2007 BERKOWITZ SCHOLARS NAMED
On June 6, 2007, the PCT presented the Myriam and Leonard Berkowitz Memorial Scholarships to Scott Eidler and Jenna Katz . The award is named for two people who devoted most of their adult lives to education and service to children and their families. Myriam Berkowitz was for many years an elementary teacher in the Syosset schools, while her husband Leonard worked for forty-five years as a psychologist in Plainview-Old Bethpage. The Berkowitzs left a substantial portion of their estate to provide scholarships to high school seniors in the districts in which they spent their work lives. Ever good unionists, they provided that their scholarship fund be administered by the leaders of the Syosset and Plainview teacher unions and the executor of their will.
Candidates for Berkowitz Scholarships are recommended by the Kennedy High School Guidance Department. Finalists are selected by the trustees of the Berkowitz Scholarship Fund after extensive interviews. This year, eight candidates competed for two five thousand dollar ($5000) scholarships. The Berkowitz Scholarship Trustees were faced with the daunting challenge of selecting the winners from among these eight outstanding young people. In the end, Jenna and Scott were chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments, both academic and extra-curricular.