Wright Hosts Fay's BBQ Dinner - 5/5 (@ HMS)
Tickets are $10 each: 2 pork chops; or 1/2 chicken; or Combo (1 pork chop, 1 chicken quarter). All dinners include applesauce, baked beans, cole slaw & rolls.
Pickup is at Huntley Middle School, 4:30 - 7:00 p.m. You don't even need to get out of the car. Deadline for ordering tickets is Monday, 5/3. More info (ticket order form)...
Paszotta Named Wirtz Award Winner
Mrs. Tracy Paszotta, kindergarten teacher at Wright Elementary, was surprised at an all-school assembly recently, and learned that she had been named the winner of the 2010 Wirtz Award for Educational Excellence. The award is given annually in memory of three members of the Wirtz Family, for whom educational excellence was a life-long pursuit.
The award highlights educators in the DeKalb School District 428 who inspire, motivate, and change the lives of students in District 428.
In her nominating letter, principal Gina Greenwald said, “More importantly than any one task that Tracy may complete in a year, is her positive attitude and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty. She welcomes [her kindergarten students] in August as they are tentative and a bit scared of the whole school process, and releases them in June, ready to face the next grade level. She is the kindergarten teacher you want your own child to have and know that she will be remembered far past that first year,” added Greenwald.
Pam Bybee, a fourth grade teacher at Wright, stated that Paszotta excels in the use of creativity, humor, and love to create a fantastic curriculum, for her kindergarten students. “She uses kinesthetic, visual, and verbal modes [in her teaching sessions], so that all students effectively understand the concepts she is teaching,” said Bybee. “I have witnessed Tracy and her class counting the colors of the cars in the school parking lot so the kindergartners would better understand the term ‘probability’,” Bybee added.
Incidentally, it was discovered just prior to the announcement of the 2010 recipient, that Paszotta’s father, Richard McLaughlin, a retired math teacher at DeKalb High School, was the recipient of the Wirtz Award in 2000. Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin, and Paszotta’s immediate family were at the school for the announcement.