Groton names its Teacher of the Year
Speech pathologist at Butler Elementary School honored
Groton — Groton Public Schools faculty, staff, students and their families packed the Fitch High School band room Tuesday night for a slew of end-of-year awards.
Megan Kasparek, speech-language pathologist at S.B. Butler Elementary School, was honored as the districtwide Teacher of the Year for 2018.
“She can tailor each student’s unique needs and tailor her teaching,” Principal Steve Wheeler said.
He noted that she is a versatile educator, demonstrating an ability to work with students with attention deficit disorder, developmental delays and learning disabilities, along with nonverbal students. She also is a member of the school’s crisis team.
Kasparek, who studied communication disorders at the University of Rhode Island before getting her master’s at Southern Connecticut State University, has been at S.B. Butler for six years. She said she is most proud of being able to use assistive technology, such as an iPad app that can speak for students.
And the speech-language pathologist’s reaction to being named Teacher of the Year? “I was speechless,” she said.
Before a committee selected Kasparek as districtwide Teacher of the Year, teachers at each of the nine schools selected a Teacher of the Year for their respective school.
Principals on Tuesday night recognized the Teacher of the Year winners from the other eight schools: Jennifer Harren of Charles Barnum Elementary; Emily Calkins of Claude Chester Elementary School; Leigh Sammons of Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School; Jackie Rege of Mary Morrisson Elementary; Margaret Dewey of Northeast Academy Elementary; Katherine Lucy of Cutler Arts and Humanities Magnet Middle School; Laura Irace of West Side STEM Magnet Middle School, and Stacey Noreika, special education teacher at Fitch High School.
Fitch Principal Joe Arcarese commented that Noreika started Noreika’s Brew Crew, in which students deliver coffee to other teachers, with money raised going toward classroom supplies.
Claude Chester Principal Jamie Giordano spoke of how Calkins is an outside-the-box thinker, noting that one year, she brought in laundry baskets to make cozy sitting areas for students.
On Tuesday, the principal at each school also recognized noncertified personnel of the year, and a volunteer receiving the Groton Friends of Education Award.
The Board of Education recognized senior Cindy Fan and junior Dan Gaiewski, student representatives who attend every regular and committee of the whole board meeting, with the Student Leadership Award from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.
Cutler Middle School eighth-graders Alayna Woodhams and Colin Anderson, and West Side Middle School eighth-graders Elviany Quiroz and Thurman Banks, also received leadership awards.