SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY NEWSContact: Funda Alp, 203-396-8241, alpf@sacredheart.edu
John Galayda, 203-371-7751, galaydaj@sacredheart.edu
For Immediate Release
January 11, 2008
SHU ALUMNUS NAMED 2008 WESTPORT TEACHER OF THE YEAR
FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Alumnus Christopher Fray has been chosen by the Board of Education as the 2008 Westport Teacher of the Year.
Fray, who graduated from Sacred Heart University’ School of Education in 1996, is a teacher at Staples High School in Westport, where he has taught courses in computers, American government, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
An anonymous committee including at least one past Teacher of the Year selected Fray among a competitive field of eight nominees.
A specialist in foreign language, Fray speaks five languages: Spanish, French, Russian, English and Mandarin Chinese. He currently teaches the latter at the high school.
Fray is also a faculty advisor for the Gay/Straight Alliance at Staples High School and returns twice a year to Sacred Heart University to speak with the Education Department on gay and lesbian issues in the classroom.
“A driving factor in my resolve to give back to Sacred Heart has to do with members of the teaching staff,” he said.
Fray said Dr. Sondra Melzer, an adjunct professor at Sacred Heart University, has had a profound impact on his success adding that her approach in the field of teaching has deeply influenced his teaching style.
“In addition to overcoming daunting challenges, this veteran, master teacher (Melzer) continues to inspire hundreds of educators through her erudition and through her example,” Fray said.
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About Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. Approximately 5,800 students attend the University’s four colleges: Arts & Sciences; Education & Health Professions; University College; and the AACSB-accredited John F. (Jack) Welch College of Business. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its “Best 366 Colleges: 2008,” U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2008” ranks SHU among the best master’s universities in the North, and Intel rates it #11 among the nation’s most “unwired” campuses. SHU fields 32 division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu
For additional Sacred Heart University news, please visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/pressroom.cfm.
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