Q&A: Getting to Know the Principal

Long Beach Middle School Principal Audrey Goropeuschek grew up in West Hempstead and worked as a lifeguard for the Town of Hempstead as a teenager. She was a coach for the Long Island Aquatics Club while she studied political science at Adelphi University. Her career in education started at Valley Stream High School, where she was a social studies teacher before she was an assistant principal in Plainview for seven years.

Goropeuschek was hired as principal at LBMS in 2008. She lives in Centerport with her husband and 8-year-old son, and enjoys water sports, gardening, cooking and reading. Patch sat down with Goropeuschek to find out more about her personal side.

What is the best part of being the principal of Long Beach Middle School?

It is a privilege to lead an energetic faculty who love adolescents. The best part is that we work together to serve our students. In short, it is the kids! 

What is most challenging about being a middle school principal?

Generally, the greatest challenge a middle level principal has is how to help youngsters navigate through teenage turbulence so that they can focus on what is important, learning, and not only on what is urgent, like a rude text message. Specifically, the greatest challenge I have is to address and narrow the achievement gap.   

LBMS made headlines last year when your students collected a record amount of food for charity that won them a Justin Bieber concert at school, and a student who learned the Heimlich maneuver by watching the cartoon "Sponge Bob" saved another student from choking. How did you handle the national spotlight?

It was quite a surprise that our school received national and international attention last year  — twice! Regarding the concert, I tried to keep the focus on the fact that our students collected over 20 thousand pounds of food, returned to Long Beach community families in need, instead of on "Bieber Fever." I was grateful that the intense media attention for our "Sponge Bob" lifesaving incident highlighted a positive action on the part of a young teen. So much coverage of adolescents' actions is negative.   

If one of your students told you he or she wanted to become a principal, what advice would you give him or her?

I would suggest that he or she work closely with young people and develop excellent communication. I would recommend taking the most challenging and rigorous courses available in middle and high school and to consider an undergraduate major other than education. It might sound counterintuitive, but I would suggest education as a graduate major instead. 

Where is your favorite place to go on the Long Beach island and why?

It is the middle school, of course! This is my home away from home.  

If you ran into childhood friends, how would they remember you?

Childhood friends would remember me as "Audrey Selzer" who was fearless and loved swimming. 

If you were not a school administrator, what would you be and why?

If my supervisor when I was a teacher, Rosemarie Paternostro, had not "ordered" me to apply for a department head position in 1996, I would probably still be teaching social studies and coaching swimming. 

What was the last book you read and what did you think of it?

I've been reading young adult literature so that I can "talk books" with students. Personally, I am in the middle of Stieg Larsson's "The Millennium" trilogy and I have found some of the mysteries riveting, while the character development and writing is sometimes uneven. 

What is your can't-miss television show?

My son and I have been watching the classic original Batman episodes. He likes the villains and I like the dialogue. I am more of a radio listener than a TV watcher, though. I listen to NPR shows on WNYC and WBGO. 

If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It would be sushi and sashimi. Italian food, which I grew up with, would be a close second.  

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