Fallsburg Alumni Association Honors Regina McKenny-Snead
FALLSBURG– The Fallsburg Alumni Association is proud to present its first ever Lawrence Kotin Award. This award recognizes and honors a Fallsburg Alumnus whose dedication and contributions on behalf of children with special needs is outstanding.
Lawrence Kotin graduated FCHS in 1958. He earned a B.A. from Columbia College in 1962, a Certificat de Langue Francaise from La Sorbonne, and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law in 1966. He has had an outstanding legal career and has won awards for his advocacy for students with special needs. He drafted much of the Massachusetts legislation outlining the rights of children with disabilities and was instrumental in its passage in 1972. He later drafted the regulations from that statute and was a consultant to the Department of Education in the first years of the law’s implementation. This legislation became the federal Education for All Handicapped Children Act three years later. This award is to honor and remember his lifetime of work on behalf of children with special needs
The Fallsburg Alumni Association has chosen Mrs. Regina McKenny-Snead to be the recipient of this honor and award. Mrs. McKenny-Snead is a 1989 graduate of FCSD. In her words, “I always knew that my purpose in life was to be of service to others…I am extremely proud to be a part of what is now known as The Arc Greater Hudson Valley. I appreciate being deeply rooted in an organization that promotes, among other things, advocacy, inclusion and independence for people with developmental disabilities.”
Mrs. McKenny-Snead has dedicated most of her career to SullivanArc and was promoted to her current position as Associate Executive Director of SullivanArc in 2007. The FAA is delighted to have her, the current President of the FAA, as the first recipient of this new and well-deserved award.