Garden City High School science teacher Charles Hager has been chosen to receive the Nicholas Romano Chemistry Award from the Science Teachers Association of New York State at their annual conference from Nov. 3-6 in Syracuse. Hager is a second year science teacher at GCHS who teaches Regents and Honors Chemistry as well as the Project Lead the Way: Design and Drawing for Production course. Outside the classroom, Mr. Hager co-advises Science Olympiad, the Class of 2025 and the Trojan Spirit Club.
“I am honored and humbled to be named a recipient of this award and look forward to continuing to grow and finetune my instructional practices this coming school year,” Hager said. “I’d like to thank my mentor, Patty Mannion, my colleagues, and our building administrators for all of their support during the beginning of my year. I take great pride in providing my students with an authentic, inquiry-based science education in which they learn to problem-solve as well as make connections to real-world phenomena.”
According to their website, the Nicholas Romano Chemistry Award is funded in memory of Nicholas Romano who was a chemistry teacher at John Jay High School in East Fishkill. He was a veteran of World War II serving as an aircraft engineer in the Army Air Corp, a pharmacist, chemistry teacher, author and publisher of engineering text books and HS review books. The purpose of the award is to encourage New York chemistry educators to join the organization and attend the annual conference in Syracuse. The award recognizes the achievements of chemistry teachers within their second through fifth year of teaching.
