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Rochester Teacher Honored With State Award

Office of NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo

When Governor Andrew Cuomo came to Rochester Tuesday,  he made a stop at Vanguard Collegiate High School on Norton Street in Rochester.

He was there to present one of the Empire State Excellence in Teaching Awards.

It went to Adel Bouallagui, who teaches English as a second language.

Boullagoi is a native of Tunisia in North Africa, and came  to the U.S. in 1998. He says he knows what it’s like to come to another country and need help with language skills.

“Being a second language learner myself, and to have Governor Cuomo come here personally and honor me, it’s an honor to all my students and to all the work that we do.”

Boullagoi speaks several languages including Spanish, French, Italian, German and Arabic.

As part of the award, he gets a $5,000 stipend which he will use to further his education.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.