Meet Glen Cove's Education Advocate

Glen Cove resident Zefy Christopoulos will soon add "Education Partner" award recipient to her list of accomplishments.

Christopoulos was recently selected as one of 13 honorees for the Nassau County Board of Cooperative Education Services' fourth annual "Education Partner" Awards Gala on May 6. 

The award, initiated by Nassau BOCES in 2007 to commemorate its 40th Anniversary, is used to ennoble citizens "whose impact on public education in the county can be measured in a very tangible way and not only those employed by or directly involved with its programs," according to the service's Web site. Nassau BOCES currently provides shared educational services to 56 school districts in the county.

Christopoulos, who has lived in the city with her husband, Peter, since 1982, has built her profession with the pen, which she has used to chronicle both the pressing matters and general activity of the Glen Cove School District.

As the former editor of the Glen Cove Record Pilot — a weekly community newspaper that serves the city and other areas — she has covered nearly every meeting of the city's Board of Education throughout her career. It was this devotion that also enabled her to win a New York Press Association award during her 10-year stretch as the editor of that publication.

Out of all the articles she wrote and all the opinions she registered, Christopoulos  recalled, that the article, "Every Child Is Special in Education," written in the late 90s, was her most memorable one. In the piece, Christopoulos argued against funding cuts to special education programs in the district.

Christopoulos is currently serving as the press secretary for the Nassau County Legislature's Democrats under the leadership of Legislator Diane Yatauro. The longtime city resident nominated Christopoulos for the award, to recognize her for, among other things, helping to improve education for children of all ages in the county. There were more than 80 nominations submitted this year. 

Out of her 28 years living in Glen Cove, Christopoulos spent 22 of them serving on the district's Parent Teacher Association, with a stint as council president from 2007-09. During this term, she said, she exposed a sex offender who had not registered with the state's Department of Justice, leading to the fastening of the city's laws regarding the crime. Independently, Christopoulos led a lobbying effort to obtain bussing for high school students in the city's private and public schools.

"Boosting local education has always been a cornerstone of my community service," she said. 

The gala will be hosted the Nassau BOCES Educational Foundation, a non-profit organization, at the Cresthollow Country Club in Woodhaven. All of the honorees, BOCES officials said, will be lauded with a video portraying their accomplishments and will receive a small statuette with their name printed on it. 

For more information, visit nassauboces.org/educationpartner.