Teacher Levitt

Levitt brings the past alive to shed light on the present

By Reine Bethany

There are many great teachers in Freeport. Among the most outstanding is Joshua

Levitt. He teaches two advanced placement classes at Freeport High School — government and U.S. history. And it’s not like his eff orts have gone unnoticed. He was named a “Distinguished Teacher of 2022” by the Harvard Club of Long Island. Levitt, who lives with his wife and two children in Baldwin, received his award through a virtual ceremony in the spring, joining seven other teachers from across Long Island. Levitt's lectures incorporate books, documents, maps, images and videos in fast-moving PowerPoint presentations. His students — informed by Levitt’s research training sessions and hands-on fi eld trips — use their books and electronic devices on the spot to engage in lively, productive student discussions of current events. “I think the class is very engaging,” says his student Gabrielle Demosthenes. “Even the most boring topic can be fun because Mr. Levitt makes it fun.” Under Levitt’s guidance, Freeport’s student government has been featured in Newsday four times for its charitable eff orts, including one article recogning its Breaking Borders program with Syosset High School. Levitt’s students also created a program that helped their Freeport neighbors make more than 2,000 Covid-19 vaccination appointments, earning

Joshua Levitt

his group even more local media attention. Levitt has taken his students multiple times to Albany, where they have watched the proceedings of the state legislature and heard the State of the State address. He even took a group there to view the Electoral College certifi cation in early 2021, and won a grant to take 120 students to see “Hamilton” on Broadway at no cost. “I’ve been very lucky,” Levitt says, modestly. “People have been kind.” Shyanne Gardner, Freeport’s valedictorian in 2020, told the Harvard Club that Levitt was continually “helping to coordinate student projects that taught us the importance of being engaged members of our community, to feel empowered in our ability to change the world.” Kishore Kuncham, superintendent of Freeport Public Schools, says Levitt “puts in every eff ort” to keep his students “engaged in the community around them, and to facilitate their growth as competent, global citizens.”

Reine Bethany/Herald Photo: Joshua Levitt led his class in a lively discussion of the historical meaning of Russia’s early 2022 invasion of Ukraine.