Leigh-Anne Dunckley
- Project Partner/Instructor
Computer Lab Assistant, Jericho
High School
Leigh-Anne Dunckley
is going into her second year working as the Jericho High School Computer
Lab Support. She is finishing up her Masters Degree in Social Studies
HS education this December. Throughout her education and office
positions held, she has gained valuable insight in the use computers and
business practices.
Married for two and half years, Leigh-Anne and her husband Andrew enjoys
traveling and spending time with family & friends. As well as
giving their time to the community to strive for a better tomorrow.
Michael Rubino
- Project Partner/Web Master
IT Project manager, Jericho School District
Michael was bitten by the computer bug at a very young
age and has been passionate about technology ever since. He has been
working "behind the scenes" at Jericho
for the past seven years managing the district's computer systems and is
often referred to as "the man behind the curtain". His 20+ years
of experience in the field, along with certifications from Cisco, Microsoft
and Citrix, make him ideally suited for the job.
Michael volunteers for the Jericho Project for the Advancement of Women
where he offers his technical expertise and general support. For fun, he
recently started taking dance lessons and has managed to learn to rumba and
tango. Michael lives in Long Beach
and loves spending time on the beach and boardwalk and driving around with
the top down. Some of you may have even heard that he makes the best
brownies ever!
Nancy Saviano - Project Partner/Instructor
Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent of
Business Affairs and Deputy District Clerk, Jericho School District
Nancy Saviano is in her seventh year at Jericho Schools as
Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent for Business and
Deputy District Clerk. Her previous 10 year school district experience
working in Food Service, Personnel, Registration, Student Attendance,
Employee Benefits and the Business/Treasurers Office of the Elmont and
Great Neck School District has brought a superb skill level to the Jericho
School District. While her two children were in elementary school she was
Co-President of the Covert Avenue PTA in Elmont where she served on the
Board in various positions.
Nancy lives in Hicksville with her husband Tom and has two adult
children, Tommy and Krystal.
Mary Marks - JPAW Public Relations
Director of Public Information and Community
Relations, Jericho
School District
Mary Marks has coordinated the Jericho
School District’s Public
Information Program for the past nine years. During that time, she has
earned more than 90 state and national school public relations awards for
her community newsletters, budget brochures, calendars, special purpose
publications, graphic design, marketing, writing and photography. Mary has
received numerous National Golden Achievement Awards for multiple district
public relations projects. Mary is a member of the School District
Administrative Cabinet, the School-wide Safety Team, the District Crisis
Management Team and the Jericho Industry
Advisory Board. She is also an advisory member of the Jericho Educational
Foundation and serves as a liaison to community groups.
Outside of school, Mary is a member of the Long Island School Public
Relations Association, the New York School Public Relations Association and
the National School Public Relations Association. She is the past
Programming Coordinator and Vice President of LISPRA. Mary served as a
member of the Village of Muttontown Planning Board
for the past year and was recently appointed as a Village Trustee.
Dr. Joan Colvin - Instructor
Assistant Superintendent Business Affairs, Jericho
School District
Dr. Colvin has dedicated more than 40 years to public
education. Her experience includes teacher, college professor, coach,
negotiator, curriculum writer, administrator, and assistant superintendent
for business affairs. Joan’s career spans the entire state with
her early years spent as a teacher in the western and central areas of New
York State.
She came to Long Island in 1997 where she served the
Westbury Union
Free School District
as Assistant Superintendent for Business until June of 2001. She is
currently the Assistant Superintendent for Business Affairs in the Jericho
Union Free School
District.
Dr. Colvin is not only recognized for her
leadership ability in school finance, but also for her independence as a
working wife and Mom. She has been supportive of the advancement of
women in educational administration and other fields and has mentored
numerous women for advancement in their respective careers.
Dr. Ben Ciuffo -
Instructor/Fluke Fisherman
Assistant Superintendent Personnel & Educational
Operations, Jericho
School District
Ben has been fishing for most of his life and has also
spent 38 years in education. Since 1993, he has been the Assistant
Superintendent for Educational Operations and Human resources for the Jericho
School District. Before Jericho,
Ben was a HS principal for ten years, a MS principal and AP for six years
and an English teacher for eight years in the Bellmore Merrick CHSD. Ben
received his bachelors in English from Hunter
College, a masters degree form Hofstra and a doctorate from Columbia
University.
Maureen P. Appiarius -
Instructor
Assistant Principal, Jericho
High School
Maureen P. Appiarius has
served the Jericho School
District for the past 10 years in the capacity
of Curriculum Associate for World Languages and currently as High School
Assistant Principal. Ms. Appiarius is the
Chairperson of both the High School Child Study Team and the High School
Health & Safety Team. She is also the Assessment Coordinator for
the high school. In addition, she serves on several districtwide and schoolwide
committees focusing on curriculum, instruction and Social Emotional
Learning (SEL).
Beyond the walls of Jericho,
Maureen is a member of ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development) and NASSP (National Association for Secondary School
Principals) and is past President of the Foreign Language Association of
Chairpersons and Supervisors (FLACS).
Ms. Appiarius resides in Huntington.
Joanne Verdino - Instructor
Social Worker, Jericho
Middle School
Joanne Verdino is a licensed
clinical social worker with twenty six years experience working with
children, adolescents and families. As a certified school social
worker, Joanne has worked in public school settings for twenty two-years,
on both high school and middle school levels. Joanne has served as
the Jericho Middle
School social worker for the last seven
years, where she provides counseling and support services for students, as
well as consultation to parents and to school staff. Joanne is
integrally involved in the development and facilitation of Jericho
Middle School’s bully
reduction and SEL (Social Emotional Literacy) programs. She has
presented at local and statewide conferences, focusing on the ocial,
emotional and educational benefits of integrating SEL into school
curriculum.
Joanne received her masters degree in social
work from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Additionally, Joanne has an extensive background in substance abuse
prevention and intervention. She has been certified as an alcoholism
and substance abuse counselor (CASAC) for seventeen years.
Louise Millmann -
Instructor
Digital Artist and Art Educator
Louise Millmann has been teaching high
school Computer Art and Photography courses for the last 19 years (8 of
them at Jericho High
School). She spent many years as a
professional portrait photographer working in various studios in Manhattan.
She has exhibited her unique self portrait digital collages in exhibitions
in Germany,
Japan, London and most recently in NYC
at the Zeiher -Smith Gallery in SOHO.
Louise has continued to evolve as an artist adapting her photographic
techniques with the latest digital technology to produce a series of
collages that examine the cultural icons ound in mass-produced media. She
currently resides in NYC.
Janine Rodriguez - Instructor
Family and Consumer Science Teacher
Janine received her Bachelors Degree in Home Economics Education from
CUNY at Queens College and her Master’s Degree in ESL from Adelphi
University. She has been teaching “FACS” for 15 years and has
been employed in the Jericho School District for 11 years. She brought
to the 8th grade course selection a cooking elective called “Little
Chefs.” Recently, she began teaching the High School class, “Gourmet
Basics” and “International Foods.” Janine has a great
passion for cooking, while acknowledging…. she hates the clean up!
She has fun teaching her friends and family different recipes and techniques,
and loves to bring that into her classroom as well. In her spare time,
she enjoys experimenting with different foods and spices and loves taking
cooking classes at the Viking Cooking School in Garden City. Her daily
goal is to show her students how much fun cooking is and the rewards you
can get out of it!
Claire Lieber-Saul -
Instructor
Attorney and Certified Life Coach
Claire Lieber-Saul is an Attorney, Certified Life Coach,
Certified Bereavement Facilitator and long time yoga and editation
practitioner. She lost her husband at the age of 40, following his long
battle with cancer. After experiencing a myriad of physiological, legal and
economic challenges from her partnership loss, she left her legal practice
to create Beyond Radical Loss, a bereavement and grief coaching program
specifically designed to empower widowed and divorced women on their road
to successful living.
Karen Bodner - Instructor
Attorney - Matrimonial and Family Law
Karen Bodner is an experienced attorney with Stanley
Hirsch, P.C., a Garden City law firm that concentrates its practice in the
areas of matrimonial and family law. Karen honed her litigating skills as a
partner in a medical malpractice and product liability defense firm in
Manhattan, but left her firm to tend to the needs of her two children.
During her hiatus from the practice of law, Karen co-led a support group
for parents with children on the autism spectrum and she was active in her
children's schools. When she returned to the work force following her
divorce, she chose to specialize in matrimonial and family law, where her
professional and personal experiences are valuable assets in representing
her clients.
Rhea Siegel– Instructor
Attorney and Publishing Executive
Rhea Siegel is an attorney whose first career in Legal Publishing allowed
her to hone her writing, editing and management skills. After taking nine
years off to be at home with her children, Rhea successfully reentered
the publishing industry. Her experience as an attorney, editor and interviewer
makes her uniquely well-qualified to offer resume-writing support.
Rhea lives in Jericho with her husband Jeffrey and their sons Jake, 16
and Marc, 13.
Jason Nadler – Photographer/Instructor
Owner: Nadler Photo Design
Jason’s first exposure to professional photography was in 1990.
Now established as Nadler Photo Design, Jason specializes in weddings,
family, child, and pet portraiture. He also teaches photography classes and
consults for other photographers on Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. He
is also a beta-tester for Adobe on their next version f Photoshop. He
regularly assists in hands-on lectures at photo conventions. His work has
been published in several media outlets including Katrin Eismann’s
Restoration and Retouching, Photoshop User Magazine, and the AdoramaPix
ebsite. CanWest Media and the New York Times both interviewed him about his
photo restoration work following Hurricane Katrina. He also volunteers his
time with the Kent Animal Shelter on Eastern Long Island photographing
their new adoptees and fundraising events.
Jason lives on the North Fork of Long Island with his wife Laura and
their three cats.
Suzanne Valenza – Instructor
English Teacher - Jericho High School
Suzanne Valenza is an English teacher at Jericho High School. She is a
graduate of New York University, and earned her Master’s degree at
the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New
York. Suzanne has been teaching at Jericho since 2000.
Suzanne is married with two children and two step-children. Suzanne
resides in Huntington.
Mary Bauer – Instructor
English and Reading Teacher - Jericho High School
Mary Bauer is an English and Reading teacher at Jericho High School. She
is a graduate of Adelphi University and earned a Master’s Degree in
Special Education from Hofstra. Mary has worked for the Jericho Schools
since 1996.
Mary is married and the mother of two children. She resides in Garden
City.
Gary Salerno - Instructor
Police Officer, Port Washington Police Dept
Gary Salerno has served over 23 years with the Port
Washington Police Department as well as 26 years in the plumbing
industry. Gary is also an accomplished carpenter and artisan.
In his leisure time Gary enjoys
hunting, fishing and just being outdoors in
nature with his family. Gary is married to Marie
Salerno and step father to Samantha and Michael Jr.
Tony LaCorte - Instructor
Owner - LaCorte's Famly Auto Repairs, Port Washington, NY
Tony LaCorte, owner of LaCorte's Family Auto Repairs in Port Washington, is
proud to have serviced the auto industry for over 30 years. Tony's
experience and expertise in the auto industry make him a perfect candidate
to instruct and educate our JPAW applicants.
Tony is married with 3 children. In his leisure time
Tony enjoys collecting old cars and having a nice dinner with a glass of
wine at the end of the day.
