Spector Grant Awarded to Waverly Park's Maria Viviano-Farry

Maria Viviano-Farry, the reading teacher at Waverly Park Elementary School, has been named this year’s recipient of the Charles Spector Grant for Professional Development in the Field of Writing.

Viviano-Farry will use the grant money to develop a program that connects reading and writing to enhance literacy. She plans to mentor classroom teachers in using techniques to use writing as a tool to improve comprehension and enrich vocabulary. With the grant money, she will be purchasing dictionaries and other support materials to share with other teachers in her school.

This grant was established to honor the memory of Charles Spector, who was a
member of the Lynbrook Board of Education for 15 years, serving as its president for 11 of those years. Spector believed that the ability to write clearly and correctly
is a major factor in a student’s success in school and later in life.

This grant was created by the Spector family to encourage faculty members to participate in courses or programs designed to benefit their teaching of writing skills in the classroom.

Spector’s granddaughter, Chelsey Greenberg; daughter, Monica Fishman; wife,
Marjorie; and brother, Joel; attended a recent meeting of the Lynbrook Board of Education to present the award to Viviano-Farry in person.

This article was submitted by Rosemary Leonetti of Syntax, public relations firm for the Lynbrook School District.