This just in.<\/p>\n
Alexa Gutterman, a journalism teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, was honored as the Queens grand prize recipient in the 2026 Flag Award for Teaching Excellence program.<\/p>\n
The Flag Award recognizes extraordinary public school teachers who inspire their students through creativity, passion and commitment. There is one grand prize winner in each borough and one chosen from citywide candidates who teach in the 3K-5 range.<\/p>\n
Cash prizes are awarded to all teachers from semifinalists up. Each teacher\u2019s school also receives a grant.<\/p>\n
Gutterman will receive a $25,000 cash prize, and her school will receive a $10,000 grant.<\/p>\n
A product of New York City public schools, Gutterman transformed Cardozo\u2019s struggling journalism program into a multimedia powerhouse. The program offers nearly 1,000 students classes in digital journalism, photography, podcasts, broadcast journalism and social media storytelling.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who grew up in Queens, I\u2019m eager to help students in the borough learn to think critically, produce truthful and engaging stories, explore a wide range of digital media platforms, and ask difficult questions,\u201d Gutterman said in a press release.<\/p>\n
Gutterman advises The Verdict, Cardozo\u2019s student newspaper. While on maternity leave, she taught herself coding and built the paper\u2019s first website so students could publish stories online, the contest organizers said.<\/p>\n
Now in a digital format, The Verdict this spring won second place in the New York Press Association awards for Best High School Online News Website.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis stood out for its creativity and clear connection with its audience,\u201d the judges said in NYPA\u2019s annual award booklet. \u201cReally effective and well-managed overall with smart content choices and a clear sense of strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with teaching, Gutterman serves as Cardozo\u2019s public relations coordinator, organizes the school\u2019s annual career fair, mentors students at risk of failing or dropping out through the Cardozo Connect program, and sits on the Principal\u2019s Council. Earlier this year, she was named District Champion for Queens North High Schools by the New York City Department of Education\u2019s Big Apple Awards.<\/p>\n
Cardozo\u2019s principal, Megan Colby, concurred with the Flag judges\u2019 decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlexa and her fellow teachers have completely transformed our journalism program into one with offerings in broadcast journalism, podcasting, and digital storytelling while helping students win local, national, and international awards,\u201d Colby said.<\/p>\n
Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman founded the Flag awards in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cExceptional teaching requires creativity, compassion, and a deep commitment to students,\u201d said Glenn Fuhrman in the press release. \u201cThis year\u2019s honorees are helping young people grapple with some of the most pressing issues shaping New York City and the world around them \u2014 from climate and environmental justice to investigative journalism and the legal system. Their leadership inside and outside the classroom is inspiring students to think critically, engage meaningfully, and make a difference in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese remarkable educators are helping New York City students imagine new possibilities for their futures in fields ranging from journalism to ethical AI and environmental justice,\u201d Amanda Fuhrman said.<\/p>\n
In addition to Gutterman, three of this year\u2019s Flag award finalists and four semi-finalists teach in Queens schools.<\/p>\n
The Queens finalists are Julie Beeson at Epic High School-South in Ozone Park; Jennifer Schecter at MS 158 Marie Curie in Bayside; and Jemma Zaken of PS 31, The Bayside School.<\/p>\n
The borough\u2019s semifinalists were Alissa Amato at Cardozo; Marisa Day at PS 120 in Flushing; Lydia Santana at Newton High school in Elmhurst; and Tu Anh Vu of Educational Vision Services, a specialized department serving blind and visually impaired students within the citywide District 75.<\/p>\n
The 11 finalists each receive a $10,000 prize and a $5,000 grant for their schools. The 17 semi-finalists receive $1,000 while their schools get $1,000 grants.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This just in. Alexa Gutterman, a journalism teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, was honored…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[103425,103426,89891,4337,67,103428,103429,9,24,84573,63,122,124,123,103427],"class_list":["post-267668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-alexa-gutterman","tag-amanda-fuhrman","tag-benjamin-n-cardozo-high-school","tag-department-of-education","tag-education","tag-glenn-fuhrman","tag-megan-colby","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-press-association","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-the-new-york-press-association-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}