John Bligh
- Retired Teacher
Elizabeth Sciabarra, who had a positive influence on thousands of students during a career in education that lasted more than 40 years, died on Nov. 26, 2022, after two years of serious health problems. She was 70.
Elizabeth started her career in 1971 as an assistant English teacher at Brooklyn Technical HS. She became a teacher two years later and continued teaching English at Brooklyn Tech until 1985. Elizabeth took on other roles during that time, serving first as director of student government and later as coordinator of student affairs and executive assistant to the principal. She also was the founding coach of the school’s cheerleading squad and dance teams.
In 1986, she was promoted to assistant principal of pupil personnel service, a position she held until 1990, when she was appointed principal of New Dorp HS on Staten Island. She remained in that position through February 1999.
Elizabeth also taught at the Polytechnic University Summer Research Institute from 1983-2000, and she taught a writing seminar in the College Discovery Program at the College of Staten Island for high school students preparing for the Westinghouse Science Talent Search (now called the Regeneron Science Talent Search).
She moved on to other administrative roles in the city Department of Education, including deputy superintendent of Brooklyn and Staten Island high schools and superintendent of high school admissions.
After retiring in 2010, Elizabeth became executive director of the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, stepping down two years ago due to health problems, said her brother Chris Sciabarra. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at Brooklyn Tech’s 100th anniversary gala a week before her death, although she could not attend. Throughout her career, she received multiple awards from community and education organizations.
“She was fortunate enough to view the YouTube video of this [Lifetime Achievement Award] presentation this past week and was very deeply moved; I think that it provided a poignant coda to her lifelong, passionate commitment to the education and well-being of young people,” Chris Sciabarra wrote on his blog at the time.
Keri Goldman, the UFT chapter leader at PS 369 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, said Elizabeth was her dance drill coach at Brooklyn Tech from 1989-91. “‘Ski,’ as we called her, made a group of young women into national champions. We traveled the country competing and winning, something many groups didn’t expect from us,” Goldman said.
As Elizabeth moved from the UFT to the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the number of students whose lives she touched “cannot be overstated,” Goldman said. “Ultimately, she returned to Brooklyn Technical HS as the alumni director to make sure the current students would always have the proper funding that the DOE cannot provide, by tapping the vast alumni resources.”
Chris Sciabarra set up a GoFundMe page for his sister to assist with in-home care when she became ill, and #GoFundSki raised more than $200,000, allowing Elizabeth to remain in her Brooklyn home until she died. “Wherever she has walked, people will be hard pressed to forget her and her impact on their lives,” Chris Sciabarra wrote on his blog, referencing a quote by historian Rina Swentzell.
In addition to her brother Chris, Elizabeth is survived by another brother, Carl Sciabarra, and his wife, Joanne.
The family is planning a public memorial in 2023. Condolences may be emailed to Chris Sciabarra at cms10@nyu.edu.
We will be honoring Miss Ski at our Brooklyn Technical High School Class of 1978 45 Reunion dinner on March 25th, 2023 as many of us remember her whether we were on the cheerleader squad or not. We didn’t realize it at the time of course but she was only around 8 years older than us!!! She was always so kind and embraced all of the students at Tech.
Ski was the best educator I ever met. She made me a better teacher and coach by always putting kids ahead of everything else. We worked closely together as teachers at Tech and later as a board member of the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation when she was the executive director. We never lost touch during her years at the New Dorp and the Department of Education. When she returned to Tech with the foundation, she inspired students, teachers, administrators, and principals to be better at making child-first decisions. Always the educator, Liz Scibarra will be honored on memory at Brooklyn Tech on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
Thank you so much for honoring my sister’s memory with this lovely tribute. Thanks especially to Keri Goldman.