2010/12/dinas_story_pro_bono_service_t.html In 2011, Ms. DeGiorgio was elected Town Councilwoman for Port Washington in the Town of North Hempstead. She and her husband, Joe DiAlonzo, are raising Schreiber students Nicholas (17) and Samantha (14).

Angelo DiPippo

Angelo Di Pippo was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He is an alumnus of La Salle Academy and Holy Cross College. He received his M.A. from Long Island University and an honorary doctorate from Five Towns College. After graduating from Holy Cross, Mr. DiPippo came to New York to pursue a career in music. His career as a musician - performing, conducting, writing and arranging - has been long, varied, and fruitful.

Mr. DiPippo’s career started in television, where he became a staff musician at WOR-TV and worked on shows at ABC, NBC and various other local stations. He has performed on the Tonight Show, the Today Show, the Regis Philbin Show, Sesame Street, and the Jackie Gleason Show. and recently

performed with world- renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti in a live broadcast on WQXR’s The Green Space.

In addition to performances on-screen, Mr. DiPippo formed a jazz group featuring himself on accordion, Sam Most on flute and Tommy Potter on bass and delighted audiences at numerous venues and jazz festivals. His trio also recorded an album entitled "The Jazz Accordion” on the Apollo label.

Mr. DiPippo has played accordion on thousands of recordings, has concertized and recorded with many prominent artists, has written and produced hundreds of albums, and has played accordion and assistant conducted on broadway, for the New York City Ballet, and in several celebrated shows. For twenty-three years, he was the conductor and arranger for Metropolitan Opera baritone, Robert Merrill, and has done extensive arranging and conducting for other performers at the Met, Lincoln Center and for exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art. Mr. DiPippo has played on the soundtracks of many films, including The Godfather (where he appeared on screen playing accordion in the movie’s wedding scene), Wiseguys, Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love, and Children of the Corn. He also wrote a fusion album featuring the music (and celebrating the centenary) of Jerome Kern's birth with performances by Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, Sarah Vaughn, Stan Kenton, Nancy Wilson and Anita O’Day. Angelo was voted “Best Accordionist” in the prestigious Keyboard Magazine poll and was honored at the Las Vegas International Accordion Convention in 2011 for his “distinguished contribution to accordion music and culture through artistry and performance."

Angelo resides in Garden City, New York, and maintains a full schedule of assignments.

Mauro DiPreta

Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Random House's Crown Archetype Group, Mauro DiPreta has been an editor for more than two decades. His group, which includes Archetype, Harmony, Forum, Business and Three Rivers Press Imprints, is the leading publisher of branded authors, celebrity and pop culture, thought leaders, and books that make life better – in body, mind and spirit. Performing artists, comedians, health experts, thinkers, life- style gurus and many more trust his experienced and enthusiastic team to create excellent books that best represent their image, brand and vision. Mr. DiPreta and his team have been a dedicated publishing partner to all of their authors including Mindy Kaling, Jim Gaffigan, Pat Summitt, Haley Pomeroy, Jillian Michaels, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Pierre Dukan, Reid Joffan, Chip and Dan Heath, and Greg Gutfeld.

Among the bestselling artists, personalities, and authors Mr. DiPreta has published are Bill Parcells, Eric Idle, Yogi Berra, Yoko Ono, Dan Rather, Archie and Peyton Manning, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Far Side creator Gary Larson, Ben Mezrich, Dyan Cannon, and Russell Brand. His notable bestsellers include A Night Without Armor by Jewel,

Slash by Slash, Winning Every Day by Lou Holtz, The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin' by Bill Zehm, Pieces of My Heart by Robert J. Wagner, Sum It Up by Pat Summitt and Sally Jenkins, and Marley & Me by John Grogan.

Rhonda Ellinger

Rhonda Ellinger received her B.S. in Ocean Engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology and her Associate of Science in Environmental Engineering from Florida International University. She is starting her 30th year as owner-operator of Baked To Perfection in Port Washington and is in her second year as owner-operator of Ellinger Baking Institute.

Elizabeth Feeney

Beth Feeney, a graduate of Boston College with a degree in political science, is currently a vice president in IBM's global technology services unit. At IBM, she is responsible for leading an international services team that provides IT outsourcing solutions to consumer products and retail clients in the United States. Ms. Feeney has held a number of leadership roles in IBM's business services both domestically and internationally, including general management, sales, marketing, and product development.

Deborah Feil

Deborah Feil is Schreiber graduate who attended the University of Massachusetts at Lowell on a full athletic scholarship for women’s basketball. After graduating and obtaining her B.S. in Nursing, she had a unique opportunity to play professional basketball in Europe for a team based in Portugal, named Clube de Amigos, for two years. Upon returning to the United States, Ms. Feil accepted a job as a clinical nurse at St. Francis Hospital - the Heart Center in Roslyn. She then went back to college to obtain

her master’s degree in nursing education at Molloy College and is currently a clinical nurse specialist at St. Francis. Her clinical and administrative role at St. Francis includes consulting, educating, and researching.

Carin Forman

Carin Forman is a graduate of the University of Maryland in College Park. She started her career in television and

worked for the Discovery Channel for 16 years where she held several positions ranging from international sales and marketing of programming to helping build a film archive of all Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet programming. Ms. Forman moved with her family to NY in 2009, where she has worked the last 4 years for HBO as the director of digital photo services. In that capacity, her staff shoots all photography for HBO’s original programs, films, sports and documentaries. Ms. Forman also oversees the end- to-end photography lifecycle at HBO which includes shooting all photography on production sets, digitally retouching all imagery and posting it to the Digital Library, HBO’s photo sharing site.

Samuel Fox

Sam Fox took over a bankrupt car dealership that was closed for two years, became its owner, and turned it into one of the largest Cadillac dealerships in the country. City Cadillac Buick GMC in Long Island City has been winner of the prestigious “Cadillac Master Dealer” award for the past nine consecutive years. This award is given to a small percentage of Cadillac dealers in the country based on top ratings in customer satisfaction and top sales performance.

His dealership now sells over 2,000 cars a year and services over 10,000.

Richard Gallagher

Richard Gallagher is a senior mechanical estimator for Tishman Construction Co. in Manhattan. He has over 35 years experience in the industry, serving as project manager, mechanical superintendent and estimator for

several of the largest mechanical contractors and construction management companies in New York. Mr. Gallagher is fortunate to have been involved in the construction of some of the most important construction projects in recent New York City history, including: the Time Warner Center, One Bryant Park, Goldman Sachs Headquarters, Hudson Yards Redevelopment, and the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, including One World Trade Center (formally the Freedom Tower). He also taught mechanical estimating at New York University's School of Continuing & Professional Studies, and is a lifetime member of the Society of American Value Engineers.

Trish Gargani

After majoring in communications at Marist and Nassau Community College, Trish Gargani started her career in New York City. Here, she worked for a public relations firm where she managed several clients including L’Oreal and Hasbro. From there, she switched her focus to marketing at a firm on Long Island, where she also started a family. After a while, Ms. Gargani realized that raising two small children while managing a full-time business-centered

career was too demanding and did not provide her with the quality of life for which she had hoped. As a result, she decided to get out of marketing and back into doing what she always loved as a kid and began teaching dance part-time at a studio in Port Washington. After teaching there for 8 years, she decided to purchase the business, and is now the director and owner of Danceworks, New York. Being invited to speak at Weber’s career day is a full circle moment for Ms. Gargani, as she attended both Weber and Schreiber! Feel free to visit her website at www.danceworksny.com

Kim Gazda Kim Gazda grew up in Port Washington and is raising her 4th and 7th grade children here, in our community. Ms. Gazda holds a master’s degree in social work and is the campaign director at Long Island’s UJA-Federation. Here, she is serving the world’s largest local charity by helping to organize volunteers and raise money for needy New Yorkers and crisis victims around the world. Check out the organization’s website at www.ujafedny.org

Mindy Germain

Mindy Germain majored in communications in college and

has worked for many non-profit organizations. She is the executive director for Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington and a commissioner of Port Washington Water District where she works with various people to preserve quality of life on the peninsula, clean up the water, deal with salt water intrusion and runoff, and fix up both Main Street and The Mill Pond.

Kathy Gleeson

Kathy Gleeson graduated from Long Island University with a B.S. in Business Management. She began her career in GEICO's call center as a sales and service representative of insurance products at their regional office in Woodbury, NY. While attending LIU, she advanced her career over the years by holding positions of increasing responsibility in operations, training, planning, underwriting, consumer relations and call center management. She was promoted to the position of sales and service director at GEICO's regional office in Dallas, TX. A subsequent opportunity to join a start-up company lured Ms. Gleeson back to the east coast where she collaborated with its founders and executive team to build a $225 million national insurance company. As Vice President, Customer Service and Sales, she was responsible for building and then growing the sales and service operations for the new company over several locations. She is now retired and living in CT.

Todd Greenberg Todd Greenberg is the principal of Lowell Road Asset Management. He is focused on uncovering undervalued investment opportunities and managing client portfolios, which include stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Mr.

Greenberg has more than seventeen years of investment advisory experience. He received B.S. in Regional Development from the University of Arizona and holds the Certified Financial Planner™ designation.

Gail Grossman Gail Grossman is the proud Port Washington mom of two wonderful children, Alix and Daniel, who inspired her to quit her job in a field that no longer fed her soul and pursue yoga - one of her greatest passions. Ms. Grossman has been teaching yoga since 2000 and is the founder and director of Om Sweet Om in Port Washington. She is certified at the 500-hour level through various methods including YogaKids, Yoga For The Special Child, Radiant Child Yoga, BeYoga with Alan Finger and Janice Ventresca, and YogaBloom with Cora Wen. She has also trained with Judith Lasater, Leslie Kaminoff, Gabriel Halpern, Kofi Busia and Leslie Howard. Ms. Grossman started practicing meditation at 10 years old. Little did she know that the connection she felt through meditation would be sparked later in life through yoga. Once she fell in love with the practice of yoga, all she wanted to do was share it with others. Her greatest hope was, and continues to be, to help as many people as possible find balance in their lives through its physical, philosophical and spiritual practice. In bringing yoga to the community and raising her family here, Ms. Grossman has been an integral part of Port Washington since 2000. She is a member of Yoga Alliance

and the International Association of Yoga Therapists. And though running a business can be difficult at times, it is her family and her personal yoga practice that helps her keep it together. Look for her first book publication in January 2015: Restorative Yoga for Life and check out www.omsweetomyoga.com

Tony Guzzello

Officer Tony Guzzello is a former Schreiber graduate. He pursued collegiate studies at Empire State College – Old Westbury. During this time, he was a volunteer fire fighter and medic in Port Washington. He then went on to the Police Academy to become a police officer. He is now certified as a police instructor and has been a detective since 2007. He has been a resource to the Port Washington

schools and community since 1996.

Shelley Hausspiegel

Shelley is a designer and manufacturer who creates accessories and home goods for adults, tweens and young adults.

David Hirschwerk

David Hirschwerk, M.D., is an infectious disease specialist at North-Shore Long Island Jewish Health System. His challenge is to determine what kind of germs (viruses, bacteria, or parasites) are making somebody sick so he can figure out the proper treatment to kill them and make patients feel better. This process starts by finding out as much about his patients as possible through thorough interview and examination, and then using the laboratory

to get some answers.

Rebecca Hirschwerk

Rebecca Hirschwerk currently serves as the manager of school programs for the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn. As a museum educator, Ms. Hirschwerk designs

and implements programs to engage students and teachers with works of art. She works with kids of all ages - from pre-school through college. Each person brings a unique perspective to a work of art. Ms. Hirschwerk’s job is to bring those ideas out and encourage kids to share their observations and interpretations - all while having fun at the museum! Check it out at nassaumuseum.org.

Annette Jaffe A New York native through and through, Annette Jaffe was born with a natural ability to see space differently and connect with clients. Her incredible attention to detail, innovative use of color, pragmatic design know-how and 20+ years of experience in the field contribute to her renowned expertise. Ms. Jaffe prides herself on capturing the dreams of her clients, and helps them see their vision realized. She aims to bring home the perfect balance of personalized style for each individual client and project. Ms. Jaffe designed, manufactured and imported a line of decorative home furnishings that was picked up by Bloomingdales-by-mail, Horchow, and the Sundance Company. She has an impressive record of buying, redesigning, renovating, and reselling upscale residential properties. Today, all the elements of Ms. Jaffe’s design credentials

work together as MSM Property Development, LLC, delivering fullcservice interior design and project management services. She and her team of talented designers develop and execute small and large residential, hospitality and commercial projects around the United States and internationally. Recent prominent projects include The Roger in New York City.

Nora Johnson

Norah Johnson has worn many career hats. She worked as a nurse for a while and then shifted gears by enrolling in law school. Upon graduating, she practiced in the field of law for fifteen years (which included working for an insurance company). In 2001, while pregnant with her youngest child, she co-

wrote two books with her husband. More recently, Ms. Johnson further explored her creative side by taking a class at Dvora’s Art Studio. She subsequently fell in love with beading, started her own business in beaded jewelry, and expanded her skills to performing metalwork. She also continues to participate, and volunteer, in the community.

Dr. Tina Kanmaz

Dr. Tina Kanmaz earned both her bachelor’s and doctor of pharmacy degrees at St. John’s University. She is a pharmacist, an associate clinical professor of clinical pharmacy practice and an assistant dean for experiential pharmacy education at St. John’s University, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Check out the college’s web page for more information on the PharmD program at: http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/schools-and-colleges/college-pharmacy-and-health-sciences/programs-and-majors/pharmacy-6-year-doctor-pharmacy.

Anna Kaplan

Anna Kaplan is the Councilwoman for District Four of the Town of North Hempstead.

Matt Kassan Matt Kassan manages the email marketing and push notification channel for NOOK at Barnes & Noble. He is focused on leveraging customer data and marketing automation to improve email relevancy, thereby optimizing CRM channels and increasing revenue per customer. Mr. Kassan previously managed email marketing and website planning for Nintendo, developed marketing campaigns for Sid Meier's Civilization franchise at Take-Two Interactive, launched the BlizzCon community event and other World of Warcraft campaigns for Blizzard Entertainment, and marketed home video products at The Walt Disney Company. He enjoys live music and over-enthusiastically follows University of Michigan football and basketball.

Leonard Katz

Len Katz has been an investment banker and venture capitalist at D.H. Blair Investment Banking Corp. for 20 years. In his 25+ year career on Wall Street, Mr. Katz has helped hundreds of early-stage growth companies raise capital to develop new products and launch new businesses. He has worked with companies in almost every industry, including technology, health care, education, software, and biotechnology. Currently Mr. Katz is also the chief financial officer of Experiential Teaching Online Corp., an educational company he helped found.

Robert Keane

Robert Keane is a professional engineer specializing in environmental consulting. He graduated from Lehigh University as a civil engineer and has been an environmental engineer for the past 22 years. His

consulting experience includes subsurface investigations, remediation design, construction and clean-ups of contaminated properties. For the past three years Mr. Keane has been consulting with the New York City School Construction Authority and has participated in over 50 new school designs in the five boroughs. He is also the former environmental commissioner of Port Washington North and has been the chairman of the Manhasset Bay Protection Committee since 2004.

David Kerpen

Dave Kerpen is the founder and CEO of Likeable Local, the co-founder and chairman of Likeable Media, the NY Times Bestselling author of 3 books, the #1 LinkedIn influencer of all time in pageviews, (ahead of Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Mark Cuban and Barack Obama), and the proud father of Charlotte and Kate Kerpen.

William Kilfoil

Former Chief of Police William Kilfoil served the Port Washington Police District as its chief from 1992 - 2013. He had a long-standing career in law enforcement that began when he served as a police officer from 1974-1981. He then ascended the ranks to police sergeant from 1981-1985, school resource officer from 1981-1985, administrative lieutenant from 1985-1987, and police captain from 1987-1992. He attended and successfully completed numerous police-related school and seminars. He also served as the president of both the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police and Nassau County Municipal Chiefs Association and was a member of the FBI Criminal Justice Information

Services (CJIS), NCIC Sub-committee, and CJIS Advisory Policy Board. He graduated magna cum laude from Long Island University at CW Post in 2000. He is married to Janet, his wife of 37 years, and has one son, Michael William.

Rachelle Krieger-Gersh

Rachelle Krieger is an artist. Her paintings have been exhibited extensively in both the US and abroad, and were recently featured in The Heckscher Museum of Art’s Inaugural Long Island Biennial. A select example of exhibits include those at Susan Eley Fine Art in NYC, the Dorian Grey Gallery in NYC, Etra Fine Art in Miami, the Judi Rotenberg Gallery in Boston, the Simon Gallery in New Jersey, the Mulligan-Shanoski Gallery in San Francisco, the Wyndy Morehead Gallery in New Orleans, the Karen Mitchell Frank Gallery in Dallas, the Federal Building in NYC, and the Taylor Jardine Gallery in London. An award-winning painter, Ms. Krieger-Gersh has been honored with the Mark Rothko Memorial Scholarship, the Alexander Medal, and the Award for Excellence in Design from Pratt Institute. She received a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in 1989, and has studied at the Art Students

League and New York Studio School in NYC. Ms. Krieger-Gersh’s paintings can also be seen in public spaces at the Westin Hotel in New Orleans, the Ritz Carlton in Washington, DC, the Texas State Bank in Houston and in numerous private and corporate collections. Her work

has been featured in many publications including TIME Magazine, LI Pulse Magazine, and Newsday. Ms. Krieger-Gersh was born in NYC. She currently lives and works in Port Washington where she serves on the Art Advisory Council for the Port Washington Public Library Gallery.

Patricia Ryan Lampl

Patrician Ryan Lampl graduated from St. Bonaventure University with a degree in English literature. Ms. Lampl is an author and has published four children’s books. Her book, My Blankie, was voted one of the best of the year by Nick Jr. magazine. She has written for Huffington Post, Newsday, Self Magazine, Nick Jr. Magazine and Adoption Today. She is also the co-author of Love For Grown-ups: The Garter Brides’ Guide to Marrying For Life When You’ve Already Got a Life - a relationship guide for women over the age of 35 on how to meet Mr. Right, marry and find life-long happiness. Ms. Lampl is also an accomplished television producer. She headed production supervision for Sesame Workshop and produced Cookie Monster’s Best Bites, Big Bird Sings and Big Bag for the Cartoon Network. She co-produced HBO’s Emmy nominated series “What Matters” and has worked with A&E, Great Performances, The Miss Universe Pageant and VH-1. Currently, Penguin published an essay she wrote in the anthology Carried In Our Hearts.

Melinda Lee

Melinda Lee studied business administration at SUNY Binghamton with a focus on information systems management. She has over 11 years of experience in

designing, testing and supporting large New York City and New York state information systems. Prior to her recent employment with the city of New York, she worked with NTT DATA, an international IT consulting firm. Ms. Lee has led the business requirements, design and testing efforts for systems such as ACRIS (which is used to search and retrieve data and images of all New York City property-related documents recorded with NYC’s Register), Department of Investigation’s Case Management System (which is used to log and report complaints and civil / criminal investigations), New York State Attorney General Charity Bureau’s Registration System (which is used to reject/approve and track charities registered to operate in the state of New York), and Digital Tax Map (which is used to search a map of all parcels of land / lots in New York City).

Carolyn Schurr Levin

Carolyn Schurr Levin went to law school, has a background in journalism, and is a media lawyer. For many years, Ms. Levin worked at Newsday defending reporters and editors. She read stories before they were published to make sure the newspaper would not get sued. This process is called “vetting.” Today, Ms. Levin teaches media law and other courses at LIU Post and SUNY Stonybrook. She is also the faculty advisor for The Pioneer, where she guides college students in operating their weekly LIU Post campus newspaper. For the past two years, Carolyn was the assistant dean at LIU Post as well, helping students and faculty members solve issues and problems that arose. She feels very lucky to have been able to combine her interest in law and journalism in an academic environment where she works with students to prepare them for future jobs.

Craig Lindberg

Craig Lindberg, a Port Washington parent, has been working as a professional makeup artist since 1997. He started his career working in student films and local theater and now works on bigger projects with larger productions. He has worked on many movies including Spider-Man, and Non-stop and has worked (and continues to do so) on TV shows like Saturday Night Live, The View, Royal Pains, and Boardwalk Empire. Mr. Lindberg has received two Emmy nominations and several Emmy recognition awards for his work on TV and film. Check him out on gmayhem.com.

Andrew Machado

Andrew Machado provides onsite computer IT support for a hedge fund trading company in New York City. He also provides national and international computer technical support for companies all over the globe.

Simonette Rossi Madison

Simonette Rossi Madison started her career in Manhattan as a page, opening the door when shows start at NBC studios and has spent her career working on different projects in the television industry. Ms. Madison worked at “Inside Edition,” where she and her team covered breaking stories like the Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan skating scandal. She also did a documentary series on underground NY called "NY on the Edge”, that won several international awards including Best Director and Best Documentary.

Ms. Madison considers being a producer for “Access Hollywood” her most glamorous job. In this position, she had the good fortune to interview “A-list” celebrities on movie sets and at film premieres including two of her crushes, Mark Wahlberg and Jude Law. Ms. Madison’s favorite job was producing an adventure travel series for the Travel Channel. She got to film all over

the world - from Europe to Central America and Iceland! She kayaked around icebergs, swam with dolphins and filmed an exorcism at The Vatican. Most recently, she has been a post-production producer on reality series like BRAVO’s "The Rachel Zoe Project" and A&E’s ”Rodeo Girls" and "Crazy Hearts Nashville.”

Sharon Maier-Kennelly

Sharon Maier-Kennelly is a parent of three Port Washington students (including two currently at Weber). She is a graduate of Binghamton University and worked as a human resources professional for several years for healthcare and high-technology organizations in New York, Oregon and Montana. She has been the executive director of Landmark on Main Street for the last nine years. www.landmarkonmainstreet.org.

Meg Mansell

Meg Mansell is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a degree in communications. She currently works at BET Networks as director of national advertising sales which includes BET and Centric’s television and digital platforms. In her current role at BETN, Ms. Mansell is responsible for almost

one-third of BETN’s National Advertising revenue ($100+ million), working with partners such as American Express, General Motors, Sony Pictures, Unilever and L’Oreal. Prior to BET and Centric, she worked at networks such as Oxygen, Hallmark Channel, Cartoon Network and MTV in the advertising sales division. Ms. Mansel also worked in national media buying at ad agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, MindShare and TN Media.

Steve Maraboli

What do world leaders, Hollywood stars, professional athletes, business executives, entrepreneurs, mental health professionals, and MILLIONS on social media have in common? They all love and share the words of Dr. Steve Maraboli! Dr. Maraboli, Ph.D. is a behavioral scientist who specializes in motivational psychology, leadership dynamics, and the “Peak Performance Mindset.” A popular keynote speaker, author and social observer, he is recognized as a leading voice in the fields of business, personal enhancement and the human potential. Dr. Maraboli has delivered his speeches in over 30 countries, his written work has been published in more than 25 languages and he has earned numerous awards. Dr. Maraboli serves on the executive board of the Michael

Thomas Research Center for Social & Behavioral Science in New York, is a professional contributor at Everyday Health Magazine, and oversees his philanthropic organization, A Better Today International, which has empowerment, education and humanitarian programs in over 40 countries. He is also a former Weber and Schreiber student!

Loren Michelman

Loren Michelman is an executive producer at Peacock Productions, a division of NBC News that produces non-fiction programming for cable channels. Ms. Michelman began her career at NBC News in 1993 at Dateline where for 15 years she covered breaking news, celebrity interviews, crime and human interest stories. At Peacock, Ms. Michelman has produced and seniored a wide variety of

programming for History, Discovery, A&E, MSNBC, Travel, Weather Channel, Discovery ID and TLC. She helped develop “Caught on Camera”, the highly rated series on MSNBC, The Casey Antony Trial for MSNBC, Burned Out for the Weather Channel, and Travel Like a President for Travel Channel. She’s currently developing a new crime magazine show for Discovery ID with NBC’s Tamron Hall. Ms. Michelman has several Emmy award nominations and a Cine Award. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism and Tufts University and lives in Port Washington.

Sophia Murashkovsky

Sophia Murashkovsky is a playwright.

Heidi Antman Nachimson

Heidi Antman Nachimson is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts. She is an Art Director/Graphic Designer. She designs logos, magazines, brochures, catalogs, promotional catalogs, promotional mailers, newletters, menus, booklets and much more. She is the founder of Faboo Graphics, based in Port Washington and has 20+ years experience in

graphic design. She works from her home office. Check out her website at faboographics.com

Jim Neville

At Syracuse University, Jim Neville was a Spanish major, played lacrosse, spent a year abroad in Spain and became a graduate teaching assistant in the Spanish department. After getting his master's in Spanish, Mr. Neville taught Spanish for three years at Thayer Academy in Massachusetts, where he also coached junior varsity soccer and girls' lacrosse. After graduating from New York Law School in 1984, Mr. Neville then became a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division in Queens. This was a public defender's office for people who could not afford legal counsel. After three years in Queens, he went to the Federal Defenders Division of the Legal Aid Society, Eastern District of New York. There, Mr. Neville represented people accused of committing crimes in cases brought to the federal court in Brooklyn. In 1991, Mr. Neville started his own law practice where he continues to represent individuals in criminal cases and does some civil litigation (including false arrest, police brutality and malicious prosecution).

John Paul O’Connor

John Paul O’Connor is a Suffolk County police officer.

Daniel O’Neill

Dr. Daniel O’Neill is an anesthesiologist and professor.

Bobby Oppenheim

Bobby Oppenheim is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Business Administration. He’s a former certified public accountant who became an entrepreneur when he launched Triple Eight. Triple Eight is one of the fastest growing action sports companies in the industry and one of the few based in New York. Since 1995, Triple Eight has been developing the best protective gear for skate, bike, snow and water sports. From innovative helmet designs to an array of wrist, knee and elbow protective gear designed for different levels of athletes, Triple Eight has staked its claim as a leader in the industry. The company is supported by leading pro athletes and retail outlets around the world. In 2013 Triple Eight launched Wipeout, a dry-erase helmet, which met with significant media and mass retail success. For more information on the company, check out their websites at www.triple8.com and www.iwipeout.com.

Kelley Paratore

Kelley Paratore works in product development and sales for Linea Pelle.

David Peraza

David Peraza is a civil and structural engineer who works for a large engineering firm with offices around the country. He has designed commercial buildings, renovations to buildings, and is often asked to figure out why a building or crane fell down. One of his buildings is the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex in Manhattan which includes a four-level golf driving range, rock climbing wall,

swimming pool, and other features. He has written book chapters on engineering topics and was in charge of the engineering needed after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Mr. Peraza is the proud husband of Mrs. Peraza, who is a teacher at Weber Middle School.

Ira Pernick

Ira Pernick has been the principal of Paul D. Schreiber

High School for three years. Prior to that, for ten years, Mr. Pernick was the principal of Robert F. Kennedy Community High School in Queens. He has been an assistant principal in New York City and on Long Island as well as an English teacher. He also teaches future school administrators at Stony Brook University and has presented about issues related to educational leadership at multiple conferences around the country. For many years Mr. Pernick pursued a career as a stand up comedian, performing throughout New York City and Long Island. He is planning a comeback some time soon! His wife Amy, an elementary school assistant principal, and he live in North Bellmore with their two kids, Sam and Molly and their very annoying dog, Cooper.

Kenneth Pleasant

Kenneth Pleasant is the regional director of the U.S. Secret

Service.

Madeline Pugliese, DO

Dr. Madeline Pugliese is a mother of five children and a local pediatrician who has been practicing medicine for over

twenty-one years. She is the owner of Healthy Kids Pediatrics in Port Washington.

Tori Quisling

Tori Quisling, recently featured in New York’s Daily News and on the Today Show, has been a professional clairvoyant reader and healer for the past 25 years.

When she was 22 years old, Ms. Quisling worked at the Berkeley Psychic Institute, wrote for and edited

The Psychic Reader, and managed two spiritual tour companies in California - Deja Vu and Power Places

Tours. She also worked in New Orleans as a psychic reader and healer, and still leads local tours to “Ancient Egypt” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ms. Quisling holds a master’s degree in education and

has taught in private and public schools in New York, Korea, and San Francisco for over 15 years. She is the author of The Clairvoyant Practitioner: A Simple Guide to Developing Your Clairvoyant Abilities and is about to publish her next book, The Genie in the Bottle: A Simple Guide to the Personal and Intuitive Use of Essential Oils. Ms. Quisling believes that you should

always pursue what you are most passionate about in your life so that you can bring all your best talents out in the world.

Fran Reid

Fran Reid is the Chief Sustainability Officer for the Town of North Hempstead. She is the founding member of the Town’s Ecological Commission.

Susan Rosenberg

Susan Rosenberg is a Port Washington parent and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She has over 25 years of experience in the music business and is the owner/founder of Magenta Label Group. Magenta Label Group is an umbrella music company that provides artist management, marketing consulting and North American

physical and digital distribution to artist-owned and independent record labels. Check out her website at www.magentalabelgroup.com.

Stephanie Roth

Stephanie Roth is a social worker.

Susan Safran

Vice President, Executive Search Group, Lloyd Staffing, Susan Safran is currently responsible for direct placement of executive-level candidates. She is a professional recruiter with more than 20 years of experience supporting companies with their hiring needs and offering job-seekers guidance with resume writing and interview preparation. She takes great care in creating “win/win” situations, helping candidates with career development as well as placement. She has had experience in placing

professionals in many areas including human resources, customer service, finance, legal, sales and purchasing.

Drina Scheiber

Drina Scheiber, Schreiber HS class of 1998, graduated from Indiana University and is the executive director of the

Bart Group Merchant Services. She is also the co-founder and vice president of WithinReach Foundation - a nonprofit organization that provides college-level scholarships and support to CUNY GED recipients. She is also an independent sales representative for Rodan + Fields Skincare.

Laurie Segal Scheinman

Laurie Segal Scheinman, Port Washington resident and parent of five grown children, is a graduate of Columbia University. Her 27-year career as a child and family therapist has been upstaged by the recent opening of her unique philanthropic gift and accessory shop, wit & whim, right here in Port Washington. You can find out more about her and her new venture at www.wit-and-whim.com.

Peter Scherr

Vice President of Digital Onsite Marketing at American Express, Peter Scherr is responsible for developing the online customer experience strategy to maximize profitable card acquisition for the U.S. consumer card division. Prior to joining American Express, Mr. Scherr was senior vice president of interactive marketing at Warner Music Group (WMG) where he was responsible for leading a team to develop and execute the global direct to consumer web strategy.

Prior to joining WMG, Mr. Scherr served as JetBlue’s director of interactive marketing from 2004 to 2007, where he was responsible for the development and management of jetblue.com.

Scherr received his M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and his B.A. from Lehigh University in 1992.

Reverend Laurel E. Scott, Ph.D.

Rev. Laurel E. Scott was appointed to the United Methodist Church of Port Washington in July 2013. Before arriving in Port, Rev. Scott served at Old West Church in Boston, Centralville UMC in Lowell, Mass and North United Methodist Church in Manchester, CT. In pastoral ministry for the past fifteen years, Rev. Scott has also worked as a children’s and families minister. Sent into ministry from the St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, Rev. Scott volunteered in that congregation as a bible study instructor and communications director. Prior to ordained ministry, Rev. Scott directed crisis counseling programs for the city of New York and the Victim Services Agency. She also worked as a special assistant and executive assistant to the commissioner at the New York City Human Resources Administration. Rev. Scott is a graduate of Brooklyn College, CUNY, New York University, and Boston University School of Theology. Her wide-ranging interests include Christian-Jewish relations, genealogy, family, legacy, travel and women’s

issues.

Steve Shackel

Steve Shackel has been a Port Washington resident for 55 years. He attended St. Peter’s Elementary School in Port Washington and St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset. He received a B.A. in English at Marist and an M.S. in

Education at CW Post. After college Mr. Shackel was a substitute teacher in Glen Cove and Port Washington. In 1973 a position opened at Sousa Junior High School in seventh grade English, and his 38-year teaching career in Port began. In 1985 Sousa became an elementary school and Weber became the junior high school for the district. Mr. Shackel continued teaching seventh grade English at Weber until 2011, when he retired. During his tenure in Port he also coached high school and middle school basketball for girls and boys as well as eighth grade softball. Mr. Shackel has also supervised the Continuing Education evening basketball program for 41 years. He is currently a substitute teacher at Weber where he continues to share his love of teaching with the students.

Michelle Shain

For 15 years, Michelle Shain worked as an art director at a New York City advertising agency specializing in high-end fashion and luxury goods. She then switched gears and brought her work in-house as a full-time freelance graphic designer. Ms. Shain creates logos, brochures, posters, signage, invitations, digital marketing and websites for many local retailers, service providers and not-for-profit organizations.

Bike riding to client meetings is her preferred mode of transportation! With her wide range of experience, Ms. Shain has worked with many excellent collaborators including printers, copywriters, photographers, stylists, chefs and models. Depending on the client’s needs, she can pull together a

great team to make the job go smoothly and deliver successful results. Michelle earned her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan School of Art. Go Blue!

Jodie Siff

Jodie Siff is rabbi of the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the

North Shore (RSNS), the congregation in which she grew up. Jodie studied at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. At Lehigh, she competed on the varsity cross-country team which prepared her for the 1991 Pan-Am Maccabee Games in Uruguay. Competing and becoming engaged with Jewish athletes around the world sparked her interest to study Judaism in depth. Graduating with honors as a result of her thesis on modern Orthodox women, Rabbi Siff continued her Hebrew studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2001. Prior to joining the staff of RSNS, Rabbi Siff was integral in spearheading Rosh Hodesh groups in several congregations and was involved in developing a format for young women’s groups. She also taught for six years in various settings. Since 2003, she has been a mentor for the Leadership Institute of Congregational School Educators.

Susan Singer Susan Singer is an NYU graduate. Her first career was in sales and merchandising in the garment center in NYC. She took some time off to raise two (great!) kids on Long

Island and went back to work in her second (and current) career. Ms. Singer now does sales and marketing for a large promotional product distributor, All-Ways Advertising. This opportunity has been wonderful, interesting and lucrative because there are a variety of businesses willing and interested in promoting business using the marketing tools which All-Ways has access to distribute! Feel free to check out the company’s website www.awadv.com

Michael Siskin

Michael Siskin is a lawyer who has also worked as an archaeologist.

Ilissa Rubinberg Sternlicht

Ilissa Rubinberg Sternlicht is a Port Washington parent who became interested in working with deaf people while a student at Schreiber High School. At the age of 16 she began to volunteer at the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) located in Sands Point. After graduating with a master's degree in deaf education from Adelphi University, she taught deaf children. After years of teaching and already versed in sign language, Ms. Sternlicht decided to go back to school to become a

sign language interpreter. She has been a nationally certified sign language interpreter for over 15 years and interprets in a variety of settings including the North Shore Hospital Long Island Jewish (NSHLIJ) health care system, Nassau Community College (NCC) and Sorenson Communications (which is a video relay service company). Ilissa freelances and is currently a part-time interpreter at HKNC. She can be found on the RID

(Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf) website at www.RID.org. She can be contacted at: ilissa.sternlicht@hknc.org

Floryn Glass Stock

Floryn Glass Stock is a professional singer, dancer, and actress who has performed in New York (and all over the country) in musicals and plays. She has worked with Tony Award winners, Anthony Rapp and Cady Huffman, and was thrilled to perform at the Drama League’s Benefit Concert in honor of Patti Lupone. Ms. Glass is a member of the Actor’s Equity Association, the union for stage managers and actors. Ms. Glass Stock is also a faculty member of the Berest Dance Center where she coaches and teaches private acting instruction and dance. She also has an online skincare business created by dermatologists with Rodan+Fields, something she never predicted she would do - but something her skills as a performer have actually helped her to build.

Grace Tallon

Grace Tallon is a marketing and branding specialist. She graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a degree in

marketing and from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a degree in buying and merchandising. Ms. Tallon specializes in marketing within the beauty industry and has held positions from administrative assistant to senior vice president of global marketing. She also obtained a U.S. patent on a nail product. Check out her profile at www.linkedin.com/in/gracetallon .

Damon Vanterpool

Damon Vanterpool is an employee of Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Nassau County. As an educational specialist, he works and redirects back to task some of the most behaviorally- and academically-challenged students in the county. In the classroom setting, he works along with a team of para-professionals, certified teachers, psychiatrists, psychologists and other

related school personnel.

David Vecsey

David Vecsey is a copy editor for The New York Times Magazine. He started his career covering high school sports for The Peoria Journal Star in Illinois, followed by stops as a reporter and an editor at espn.com, sportsillustrated.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is a Port Washington native who attended Weber and Schreiber, and he currently has a daughter in each of those schools. His wife, Joelle, is a teacher in the New York City school system.

Dr. Michael Vinciguerra

Dr. Michael Vinciguerra went to dental school at Columbia University. He is currently in private practice at Sheryl

Silverstein, D.M.D. and Michael Vinciguerra, D.D.S, LLP. He is also a fellow of implant dentistry as well as the chief resident of general practice residency at North Shore University Hospital. When he is not working, Dr. Vinciguerra is the proud father of three sons and is the assistant coach for the Port Washington Cosmos soccer club. He is also a huge fan of the Port Washington Pythons soccer club.

Joseph Weiner, M.D.

Dr. Joseph Weiner is both a psychiatrist and an associate professor of clinical psychiatry and medicine at Hofstra NSLIJ.

Lisa Weiner

Lisa Weiner is a nurse practitioner.

Douglas Weston Douglas Weston is a graduate of Paul D. Schreiber High

School, and Hofstra University. A pilot since 1986, he is

currently employed by Talon Air Inc. as a captain flying

their Challenger 300 Business Jet.

Afranna Yameen Afranna Yameen is a graduate of Binghamton University with a B.S. in Financial Economics and a B.A. in English. She is currently the national events director of The ONE Group, a New York-based hospitality group with 31 venues throughout the world. Ms. Yameen also sits on the junior board of the New York Society for the Prevention

of Cruelty to Children, the first child protective agency in the world, which started 138 years ago in her hometown, the Bronx.

Dana Zaldivar Dana Zaldivar is the head of external education at Standard and Poor.

Rabbi Irwin Zeplowitz

Rabbi Irwin Zeplowitz (also known as “Rabbi Z”) was born in Niagara Falls. Following his schooling at the University of Toronto, he studied at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Jerusalem, Los Angeles and Cincinnati, where he was ordained as a rabbi in 1984.

After spending five years as a rabbi in the Chicago area, Rabbi Z went to Hamilton, Ontario, in 1989 to serve as the rabbi of Temple Anshe Sholom, Canada’s oldest Reform congregation. In July 2003 he assumed the position of senior rabbi at the Community Synagogue in Port Washington, a dynamic congregation of 700 families. Rabbi Zeplowitz is president of the Rabbinic Alumni Association of HUC-JIR, is a member of its board of governors and is a past chair of its alumni association. A member of the United Jewish Communities Rabbinic Cabinet, Rabbi Z is a strong supporter of joint communal activities and dialogue. He served for a number of years as chair of the Joint Commission on Sustaining Rabbinic Education of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and HUC-JIR. He is on the rabbinic cabinet of ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists of America) and has traveled to Israel regularly, including time he spent there on sabbatical with his family studying at Yakar and the Hartman Institute. He is past president of Canadian region

of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) and served on the editorial board of the CCAR Journal: A Reform Jewish Quarterly. He has a particular expertise in the area of medical ethics, and lectures regularly on bioethical issues. He has also offered testimony to the Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Health.

Because issues of social justice have always been important to Rabbi Z, he has been instrumental in creating several interfaith dialogue groups. He also visited refuseniks in the USSR, has worked on issues of poverty and homelessness, and has been involved with congregational sponsorships of refugee families from Bosnia. He also formed and chaired the Coalition of Canadian Liberal Rabbis for Same Sex Commitment Ceremonies, which presented legal briefs before the Supreme Courts of British Columbia and Ontario. Along with his wife, Anne, Rabbi Z was honored by the World Union for Progressive Judaism in 2012 with its Humanitarian Award. Rabbi Zeplowitz has lectured and taught in a wide variety of advanced adult learning settings – teaching for Kolel: The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning (Toronto, Canada) and as a regular lecturer for JLearn, the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School (Long Island, New York). He has spent over 20 years teaching at summer camps of the Reform movement and has taught at several adult summer retreats. He has served as a scholar in a number of synagogues, has appeared on radio and television, and has spoken in numerous community settings. He has had articles published in journals and newspapers on Jewish law, spirituality and politics, including a series on the book of Exodus for the Union for Reform Judaism website. Rabbi Zeplowitz is married to Anne, who is a Speech and

Language Pathologist, and has three children – Abigail, Deena and Nathan. He resides in Port Washington and enjoys gardening, travel, theater, skiing, exercise and reading.