Ansonia’s Board of Education honored two groups of employees for their years of service and their dedication to students last week.
Superintendent Carol Merlone presented “Golden Apple” awards to four teachers and a principal at the school board’s meeting April 8 as a symbol of the impact they have had on children.
The board also recognized teachers who have been with the school district for 25 or more years.
School officials thought of presenting the Golden Apple awards annually to a teacher from each school last fall, Merlone said.
The resulting lists of nominees from school administrators meant some tough choices deciding who would be honored in the awards’ first year.
“It was very hard,” Merlone said. “I said ‘I’ve only got four apples here.’”
Honored from Ansonia High School was Maria Tangredi, a music teacher who was unable to attend Wednesday’s meeting.
Merlone said Tangredi teaches everything from chorus to playing instruments, and encourages her students to participate in competitions and other extracurricular activities.
“She is constantly involved with her students,” Merlone said.
The weekend prior, for example, she emailed Merlone a picture of herself and several former and current students performing in a choir.
Jessica Gomez-Bedosky teaches math to eighth-graders at Ansonia Middle School, but her involvement with students extends far beyond the classroom.
She organized the school’s PTO with parents three years ago.
And she recently founded a nonprofit group, College Access For All, to encourage children to attend college.
On the morning of last week’s school board meeting she had taken 45 middle schoolers to Western Connecticut State University to give them a taste of the college experience.
Article continues after video from WTNH about the trip.
Merlone said Bedosky creates a warm, caring atmosphere in the classroom, and through her other efforts “has brought that caring and high expectation to all Ansonia Middle School.”
The Mead School’s Todd Howes, a physical education teacher, was also recognized by Merlone.
Howes helped start VITAHLS, the Valley Initiative to Advance Health & Learning in Schools, and works with 1,300 children throughout the school district as part of that program.
He also helps to organize events like field days and the school’s annual Veterans Day assembly, as well other fundraisers.
“He’s always willing to accommodate his schedule for the betterment of students,” Merlone said of Howes.
Stacy Marchionni, a counselor at Prendergast and Mead schools, “does a wonderful job” in a number of ways, Merlone said, like investigating bullying allegations and even visiting students’ homes.
She also acts as a liaison with community groups to provide food and clothing to needy families, and ran a mentoring program matching high school students with elementary school students with behavioral needs.
Terri Goldson, an Ansonia native and former principal of Mead School, was also honored by Merlone, who jokingly called him her “partner in crime.”
Goldson serves as co-principal at Ansonia Middle School, but Merlone said he displays “leadership and commitment for continuous improvement” throughout the district.
Also honored by the school board were seven educators who have worked in Ansonia for more than 25 years.
Pictured (with Goldson) at left, they are, from left to right:
- Matthew Puzzo (Mead, Grade 5)
- Michelle Fraher (Mead Grade 3)
- Terri Goldson (Co-Principal, Ansonia Middle School)
- Deborah Ruderman (Mead special education)
- Mary Ellen Czapor (Ansonia Middle School special education)
- Linda Desing (Prendergast, Grade 2)
- Joyce Seccombe (Mead, Grade 4)
- Lori Pozucek (Prendergast, Reading Interventionist).
