On May 17, New York City School Chancellor Richard A. Carranza announced the winners of the 7th Annual Big Apple Awards, honoring 17 exemplary NYC public-school teachers—among them, Canadian High School alumnus Jamie Cacciola-Price.

The Big Apple Awards are a citywide recognition program open to all full-time teachers in New York City public schools. This year’s 17 recipients were selected from a record 7,100 nominations.

The 17 award recipients include 15 classroom teachers, one theatre teacher and one adaptive physical-education teacher. Over two weeks, Chancellor Carranza and the deputy chancellors surprised each of the 17 educators in their classrooms with their awards. The visits brought students and school staff together to celebrate their teachers’ outstanding work.

Cacciola-Price, who grew up in Glazier and graduated from Canadian High School in 1999, is now a high school theatre teacher at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Queens. In a news release naming the award recipients, Cacciola-Price was cited for bringing his positive attitude to school each day. “[He] aims to spread that joy to everyone he encounters,” the report said. “Mr. Cacciola-Price’s theatre class blends stage skills and techniques with empathy, public speaking, research, and writing. Students’ voices and opinions are honored equally, and Mr. Cacciola-Price takes every opportunity he can to take his students to plays and even on international trips. His play selections reflect diverse voices to mirror his students’ experiences.”

In announcing the awards, Chancellor Carranza remembered his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ellis, “who made me feel safe, welcome, and loved. She helped put me on the path to success by teaching me to love school and love learning.”

“That’s what teachers do—they change lives,” Carranza said. “The Big Apple Award winners exemplify this by inspiring our students to achieve greatness every single day.”

The Big Apple Awards are made possible in part by private support through the Fund for Public Schools, which will provide classroom grants to all recipients. The fund has partnered for a seventh year with the Lincoln Center, which works with the DOE on several arts-education programs, to sponsor the artseducation award.

The Big Apple Awards are the culmination of a rigorous selection process that includes community nominations, principal and colleague recommendations, applicant essays, an interview, and a classroom visit. During the 2018-19 school year, the DOE received a record 7,100 nominations, representing nearly 75 percent of district schools—70 percent of which came from students and families.

A ceremony for the 17 recipients will be held on June 11, 2019 at Tweed Courthouse. Next school year, the honorees will serve as Big Apple Fellows, and will have the opportunity to meet monthly with one another, becoming leaders and ambassadors for their profession. Winners will also be invited to serve on the chancellor’s Teacher Advisory Group, which meets bi-monthly and contributes to policy decisions across the DOE.