Scholarship cements Barbarino's legacy

Three recent Lynbrook grads are awards’ first recipients

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Lynbrook schools Superintendent Dr. Santo Barbarino died nearly a year ago, last Aug. 27, but the memory of “Mr. Lynbrook” remains strong in the community he loved so much.

The Dr. Santo Barbarino Scholarship Fund Corporation handed out its first three scholarships in the spring, and the organization in now preparing for the fund’s inaugural golf outing on Monday.

The idea for the scholarship was hatched not long after Barbarino’s death by members of his family and the Lynbrook school community. Chris Barbarino, his nephew, who has worked closely with the Lynbrook Teachers Association to get the scholarship fund up and running, said that the response from the community has been great.

“Everything about my uncle was all about the kids, the community, the kids,” said Chris. “There was nothing more that made him happier than to see the kids progress and go on, especially into college.”

Three committees were formed that included teachers, coaches, administrators and the corporation’s directors. Each was to select a student from Lynbrook’s class of 2013. Scholarships were awarded in three categories: the arts, athletics and promise. Chelsea Campanile won the arts scholarship, Nicholas LoCicero took home the award for athletics, and Alexandra Brittman was named the student with the most promise. Each received $1,500 toward his or her college education.

Campanile, a soprano, will attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the fall to study vocal performance. She has known the Barbarino family for years through her church, St. Raymond’s in East Rockaway, which made the award more special, she said. Barbarino’s brother, Al, announced the winner of the arts scholarship at an awards dinner in May, and Campanile said she started crying. “It kind of hit me,” she recalled, “and I was so honored.”

LoCicero, a two-sport athlete who was close to Santo Barbarino, said he attended every sporting event and knew all the players’ names. LoCicero, who will play lacrosse at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island, added that he was honored to receive a scholarship in Barbarino’s name.

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