Ossining Board honors four educators with Hester Bateman Spencer Hines awards during Black History Month

The Ossining Union Free School District recognized four longtime educators and community leaders Feb. 26 as recipients of the Hester Bateman Spencer Hines Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award during the district’s Black History Month program.

The awards honored Dr. Kendall McFarland, Jerry Norris, Brenda Hunter and Gwendolyn Lyman for extended service to students and families in Ossining. The awards ceremony included remarks from district leaders and proclamations read by town and village officials.

The awards committee presented the history of the honors and the life of Hester Bateman Spencer Hines, described at the ceremony as the first Black educator hired by the district and a longtime local civic figure. Trustee committee members Melissa (Board trustee), Frank (Board trustee) and Catherine (Board trustee) emceed the recognition segment and read biographical notes for each recipient.

Dr. Kendall McFarland, identified at the ceremony as a guidance counselor hired by the district on Sept. 1, 2005, received the first award of the night. The board highlighted McFarland’s mentorship work with Prestigious Ladies of Power (PLP) and noted she earned a master’s degree from Mercy University and a Ph.D. from Manhattanville College. Supervisor Liz Feldman of the Town of Ossining presented a town proclamation and said the town and village leaders regretfully could not attend the village meeting but sent written recognition. Dr. McFarland told the audience she felt "in awe, and in gratitude" and invited PLP members to join her onstage.

Jerry Norris was honored for more than 20 years of service as a special education teacher in Ossining after an earlier career with the New York City Board of Education. The board and village proclamations recounted Norris’s hiring on Sept. 1, 1999, and his retirement on July 1, 2020. Norris described launching an after‑school program, Watu Gente, with a colleague that continues to stay in touch with former students.

Brenda Hunter was recognized in absentia; the board read her hiring date as Sept. 1, 1973, and said she retired in June 2012 after nearly 39 years. The board noted Hunter served as co‑chair of the superintendent’s advisory council on the achievement gap and contributed to a district report delivered in June 2002.

Gwendolyn Lyman, hired Sept. 1, 1993, and retired Jan. 2, 2023, was honored for nearly 30 years as a social worker. The board noted Lyman’s work counseling students and families and her master’s degree in social work.

The district presented each recipient with a plaque, a commemorative clock and proclamations from the town and village. Several speakers praised the honorees’ mentorship and long‑term community work; the board closed the segment by inviting recipients and trustees for group photographs.

The recognition portion of the meeting was part of a larger agenda that later moved into regular business and budget discussions.