Somers Education Foundation to Honor 3 at Annual Event

Again this year the Somers Education Foundation’s annual casino night includes several honorees.

This time it’s three individuals who work and live in Somers being thanked for their contributions to the Somers school community.

SEF, founded in 1994 to enhance education with grants and scholarships to the Somers School District, topped $1 million in grants in 2014.

Here’s the third Patch post about the honorees: meet Paul Saia, Somers student, teacher and coach:

Paul Saia has certainly left his mark on Somers’ children as a teacher and coach for more than 30 years. He moved to Somers as a young boy and graduated from Somers High School in 1976, where he was an honor student and played soccer, basketball and baseball. He then went on to earn science degrees at the University of Buffalo and SUNY New Paltz. Paul then began his teaching career in Pawling, returned to Somers High School in 1985 and has been there ever since, teaching biology, advanced placement biology, chemistry, contemporary issues in science and physical science. He created and began the advanced placement biology program in 1988. He coached the Academic Challenge team for five years. In 1997, the team placed fifth in a national competition. Paul is widely known for his 38-season coaching career at the high school, in which he has coached baseball, softball, and both boys and girls soccer and basketball. He has had success in all his coaching positions, but especially in girls soccer, where during the last 12 years the team won six Section 1 championships, three regional championships, made three trips to the state tournament, and won a state championship in 2014, when it was ranked fifth in the nation. The 2015 team also had a remarkable season, extending an overall winning streak to 42 games. Paul is married to Sue Saia, also a Somers teacher, and he has three grown children--Anthony, Christina and Joe.

The honorees are Bob Antonucci, Teresa Lombardi and Paul Saia. Read about Antonucci here and Lombardi here.

The Somers Education Foundation’s Blackjack Ball will be held Jan. 23 at Villa Barone Hilltop Manor in Mahopac. Cost per person will be $115. Info and registration:www.sefny.org/casino