Congratulations to Farmingdale High School Orchestra Director Thérèse Mannino, a 2022 Manilow Music Teacher Award nominee.
The Manilow Music Teacher Award recognizes an outstanding music teacher who helps to bring music to life for their students. It is presented by the Manilow Music Project, established by legendary singer-songwriter Barry Manilow.
Thérèse Mannino was nominated along with only nine other teachers from Long Island for this award. The winner receives a $5,000 cash prize and a $5,000 Manilow Bucks credit that can be used to purchase instruments for their classroom.
“I'm tremendously honored to have been nominated amongst such distinguished music educators, some of whom I know, and I have great admiration and respect for them and their work,” said Orchestra Director Thérèse Mannino. “I love what I do, and I feel blessed every day to work with some of the brightest and most talented young minds. They truly inspire me, and to have the opportunity to give back to these incredible students is pure joy.”
An online voting contest was held, and all honorees were invited to attend a Barry Manilow concert with a special backstage meet and greet in August, where the winner would be announced. The contest stipulated that to be eligible for the prize, the honoree must attend the concert and receive the award in person. Unfortunately, Ms. Mannino had travel plans already booked and would not be able to attend, thus disqualifying her.
Farmingdale School District is nonetheless proud of Ms. Mannino’s nomination and is confident that if she could attend the concert, the Daler community would have rallied around her and given her enough votes to take the top prize.