Schools
Press Release: Intermediate School Teachers to be Honored
Optimist Club annnounces award winners.
Westfield Public School teachers Laura Segedin and Kristine Smith-Morasso were named Outstanding Intermediate School Teachers for 2011 by the Optimist Club of Westfield and will be honored by the Westfield Board of Education on Tuesday, June 7, at 7:30 PM at 302 Elm Street . Resolutions will be presented to the teachers by Board President, Julia Walker, prior to the business portion of the meeting.
They are the recipients of the 14th annual Optimist award, established in 1998 to recognize the importance of teaching in the intermediate grades. The award is presented annually to two Westfield teachers – one each from Edison and Roosevelt Intermediate Schools.
Selected as one of the 2011 award recipients, Laura Segedin is in her 11th year as an Industrial Arts/Technology teacher at Roosevelt Intermediate School in Westfield. She teaches sixth grade Industrial Problem Solving, and Woods for seventh and eighth graders. She is the advisor for the Rocket Car Club and the Cooking Club for Roosevelt students, and in years past has held a teachers’ Woodworking Club at the school.
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Segedin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Technology Education from the College of New Jersey. In 2009 she was awarded the Teacher Recognition Award from the US Presidential Scholars Program. Last year she was chosen by the Siemens Foundation as one of 50 STEM Institute Fellows and spent a week in Silver Spring, MD engaging in activities that involved Science, Technology, Engineering
In commenting on the Optimist Award, she said, “Receiving this award is truly an honor, one I do not take lightly. Every teacher at Roosevelt who has won this award before has been someone I highly respect, admire and from whom I have learned. Therefore, I am humbled to be included in this group of amazing people.”
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Letters of nomination on Segedin’s behalf included admiration for her passion for teaching, her eagerness to help all students achieve their individual best, and her volunteer efforts that benefit the entire school community.
The second 2011 Optimist winner is Kristine Smith-Morasso, who has been a vocal music teacher in the Westfield School District for 29 years. Most of her career has been at Edison Intermediate School, where she teaches today. She has also taught at Roosevelt, Wilson, Washington, Jefferson, Tamaques, and McKinley schools.
Smith-Morasso holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Douglass College.
A student of Smith-Morrasso’s wrote, “I’ve had Mrs. Morasso for my three years at Edison. She is so talented, and she has inspired me so much to continue in the Arts program . . . I have learned so much and she has really inspired me to try hard and do what I really want to do.”
Another student wrote, “Her students are always her first priority, no matter what.”
“I am very grateful to the Optimist Club for honoring me with this award,” stated Smith-Morasso. “Not only is it one of the highlights of my personal career, but in doing so, they have recognized the vital role that music and the arts play in the education of our children.”
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