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05/09/2017 05:15 PMBranford Education Hall of Fame (BEHF) recently celebrated its 20th anniversary with a very special night. At the BEHF Induction Dinner on Thursday, April 20, BEHF inducted 11 new members and unveiled the Murray/Stolzman Service Award, honoring BEHF co-founders Thomas A. Murray and Peter D. Stolzman.
A crowd of families and fans of the BEHF Class of 2017 joined many BEHF inductees from past classes and many other BEHF supporters to fill the dining room at Woodwinds of Branford on April 20. Toastmaster John O'Connor talked about the history of BEHF before calling the co-founders up to the podium to receive the BEHF Founders Award. In honor of their work, O'Connor also introduced the newly-named Murray/Stolzman Service Award.
"There is no way that we can ever thank you for all the good will and positive feelings toward educators that your Hall of Fame has been responsible for," O'Connor told them. "Your service will now be recognized annually, when the Murray/Stolzman service award is presented to a deserving individual who has helped carry on what you began."
Both began their Branford High School Social Studies teaching careers in the 1960's. It was a tumultuous period in the district's history, noted O'Conner.
"Teachers were consistently at odds with town government over teacher contracts that had no end," said O'Connor. "During these difficult times, Tom and Peter actively supported their fellow educators but always remained professional. After the binding arbitration law was passed, the disputes ended and respect for educators began to improve. Tom and Peter began discussing ways to recognize educators in a positive light, and the seeds for this dinner were planted."
Murray and Stolzman held the very first BEHF induction dinner in a small section of Woodwinds in 1998. The considerably smaller event coincided with a much larger wedding, said O'Connor. In fact, it was, "... to the sounds of 'Daddy's Little Girl' and other traditional wedding songs the first Hall of Fame class was inducted," said O'Connor.
All-volunteer BEHF has always accepted and recorded nominations from the public. Each nomination is put through a democratic annual voting process, with inductees selected by public vote during an open meeting each January. Both Murray and Stolzman were inducted into BEHF in 2005.
Murray taught in North Branford and East Haven before he began teaching at his alma mater, BHS, in 1967. Murray's creative and innovative work for BHS included creating a model for student self-learning as well as introducing the first college level colloquium program for BHS seniors, creating the BHS Youth in Government program, and instituting the BHS Senior Graduation Exhibition which continues as a culminating graduation requirement for all BHS students. A notable BHS basketball coach of 20 years and 320 wins, Murray is also a member of the Branford Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 1992).
As described in BEHF's 2005 induction notes, Stolzman gained a reputation as "the Conscience of Branford High School," who not only demonstrated his innate understanding of social justice issues, but "significant courage in articulating the essential moral components of these issues to students, teachers and members of the extended Branford Community." Before beginning his teaching career, he was a Peace Corps community development leader in Nigeria (1968). Stolzman founded the BHS Amnesty International chapter (1989) and instituted several though-provoking and popular classes to the BHS Social Studies curriculum. In 2001, in recognition of a lifetime of service to the cause of peace, he was awarded the Martin Luther King/Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award by the Connecticut Education Association.
The qualities and qualifications of every BEHF inductee are forever recorded and available to view at the BEHF website, found here . BEHF also recognizes inductees through its Susan Spear Book Project, with bookplate inscriptions placed in library books the organization donates annually to Branford Public School libraries. Since it's inception, nearly 1200 books have been provided.
On April 20, the first Murray/Stolzman Service Award was given to Diane George, a Walsh Intermediate School media specialist for over 30 years who recently retired. For the past 12 years, George has also volunteered to coordinate the gathering of books for BEHF's Susan Spear Book Project.
With the induction of the Class of 2017, BEHF's ranks now number some 200 inductees. While the significance and size of BEHF has grown in the years since, one thing hasn't changed.
"Each year, deserving individuals are inducted that have contributed in some extraordinary way to education in Branford," said O'Connor. "From the beginning, the Hall of Fame has recognized that education doesn't just take place in the classroom, but education occurs in a wide variety of ways; and Branford's Education Hall of Fame is open to everyone that has contributed to the education of Branford residents in a special way."
The 2017 inductees into the BEHF are: Louis G. Bougie, a retired Branford High School (BHS) Guidance Counselor, Frank A. Carrano, past chairman, Branford Board of Education; Dianne Dadio, a past WIS Special Education teacher and current BHS Dean of Students; Bill Horne, Environmentalist and Branford Land Trust member; Dr. Noble S. Proctor (posthumously) Ornithologist and Professor, Southern CT State University; Kathy Schwanfelder, retired BHS English teacher; Jennifer G. Stackpole, a BHS Health and Physical Education teacher; Leslie R. Stewart, a John B. Sliney third grade teacher; Joni Thomas, a Branford elementary teacher and Blackstone Library Youth Services staff members Carly Lemire and Mary Lockery.