Educators awarded for excellence discuss love of teachingDate: 3/23/2023 GREATER SPRINGFIELD — Several teachers from around the region were honored with Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching awards through the Harold Grinspoon and Irene E. & George A. Davis foundations. Among them were three teachers from Longmeadow Public Schools (LPS), four from Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) and three from East Longmeadow Public Schools (ELPS).
Award winners are nominated by their peers. Eligible educators must be state-certified and teach full time. The number of awards in each district is based on student population.
Several of the winning teachers praised their schools for promoting a positive environment in which to educate children. Leanne Barr teaches grade 8 civics at Glenbrook Middle School in Longmeadow. The 15-year veteran of LPS praised the school’s staff. “Everybody in teaching at Glenbrook goes above and beyond. There are so many amazing educators,” she said.
In Hampden, School Adjustment Counselor Karen Gelinas opined, “Green Meadows [School] is the most warm, empathetic, comfortable environment.” She works to include positivity and inclusivity in all of her interactions with students and said the students’ energy is a reflection of the teacher’s energy, “and I really think that comes all the way down from the top,” referring to school and district administrators.
Green Meadows first grade teacher Melanie Patterson agreed. “Green Meadows is my home away from home. I love the culture, the teachers and the community,” she said. After 21 years with the school, Patterson said, “I’m so proud of this award because of all the people who’ve surrounded me throughout my time at Green Meadows.”
Mountain View School fourth grade teacher Angela Shea said that the East Longmeadow school “feels like a community. On Fridays, we dance in the hallways to greet kids,” she said as an example of how the teachers make school a fun place to be.
Robin Clifford is a fifth grade English language arts teacher at Mountain View School. “I work with an amazing team. We all get excited when the kids sort of spark,” said the 14-year ELPS veteran. She said those sparks happen to different students every day. Clifford finds joy in the people around her. “it’s mostly the people you work with and the kids. It’s being supported,” she said.
While environment is a factor in academic excellence, the teachers were nominated because they stood out as educators.
When asked what makes her teaching stand out, Barr said, “I’m still really excited about learning, which makes the kids excited.” In addition to teaching, Barr has organized trips to Washington, DC and Canada for students. “I like doing a little extra to get to know the kids as students and human beings, especially middle schoolers.” She said middle school students are “not as jaded” as they are in high school. “They’re also really interested in social justice, which teaching civics, is really helpful,” Barr said.
At Center School in Longmeadow, where Arlene McLean has taught for 19 years, she said, “each child is a cool, unique person.” The fourth grade teacher is a mindfulness-trained educator, which allows her to help students engage in social-emotional learning (SEL). She said her students begin every day with a moment of gratitude and they also discuss emotions and how to manage them. McLean said, “sometimes it’s a mindfulness minute,” but she embeds SEL throughout the day’s lessons.
McLean also fills her lessons with fun. “These kids are coming off [COVID-19], so their social skills, they’re learning about body space, I think it’s needed now more than ever. My number one job is to keep them safe, physically and emotionally,” McLean said. “If we don’t have that, they can’t access their learning.”
Colleen Cummings, who also works at Center School, has been a teacher for nearly three decades and has spent half of that time in LPS. Like McLean and Barr, Cummings noted how fifth graders are a particularly fulfilling group to teach.
“They’re pretty independent, so they can take something and run with it. And they’re funny. I think fifth grade is pretty special.” She added, “Teaching is a very all-consuming profession, but the rewards are great.”
Cummings said what sets her apart is, “I’m really committed to putting in the time that is needed to do the job well. Even though I’ve been at it for a while, I’m still really passionate about learning and teaching.”
Math teacher Janice Clini has spent over 20 years educating youth at East Longmeadow High School. When this school year ends, she will retire. “It’s really hard to leave when [students] say, ‘Can you just stay until I graduate?’” Clini said.
Erin Tighe teaches music to students at Maple Shade Elementary and Mountain View schools in East Longmeadow. “I see every student in the school, every week. Watching that development,” over the years, is one of the things she enjoys most about teaching. Tighe runs a club at the high school and sometimes she sees former students there. She remarked on how much they change, “They’re little and don’t really know [music] when they first come in, but by the time they leave they sound like a band.”
Kyle Garron, an art teacher at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, said, “In my classroom, I’m always trying to build communication more than content,” Garron said. He asserted that individuality and expression are important for students. Outside of the classroom, Garron helps facilitate the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance club and works with the yearbook.
Karen Gelinas agreed with Garron about the importance of individuality and inclusion. As a school adjustment counselor at Green Meadow School, Gelinas said, “We try to get [across] how we can be different, all the way down [from] the little kids to the high school.” She added, “I’m really passionate about what I do.”
While other teachers have been in their careers for decades, Cameron LaBelle won a Beginning Educator Award for his work with grade 3 at Stony Hill School in Wilbraham. This is his second year as a full-time teacher.
“It’s really about bringing a positive attitude into the classroom. The kids see the excitement,” LaBelle said. “I never talked down to them, I just talked to them, which they appreciate.”
Like LaBelle, fourth grade Mountain View School teacher Angela Shea was selected for a Beginning Educator award.
“The thing that makes me the most excited is when you make connections with students,” said Shea, who worked as a paraprofessional and long-term substitute before recently becoming a teacher. “When children feel appreciated and heard, they put in so much more work,” she said.
Each of the teachers who were chosen said being nominated was special. “My nomination letter truly brought tears to my eyes,” McLean said. “This job, sometimes you give so much but don’t hear back, and to hear from colleagues and parents, it was humbling.”
Cummings contributed to McLean’s nomination and said she was “thrilled” that they were both selected for the awards. “We are recognized by our peers,” Cummings said. “It feels really special to be chosen by people who really know you in the day to day.”
ELPS Superintendent Gordon Smith reflected on the nominations and said, “All of their colleagues spoke to the fact that none of them stops at student dismissal. They’re always willing to lend a hand,” with clubs or community service.
Clini responded, “For me, it’s a way of life.”
The winners will be celebrated at an awards banquet in late spring. For more information about the Pioneer Valey Excellence in Teach awards, visit https://hgf.org/programs/pioneer-valley-excellence-in-teaching-awards.
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