Marion R. Sortore Award
Marion R. Sortore, a native of Binghamton, joined the education faculty at The College at Brockport Campus School in 1944 as the primary level demonstration/supervising teacher. She had earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from New York University, and had taught at the Oswego Normal School before her arrival at Brockport.
A proponent of reading readiness, she was a featured speaker at the Niagara County District Teachers Association meeting at Brockport in 1945. In 1946, the Brockport faculty elected her to a two-year term representing the College on the Board of the New York Association of State Teacher College Faculties, and she served on a committee that functioned as a liaison between the College and the association.
In 1952, she was promoted to assistant professor, and she began serving as the advisor to the campus chapter of the Association for Childhood Education.
Ms. Sortore also was a pioneer in the use of television in the classroom. Beginning in 1957, she demonstrated and spoke on the use of television in a classroom setting. One demonstration on using television in a classroom was to a group of Western New York principals on behalf of the New York State Commission on Instructional Television. She also explained the use of television in elementary school instruction at the Central New York School Boards Institute in Syracuse.
In 1958, she taught a sample television class for members of the Delta Kappa Gamma professional education society with Marguerite Hare. Also that year, she co-authored an article, “Cuddling the Camera for Better Learning,” in The Instructor magazine.
In 1968, she established the first Hilton, NY, Brockport Teaching Center. The teaching center combined all resources along with the clinical teachers, classroom-supervising teachers, and principals needed to help student teachers and participants learn from experts while honing their teaching skills. She also taught graduate courses on student teacher supervision in the district.
Outside Brockport and her professional activities, Ms. Sortore was active in the local community, volunteering with the Lakeside Memorial Hospital Twig and participating in theatrical productions.
After her retirement in 1969, she remained in Brockport and continued her volunteer work with the Lakeside Twigs and as a Red Cross Gray Lady. She passed away in the late 1970s.
The Marion R. Sortore Award, established in her memory, recognizes a student in Childhood Inclusive Certification who has demonstrated excellence in student teaching, especially at the primary level. Eligible candidates also must receive recommendations from their student teaching supervising teacher, principal, and clinical professor.