Bluffton native Matthew Schweingruber, was one of 23 New York City public school teachers who recently received Outstanding Educator of the Year awards sponsored by Education Update.

Schweingruber, a Bluffton High School graduate and son of Don and Nancy Schweingruber, is a teacher at Public School 28, Manhattan.

The bimonthly newspaper's ninth annual awards ceremony was held on June 2 at the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan as an audience of 200 leaders from education, philanthropy and the corporate world looked on.

"Teachers and teaching are so vital. The relationships they build with students are really forever," said Dr. Pola Rosen, Education Update's founder and publisher. "We want to shine a light on those individuals who are enriching the fabric of our students' lives every day in classrooms around the city."

"Thursday was a wonderful day and I will treasure the memories forever!" wrote one awardee, Jay Coppi of Staten Island's McKee High School, about the event.

The other teachers honored were: Nicole Abrams, Cultural Academy for the Arts & Sciences, Brooklyn; Otis Benjamin, PS 116, Brooklyn; Jhonary Bridgemohan, Global Tech Prep, Manhattan; Malisa Peres DaSilva, PS 50, Queens; Jay Finkelstein, Brooklyn HS for Leadership and Community Service;

Megan Galvin, Scholars' Academy, Queens; Richard Geller, Stuyvesant HS, Manhattan; Doris Hanrahan, PS 11, Staten Island; Jennifer Lewner, Scholars' Academy, Queens; Alison Malone, the Hungerford School, Staten Island; Pierre Michel, PS 335, Brooklyn;

Patrick Misciagna, Staten Island Technical HS; Ana Plaza, PS 279, Brooklyn; Irene Queller, PS 128, Manhattan; Daisy Santiago, Jonas Bronck Academy, the Bronx; Haydee Santino, PS/MS 15, the Bronx; and Melissa White, PS 169, Manhattan.