School districts across the state celebrate their best and brightest in December, naming Teacher of the Year and top support staff members before the holiday break.
The Sentinel solicited information on these special public servants from superintendents in Linwood, Northfield, Somers Point and Mainland Regional High School.
Linwood
Brian Pruitt, who oversees Seaview Elementary School and Belhaven Middle School in Linwood’s K-8 district, said Tamara Pizagno was named Teacher of the Year at Seaview and Nancy Robinson at Belhaven. As noted in her nomination, Pizagno, a first-grade teacher, “works diligently to ensure that all of her students succeed. She is always searching for and/or developing new creative ways to keep her students engaged. … She also builds a fun learning environment for her class to make certain everyone is excited to come to school and learn each day. She is an amazing, talented, professional, caring person.”
Robinson, the instrumental band teacher, was called “any school district’s dream as a band director.”
“Her music program speaks for itself with the quality of music that is performed at all the concerts, which is beyond middle school level. Everything that Nancy has done for this school — through creating an amazing music program to making each band student part of the family to going above and beyond to help with other events — speaks loudly of her qualities as an excellent educator,” according to the nomination.
Carrie Gargione, a speech-language specialist, was named Educational Support Person of the Year at Seaview, while paraprofessional Suzie Adams took the honors at Belhaven.
Somers Point
Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder, superintendent of the Somers Point School District, oversees New York Avenue School, Dawes Avenue School and Jordan Road School.
On Dec. 16, she and the Board of Education celebrated Teachers of the Year Julia Lindsay (NYA), Donna Coan (Dawes) and Chrissy Quinn (JRS), as well as Educational Services Professionals of the Year Michele Sokalski, Sheila Altomare and Nancy Garrett.
A preschool teacher, Lindsay “provides the foundation of early learning skills for our community’s youngest learners. In her mixed-ages classroom, she differentiates academic objectives while prioritizing social-emotional and language development. Her classroom community embraces each student’s unique abilities and engages them in student-centered play-based learning that challenges their academic skills while developing their communication skills.”
Coan, who has worked at all three of the city’s schools, now serves as an interventionist for kindergartners to third-graders.
“Mrs. Coan respects her students and celebrates their differences, strengths, and works tirelessly to support their weaknesses. In celebrating, reinforcing and supporting her students, she creates a solid sense of community and belonging in her class. She is caring, reassuring, enthusiastic and approachable. These things specifically allow her students to feel confident in tackling academic challenges and working through difficult tasks, as they know she will be there through it all. She understands the unique needs of her students and maintains high expectations for all,” according to her nomination.
Quinn has been employed by the Somers Point School District since 2004, spending her first 14 years at Dawes Avenue and moving to Jordan Road in 2018.
“As a special education teacher, Chrissy ensures that all students receive every opportunity possible for their success. She modifies assignments, differentiates instruction, provides one-to-one assistance, pulls small groups of students, reteaches lessons and offers interventions and support to meet the individual needs and goals of each student. But that’s not even close to the most important part of her day,” her nomination stated. “Mrs. Quinn makes a significant influence on her students, staff, and families through her dedication to the Jordan Road School Community.”
Northfield
Superintendent Pete Bretones is responsible for Northfield Community School, a K-8 district that names a Teacher of the Year and Educational Professional of the Year for the elementary and middle schools.
Elementary Teacher of the Year is Mary Kay McGlynn, who was described as “making a difference in the lives of her students each year that she steps foot into her classroom.”
“She greets her students at the door each day with a happy face and something nice to say. … She differentiates her instruction and knows how to zone in on an individual child’s strengths and build up their weaknesses. … She is a compassionate, dedicated, inspiring and innovative teacher,” according to her nomination.
Spanish/ELL teacher Nicole Guerrieri was named middle school Teacher of the Year.
In her nomination, Guerrieri was called “the teacher who goes beyond teaching the content and the curriculum and extends a step beyond to include creativity, deeper understanding and real-life applications.”
“Teaching classes with heterogeneously grouped students has its challenges and Nicole has mastered the skills and strategies necessary to differentiate her instruction and assessments to meet the needs of all students of varying ability levels. Also impressive is the manner in which she runs a well-organized classroom in which a great deal of thought and preparation goes into each lesson. The forethought along with the style and expertise Nicole has in the delivery of her knowledge and teaching skills creates a climate where students feel safe and where they know they are there to learn.
School nurse Lisa Dutra was named Educational Professional of the Year for the elementary school and student aide Lisa Juliana for the middle school.
Mainland Regional High School
At Mainland, Chief School Administrator Mark Marrone said the Board of Education will be honoring Teacher of the Year Michael Colombo and Educational Services Specialist of the Year Erika Melhorn.
Marrone said Colombo’s mantra is “Work hard and be nice to people.”
“He certainly lives up to that mantra and leads by example. A former student described Mr. Colombo as being ‘the most caring, hardworking and dedicated staff member I encountered in my time at Mainland.’ Another indicated that ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re the best on the team or the smartest in the classroom, he goes out of his way to make sure you know he’s there for you,’” Marrone said.
“Colombo’s colleagues describe him as someone who is a leader and inspires his students and athletes to be their best. We are proud to have Mr. Colombo on our staff at Mainland Regional High School, he is very deserving of this commendation.”
Melhorn, a Somers Point resident and mother of two, is an instructional paraprofessional described as “patient, kind and upbeat.”
“Mrs. Melhorn wholeheartedly cares for her students. She is also known to ensure that students are well fed and have what they need to be successful. Her colleagues describe her as dedicated and loving. One colleague said, ‘Erika keeps class upbeat and interesting and always can make a student laugh when they need to.’ Mrs. Melhorn is an all-around amazing educator who truly cares for the students at Mainland,” Marrone said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff