In her 25th year of teaching and with no prior knowledge of the nomination, Nancy Benfer, Principal of Bishop Dunn Memorial School and an adjunct professor at Mount Saint Mary College, became the recipient of the 2023 Educational Leadership Award. Benfer was one of two recipients of the honor which was awarded to Wallkill Superintendent of Schools Kevin Castle.

Originally from the Milton area and lifelong resident of the Hudson Valley, Benfer attended Marlboro High School and went on to attend Mount Saint Mary College in hopes of pursuing a nursing degree. “I had a science scholarship and I was going to go to school and become a nurse. And then I realized I love the teaching aspect of all of that, and changed over to teaching and have never looked back since then,” said Benfer.

Benfer first started as a teaching assistant in 2003 at Bishop Dunn working with the students in the 1-5 grades with various business models as part of a program called Junior Achievement. Through the support of a former principal of Bishop Dunn, Benfer went on to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in teaching from Mount Saint Mary College and pursued her Master’s in education specializing in childhood/special education. Benfer then went on to teach fourth grade at Bishop Dunn, then became the assistant principal and ultimately principal of the school in 2017. Benfer, who still lives in the Milton area with her husband, has also raised three children that have all since graduated and are off in their careers.

Other accolades from her biography included coauthoring “How Common Core’s Recommended Books Fail Children of Color” with fellow MSMC professor Dr. Jane Gangi and authoring the article “Don’t Forget the Pictures: Using Graphical Devices to Learn About Space,” with MSMC professor Dr. Rebecca Norman and MSMC graduate, Meghan Bauer.

Even during the unknown times of COVID, Benfer continued to make her students her top priority and make the learning experience more enjoyable and connectable to her students. With all that she has done in career, Bender remains committed to helping more and more students in Newburgh through programming and education opportunities as they arise.

“I just wish that more people could buy into the way I see education, and to be able to expand it into the community and do more. We will really make our community a better place and then in turn the world a better place,” said Benfer. “I honestly have been inspired by this community to do this work. I don’t know that I would have turned out to be the same person I am today if I hadn’t taught at the Armory, and worked here in the City of Newburgh.”

Benfer said this award and the place that she is in now in her career would not have been possible without the support of her family, her colleagues at Bishop Dunn but most importantly her students who she is proud to see go on and be successful. “My greatest accomplishment is seeing the successes of my students, because in some way, every student I’ve worked with, they’ve all succeeded. It’s about not just teaching them, but also inspiring them to meet their potential,” said Benfer. “I am always challenging myself to learn more to get us to be at a point where not just Bishop Dunn is successful but we’re successful within our community.”