At Thursday’s Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jill Gildea presented the Greenwich Public School Teacher of the Year Award to Michele Giorlando DeRosa, who teaches English Language Arts and AVID at Western Middle School.
Ms. Giorlando DeRosa will next represent Greenwich in the 2019 Connecticut Teacher of the Year program.
Blakely Stinebaugh, the incoming chair of the Distinguished Teachers Award Committee, and Kiwanis Club of Greenwich president Christine Edwards also helped honor Ms. Giorlando DeRosa.
Greenwich Schools Superintendent Jill Gildea embraces Michele Giorlando DeRosa as Board of Education members who served on Distinguished Teachers Award Committee (DTAC) committee Meghan Olsson and Lauren Rabin, Blakely Stinebaugh (incoming chair of the Distinguished Teachers Award Committee) and Christine Edwards (Kiwanis Club of Greenwich president) look on. June 14, 2018 Photo: Leslie Yager
“‘Miss G, when she was announced and recognized, said, ‘What? Why me? How could it be me out of the the outstanding corp of teachers who have been recognized this year?'” Superintendent Gildea recalled.
“Miss G was nominated by her students at Western Middle School,” Gildea continued.
Ms. Giorlando DeRosa was one of the six teachers selected and honored by the Distinguished Teachers Awards Committee in April. The Superintendent of Schools is charged with selecting from among the 6 Distinguished Teachers annually, the one teacher who will represent Greenwich in the State’s program.
“And the students who have worked with her said she stretches their thinking, keeps them growing, treats them as thought partners in their learning, and will stay with them forever with the influence she’s had on their learning,” Dr. Gildea said. “That’s what makes her a distinguished teacher candidate as she goes into the state competition.”
Dr. Gildea said Ms. Giorlando DeRosa has a wonderful positive influence on the education profession and on the most important resource: Greenwich’s students.
Ms. Stinebaugh said, “The purpose of the distinguished teachers awards is to recognize and celebrate excellence among our educators, and Ms. Giorlando DeRosa is the epitome of this quality.”
Stinebaugh described Ms. Giorlando DeRosa as an excellent teacher – leader, mentor, risk taker, lifelong learner and coach. She said Ms. Giorlando DeRose stood out to the committee for many reasons, especially for her belief that education is about deep learning through engaging her students in an enthusiastic manner and learning how to think for themselves.
President of the Kiwanis Club of Greenwich Christine Edwards described Ms. Giorlando DeRosa as a visible and vocal representative of what is best in the teaching profession.
On behalf of the Kiwanis Club, Edwards honored Ms. Giorlando DeRosa with the Joseph Mitchell Kaye Award. Mr. Kaye, a past president of the Kiwanis Club, also served on the Greenwich Board of Education.
This spring, Ms. Giorlando DeRosa was one of the six teachers selected and honored by the Distinguished Teachers Awards Committee. The Superintendent of Schools is charged with selecting from among the six Distinguished Teachers annually, the one teacher that will represent Greenwich in the State’s program.
See also:
Six Amazing and ‘Distinguished Teachers’ Introduced at April BOE Meeting
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