RVC Education Foundation Gala raises $35,000

The Rockville Centre Education Foundation raised approximately $35,000 during its 32nd annual fundraising gala on April 6, at Gatsby on the Ocean near Jones Beach.

This amount, along with the $4,000 raised during the fall School-a-Palooza fundraiser, will provide the foundation with approximately $40,000 available grants.

Founded in 1991, the Education Foundation is a nonprofit that seeks to enhance the quality of public education by focusing on programs that enrich and expand classroom curriculum to foster innovation.

The annual gala is the primary source of the organization’s funding, and its donors support initiatives proposed by RVC school district staff to ensure that students are prepared to take on the global challenges that lie ahead of them. To date, the foundation has raised more than $1 million for programming.

“On behalf of all the members of the foundation we would like to thank all who attended, the local community, and the school district for its continued support and generosity,” Mayda Kramer, president of the RVC Education Foundation, said. “This will allow the foundation to fulfill its mission of providing funds for grants that will expand the four walls of the classroom by providing innovative programs for the children of the district and community.”

This year’s event recognized Darren Raymar, who has served as principal of Covert Elementary School for the past 25 years, and Dr. Brian Zuar, the district’s director of the arts, both of whom will retire in June.

Both men served on the foundation’s board of directors for more than 15 years and are beloved members for the school community, who have shown unwavering dedication to the education of Rockville Centre school students.

Raymar, 55, was the youngest school administrator in New York State when he was appointed assistant principal of Arrowhead Elementary School in 1997. Two years, later, he was named principal of Covert Elementary School in Rockville Centre.

Zuar, 67, has been an educator for the last 44 years. He began teaching music at parochial schools in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, before switching over to public schools. After a brief stint as the music coordinator in the Pleasantville School District in Westchester County, he went on to be named director of the arts in the Rockville Centre school district, where he has worked for the past 20 years.

In celebration of their retirement and years of service in Rockville Centre, the duo prepared a special musical number, which they performed in front of a crowd of family, friends, and members of the school community. The performance was met with a standing ovation and a round of applause from everyone in attendance.