'Game Changing' Queens Teacher Wins Citywide Award For Excellence

QUEENS, NY — Anastasia Difino has single-handedly altered the way English and Social Studies classes are taught at her Queens elementary school — a feat for which she was recently awarded a teaching excellence prize.

Described as a "game-changing force," Difino wrote new curricula for fourth- and fifth-grade students at P.S. 120, an elementary school in Queensboro Hill, which better meets the needs of immigrant and foreign language speaking learners.

Her classroom was also chosen to pilot a democracy-focused Department of Education program, and is being used as a "lab classroom," where other public school teachers can learn how to become better educators.

These are just some of the accomplishments for which Difino was awarded the FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence, a prize granted to one teacher in each of the five boroughs.

"The work I do, the time and energy I put toward my students and my school community come naturally to me, it never feels like a job," the educator said in a statement. "Thank you for this recognition and for all you do for teachers that go that extra mile."

As Queens' grand prize winner, Difino will receive $25,000 and P.S. 120 will receive a $10,000 grant for oft-underfunded arts education initiatives — money Difino would like to see used to expand the "Civic for All" democracy program through a school club and beautification projects, like a mural.

The extra funding comes as schools brace for $215 million in budget cuts going into next year.

Glenn Fuhrman, co-founder of The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence, said he hopes the award honors the "phenomenal effort" public school teachers give to their students.

"Public school teachers are among the most important pillars of our communities," he said.

"They make sacrifices year-round to educate and mold our children into the next generation of productive members of society. It is an honor to recognize these individuals."

Having just finished its third year, the FLAG award received close to 1,000 teacher nominations from students, parents, principals and fellow teachers.

The grand prize winners and finalists were selected by an independent jury made up of education, community, and philanthropic leaders.