"These awards were created to recognize teachers who have transformed the lives of our Long Island students," explained Dr. Judith Esterquest, a board member of the Long Island Club. "Teachers like Jean Linzee, expending countless hours and extraordinary energy, day after day, year after year, they shape our country's future - and they do so one student at a time."

Mrs. Linzee has taught English at The Stony Brook School for twenty years. Her experience includes not only teaching but also acting, directing, and writing. She earned her B.S. in Education with a minor in drama, summa cum laude, from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA, and her Masters of Arts in Dramaturgy, summa cum laude, from SUNY Stony Brook. She has also taken a variety of master classes, including Shakespeare and Irish literature. As might be expected from an educator with a background in theater as both a director and actress, she injects great creativity and encourages student involvement in the classroom.

Known for helping her students learn to interpret, enjoy, and analyze great literature - particularly by helping them get "inside" literary works - Mrs. Linzee provides herself as a model, having conceived, researched, written, and performed many one-woman shows, including "The Belle of Amherst" to enact Emily Dickinson; "Piercing the Darkness of Unseeing Eyes" to enact Rachel Carson; "Letters to My Children" to enact prison-reformer Elizabeth Fry; and a command performance celebrating the 75th anniversary of The Stony Brook School to enact Amy Carmichael who opened orphanages in India a century ago.

Mrs. Linzee is also known for her sense of adventure. She earned her Captain's license from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2004 (to operate vessels up to ten tons); and in 2001 she raised over $65,000 for breast cancer research as the first woman to row around Long Island. She and her husband George, who teaches marine science at The Stony Brook School, have traveled and lived in England, Scotland, Italy, Greece, India, China, New Zealand, Australia, and the Solomon Islands, and she has also performed in Poland and Switzerland. Together they lead The Stony Brook School "Sound Learning," a summer boarding program that combines academic study with learning to sail the school's fleet of 30-foot boats.

Nominated for this award by Chris Higgins, a recent graduate of The Stony Brook School who is now a sophomore at Harvard College, Mrs. Linzee is described as "the most talented, brilliant and eccentric teacher I have ever had (including three semesters of Harvard)." Mr. Higgins then added, "In addition to introducing me to the concepts of parallelism and the finer points of punctuation, Mrs. Linzee taught me to create."

"Mrs. Linzee didn't just make us compare and contrast Ralph and Piggy," Mr. Higgins explained, "I wrote the 13th chapter to Lord of the Flies." Describing her full-immersion methods, he observed, "Over the course of the year, Mrs. Linzee walked into class in character several times and made us do the same. She taught me to participate, to engage in my readings, to imagine myself in the shoes of the characters. Mrs. Linzee taught me not just to know characters, but to understand them."

"Almost every student at The Stony Brook School raves about 9th grade English," Mr. Higgins concluded, "because Mrs. Linzee makes the stories real."

At the March 14th ceremony the HCLI will announce the ten Distinguished Teachers who will also be named Harvard Club Fellows. Fellows will receive scholarships to spend a few days on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, MA - either in a formal short program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education or in a customized program. The scholarships are funded by individual contributions from Harvard alumni living on Long Island. "These teachers are extraordinary professionals," said Tom Corcoran, President of the Harvard Club, "who are preparing our children for challenges that were unimaginable even a few decades ago. We are proud to honor them."

Jean Linzee, winner of Harvard Club LI Distinguished Teacher Award, flanked by Dr. Judith Esterquest (left) and Susan Novick (right), both of the Harvard Club Long Island.

Two other teachers from the school received letters congratulating them for fine teaching from the Harvard Club: Ms. Martha Pavao, who teaches Latin, and Mr. George Linzee, who teaches marine science and is the husband of Jean. Founded in 1922 with the motto "Character Before Career," The Stony Brook School is an independent college preparatory boarding and day school for students in grades 7-12. The 55-acre campus is home to 337 students, from over 11 states and 20 nations.

When Headmaster Robert E. Gustafson learned of this award, he immediately offered his congratulations, and observed, "Jean Linzee's dedication to the nurturing of minds and hearts of freshman has become a pillar of our English department." Talking more broadly about her, he added, "She is a consummate teacher and motivator who is always approachable and interested in the growth of her students. Students know from the moment they enter her classroom that they will be loved and challenged."

The ten winners of the 2009 Distinguished Teacher Award were nominated by current Harvard students and then selected by members of the Harvard Club of Long Island. Some teach AP History or AP Literature, or advanced science research, others teach English, Latin and Greek, or music, chorus, and drama. A few teach at schools that regularly send students to Harvard; some teach at schools that have sent only a couple in twenty years. The 2009 winners teach 7th to 12th grades in Suffolk and Nassau Counties, the length and breath of the Island: Baldwin, Bethpage, Commack, Freeport, Great Neck, Herricks, Manhasset, Riverhead, Stony Brook, and West Islip.

"Over the past twenty years, Harvard has accepted students from more than two-thirds of the approximately 120 school districts on Long Island," said Carolyn Hughes, who chairs the HCLI Schools & Scholarships Committee, which ensures every Long Island applicant to Harvard gets a personal alumni interview. "In the past five years, Harvard has accepted students from more than half of these districts, offering admission regardless of a student's financial resources - and then leading the country by setting policies that make Harvard affordable for families across the income spectrum. Because of this reach, we decided to have current Harvard undergraduates nominate the Long Island teachers who had the greatest effect on their lives and the lives of their fellow students." The Harvard Club of Long Island website is www.harvardclubli.com.

Harvard College received more 29,000 applications this year (573 from Long Island) for approximately 1700 places in the freshman class, a selection rate of less than 6%. There are approximately 150 undergraduates from Long Island currently at Harvard College.

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