45°
“It is nothing that I could ever imagine,” Mendez Orozco said. She described it as a great honor and said many teachers in the district are worthy of the award.
Mendez Orozco teaches in the Heritage Spanish program and has worked at Westhill High School for the past five years, a statement from the school district said. Her classroom motto is ¡Si Se Puede! (Yes We Can!), and she has helped her Heritage 2 class become an honors course, the statement said.
“The word is out there -- the students take such pride in their heritage,” she said of how her class has grown since she started it five years ago. All of her students want to go on to take the AP literature class, she said.
Mendez Orozco attended high school in Medellín, Colombia, before graduating from Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk. She received her bachelor’s degree with a dual major of English and Spanish from Southern Connecticut State University and will receive her master’s in teaching leadership from Quinnipiac University on Sunday.
The candidates for Teacher of the Year are nominated and evaluated by other teachers. Nominations are solicited throughout December before a committee evaluates the nominees and makes a decision. The winner represents the city at the Connecticut Teacher of the Year competition and is featured in Stamford’s Holiday Spectacular.
“It is great to know they see me in such high esteem,” Mendez Orozco said of being chosen by her peers.
“We know we cannot possibly acknowledge every exceptional teacher in our district,” Stamford Schools Superintendent Winifred Hamilton said in the statement. “But there is no higher professional acknowledgment than to be recognized by one’s peers—those that work side-by-side with you every day. Congratulations to all those nominees, finalists and winners.”
The other finalists for the award were Westhill social studies teacher Sheryl Berkley and math teacher Vincent Urbanowski of the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering. The other nominees were:
? Matthew Cerruto, physical education, Stark Elementary School ? Susanne French, reading, Rippowam Middle School ? Kathleen Kelley, first grade, Stillmeadow Elementary School ? Judy Kinzler, kindergarten, Stark Elementary School ? Kim Lapolla, second grade, Roxbury Elementary School ? Gloria Sinaguglia, music, Stamford High School ? Meredith Walsky, first grade, Davenport Ridge Elementary School
This year’s Spotlight On Teaching Awards went to:
? Angela Asaro, Grade 2, Stillmeadow Elementary School ? Raquel Bonessi, World Languages, Academy of Information Technology & Engineering ? Kendra Bria, Individual Learning Needs Coach, Davenport Ridge Elementary School ? Brian Butera, Grade 6 Science, Turn of River Middle School ? Brian Byrne, Curriculum Associate for Elementary Mathematics, Central Office ? Melissa Correa, English, Stamford High School ? Christopher Dubuque, Visual Arts/IB Tech, Rippowam Middle School ? Giuseppina Dudics (Pina), Kindergarten, Davenport Ridge Elementary School ? Lisa Forbes, Social Studies Department Head, Westhill High School ?Elsa Gentile and Patricia Lucadamo, Grade 5 and Grade 1, Northeast Elementary School ? Matthew Gladstone, World Languages, Stamford High School ? Rachel Jablonsky, Grade 6 Language Arts, Dolan Middle School ? Cruz Elena Jacobson and Berta Yanez, Bi¬lingual Teachers, Springdale Elementary School ? Barbara Karp, Media Specialist and AVID Elective Teacher, Cloonan Middle School District Content Leader, Media ? Larry Katz, Mathematics, Stamford High School ? Jamie Klein, Grade 8 Science, Turn of River Middle School ? Anna Koltypin, World Languages, AITE ? Sharon Maignan, ESL Teacher, Newfield Elementary ? Corine Matarasso, Grade 1, K.T. Murphy Elementary School ? Claude Morest, Social Studies, Academy of Information Technology & Engineering ? Jessica Queiros, Grade 2, K.T. Murphy Elementary School ? Annea Rosenberg, Media Specialist, Scofield Magnet Middle School ? Julie Santorella, RISE Program Social Worker, Alternative Routes to Success ? Paula Ward, Curriculum Associate for Technology Integration, Central Office ? Susan Williams, Grade 3, Springdale Elementary School ? Shauntier Yates, English, Academy of Information Technology & Engineering ? Joseph Zaremski, Grade 5, Stillmeadow Elementary School
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
