NEWBURYPORT — With no more lessons to impart or papers to grade, yesterday was a day for Newburyport teachers to wish their students well and delight in token gifts and heartfelt notes of thanks from their soon-to-be former pupils.
But per district tradition, yesterday was also a day for colleagues to recognize the best of their own through the Edward G. Molin Awards for Teaching Excellence.
Established by longtime friend of the schools Ed Molin in 1983, the awards are an opportunity to recognize the often unsung efforts of a handful of special teachers who go above and beyond in order to promote student learning. This year, the honorary designation went to kindergarten teacher Dianna Ouellette, middle school social studies teacher Lisa Furlong and high school art teacher Aileen Maconi.
So secret were the results of the seven-committee member vote, not one of them had any inkling prior to the event that they had been chosen to receive the district's highest teaching honor.
"I was shocked," said Furlong, a seventh-grade teacher at the Rupert A. Nock Middle School for the past four years who was having some trouble processing the happy occasion.
As her colleagues testified she would, Furlong humbly credited her team of "Crimson" teachers for forward progress she's made with the students as one of the four-member teaching group. And she marveled that among so many committed teachers, she would be singled out for praise.
"It feels like every day I come to work in a building where people are doing a lot of good things," she said. "We work as a team."
Furlong was introduced by former Molin Award recipient and current Selection Committee member Marilyn Johnston, who cited students' ability to move comfortably and freely within Furlong's classroom to meet their academic and personal needs, and Furlong's creativity to conceive of breakthrough teaching programs in the pursuit of student achievement.
Whether ringing the bell to raise money for the Salvation Army or doing cartwheels in the gym during the Parent Teacher basketball fundraiser, Johnson said, Furlong is an "amazing person."
"She is a respected colleague to all who work with her," Johnson said.
Like Furlong, the Brown School's Dianna Ouellette received her award for outstanding work helping students achieve confidence and mastery of their coursework. According to the speech given in her honor, Ouellette is a teacher who arrives early and stays late, and is often the last person in the building at day's end.
"This teacher advocates for students through constant communication with therapists and counselors, and modifies and adopts curriculum to fit the needs of all students," said Kathleen Leahy, presenter for the award, who added that Ouellette incorporates whatever teaching tools she can to the benefit of the kids.
"She has also involved her husband in the early childhood grades as the much loved "Zero the Hero," said Leahy, in reference to the superhero math guru who's been making math facts fun for kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students for a number of years. Ouellette said her favorite thing about teaching kindergarten students is that they keep her on her toes and make every day a little different than the day before.
"It's always interesting and fun with a lot of laughs," she said, citing the student's "A-ha" moments as a daily payoff for her efforts.
"You can see the light bulbs going off," Ouellette said. "They're so genuine and honest. Everything's so palpable with them. And there's lots of hugs and a lot of love."
Ouelette said in the 14 years she's been a teacher in Newburyport there have been opportunities to move out of the kindergarten class, but she's resisted.
"I enjoy it," she said. "I really enjoy this age."
At the high school level, the Molin Award was offered to a standout art teacher who's managed to make art a living, tangible experience for high school students. Whether it be through encouraging students to docent at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston or provide the support and professional mentoring for them to launch their own fine art studio on campus, Aileen Maconi is always pushing to provide students of Newburyport with a broad taste of the world that spans different mediums and cultures.
She's launched the docent program, the bridges program and a Mother's Day photography program that teamed student photographers with professionals to produce quality photographs for the occasion.
According to Molin presenters, Maconi provided the impetus for students to launch Gallery 118 in an unused room of the high school and regularly organizes student exhibits at downtown banks and the Firehouse Theater for the Arts.
Maconi was participating in a teacher workshop this week and was unable to receive her award in person, but it's likely she'll be as surprised and honored as her colleagues, for whom the Molin Teaching Excellence honor is considered the ultimate district achievement.
"It's the most thrilling moment of your teaching career," said Johnston, who should know, since she received the honor in 2007. "There are a lot of nominees, so to be selected by the committee means a lot."
