Harvard Club Of LI Names Smithtown Resident Brian Belanger "Distinguished Teacher of 2015"

Smithtown resident Brian Belanger a teacher at Syosset High School has been named a “Distinguished Teacher of 2015” by the Harvard Club of Long Island. 

Brian Belanger“Our awards honor teachers who transform lives,” explained Dr. Judith Esterquest, Harvard Club of Long Island Chair of the Distinguished Teacher Selection Committee. “Dedicated teachers like Mr. Belanger offer Long Island students deep expertise, extraordinary talents, and countless hours of devotion. By capturing the minds and imaginations of our children, preparing them for challenges that were unknown even a few decades ago — academic, social, political, cultural — these teachers shape our country’s future.”    
One of 14 teachers from across Long Island to receive this award — from across the 150 public school districts and private schools on Long Island — Mr. Belanger will be honored at the Harvard Club of Long Island’s annual University Relations Luncheon on April 26. Following the award ceremony, Alyssa A. Goodman, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University, will highlight her work at the boundary of astrophysics and data visualization. Today’s scientific breakthroughs often depend on scientists employing visualization tools to gain insight and draw conclusions from tremendously large and diverse data sets. Professor Goodman’s lecture, entitled “Seeing Science,” will be structured as a historical saga, beginning with Galileo, and ending with how virtual reality and immersive tools are changing how we “see” stars forming and arteries hardening.

Mr. Belanger attended Syracuse University and received his graduate degree from Hofstra University. He worked on a lobster boat for 11 years before beginning his teaching career at Syosset High School, where he has worked for the last 29 years. He now teaches honors chemistry, remedial chemistry, and science research. One recent notable accomplishment was directly mentoring a project which was recognized as a Siemens Competition semifinalist in 2013. He estimates he has written about 800 student recommendation letters over the course of his career, including about 30 to Harvard College.

Married with three children, aged 12, 10, and 8, Mr. Belanger’s avocations include woodworking, gardening, guitar, and genealogy.

Karishma Minal Shah, a former Syosset High School student who is expected to graduate from Harvard College in May 2017, described Mr. Belanger as “a great research mentor” and “a fabulous teacher.” “I distinctly remember walking into my first class with him and receiving an 80-page bound book that contained the worksheets he had created and that we would need for the rest of the year to perform labs and review for exams. That day, he also performed fascinating experiments, which immediately sparked the students’ love for chemistry,” said Ms. Shah.

Added Ms. Shah, “With his organization, ability to engage the audience, and personality, he created a chemistry community that no other teacher could—that truly felt like a family. To this day, my friends and I in that class still interact and talk appreciatively about the fond memories we had shared.”
At the ceremony on April 26, the Harvard Club of Long Island will announce the Distinguished Teachers of 2015 who will also receive scholarships for a “Harvard experience” at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Mass. Past winners of the scholarships have enhanced their teaching by sampling some of the resources available to Harvard students. They have met with faculty; visited research laboratories, rare book archives, and specialty museums; and enjoyed visual and performance art. The scholarships are funded by contributions from Harvard alumni living on Long Island.

“We are proud to honor these teachers, whose efforts enable our Long Island students to thrive at top universities and to be upstanding citizens,” said Dr. Rhonda Berger, Harvard Club of Long Island President.
When Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Rogers learned of this award, he commented, “Mr. Belanger is considered by his students and colleagues alike as the consummate classroom professional.”
“His impact on students lasts way beyond their years at Syosset High School,” Dr. Rogers continued.
Syosset High School Principal Giovanni Durante further noted, “Brian Belanger personifies hard work, dedication, and excellence in teaching.”

This year’s 14 Distinguished Teacher Award winners were nominated by current Harvard undergraduates and then selected by Harvard Club of Long Island board members. This year’s award winners teach biology, chemistry, earth science, English, history, International Baccalaureate, Latin, math, music, science research, and Spanish. The winners teach in the Baldwin, Bay Shore, Bellmore-Merrick, East Meadow, Island Trees, Jericho, Plainedge, Sachem, Sewanhaka, Syosset and Three Villages school districts, as well as St. Anthony’s High School and The Stony Brook School.

Prior winners of this award in the Syosset Central School District have included math teacher Arthur Kalish in 2005, biology teacher Stephen Wolfson in 2006, and history teacher Allison Noonan, who was named an honorary member of the Harvard Club of Long Island and awarded a fellowship for a “Harvard experience” in 2014.

Harvard College has received 37,303 applications from the US and abroad for the Class of 2019 (almost 700 from Long Island) and will accept about 5%. “Over the past 20 years, Harvard has accepted students from more than two-thirds of the public, private, parochial, and charter high schools on Long Island,” remarked Carolyn Hughes, who chairs the Harvard Club of Long Island’s Schools & Scholarships Committee, which ensures that every Long Island applicant to Harvard gets a personal alumni interview. Mrs. Hughes noted that 70% of Harvard undergraduates receive financial aid, based exclusively on need, with Harvard providing above $180 million in scholarship aid this year.