The Past Presidents’ Scholarship was initially established in 2009 through an inaugural gift from then outgoing President District Superintendent Clark Godshall and has been generously supported through contributions from those who have served as President of the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS/The Council).
2026 Past Presidents' Scholarship Award Presentation
Annie Culianos, LCSW, BCBA, LBA
District Wide Behavior Analyst / Social Worker
Public Schools of the Tarrytowns
Annie Culianos, LCSW, BCBA, LBA, District Wide Behavior Analyst / Social Worker from the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns, was selected to receive this year’s scholarship by the Distinguished Service Committee. In her district, she acts like a “bridge” between the special education office and the classroom guiding staff and administrators on interventions that should be implemented for students across all types of classes.
Her Superintendent Ray Sanchez said, “Annie has already demonstrated the qualities of an exceptional educational leader. I have already seen her direct impact on student achievement and highly effective oversight of our districtwide attendance efforts.”
She is pursuing her leadership degree at Bank Street through the Future School Leadership Academy. This scholarship will be presented at the Tuesday Closing Ideas Keynote at our
2026 Winter Institute & Lobby Day.
2027 Scholarship Process
NYSCOSS Past Presidents are pleased to offer once again one scholarship in the amount of $2,000 to be awarded at the
2027 Winter Institute & Lobby Day. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide financial assistance to those individuals interested in pursuing a higher educational degree or certification leading to credentials for acquiring or furthering their position as a public-school administrator serving in a district-wide position.
Nominations of aspiring leaders can be made by superintendents and college and university faculty.
Please consider nominating a colleague from your district by completing this
online nomination form here.
Online nominations are due by Monday, January 4, 2027. Once nominated, Council staff will send the student nominee access to the online application.
The scholarship of $2,000 is awarded annually and presented to those individuals enrolled in a graduate study program through which a Doctoral Degree and/or Certification as a School District Administrator. It is presented at our Winter Institute & Lobby Day.
All applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Actively pursuing graduate level studies leading to a senior administrative credential.
- Demonstrating leadership qualities, i.e., community and/or association involvement and other professional participation.
- While membership in The Council is not a prerequisite, it is a criterion for consideration.
- Serving the children of New York State.
Application Details
- Complete and submit an online application on his/her objectives/aspirations in the field of public-school central office administration by answering four short questions.
- Present and upload a letter of interest and a current resume.
- Demonstrate financial need in the letter of interest.
Applications are due by Friday, January 15, 2027 to be considered for the 2027 scholarship.
Note: Submission files can be no larger than 500 KB or the online system will reject the entire application if the file is too large. You can easily upload files through the drag and drop option. File types can include pdf, doc, docx, xls, csv, txt, rtf, html, zip, mp3, wma, mpg, flv, avi, jpg, jpeg, png, or gif.
For more information contact:
Theresa Wutzer Moore, CMP
Associate Director / Director of
Marketing & Communications
E: theresa@nyscoss.org
T: 518.694.4884