The Harvard Club of Long Island has named math teacher Scott Drucker a “Distinguished Teacher of 2012" and he's one of just one dozen teachers across Long Island's 120 districts to receive the recognition.
"Mr. Drucker has a reputation for making math come alive through his enthusiasm and hard work, for holding students to high standards in his classroom, and for actively engaging them in learning every day," said Superintendent of Farmingdale Schools
Drucker has taught various levels math during his 18 years at Farmingdale High School and currently teaches Calculus BC, Pre-Calculus, Algebra II and Trigonometry. He maintains a website for communicating with students and parents, serves as advisor to Mathletes and to the Key Club and is a long-time member of the district’s Instructional Technology Committee.
“Our awards recognize extraordinary people,” said Dr. Judith Esterquest, a board member of the Long Island Harvard Club. “Talented teachers like Mr. Drucker expend uncounted hours and vast stores of energy to transform the lives of our Long Island teens."
Drucker was nominated by former FHS student Roberto Cantos, who is now a member of the Harvard College Class of 2015.
"He helped me explore a different world of mathematics, not found in the curriculum,” Cantos said. “It is because of him that I am majoring in Mathematics here at Harvard.”
Cantos said his teaching style is "clear, simple, and efficient" and that Drucker is "truly a wizard with Smart-board technology.”
“He constantly tried to not only improve his own ability to teach each class, but to improve the school overall," Cantos said.
After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Drucker completed his Master’s in Applied Math, both at Hofstra University. His father was a high school principal at Roberto Clemente High School in Spanish Harlem and shortly after receiving his NYC certification, Drucker accompanied his father to work and found they needed a substitute math teacher that day.
He recalls spending the day teaching, then “sleeping for about eighteen hours” after he got home, and never wondering about why his dad got so tired during the day again. That was his first day teaching, and his only day teaching under his father, but he said he remembers it fondly as an awakening to a calling.
Drucker enjoys golf, trading stocks, all genres of rock music, and spectator sports. He grew up in Seaford, where he went to high school with his four siblings.
He will be honored at the Harvard Club’s annual University Relations Lunch on March 31. Following the award ceremony, Harvard astrophysicist Robert P. Kirshner will give a lecture on “Dark Energy, Exploding Stars, and the Accelerating Universe.” At the ceremony, the HCLI will announce the Distinguished Teachers of 2012 who will also receive scholarships for a “Harvard experience” at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge.
Farmingdale High School had prior winner of this award in 2008, when history teacher James Hughes was honored.
“This honor is well deserved and provides inspiration towards a higher standard for all of our students and staff," Superintendent Lorentz said.
