06/15/09 PRESS RELEASE: Greenwich Rep for 2010 CT Teacher of the Year Program Selected

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Betty J. Sternberg, has selected
Susan Tracey, Preschool Teacher at Old Greenwich School
as the Greenwich Representative for the 2010 Connecticut Teacher of the
Year Program.

See attached for more information.

Kim Eves
Director of Communications
Greenwich Board of Education
290 Greenwich Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830

http://www.greenwichschools.org/

Phone: 203-625-7415
e mail: kim_eves@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Fax: 203-869-8003

SUPERINTENDENT ANNOUNCES GREENWICH REPRESENTATIVE FOR
CONNECTICUT TEACHER OF THE YEAR PROGRAM

(For immediate release: Greenwich, CT – Monday, June 15, 2009) Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Betty J. Sternberg announced today the selection of Susan Tracey as the Greenwich representative for the 2010 Connecticut Teacher of the Year program. Ms. Tracey, a preschool teacher in the Greenwich Public Schools Preschool Program at Old Greenwich School, will be recognized by the Board of Education at its June 18, 2009 meeting at Town Hall.

Dr. Sternberg noted, “In observing Susan’s preschool class, it was immediately evident that she was a highly skilled teacher. A pre-school classroom is a complex place and Susan adeptly guided students in whole-group and small group instruction. Susan has a strong command of each student’s individual needs and strengths and is facile at seamlessly incorporating students with special needs into the activities of their “typical” peers. She has a keen understanding of the importance of preschool in preparing students that enter school with varying degrees of knowledge and skills to be ready for the expectations of Kindergarten and in setting them on a path for academic success. I can say without reservation that Susan Tracey is a teacher fully capable of leveling the playing field for students entering preschool with varying
levels of preparedness for learning. I am thrilled to be able to present Susan Tracey as the Greenwich Representative for the State Teacher of the Year Program.”

Ms. Tracey will be presented with the Greenwich Kiwanis Club’s Joseph Mitchell Kaye Award by the club’s President, Mr. Nick Edwards at the Board of Education meeting on June 18th. Mr. Kaye was a past President of the Greenwich Kiwanis club, a Lieutenant Governor of the Kiwanis Club for the New England District, and served on the Greenwich Board of Education.
Ms. Tracey will also be honored at the Board meeting by The Distinguished Teachers Awards Committee (DTAC), represented by the Chairman, Ms. Louse Williamson.


Susan Tracey Bio Brief

“(Ms. Tracey) truly goes beyond what anyone would expect from a teacher to show her students and theirparents how much she truly cares for them. She is a beacon model of what an excellent teacher should be,” notes the parent of one of Ms. Tracey’s students. For over thirty years, Susan Tracey has been a dedicated teacher to typically developing students and students with special needs in Preschool through high school. Parents, colleagues and students have all noted her high expectations for each student, and her ability to help them set incremental objectives and to help them to achieve academic as well as personal goals. Her colleague, Elizabeth Matys-Rahbar, acknowledges, “She has always held high expectations for all of her students and therefore, students have achieved high levels of individual success.” Administrator, Karen Mabee, adds, “She is the teacher that does whatever it takes – goes the extra mile – to ensure that every student achieves or exceeds grade level academic expectations. She is thevisionary, the leader, the friend, the communicator, the counsel, the instructor, the worker, THE teacher.”

Ms. Tracey began teaching in 1971, and for eleven years taught preschool through first grade classes. After a brief hiatus from teaching, she came to Connecticut in 1989, began working at the Gengras Center and received her Masters degree in Special Education. In 1993, she moved to Simsbury High School, Simsbury, CT as a Special Education teacher, acting also as an inclusion facilitator and team teacher. In 2001, Ms. Tracey taught at Horizons Middle School in New York, N.Y. for one year before coming to the Greenwich Public Schools (GPS) in 2002. From 2002 to 2006, she taught at Western Middle School as a Special Education teacher. Since 2006, Ms. Tracey has taught in the GPS Preschool program. In addition to 2009 Greenwich Distinguished Teachers Award, she was been recognized for her exemplary teaching skills in receiving the Special Education Services (SES) Award in 2005.

She has designed and led professional development workshops, spent twelve years working with children in the Special Olympics, and assisted in the development of the Farmington Valley Transition Academy at the University of Hartford – giving students with significant disabilities the opportunity to attend school in an age appropriate environment (18-21 year olds) under the auspices of their home school system.

Ms. Tracey received her B.S. in Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL in 1971; her M.A. in Special Education from St. Joseph College in West Hartford, CT in 1991; and her Sixth-Year from the University of New England in 2007.

The deadline for completing and submitting the 2010 Connecticut Teacher of the Year program packet is August 14, 2008. The 2010 Teacher of the Year will be announced the week of October 12, 2009. An awards ceremony to honor all district teachers of the year and the 2010 CT Teacher of the Year will be held at the Welte Auditorium in New Britain, CT on October 29, 2009.

For more information go to: http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2678&q=320782#application

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