Harckham Honors Retired Ossining High School Teacher and Science Research Program Founder – River Journal Online

(l-r) Westchester Legislator Emiljana Ulaj, Mayor Rika Levin, Mary Beth Stosser, Angelo Piccirillo, and State Sen. Pete Harckham. Credit: Office of State Sen. Pete Harckham / Tom Staudter

New York State Senator Pete Harckham honored Angelo Piccirillo, the now-retired Ossining High School Teacher, at a special ceremony yesterday held at Ossining Village Hall that included Ossining Mayor Rika Levin and Westchester County Legislator Emiljana Ulaj, as well as Piccirillo’s wife, Mary Beth Stosser.

Harckham presented Piccirillo with a State Senate Award of Commendation for his three decades of teaching science and for founding the school’s vaunted Science Research Program in 1998. Piccirillo retired at the end of the school year in June.

In his remarks, Harckham noted that Piccirillo had mentored and inspired hundreds of science students during his teaching career, and at a time when some are questioning the validity of science-based policy decisions, “the research skills that these students will bring with them into their careers could very well benefit us all.”

Along with his work in Ossining, Piccirillo co-founded and served as the Vice President of the Westchester Science and Engineering Fair and served on the organizational committee for the Westchester-Rockland Junior Science Humanities Symposium. He was honored by Teatown Lake Reservation at their annual gala in 2020 for his efforts to foster the next generation of scientists, and now sits on its board of directors.

Piccirillo and Stosser, a genetic counselor, are longtime Ossining residents with three adult daughters (Caitlin, Julia and Sabrina), all Ossining High School graduates. Though he has retired from teaching at OHS, Piccirillo held online courses this summer for science teachers though SUNY Albany on teaching science research.

“Teaching children is a privilege and that has been my ethos since I began my career 39 years ago,” said Piccirillo. “I have had the pleasure to teach in Ossining for the past 30 years and have been fortunate to build a nationally recognized research program, which is a reflection of the community that continues to prioritize education.”

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}