Local Teacher Named 2017 Distinguished Teacher By Harvard Club

A Farmingdale High School teacher was recently named a “Distinguished Teacher of 2017” by the Harvard Club of Long Island.

Celia Blumm, an english teacher at the local school, received the title along with 11 other Long Island teachers.

They will all be honored at the Harvard Club of Long Island’s annual University Relations Luncheon on April 30.

Blumm has taught Humanities at Farmingdale High School for the past 15 years. After raising her children as a stay-at-home mom, she served as a part time HIV/AIDS educator and activist.

Working with high school students reaffirmed her “empathy” for students going through their teenage years, the “most joyous and trying time of life.”

Blumm eventually graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University with a degree in Comparative Literature.

Teaching at Farmingdale has allowed her to “combine my love for literature and my desire to spend my life among teenagers," she said.

Blumm is passionate about her purpose in the classroom: “I strive to reignite the curiosity, the wonder, the awe and love of learning. Our goal is to help to craft citizens: critical and nuanced thinkers who are comfortable living in a word of varying shades of complex greys.”

She was nominated for the award by Suraj K. Muralidharan, a Farmingdale High School alum who is currently a freshman at Harvard College.

Muralidharan said that Blumm’s class was rigorous and closely “simulated a college classroom.”

Despite her high expectations, she also maintained a “unique and always witty sense of humor and approachability.”

“I have never enjoyed an English class as much as Mrs. Blumm’s,” he said.

John Lorentz, Superintendent of Schools for the Farmingdale School District, supports Muralidharan’s views.

"Celia Blumm is an exceptional teacher who has combined a life time of experience and incorporated it into her teaching. Her work has produced some of the highest achieving graduates of Farmingdale High School. We are honored and proud to have her as part of our team," Lorentz said.

The Farmingdale School District has had three previous winners: Peter Macchia in 2014, Scott Drucker in 2012 and James Hughes in 2008.

Macchia, who teaches science, was also honored with a scholarship to visit Harvard.

“This award honors teachers who transform lives,” explained Dr. Judith Esterquest, Harvard Club of Long Island Chair of the Distinguished Teacher Selection Committee. “Devoted teachers like Celia Blumm offer Long Island students deep expertise, extraordinary talents, and countless hours of attention.”

Congratulations to Celica Blumm!