Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Dean Bacigalupo, a social studies teacher at Island Park’s Lincoln Orens Middle School and an adjunct professor at Hofstra University, has been named the 2025 Nassau County Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the Long Island Council for Social Studies, which represents educators in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. The award will be presented at LIU Post Campus on June 3 at 3 p.m.
“Dean is so deserving of this recognition and award,” said Lincoln Orens Science teacher and Island Park Kiwanis President Karen Davis. “His unwavering dedication to his students and tireless commitment to the children in the community make him a true role model and … he’s a really nice guy, to boot!”
The award recognizes outstanding classroom practice, leadership in the profession, and contributions to students’ understanding of history, civics and the world around them.
“I’m incredibly honored, of all these social studies teachers across Long Island that are choosing me,” Bacigalupo said. “But I’m also humble enough to understand that learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and it’s the incredible support and kindness of the staff that I work with, and, of course, the administration that oversees it, that allows me to be as effective as I am in a classroom. It’s never an individual endeavor.”
Dean and his wife, Lori, an Island Park School District alumni, bought their home in the village in 1998. At 55, he shows no signs of slowing down. He began teaching in Island Park in 2001 and this school year marks Bacigalupo’s 25th year teaching in Island Park and his 30th in education overall, including five years in Brooklyn before his move to Long Island. His teaching philosophy centers on transforming students into historians rather than passive learners, encouraging critical thinking and deep engagement with historical material.
“I never say, ‘I’m going to work.’ I always say, ‘I’m going to school.’ I never graduated middle school,” Bacigalupo said jokingly. “It’s just such a dynamic place to be. It’s an environment where you can be creative.”
In addition to his work at Lincoln Orens,this fall he will begin his 20th year in Hofstra’s School of Education, where he teaches courses on educational methods, cognitive science, and the role of motivation in student engagement.
“At Hofstra, a lot of the onus is on the learner,” Bacigalupo said, reflecting on the roles of students in his two teaching domains. “They share a lot more responsibility for the learning, compared to middle school, where you’re learning how to be an independent learner, and then by high school you’re an independent learner, and that’s what allows you to move on to college.”
Outside the classroom, Bacigalupo is actively involved in educational leadership. He is a member of the Island Park Faculty Association and the Long Island Council for Social Studies. He chairs the New York State United Teachers Social Studies Committee, on which he takes part in discussions on topics ranging from the future of New York state’s Regents exams to project-based assessments to civics education requirements, and he is president of the board of the Island Park Public Library, where he has advocated for expanded youth programming.
“Dean is a wonderful person,” library director Jessica Koenig said. “He’s a well-respected library board member who is a strong advocate for the library. He’s always thinking about how the library can best serve the community and is a creative problem-solver. I’ve really enjoyed working with him.”
Library board Vice President Joe Pontecorvo added, “As a trustee, working together, he’s been an asset to the library by bringing all his knowledge as a teacher to the library and sharing it with us.”
Bacigalupo credits his mentor, Hofstra Professor Alan Singer, with inspiring his teaching methodology, which focuses on helping students develop historical thinking skills through primary-source analysis and critical deliberation.
“I’m not there to manage student behaviors,” he said. “I’m there to build a community of learners where students can help support each other in the learning process and become inquisitive and ask questions. … Assessment becomes part of the learning process when you look at it that way.”
Bacigalupo says that classrooms should be dynamic, creative spaces where students experience “joy in learning.” Drawing on the model of Singer, whom he called “the Yoda of social studies,” Bacigalupo emphasizes what he calls disciplinary literacy.
“Alan was showing us how to show students to become historians,” he said. “He wasn’t showing us how to have students memorize history. He created this environment where you were looking at culture, you were looking at works of art, you were listening to music, you were watching dance performances, you were reading primary source documents, recognizing bias and pulling everything together. You felt like you were part of that process, and you weren’t just there to memorize and regurgitate — it was dynamic, fun and inspiring.”
As he approaches the later stages of his career, Bacigalupo remains dedicated to inspiring the next generation, helping each new class become compassionate, informed citizens.
“My goal is just welcoming another class of students and inspiring them to be the best they can be,” he said, “and stepping out into the world and making the world a more kind and more caring place.”
