Blind Brook Awards Tenure, Honors Retiring Teachers

The Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District permanently welcomed teachers into its community Monday night while saying goodbye to others during a ceremony awarding tenure and honoring teachers who will retire this year.

"We are celebrating the vocational life cycle this evening in terms of education," said Superintendent William Stark.

Stark said all the teachers eligible for tenure this year were awarded it. The district awarded tenure to seven people— school psychologist Tania Insinga, elementary school Spanish teacher Joanna Hellman, high school math teacher Elise Ryan, high school English teachers Mackenzie Gumpel and Christine Colangelo, middle school biology teacher Molly Harrington, and high school math teacher Lisa Pellegrino. Pellegrino was the only person awarded tenure at Blind Brook after two years, because she transferred from another school district that had already awarded her tenure there. 

Tenure is awarded to teachers after a three-year period and is a way for school districts to retain the best teachers. It is essentially a lifetime appointment, meaning teachers cannot be dismissed or fired without cause. Stark said the district's tenure process involved evaluations of teachers every two months during their three-year probation period. This allowed the district to observe teachers more closely and provide them with feedback that improved their performance, he said.

The Board of Education and the principals of each of the districts' schools praised all of the recipients.

Insinga was called an "unsung hero," while Harrington was praised for her unique teaching methods, such as using SpongeBob SquarePants to teach a genetics lesson.

Interim Blind Brook High School Principal Vincent Galasso spoke kindly of the four tenured high school teachers.

"They know how to involve all of the students in the lesson. Moreover, they are working very hard and making their lessons real," he said. "They are growing as teachers exponentially and I'm sure they will continue to do so in the future."

The evening also honored the district's outgoing teachers, Paula Saunders, Marcello Marcoccia and teachers' union president Trudi Davis.

Saunders, a teacher for 38 years, came to the district in 1991 as a teaching assistant. She has taught the first, second, fifth and sixth grades.

Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School Principal Deborah Weisel said Saunders has had a special relationship with many of her students.

"She knows what is most important to our child, builds their capacity and sends them on their way," Wiesel said. "I thank you for discovering the gifts and talents of our students," she said to Saunders.

Marcello Marcoccia, who has been teaching in Blind Brook for 29 years, was honored as a "renaissance teacher" because he has coached golf, ski and soccer teams in the district for more than 20 years each.  He's also taken students abroad to Spain, Italy and France, and even missed Monday's ceremony because he was chaperoning the junior class trip to Toronto.

Teachers Federation president and Spanish teacher Trudi Davis, who has been teaching in the district since 1978, was honored for her ability to balance the needs of students and teachers.

"She's a person who sees the big picture and the picture is the child," Stark said.

Former Blind Brook Board of Education president Monroe Haas said though he has had differing opinions with Davis on certain issues, he respected her leadership as union president and her skills as a teacher.

"Thirty two years is a long time to represent teacher excellence," he said. "Our district has been fortunate to have a union leader of such caliber."

Rye Brook Mayor Joan Feinstein, Davis' tennis buddy, said Davis always talked about retiring year after year, and that she was surprised and glad that Davis finally made that leap.

Feinstein joked that Davis would now have more time to play tennis with her.

"I know where she's going to be every Friday morning now that she's retired, " Feinstein said. "Blind Brook's loss is going to be my gain."