001What I would like to do is just kind of let you know what we're going to be doing tonight. Can you guys hear me? >> You still don't want me to be singing it. >> Motion to approve. You a second. >> Motion to approve and it's been second and it's not going to happen. So, this is actually what we call a committee of the whole meeting. for years and years. We've actually done the honoring of um staff and students um at a regular board of ed meeting. Um but Susan and the board had a really good idea. Not not me, the rest of the board had a really good idea. is like, let this just be one meeting where we can celebrate the work, the hard work um of our students and our staff um
002and just celebrate because gosh darn it, don't we all deserve to celebrate? This has been a tough year. So, so when I hear the good idea, I try to implement it. So, that is why we are here. Um what what's going to happen is that I will be calling the meeting to order and um we have one agenda item that we always have to do which is that I just ask have to ask for approval of the minutes. We will have a discussion or not a discussion on that and then uh we are going to then um or I am going to move that to the district staff so that we can get on with the party. Um, and my understanding is that there's goods at the back of the room, um, also called food.
003Um, and so I'm hoping that once we do this that we can celebrate, um, all together. Um, for those of us who are on Zoom, um, we are at the Graten Middle School, so we do not have a Prometheium board. I said it. I had practiced by Caitlyn. Um, a Prometheium board so you can hear and see us. we cannot communicate back to you. So if there is something that you want to say, I guess you could put it in the chat and Mark or Caitlyn will um translate that and send it to us so that we can have it. So once again, um this is um our favorite board meeting. I should I haven't asked you guys, but I'm assuming it is our favorite um where we once again get to be in celebration
004of the hard work that is being done in our district. Um, so with that in mind, um, it is 6:09 and I would like to call the committee of the whole meeting that is being h held at the Grten Middle School cafeteria to order. The first order of business, I will take a motion to accept the minutes of May 8th. >> Motion. >> I have a motion. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> I have Andrea for a second. Is there any discussion on the meeting minutes? Hearing none. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Abstain. That motion >> abstain. One obsession. I think Joan, did you get that? Yeah. Sure. Miss Joan is our clerk and she is online. So I'm not just talking in the air or to
005any other gentleman that's in the off that's in the audience. Um so at this point um I would like to turn this over to um Susan who is our superintendent. Um and we are going to honor our poet laurate. So Ted just if you principal Calagher could you come up and we can honor your your students. We have a missing poet, Laria, but you can come and introduce her and then any of your key um awardees. So, just starting out with our poet laurate for Pitch High School for 2023, Kai Feebas has been selected as the 2023 poet laurate for Pitch High School. Kai won the contest with a carefully crafted poetry titled The Tragedy of Excludius, which I'm probably mispronouncing. Kai will serve as Fitch High School's poet laurate for the entirety of 2023.
006They earned a $100 honorarium participation in a workshop with poet Melanie Greenhouse and will read and read at the youth will be served in Stonington on Friday, April 28th. Uh in addition, her work will be featured in the 59th edition of A4. Congratulations to Kai. >> And if you and if you've never seen the Amphora, it's a must readad. All of our students publish their work. I read it every year and I kind of keep it up close so I can reread it at all times. It's just magnificent work from our students. >> And then you have Kate. >> Yes. Um, so next is our Cave Award winners for Finch High School. Uh, our first Cave award winner was Isaiah Anderson. Isaiah wanted me to apologize. He's at a baseball game tonight and could not
007make it. Um, Isaiah is phenomenal young man with no cap on his potential and continually raises the bar for what students can accomplish in high school. Teachers can always count on Isaiah because he's the type of student that is always first to volunteer for a leadership role in a club or sport. He has shown extremely he is extremely gifted academically, athletically and as a natural leader. Uh he has been challenging himself since his freshman year of high school with honors, advanced placement in international baloria contests. He's been recognized throughout the high school for his academic achievement and uh for his uh participation with his peers. Uh his awards have included the Martin Luther King scholarship, Harvard book award, the principal award for academic achievement, national merit scholarship letter of accommodation, chat advanced scholarship recipient and
008many more. Uh we are extremely lucky to have had Isaiah as a senior at Pitch High School for a number of years and uh we are looking forward to seeing what he does in the future. So congratulations to Isaiah. I'd also like to mention uh this was actually written by his guidance counselor, but I'd also like to mention that he has been a member of the board of education for a number of years as a student representative. Uh and that's why he especially wanted to be here tonight. But again, I think the baseball team needed him more. So, and our next award winner is actually here. So, I'm going to ask her just to step up to the podium for a second. Are you out there? So, our next award rep recipient for the Cave
009uh Connecticut Association's Board of Education is Qatara Papa and uh her again her kind counselor read this all and said that she has it all. She's an incredibly intelligent, heavily involved and great young woman. She was a robotics team member and a two-year captain of our nationally recognized robotics team. She's still active with the FIRST robotics program. Tara is the first student uh at Fitch High School ever to be recognized as a deans list semi-finalist by first robotics organization for his leadership and dedication to her community. In addition to robotics, she has managed to be an athlete on our soccer and track teams. She's also been an integral member of our various choir ensembles. She is a multiaceted young woman who has been involved and excelled in a myriad of activities, being enrolled in four
010AP classes her senior year, including AP calculus and two AP sciences. She's currently taking her senior year in stride. She's been a vital asset to many facets of our school community. She's a leader who will perform well in college and is planning to major in environmental engineering and will continue to help her community. As a school, we have been very fortunate to know her and are very proud and look forward to see what has to come. [Applause] >> And I'll call Principal Bast because he has some award winners too of our students. Good evening everyone. Good evening. The first awards that we will present this evening go to uh a few students who participated in the Connecticut writing project student poetry writing contest. This year we had four who were selected from our school to
011be recognized. We had a we had two honorable mentions, a silver and a platinum. Pretty amazing. So, at this time, I'd like to call to the podium Carly Edmonson, platinum winner for her poem, His Green Uniform. And may I mention that Carly, the awardees were uh honored at the Jurgensson Theater at the University of Connecticut last week. Carly represented the entire uh grade level by reading her poetry, her poem. One of just a handful of students who actually read that evening. So, congratulations to Carly. Well done. Next, like to have Kayla Gibson come to the podium. Is Kaylee here? Well, let's Kayla was awarded silver for her poem entitled One Chance, Many Fits of Laughter. Congratulations, Kayla. And then if I could have Rochelle Quis and Brendan Sandborn, if Brendan's here, come up. They both
012received honorable mention. Rochelle for her poem, Sassy and Brassy, and Brendan for Burning Feeling. Well done. [Applause] I know. >> Good job, Rochelle. Thank you, Michelle. >> Well done. >> And Brendan, >> there you go, sir. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you, sir. >> Well done. Well done. Congratulations. [Applause] Next for Grant Middle, we have some more writers. Uh this year we had three students whose pieces were selected among many from uh this part of the state. They were part of the Eugene O'Neal Young Playwrights Festival. uh they they sent their work in their submissions and we had three students who were recognized this year. Alex Kettes, I know he couldn't be here this evening. Um but Alex as well as Khloe Baldos made it to the semifinals and Malia Kitz Centenno was awarded honorable mention.
013This is an incredible award and to have three students recognized from Graten Middle is just outstanding. And I also like to give kudos to their teacher of of their playwriting that they took for a semester, Miss Laura Kwashi. Congratulations all. If you're here, please come forward. And I know that that Chloe Emily are here, so please come up. [Applause] Nice job. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have the cave award winners for Grant Middle. We have two students. The first is Winter Davis. Winter, would you please come up? [Applause] Winter is an exceptional student. She excels in academics, possesses outstanding character, and has strong leadership qualities. She's involved in multiple after school activities and is a positive presence in our learning community. She's a member of the Graten Middle volleyball and Graten Middle softball teams.
014Winter served as co-manager for both the boys soccer team and the girls basketball team. Outside of school, she's an active member of her church of her church youth group. She demonstrates the ability to stay committed to everything she pursues. Winter has gone above and beyond to support her classmates. She leads by example and always truly always has great attitude. Well done. [Applause] >> Next, Michael Del Curry. [Applause] Michael is a quiet leader among his peers and works well with all. He has great leadership qualities. He's hardworking and always open suggestions for improvement. Michael is an outstanding role model to his classmates. He kindly and willingly helps those who may struggle with their own learning. Michael is an outstanding and accomplished member of the Grant Middle School basketball team, who by the way went undefeated this
015season and won the championship. Well done. And while proud of the team's accomplishments, he is always humble when congratulating confidence in the class for his performance in the games. Outside of school, Michael enjoys volunteering with the Mystic YMCA, assisting with facilitating events in a variety of local foot races. Foot road races. Congratulations, Michael. Well done. [Applause] >> I believe we have a Thes River um winner too. >> So before you come up, I just know um so the CABE is stands for the Connecticut Association of the Boards of Education. For those of us who are board members, um it is a professional development center. They offer conferences and workshops. And so that's what CABE stands for. Um and it's something that this board um utilizes quite a bit. All right. I am thrilled to have
016Anica Nigum come on up. So Anica, [Applause] third grader. She's receiving a platinum award for her submission in the 2023 Connecticut Student Writers Art Contest. It's entitled Show the Light, Shine the Light, Be the Light. Really impressive. I just saw the gorgeous picture of a lighthouse and it's absolutely stunning. So, I would love to read a little bit about Ana and what her teacher, both Art and her third grade teacher, said. Anika is a wonderful member of our school community. She's a hard worker and never gives up on a challenge. She is always willing to lend a helping hand and her positive attitude is an encouragement to all her peers. She displays both artistic and creative abilities. Her careful and deliberate use of art material materials are noticeable in her work. She has an intuitive
017and an imaginative way of using the elements of art to create a desired outcome. Congratulations, Anico. We're so super proud of you. You should be too. Thank you. So, that is our student um celebration and we're so proud. and Laura Quashny, who's been an eighth grade teacher of reading and writing and literacy for a long time, um, and just a wonderful teacher, said, "Wow, so many of our students really are to be celebrated that they are writers and they are getting awards for their writing." And we couldn't be more proud. So, I'm going to now ask our Fitch High School principal, Keller, to come back up because I know he has a very special friend of Fitch who is getting an award and we want to make sure that we get him on first. So,
018>> introduce yourself. >> Uh, before I do that, actually, uh, our Port Lauria just got here. Um, so I'd like to invite Kai Feebas up to the podium. [Applause] So, you'll be excited to know I already told them all about you, how wonderful you are. >> Um, but I thought she would like to share some of her poetry with us tonight. >> So, how's everybody today? >> Oh, we get more than that. Come on. How's everybody today? >> Yeah. There we go. All right. Um, so I was the winner this year for poet laurette uh with my collection called tragedy of escalances. Um, for a little bit of background, it just means that the inability for someone to understand like what you're talking about, what you're trying to get them to understand. Uh, so this
019is called tragedy of maturity and romance. A kaleidoscope is made of many different pieces of glass. Each way you look at it, it view is always pretty. But when the kaleidoscope shatters, each individual piece shines in a spotlight. The pieces start to show their own individual color and their own story. Desperately trying to pick up the shards again, the shards pierce my hands. Blood of my own staining the glass of another. When one comes along, trying to help pick the pieces up, the shards pierce them, too. I did not know that my shards could pierce somebody else. I looked into their eyes, but all I saw was empty. How quick one could turn cold towards one mistake of another. I wish that maybe, just maybe, I could make this right again. Unfortunately, I could not.
020And the kaleidoscope shattered even more. Oh, what would I do to make things right again, the thorns of tomorrow piercing my heart. How the hammer hits the chisel to create a masterpiece, the perfect life from a block of stone that heavily sits upon my consciousness. The constant work of slowly losing my mind. My love is slowly growing stronger for you. But you are losing your love for me so quickly. Yet slowly, just slowly, you told me, "I am slowly changing my heart for you." Those eight words holding the weight of the whole world. The words of sweet young love. Maturely immature romance. Thank you. [Applause] So, I'd also like to mention that uh Kai also won the contest to speak at graduation as well. So, if you enjoyed that, come on to graduation and enjoy
021some more some more speech. So, uh I'd like to introduce our friend of education this year and and uh this is a person I've worked with the last four years. very proud to to say uh Larry Grundy's not only a friend to Fitch High School, but a friend to to all of us. Uh Larry Grundy has served a vital part of the Falcon Music Department and especially the Falcon Music Boosters for over 13 years. He's headed up many fundraisers, washed many cars, grilled hot dogs, driven trucks, carried a mom bag or two, and could win a lifetime achievement award for all the music concerts and band competitions he has attended. This is Larry's last year serving as the president m of the music boosters as his youngest Kevin is graduating. Uh Larry support his other
022two children as they came up through the Fitch music department. Uh believe me when I tell you I have tried to get him to stay on but he has refused. Um Larry is however forever a supporter of the Falcon music department and uh we are certainly going to miss his love and support and he will always be a Falcon. Thank you Larry. [Applause] So, unfortunately, I don't believe Mark Fruck is here tonight, but uh I just want to talk to him about our substitute teacher of the year. Uh he is one of the most hardworking, dependable, and valuable members of our school. He can become counted on or wherever is needed or willing to take on anything. This includes long-term teaching in manufacturing, English, guitar, biology, history. We can go on and on. All the
023students love to see him and are excited when they see him walk into the classroom. Thank you very much for your willingness to do whatever it takes to make our school a better place. You make you mean so much to our family. Thank you, Mark. [Applause] And then lastly, our non-certified employee of the year uh was Josh Spataphor. Uh Josh goes above and beyond for the students of FAS by working with the most challenging behaviors and circumstances every day and our partial inclusion program called ABA. He's always the first to help in an escalation problem solve for the toughest of situations and do it all while remaining calm and collected. Not only is he hardworking, but also a very dedicated and professional. He's one of the first staff members at the school every morning. Barely
024ever misses a day at school and never complains about the difficulties we face in the classrooms. In addition to demonstrating core values of hard work, dedication, and professionalism, he is resilient. Uh he has seen a lot of staff turn over the last few years, and he's always there to train new staff and implement quality instruction to the students and our partial inclusion program without losing his passion and drive. He is very valuable, appreciated, respected in our school and is the gold standard of our excellence in education. Congratulations to Josh. [Applause] Not many of you may realize, but central office is not only the the hub of the district where we really make sure everything is running smoothly in the schools, but it is also a school. It was the Northeast Academy. It sits right there
025on Flanders Road and we do have students there. We have our our students who are in the um program 18 to 22 and we just so appreciate them. They often will, you know, be doing different lunchons and and really helping us to get through the day. But we also have a special Apex Academy program that's for kids who just need a smaller environment and a lot of tender loving care. And we really wanted to honor our friend Diane Portalants who has been really one of the key teachers, tutors, life preservers in the program. And so I'd like to ask her up with also Denise Doolittle because we both agreed. We kind of looked at each other and said we need to have a special support personnel, friend of education, everything to everybody person. [Applause] Thank
026you, Mrs. Austin. Diane Cordelons bravely took on a new role this year, coordinator of the central office apex program. Diane worked as a tutor in the program last year. And when we found ourselves without a coordinator, Diane automatically took on the role. Diane has created a special place for her students in the central office apex program. She is kind, compassionate, and patient. Diane gives her students the structure and predictability that they need while providing flexibility and opportunities for them to succeed as learners and as young adults who are finding out how to trust themselves and others. Diane celebrates each student's birthday with donuts and plans a special lunch menu chosen by the student the day before they return to their home school. Diane is a creative artist and enjoys making jewelry with beautiful beads. Recently,
027she brought her talent for jewelry making into the program and had the students engrossed in making beautiful beaded jewelry for their mothers, grandmothers, and aunts for Mother's Day. It is no surprise that Diane's students often do not want to leave her program and return to their home school. It is an honor to celebrate Diane as an outstanding support personnel for central office and to thank her for creating a special nest in room 16, which is a soft place for her students to land. [Applause] And next, Katherine Kolnowski. We have Principal Dolphin to come up and celebrate her staff. Okay. Katherine Kowski is proud to honor Rachel Goodman as our um friend of education award recipient. Rachel Goodman has been part of the CKMS family for five years. when our PTO lost its momentum due to
028the COVID restrictions and the loss of all of our board members due to family relocations and students moving on to middle school. Rachel willingly volunteered to take on the task of PTO president and promptly recruited additional parents who were willing to take on a new challenge. Taking on this challenge has been no small task since most PTO members learn the roles of the executive board with guidance from current members. But Rachel was on her own. But her easygoing spirit, patience, and determination have led to our PTO's success. Under Rachel's guidance, our CKMS PTO is not only up and running, but is beginning to flourish under her direction, having some of our most successful events and best attended meetings. In addition to her work for the PTO, Rachel regularly volunteers in our classrooms. CKMS is very
029proud to have Rachel Goodman as our friend of Graten Education award recipient. [Applause] Thank you, Rachel. >> Thanks. All right. Katherine Kolnowski is proud to recognize Ginger Waldrin as our non-certified personnel award recipient. Unfortunately, Ginger could not be with us tonight due to other commitments. Ginger is a longtime Graten employee and has been at Katherine Kolki since the school opened. She's committed to our school and our students. She willingly takes on any assignment. Even when she's unsure of what we're asking her to do, she approaches it with a positive, I'll give it my best attitude. Building relationships with our students comes naturally to her, and the bond developed with each student she works with is what helps them to be so successful in class. Although her humility would never allow her to acknowledge it, Ginger
030is a key element in numerous students school success. The staff at CK are honored to work with such a dedicated professional. [Applause] Next we have Principal Danhur. Banner >> and Miss Post, assistant principal. >> Thank you. I am pleased to name Miss Tanisha Barner as our Graten Friend of Education award recipient for the 2022 23 school year. Every student who rides her bus begins every day with a smile. She has made connections with each and every student on her bus. Her knowledge of each child um and their unique gifts is evident in the time it takes to load and unload her bus every day. Her kids come in late every day because they all have to tell her something. Each child stops to inform her of the comingings and going of their life every time
031they see her. The amazing part is that she remembers all the details and follows up to ask them about it the next time she sees them. What they don't notice is she has a notebook next to her seat and she writes things down and asks them when they get back on the bus. Her impact is evident in the way the students describe her. Words like kind, perfect, lovable, and the best came to mind. When asked what made her special to them, we heard lots of examples of her special connections. One student said, "She lets me tell her jokes every day and she actually laughs at them." Another one said, "She when I have a headache, Miss Tanisha tries to make the bus quiet for me." There are many more stories just like this that we
032could go on and on and on, but I think the one that sums it up most and is the is one of our first graders that said, "I hope she's always happy just like she makes me." >> Tanisha [Applause] Congratulations. [Applause] I am also honored to stand here tonight to celebrate Lisa Jenkins as our 2022 23 non-certified staff member of the year. Lisa wears many hats of Charles Barnum. On any given day, she has been the office staff, volunteer coordinator, chaperon, and even copier repair man. And if you missed it, she also dresses our mascot Barnaby at Halloween. We have photos if anybody wants to see those. Uh this year she has also become our resident paleontologist. With help of her special kindergarten assistant, she can now identify and color almost every single dinosaur species
033that ever existed. When asked what dinosaur Lisa should be, he told me T-Rex because T-Rex is the king. So if that is not a stamp of approval, I don't know what is. She is one of the sincerest people I know and gives her all in whatever she is doing. Having the role of community coordinator during and after CO has not been an easy task. Through her hard work and warm approach, she was able to not only breathe life back into our volunteer pool, but help it thrive beyond our expectations. We are so blessed to have Lisa as part of our CV family and thankful she has not gotten tired of us just yet. So, congratulations, Lisa, and we look forward to many more years of working with you. All [Applause] right, folk. Come on down.
034I'm going to change it up. You can come on down. This is exciting. Yes. A round of applause, please. [Applause] All right. So, CB is proud to announce Mr. Phil Porer, better known as M. Crack his smile. >> Okay. Mr. P as our award nominee for substitute teacher. He is one of the most reliable and consistent employees anyone could wish for. He rarely if ever misses a day and if he does, Mrs. Post calls his wife as he knows better. Mr. P can be found all over the building filling in anywhere and everywhere without a complaint and always goes above and beyond the expectation of a substitute. He seeks out ways to support staff and spends his infrequent downtime in the library helping with lessons and shelving books. He's been an asset to the library
035program and has readily jumped in to work with students when he sees they need help with an assignment or even finding a good book. Mr. P can't walk down the hallway without students stopping to check in. They will tell him anything that's on their mind and he just listens and validates. He has the greatest sense of humor and is always willing to be part of a good joke. He showed up to help pass out tech packets during co this somehow earned him the greatest nickname. That name remains in the parking lot. We love having Mr. in our building from the early morning treehouse hours until the buses have pulled out. We are very pleased that he is part of our Barnum community. Mr. P. [Applause] >> You have one more. Thank you, sir. >> Thank
036you. And now from Mystic River Magnet School, Principal Wheeler. [Applause] Okay. Hello everyone. It's a pleasure to nominate Allison Zeriss as our friends of education award at Mystic River Magnet School. Allison has taken on many roles at Mystic River and has truly become a part of our daily heartbeat within our school community. She currently serves as our PTO chairperson and has helped to organize successful school fundraisers, coordinated the book fairs due to ensure that it was staffed and ran smoothly and she has remained as our volunteer coordinator. Most recently, she has helped bring mentors back into our school to work with students. This year, Allison has helped our assistant principal Paul Depato in scheduling our grade level field trip uh field trips. This outreach and her attention to detail has really helped to make this
037process much easier. She has also helped us to update our field trip forms, checklists, and making it organized and easy to use. In year two at Mystic River, we continue to develop our play and ingenuity theme. Allison has stepped forward to offer help as we look to grow our partnerships and expand our play electives. We relied on her to organize and purchase the installation of our 10 superpower banners that lit up our first floor hallway. In addition, she has helped bring our mascot Azie Otter back to life with a purchase of our mascot costume, which was a great hit with all of our students. Just don't ask who was in it. With all that Allison does, she is also an amazing mom to three very active boys, two of which attend Mystic River Magnet School.
038We are proud to have uh Zerless family as members of our school community, and we truly appreciate all that Allison has done to help things run smoothly. Our school is a much better place because of her. So, thank you, Allison, for all you've done. [Applause] Thank you. Oh, yay. Thank you. >> All right. Jennifer Mitskco is our 2022 2023 Mystic River Magnet School Noncertified Personnel Recipient of the Year. Jen is a well-deserved recipient. She lives a very busy life and balances many duties. She's a fantastic mother of two. In addition to her work at Mystic River, she works part-time at Treehouse. Jen is also a full-time college student, taking courses at Eastern Gateway Community College. She currently holds a 4oint grade point average. Nice job, Jen. Jen has very little spare time, but she does
039enjoy daily reading and kickboxing workouts. Prior to her stellar work in education, Jen was a medical assistant for nine years. She has been in our current role as paraprofessional for seven years. She's extremely hardworking and always prepared. She can adapt to changes just about anything that we ask her to do. She's wonderful with all the kids that she interacts with. She makes connections with our students. She has pos uh positive relationships with them. And she continually seeks out feedback to help herself grow and learn as an educator. Jen is extremely dedicated and has perfect attendance, um, which is very important. She goes above and beyond, willing to do cafeteria duties, extra recess, anything else to support our students. And for those reasons and more, Jen was voted for this award. Congratulations. Thank you so much.
040Okay, our next award is our substitute. Oh boy, we need those every day. Mr. Giver would like to recognize Molly Dunn as our building substitute of the year. Miss Dunn joined our team this school year as a building substitute. She's already ready and willing to work with all of our students in any capacity that we ask her to do. Her flexibility and calm demeanor have been an asset to the day-to-day needs of our building. Miss Dunn collaborates with teachers. She supports our staff to better understand routines for our school classrooms. And most importantly, she works well with our students. She actively participates in our play and ingenuity magnet theme as well as our life is good joy with the entire staff. She's a mean volleyball player, too. Thank you, Molly, for being an integral part
041of our school community. You're very deserving of this honor and we are lucky to have you with us. [Applause] >> Oh yeah. And next up, Northeast Academy and Ryan Cheney, principal. All right, good evening everyone. This year's friend of education award for Northeast Academy goes to Amanda Sisley, PTO president. When I look back over the past year, there is nobody more deserving of this award for our school community than her. We are so very fortunate for her support, her time, and her ongoing commitment to keeping our PTO up and running. Very similar to what you heard from Principal Dolphane over at TK. Our PTO has seen a huge changing of the guard in recent years. The board was compromised or excuse me comprised of fifth grade parents who went on to middle school and left
042massive shoes to fill along the way. Instepped Amanda although somewhat reluctantly perhaps. And she has taken on her role as PTO president with eagerness and determination. She has risen to the task and shown great leadership on a brand new PTO board that has come together so very nicely. and that's mostly due to her. Any school's PTO is critical to the overall school environment. The relationships that are harvested through PTO and the events that bring school communities together are what helps many students and families stay connected. Amanda recognizes this and continues to push for new and innovative ways for our PTO to forge ahead as a team. Amanda is a planner and a communicator. She manages her role very well and advocates for the things that she believes in. She is a champion for all kids
043and we are happy to have her as our PTO president. Thank you Amanda and congratulations. [Applause] Thank you. >> All right. Next up, we have our noncertified personnel award. And we are extremely fortunate to have Bill Harris as our head custodian. Our staff and students call him Mr. Bill. And we could not function so successfully as a building without the daily support of Bill. He tends to his professional responsibilities with great attention to detail and sees his work through. Mr. Bill is responsive. He is there when you need him and always a quick radio call away when things happen in an elementary school. And I can assure you that happens a lot. What really stands out to me about Mr. Bill though is his connection to our kids. As a school and a community, we
044strive to make sure that every child has a go-to, someone they feel connected to and someone they can go to in a time of need. For many kids at NEA, Mr. Bill is that person. He is often observed chatting with students in the cafeteria, helping them along throughout their day. Kids give him stickers and pictures quite often. One might consider the cafeteria to be like Mr. Bill's classroom, and he takes care of it in that way. Our students are also his students and he treats him that way. Daily operations during the pandemic required everyone to change their protocols and procedures. He was not immune to those adjustments. In hindsight, we really should have purchased him a pair of rollerblades so he could keep up with the pace of changes and concerns. He was everywhere all
045the time and we most certainly would not have made it through it through those times as a school without the support of Mr. Bill. I firmly believe in order to operate a school successfully, you need to have the right people in the right positions. Our custodial staff are immensely important to our school culture, and Mr. Bill is an excellent example of how a job done right helps everyone else succeed. Congratulations, Mr. Bill, and thank you for being my teammate. We love having you at NEA. [Applause] stickers tonight. >> No stickers. >> Stickers. >> Those are for work. >> All right. Substitute teacher of the year. It is my honor to recognize substitute teacher of the year for Northeast Academy, Lenor Pluff. She has worked as a building substitute within our building since last school year,
046but has become a part of our community, has been a part of our community for much longer. Her her three children, kindergarten Luke, third grade Fiona, and fifth grade Finn, all attend NEA. Even before she began working on our staff, she has served the NEA community as a leader of the Girl Scout Daisy Troop, coach of Girls on the Run, and she is also an active member of our PTO. She has continued to be of increasing value to our school community through her work as a substitute in our building. As a sub, Lenor has filled every role within the school from classroom teacher to pair professional to specialist in PE or art. I think she taught art today. Building needs change every day and she understands how she can support individual students or classrooms given
047whatever the circumstances circumstances are. She not only knows every student in the building, but understands each student individually. Whether covering lunch duty or working in the classroom, she uses her time to make connections and build relationships with students in every opportunity. Lenor demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to the students of NEA every day, and our building is a better place because she's in it. Lenor is now seeking opportunities to further her career and become a certified elementary teacher. We are more than happy to support her in this endeavor and look forward to working with her more in the future. Congratulations. [Applause] >> Yay. Congratulations. Great place to walk up. >> And now, Principal Gardano from James River Magnet. >> Oh, okay. >> Yay. Adah and Amber, too. Got it. So, Mrs. Allen will also be coming
048up with Miss Bunny. They'll help uh read and honor our wonderful um recipients. So, I'm going to start and I think Patrick had to leave. He was here, but our I am thrilled that Patrick Florio as our friends of Groten award recipient. Did he leave? I think he did. Oh, yay. You stay. Come on up, Patrick. All right. So, Patrick as a volunteer brings such a positive energy to our school community. He is never seen without a smile on his face and he graciously supports the needs of our students and staff. Patrick has been a member of the PTO since we started last year. This year he took over the role as treasurer. He always is prepared with a comprehensive breakdown of the budget. Thank you very much for that. He is eager to accept
049new ideas and facilitate any project that will help raise funds to support our entire school population. When volunteers are needed, Patrick is the first person to step up, step up and contribute, no matter what time of day. He has unselfishly given his time to sort, organize cookies, pies for parents to pick up, sold baked goods during our concerts as well as throughout the day during our election day. For Valentine's Day, he helped cut out hearts and inserted hundreds of pencils into heart pencil ship friendship pencil grams. What did you do about 500 600? >> Something around there. >> Yeah. When the idea of selling popcorn for a fun Friday snack came up, Patrick was the first to offer his time to purchase all the ingredients. He then popped the popcorn in our staff room and
050filled over 500 bags to be delivered to our classrooms. popcorn like just smelled the whole hallways. It was wonderful actually. In addition, Patrick helped out at our Earth Day celebration. He played a pivotal role in helping our gym teachers run the World Parachute Station. Patrick exudes positivity and joy in everything that he participates in as it is evident that he is having such fun when supporting our school community. Thank you, Patrick, for your dedication, hard work, and support in helping to make Fames River a super positive place to be. Congratulations. >> All right, bring it on. >> Thanks for staying, Patrick. >> Amazing. Okay. So, Themes River Magnet School is thrilled to honor thrilled and honored to have Megan Newan as our noncertified personnel award recipient this year. Meg has been an exceptional SEAL tutor
051at our school for the last two years and prior to themes River at Clchester. Mag brings such talent and patience to our school community. She works tirelessly to build strong, meaningful connections with our students in all grade levels, preschool through grade 5. Her positive rapport is evident that those connections are formed as it shows throughout the day. Whether she is supporting students individually with with many check-ins um she does throughout the day or in small social skills groups. Mag has a profound ability for helping students self-monitor their behavior and build independence. One of Magg's strengths is her ability to help deescalate students. Her calm demeanor and her willingness to provide students with what they need as they process their feelings and emotions is exceptional. Meg truly enjoys what she does and deeply cares about the
052students with whom she works. She graciously handles all situations that arise throughout the day with confidence and kindness, no matter the size of the situation. In addition to working with students, Meg is a great asset to our staff and teachers. She willingly shares effective strategies, create various charts, and positive behavior plans with teachers and staff that can be used to support their students social and emotional needs. Meg is an outstanding SEAL tutor who knows her students very well and her dedication to them is most appreciated. Congratulations, Megan, and thank you so much for all that you have done to help Dave become an amazing daughter. [Applause] >> I know. Thank you. >> Themes River Magnet School is excited to honor Amber Boscher as our first substitute teacher award recipient. Amber joined the Thes River team
053day one of the school year. Amber hit the ground running asking many questions and shadowing teachers to gain as much knowledge of teaching tips and behavior strategies. However, the shadowing did not last long as Amber had to take over a class for some of our youngest learners for an entire week right within the first two weeks of school. Amber made the week a productive, positive, and enjoyable learning experience for the class so that when the teacher returned, it was a seamless transition back. Amber is able to go into any classroom, preschool through grade 5, and quickly establishes a positive rapport, follows the routines and procedures while keeping high expectations. Even with a broken toe, Amber came into school with the crutch to make sure our classes were covered. Thank you for doing that. Additionally, Amber
054is not only an exceptional substitute teacher, but she is a valued member of our Thes River PTO. She has helped this year serving as the PTO secretary. In between her responsibilities as a building substitute, Amber's often seen cutting out detailed ornaments such as snowmen for a holiday concert, collecting fundraiser funds, organizing pies and cookies for parents to pick up, or ordering t-shirts for our end of the year field day, just to name a few. Congratulations, Amber. Thank you so much for all that you have done to help our students and staff this entire Themes River Magnet School community. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you very much. >> And now we come to the part in our program where we really want to honor our teachers. >> You want to do that one first? No other go
055down. >> We will get to our outstanding educators really soon, but I want to take the uh opportunity to talk about friends of education, support personnel, and substitute teacher of the year from Grout Middle. Uh before I get to that though, I I was remissed because I forgot to mention when it came to our Connecticut writing project poets, um the support and facilitation of of one of our teachers, Miss Ruth Metsatskis, who teaches theater, strive for success, and leadership was absolutely instrumental. So, shout out to Miss Metscus. Way to go. Thank you for that. All right. First up, Grant Middle School friend of education. Miss Melinda Georgees is this year's Grant Middle School friend of education. Melinda has served as a GMS PTO co-president over the past few years. She was instrumental in the planning
056stages of the GMS PTO even before Graten Middle became the school. Linda's style of leadership is highly collaborative and enthusiastic. She looks to get everyone involved for the betterment of our school and for the benefit of our students. She is a relentless advocate for our staff and students and works to recruit volunteers to help with the various PTO activities and fundraisers as well as to fill all the executive board positions each year. If there's anyone out there who's looking to be an executive board member, we have a meeting tomorrow night and Melinda will gladly sign you up. >> Mr. I was listening to all the >> I was like, "All right, this is >> so was I." You know, if if >> that is what Melinda is so great at. You should see her pursue
057people to get involved. She will have them sign up to do X, Y, and Z. And then all of a sudden, guess what? They are at a meeting and they are now part of our executive board. She does a fantastic job with that. We are very thankful for her partnership and support of our school. Thank you, Melinda. Congratulations. Next, our support staff person of the year could not be here this evening. He had another ceremony to attend, but this goes to Mr. Jason Applebee. Mr. Mr. Applebee has worked as a safety officer at Grat Middle School from its very first opening day in 2020. Mr. Applebee works in our main office and is the gatekeeper for all visitors to our school and keeps our school safe. He helps set positive heel helps he helps set
058a positive tone in the office with his booming welcoming voice and great sense of humor. He can also be no nonsense when the situation calls for it. Student and staff safety are the most important aspects of Mr. Applebee's job and he takes this part of his role very seriously. Mr. Applebee runs our front security desk and helps to coordinate two-way radio transmissions to ensure that safety officers and other intervention staff are rooted to where they are needed for student support. We are incredibly grateful for Mr. Applebee's daily positive impact as well as his commitment and dedication to our staff and students. Thank you, Mr. Applebee, and congratulations. Next, our Grunt Middle School substitute teacher of the year. Miss Melanie Thompson is the GMS substitute teacher of the year. As we know, being a substitute teacher
059can be a very challenging role. Miss Thompson joined us at GMS at the start of the school year and has given her all each and every day at GMS. Miss Thompson has taught in various classrooms and taught various subjects throughout this school year. She is willing to work in any and all classrooms at Graten Middle. She brings a level-headed and calm approach to the classrooms in which she works. Miss Thompson fosters an environment of respect with students and ensures that the assignments for the class are implemented for that day so that when the classroom teacher returns, there's a predictable point at which they continue instruction. Grant Middle School staff are appreciative of all her work this year. Thank you, Melanie, for all you do for our staff and students. Congratulations. [Applause] >> Meet you that
060halfway. >> I'm going to meet you halfway. >> I need to walk. >> All right. All right, woman. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. So we'll go in the right order. Now I will ask principal Dolphin to come up to talk about the outstanding graten educator Aaron Cummins from Katherine Kolowski. And maybe Erin can join us here. Yes. Erin, come on down to the [Applause] Katherine Kolnaski Steam Magnet School is proud to have Erin Cumins as our teacher of the year representative. I asked colleagues to share their experiences with Erin as a teacher and colleague and they all lead to one overall theme, joy. Aaron projects and shares joy every day. Erin's classroom is a classroom full of joy. She builds strong relationships with every student in her class, which makes them feel
061special and know that they can achieve great things. Her patient and kind demeanor makes her students comfortable in her classroom. When you walk by her room, you hear her peaceful way of teaching and managing her students. her always kind yet firm interaction with students who might push the boundaries a bit, but mostly her cheerful, smiling, today is going to be a great day attitude. Erin often mentions how she has wanted to be a teacher ever since she can remember, and it shows in her seemingly effortless performance day in and day out. She is a natural teacher with an innate ability to connect with students. Erin is a serious advocate for all children. She puts her heart and soul into teaching and is always working to consider the whole child. She has a comprehensive knowledge of
062students abilities, strengths, and challenges and works with all the professionals in our building to ensure each student makes the greatest growth possible. She has great empathy and compassion towards students, their families, and her colleagues. She's always stepping out up to help the greater good of the CK family with her time and welcoming smile. Erin uses her talents, skills, and joyful approach to teaching to make CKMS a better place. But let's not forget the impact of Erin's infectious giggle amid student learning. Erin completely loves, enjoys, and respects her student and students, and that's reflected in that giggle. She simply finds delight in so much of what her students say and do throughout the day, which is a testimony to the level of care and respect she demonstrates with each student. Her infectious enthusiasm also permeates the
063halls of our school. She is always on the phone to parents, encouraging their partnership in student success, reaches out to support staff to optimize student learning and connects with colleagues, not just her team, but throughout the building and the district. It's this outreach that makes her a great ambassador for CK. [Applause] Thank you so much. And now at Charles Barnum, outstanding broughten educator Andrew Woodnau. And I'm going to have principal Danner come on down with Andrew. What's up for Andrew? >> All right. Had a lot of help with this. Charles Barnum Magna School is pleased to present kindergarten teacher Andrew Writner as our outstanding educator. Andrew began working with us a few years back. He started as a long-term substitute teacher in third grade, but soon as a kindergarten position was opened, he jumped at
064it immediately. I mean, I would not. Andrew does so many wonderful things in the classroom. And you have to remember, it's a classroom full of tiny people. When he starts the year, they read the book Chrysanthemum. This book helps teach children how to use kind words, something they practice all year long. When I was chatting with one of his colleagues, she mentioned that she loves how he teaches this lesson and sticks to it throughout the year. What's the lesson, you ask? Don't crinkle your friend's heart. He has all of the students, as best as they can at the start of kindergarten, sign a big heart that says, "I won't crinkle my friend's heart." As you've all heard before, everything you need to know, you learned in kindergarten. Andrew exemplifies this. Let's swap it up a
065bit and talk about how he makes his class exciting. For example, he loves to give the students fun facts and always knows what national holiday it is. He probably wants you to know that today is National Chocolate Chip Day. To go along with that, you probably thought chocolate chips have been around forever. No, I learned only since 1940 after someone made a mistake trying to make cookies. His classroom is a revolving door of visiting students. Former students request to visit Andrew and then get put to work. They help students read, read to them, help him count, and play in groups. It's not uncommon to walk by and see a fourth grader back in kindergarten loving it. You don't have to be a former student to help out in his classroom. He'll find a way for
066anyone to help out and make them feel like they are part of the community. Not only does he invite students in, but he joined third, fourth, and fifth graders for an allstar indoor soccer match where students played against staff one morning. The students had a blast and I don't think you pulled a muscle. >> I was good. >> Yeah. >> He's always calm and composed no matter what is going on. I know this because one morning we were chatting about teaching our own children to drive and I could sense how he may not be as calm and composed while a passenger in that vehicle and I can relate to that. His common place is the kindergarten classroom and that is why he is so good at it. We are very proud to have Andrew represent
067Baron this year. And I'll leave you with a quote from a poster you pass when you enter his classroom. Don't forget to be awesome today. Mr. Wrightner's class. [Applause] Thank you so much. And now from Mystic River, I'd like to have um Principal Wheeler come on down with Jake Sullivan, otherwise known as Batman. So I guess that was a aha for those of us when we do our um beginning teachers, brand new teachers, they have to introduce themselves. And he was introducing himself and he says, "If you forget, you can just call me Batman." >> It really is a honor and a privilege uh to write this for you, Jake. I've known him now for seven, eight years. Um, before I start reading this, I do want to say that he was one of the
068first teachers that I was actually able to hire here in Grten. And he came through, walked through the door, sat down, and we started to interview him. And when he left, I turned to the assistant principal at the time, Pam. And we both said at the same time, we got to hire this guy. Um, and as I read through, you're going to find out why. So, my privilege to introduce Jake Sullivan as Mystic River's teacher of the year for the 2023 24 school year. Among many other things, Jake is our art teacher at Mystic River. But if you talk to any student in our school, he is much more. On any given day, he can be our resident DJ, a mentor, a super playmaker, the person that can make you laugh, and of course, a
069great teacher. Jake has been an art teacher for seven years, serving five years at SB Butler and two years now at Mystic River. He is also a product of the Graten public school system, having attended SB Butler, Carl C. Cutler Middle School, and Fitch High School. During his interview process with us, he shared how proud he was to give back to Graten Public Schools and its students. Jake's commitment and dedication to his students is evident in everything he does. He prides himself on knowing the needs of all students and he crafts lessons that are engaging, creative, diverse, and that are address a broad range of learners. His passion for children and teaching is evident in everything he does. Jake's lessons provide high levels of engagement, student discourse, fun, and creativity. His students thrive in the
070safe, nurturing environment that he provides in his classroom. Jake integrates technology in his daily teaching by utilizing his document camera Prometheium board as part of his daily teaching practice. As a result, his art lessons truly come to life for students and provide a great interactive experience. One of Jake's colleagues wanted me to share this quote. He inspires the kids and his fellow teachers with a fun-loving, energetic approach. His ability to make meaningful connections is very clear when watching him interact with students. Jake is truly a child- centered educator. He takes the time to know every student that comes into the art room. Through these powerful connections, his students shine both artistically and emotionally. Students feel cared for. They are heard. They are seen and they are understood. The positive rapport that he has developed with
071students often helps some of our most impacted students navigate successfully throughout their day. His in innate ability to develop rapport with students is easily carried on with his relationships with staff and parents. Jake's positivity and enthusiasm enthusi enthusiasm is truly contagious. Jake is a true playmaker. He has embraced the concepts and philosophy of the work that we have committed with our life as good partners. He is one of the first to take step to step forward when asked to attend any extended level of training at life is good. This training was particularly important work as it focuses on staff development and planning for schoolwide student activities. His leadership within his this role has really helped us as we continue to develop our magnet school theme at Mystic River. Jake Sullivan is truly one of a
072kind. I look to his leadership to help us grow our school climate, work with colleagues to grow our magnet theme, increase student engagement, and integrate our families as part of our whole school community. His impact on our school staff and students is great. His tremendous positive energy, commitment to his craft, and dedication to our students is greatly felt throughout the day. I congratulate Jake with this great honor, and I look forward to many more years working with him. [Applause] One more. >> Hey, shout out to my students who are here. I see you. I see you. >> And now, Principal Cheney, will you join me again? Honor Karen Cartier, special special educator. [Applause] All right. Uh, on behalf of her colleagues and our entire team at Northeast Academy, I'm thrilled to acknowledge Karen Cardier this
073evening as our 2022 2023 teacher of the year. Karen is a special education teacher at NEA. She currently works with second, fourth, and fifth grade students in her resource room and a push-in model as dictated by the individual needs of the children on her case load. Individual needs of her students. I place great emphasis on those words because Karen is a champion for her kids and their families. She goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to building and maintaining relationships with the students that she serves. Karen has a wonderful knack for determining what her kids need to be successful and advocating for them on their behalf. She takes extra time to communicate with families and helps parents understand the concepts and procedures their children may be struggling with. Her due diligence
074in this area strengthens the overall team and home to school connection for dozens of students each and every year. Karen also understands and appreciates the value of supporting her colleagues. She has taken a number of our pair of professionals and tutors under her wing and become a mentor to them. On any given day from 3:35 on, you will you will find a handful of staff in Karen's room, debriefing the day and brainstorming new ideas to approach the challenges ahead. Karen and I share the same belief, and we talk about this often, that our paraprofessionals are really the backbone of what we do and how we support our neediest students. We must support the adults who support them. And this is another area where Karen excels. She is dedicated to these people and she truly cares
075for them. In many ways, she has created her own family environment within the walls of her small classroom. Our work as educators requires time, effort, and commitment. It requires us to be collaborative, flexible, and goaloriented. All of those descriptors come to mind when I reflect on the work of Karen Cardier. She is a team player to all who work with her, students, staff, and parents. Karen, you are so very deserving of this award, and I am so very fortunate to call you my colleague. Congratulations. [Applause] Thank you. And now, um, Principal Giardano, could you come up for Themes River Magnet and Jane Pototts, could you join us? [Applause] So thrilling. All right. So themes River Magnet School is extremely proud and honored that Jane Pototts has been recognized as our teacher of the year. The
076first time I met Jane was not as her building principal at Themes River, but it was about 10 years ago when Jane came over to Claude Chester from Mary Morrison to attend a foundation professional development. I distinctly remember watching Jane during a model lesson getting right on the carpet with a group of students that she just met and demonstrating true excitement and joy for the group's new learning. I remember thinking to myself, "This teacher truly loves what she does and cares deeply about students in teaching." I remember distinctly Jane. Now having the privilege of Jane teaching at themes river, I'm able to see her demonstrate that true passion every single day in her grade one classroom. Jane creates lessons that are joyful to be part of as she always has fun with her students while
077being mindful to meet all of their many many we mean many needs. She's a master at multitasking. From asking her class, enriching questions to encouraging a reluctant learner to soothing a student who might be crying or upset, Jane does this all seamlessly while continuing to make sure her students understand the teaching point. Got it, Jane. When meeting on a student who requires intervention, Jane always starts the meeting with a celebration of the growth a student has demonstrated, no matter how small it might be. She's open and reflective to trying any new strategy from the team and eager to learn as much as she can about a student to put those interventions into place. This was especially evident um in late March when Jane welcomed a new student to her class. Jane quickly realized the first
078day that the student needed extra support and put a necessary plan in place to ensure his first day was successful. She then called the parent to learn as much as she could about the student and outreach to the various supports in the building to advocate for the students needs. Moreover, Jean celebrates learning by having poetry walks and tea to showcase her students writing as well as reading rainbow book reviews where students share their top picks to make sure also popcorn is included on them. She also makes sure to create special memories for her students, such as having them create leprechaun tracks and then rearranging her entire classroom to show them this trip from the leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day. You should really come over and see it. It's amazing. Uh Jane is a mentor teacher
079for beginning educators as an active member of the district science task force. This year she attended the national science teacher association conference in Atlanta where she brought back new resources for our teachers. She also has facilitated a before school science club this year due to the number of students interested in joining the club. Jane then created two sections as she could not ever turn away a student willing to be part of the club. Additionally, she's on the one book, one read committee and the school's read across America committee where this year, Jean sewed together every class's quilt piece to create an a stunning, beautiful schoolwide quilt, which now hangs in our hallway at the river for all to admire. It's absolutely beautiful. Jane is tirelessly dedicated to advocating and supporting her students and their families,
080as well as her colleagues, including me. Thank you so much, Jane. This is just the tip of the iceberg of Jean's passion, support, commitment, and professionalism. True asset to our school and district. Thank you, Jane, for everything you do to make our district and Dames River an amazing, positive place today. [Applause] And now, Principal Keller, would you join Commander Terry Hankle, science teacher and creator of the NGSS? We're finally a junior ROC. So, we've got kids all signed up. We're excited. But thank you, Tech Terry. So, it is my distinct pleasure to recognize the Rich High School teacher of the year, Mr. and Lieutenant Commander retired Terry Hinkle. Uh, Mr. Hinkle is an accomplished teacher committed to the success of every student in the classroom. He is positive, resourceful, respected, and caring. He takes time
081to communicate with families, is always in the students corner, and is the first person to look for solutions when students are struggling. He's taught at every level and he has been a leader in developing uh the classes such as our freshman science courses. However, his commitment goes far beyond that. He is really committed to the growth of programs at Fitch High School that wants to meet the needs of our students and community. Um Terry has recently developed our new meteorology course at Fitch High School, drawing from his own experiences in the Navy. Students have been able to explore their interests and I'm sure that we'll be seeing one of our alumni on WFSB in just a few years. In addition, we all know that Superintendent Austin occasionally needs to call snow day. Where where do
082you think she gets those weather reports from Terry? Um, so as soon as a storm is approaching, Terry is regularly updating the district on the latest latest weather report and I can tell you that he is much better than the TV at calling the storms, especially in this difficult area. So, um, in addition, as superintendent Austin said, Mr. Hle has really spearheaded the development of our national naval department cadet corp. Did I get that right? >> defense cadet corp. Uh which is a pre uh navy junior ROC program. And we are proud to say that we will be starting the program in the fall with almost 70 students participating. So uh I just like to say that uh and thank Terry for all of his great work and we really look forward to the fall
083and watching our new cadet for core out in the open. Thank you. [Applause] And now, Principal Bass, we have the honor of Molly Condrin, who's your outstanding rotten teacher of of the year. She is our Grten Public Schools teacher of the year. We're going to Hartford. So, Molly, come on down. [Applause] So, I had the great pleasure of being on the hiring team for Molly Condrin. some years ago. And I can tell you even from that first interview, we knew there was great potential in her. And we knew we need to grab her up as a science teacher. And I am going to read to you the nomination that she received from her colleague, Miss Allison Manzer. But I have a few words to say before that. I mean, because Allison did a fantastic job
084and I don't I don't want to uh to miss anything that she said, but what I can tell you about Molly as a teacher is she truly knows how to light the fire of learning for students. And that is something that comes with experience, but also is something that I truly believe that some people are born with. And Molly is one of those people. She values student relationships. She knows how to create a truly safe learning environment in which students are able to take risks, appropriate educational risks, so that they can learn as much as possible. Molly is a um a leader beyond the classroom as well. Uh she's an assistant coach at uh Fitch High School for the girls swim team. Um and she's done some amazing things with the team. Um she's a
085leader on our her academic team, Team Michigan. She is a leader and willing participant will do anything on the the Grant Middle School safe school climate committee. But back to the classroom, Molly is in really in tune with her students and and what's hip, what's current. Okay. And she uses that to really engage them. Um, I'm convinced that someday soon we'll be flipping through YouTube shorts or Facebook reels and we're going to see Miss Condrin having gone viral for something that she's done with her kids in the classroom. And her kids are are dying for this to happen. I I I really believe it's going to to happen. So, let me reach for you. What Miss Meer wrote? I am nominating Molly Condrin as Graten Middle School teacher of the year due to the incredible
086classroom environment and teaching that she provides to all of her students. Molly is constantly thinking of new teaching strategies and trying new techniques in her classroom. Her students greatly benefit from all the creative teaching that she provides them. Molly is a true professional. She works very closely with all of her teammates and subject matter teachers. I watch as her positivity and passion for teaching brings others to her level. When I'm around Molly, I always learn a new teaching strategy or find something new and or positive that I can try in my classroom. I strive to be a better teacher because of her positive influence. Not only does she provide a positive classroom environment, Molly fosters a level of rigor that provides students with the best learning possible. Her seventh grade science students leave her classroom
087with not only scientific knowledge, but also the knowledge of how to problem solve, think critically, and even apply their learning skills to other classes. It is important to note that Miss Condrin is not afraid to advocate for her students. If there is something that can be done to help a student, she will be vocal and make sure that there is follow-through to support whatever the child might need, no matter if it is academic, social, or emotional. Molly is not afraid to give to all to the students in all of Graten Public Schools. She was quick to introduce girls on the run at Westside Middle School and then Graten Middle School and quickly stepped in when Mystic River Magnet School needed another coach. All teachers at Graten Middle School are lucky to work alongside such a
088talented teacher like Molly. All students that have the opportunity to learn from Molly, whether in science, marine biology, marine biology, or as a coach, are truly lucky to have a passionate teacher and coach who will cheer for them on the their good days, bad days, and every single day in between. I echo those sentiments. We are truly lucky, blessed to have Molly Condrin as a science teacher at Gr Middle. The students are lucky and blessed and I can't wait to see what you achieve. You've achieved so much, but I can't wait to see what else you're going to do. Holly, congratulations. [Applause] Hi everyone. Um, thank you all for being here tonight. I know we all have plenty that we can be doing on a week night. Um, I am really humbled and honored to
089have been named Ground Public Schools teacher of the year. When I found out that I was the recipient of this award, I was kind of flooded with a whole bunch of emotions, gratitude, appreciation, and honestly a lot of confusion. Um, why me? I think of myself as somebody I just wake up every morning, go to work, and have fun with my students. Um, but this award really doesn't belong to me. It belongs to all the people who have gotten me to this place in my life and have made me who I am today. So this award first and foremost belongs to all the students that I have served in Grton public schools over the past 5 years. These are the kids that push me every day to be a better version of myself and never
090fail to make me laugh. Um, this award also belongs to my fellow GR public schools teachers, um, administration and staff members who work tire tirelessly to care for our diverse population of students and all of their needs. Um, this award also belongs to all of the veteran teachers out there who have taken me under their wings and mentored me through this wild ride that we call teaching. Um, but most importantly, um, this award goes to my parents who always inspire me to work hard and be kind. So, congratulations to all of my fellow teacher of the year award recipients throughout Groutton public schools. Um, it's people like you that keep me going every day and I really appreciate it. Thank you. >> Mama gets to be our keynote when we come back to school. So,
091we'll have to talk voice. Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Thanks, Mark. >> Couple years ago, I had a phrase that says, uh, I'm kind of GR and proud. It's nights like these that just remind me of not only the students but the staff and the people who support the district. How lucky I am to reside in Grten and how lucky I am to be Graten proud. I think I say that on behalf of the board as well. Andrea, would you please make a motion? Oh goodness. >> Motion to adjourn. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a second. >> I ask that people stay for a couple of seconds and enjoy the goodies that are in the back. Once again, thank you for um coming and staying. Meeting is adjourned. [Applause]