Alumna voted outstanding educator

Andrea Liftman ‘70 was pleased to learn she had been selected to receive the Outstanding Educators Award from Salem State University. “Teachers by nature aren’t the types of people who expect to receive any notoriety for what we do,” said Liftman. “It is quite an honor, and even more so when you’re being recognized by your peers.”

Every year, the Salem State University’s alumni group Friends of the School of Education present the Outstanding Educators Award to five alumni who have distinguished themselves as teachers. Liftman received her Master of Education from Salem State University in 1975, and went on to teach second and third grade in the Swampscott Public Schools until retiring in 2006.

One of her greatest strengths as a teacher, she said, is encouraging children overall. “I knew how to make children feel good about themselves. I understood that not all of them had the same issues, and I made every one of them feel very welcomed and a part of my classroom.”

Liftman sits on the Board of the Friends of the School of Education, and the Salem State Alumni Board. “I hope to bring the same enthusiasm I brought when I was on the alumni board at Emerson,” she said.

Liftman received an undergraduate degree from Emerson in elementary education, a program no longer available at the College. Shortly after graduating, she became actively involved in the Emerson College Alumni Association, serving as secretary and then becoming president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, where she served for four years.

She continues to support the College and comes back to campus to attend special events and happenings. “Emerson is a magnificent institution,” she said, “and a huge point of pride for me.”