The Oyster Bay Town Board hosted its fifth annual Women of Distinction awards ceremony on March 25 prior to the town board meeting. At the ceremony, Dr. Carole G. Hankin, Superintendent of the Syosset Central School District was named a Distinguished Woman in Education.

Eight women who live and/or work in the town were recognized for outstanding achievements in one of eight categories, including the arts, business, community and civic affairs, education, government, health services, humanitarian and volunteer.

The town bestows this honor upon local residents annually in the month of March, which is Women's History Month. Until the end of December 2002, residents had the opportunity to nominate somebody they felt met the criteria and distinguished themselves in one of the eight categories.

Dr. Hankin is a recognized education expert who has fostered quality in public education and has created a school environment that gives students every opportunity to succeed and develop their individual talents and abilities. She has been called upon by the President of the United States to participate in White House education conferences and for general advice on public education. She also appears often on Fox News Channel to speak on education, and contributes a monthly column to the journal Education Update.

Under Dr. Hankin's leadership during the past 13 years, the Syosset School District has won many awards for educational excellence and has been recognized for its innovative programs. Syosset students are given opportunities and participate in programs that are unequalled in any other school districts and their successes beyond high school are a wonderful testimony to the value of their Syosset School education.

"I was very honored to receive the Woman of Distinction Award. I commended the Town of Oyster Bay for establishing these awards, and congratulate the other honorees," said Dr. Hankin. "I also would like to thank the Board of Education for their leadership and support, and the community, administrators, faculty, staff, and students for making this award possible."

Dr. Hankin was especially pleased to be named Woman of Distinction in Education because she holds education as one of the most important values one can have. She has devoted her life to the education of young people. "We have been able to achieve so much at Syosset because in this district we all have one goal---to provide an excellent education for the students," she said.

Councilman Chris Coschignano, who is a Syosset High School graduate, presented Dr. Hankin with her citation. "Syosset High School was a great place for educating people and much of that is thanks to Dr. Hankin," said Coschignano.

Supervisor Venditto also pointed out the number of Intel semi-finalists and finalists that Syosset had attributing that to the hard work, commitment and dedication of Dr. Hankin. Syosset had five semi-finalists in the Intel Science Competition and two students went on to be named finalists.

At the ceremony, Venditto noted that soon after he became supervisor, he set up the Women of Distinction program. "The program is designed to recognize exceptional women who either live or work in the town for their contributions and achievements," Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto said. "By instituting the 'Women of Distinction' awards program, I hoped to begin a tradition that would continue for decades to come. I think I can safely say that a memorable tradition has been launched and that each woman so honored will stand as a role model for young women throughout the town."

All eight of the Women of Distinction were invited with their families to join the town in publicly recognizing them at the board meeting. Each recipient was presented with a town citation and a special pin designed to commemorate the occasion.

"We live in a world that thirsts for role models and to that end we go running to the movies, sporting events, rock concerts; we watch television and read books looking for heroes and this was a way of saying to all of us in the Town of Oyster Bay, especially to the younger women in the town, 'you don't have to do all those things.' There are role models right here in your own backyards," Venditto said. "This is our fifth year of designating Women of Distinction and it's been an incredible array of some very talented, community-minded people who really speak well of your town."