Winners of the teacher and educational service professional (ESP) of the year awards in the township school district were recognized during the May 7 board of education meeting at Deptford Middle School’s cafeteria.
“This is by far the best board of education meeting of all year,” said Superintendent Kevin Kanauss. “I think everybody would agree with me up here, because we get to celebrate our family, our staff, our best. It’s so nice to see everybody’s family with them, but also our Deptford Spartan family too.”
Each school in the district had two winners – one teacher and one ESP – who were selected based on the recommendation of their colleagues. Each winner received a custom-made poster board that showed their name and traits their peers associated with them, along with flowers and a certificate.
The teachers of the year are high-school music teacher Amy Gigliotti; middle-school history teacher Peter Orio; kindergarten teacher Nikki Miller, from Central Early Childhood Center; kindergarten teacher Amy Owens, of Pine Acres Early Childhood Center; Good Intent Elementary’s Heather Preston; fourth and fifth grade special education teacher Vanessa LaTorre from Lake Tract Elementary; physical education teacher Nicole Fring from Oak Valley Elementary; and Shady Lane Elementary’s Anne Jefferson.
ESPs of the year are the high school’s Brian Fanning, the middle school’s Ashley Hajna, Central’s Christine Heaney, Pine Acres’ Emily Amundsen, Good Intent’s Ellen Williams, Lake Tract’s Melissa Moore, Oak Valley’s Lindsay Quinones and Shady Lane’s Stephanie Tyler.
The winners were each accompanied to the ceremony by families and colleagues past and present. The awards were presented by the principals of each respective school, who gave short speeches about their school’s winners.
Some joked around about their colleagues while others gave insight as to what
“I’d like to congratulate everybody that’s here tonight, our ESPs and teachers of the year,” said Central’s Principal Maria Gioffre. “This is a special one for me because this is the last time I get to recognize, and it’s extra special because of the people that I get to recognize here this evening. Sometimes I have to search for a quote or something to kind of get me started to prepare how I’m going to recognize them, but this one was easy.
” … I know a lot of you are familiar with Maya Angelou, and her quote that resonates with me is, ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'”
