GEOY Award
2023
✨Congratulations✨
Every year, New Jersey Department of Education asks for local agencies to nominate educators who have gone above and beyond for their students, and aims to recognize outstanding educators across the state. This year, Manville School District asked our community to nominate educators they feel exemplify what it means to put our children first: Every Child, Every Day. Once our community completed their nominations, each building organized a committee of students and staff to review the nominees from their building. All committee members evaluated the nominees using a universal district rubric to select a winner based on the following criteria:
- Serves as an exceptionally skilled and dedicated educator in a public or charter school;
- Inspires students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn;
- Demonstrates leadership and innovation in and outside the classroom;
- Has the respect and admiration of students, parents, administrators and colleagues;
- Plays an active role in the community as well as the school.
The following educators were nominated for the NJ Governor's Educator of the Year, and are our very own winners. We are so honored to have them be a part of our MSD community!
Erin Regan
"Erin is an incredibly dedicated, creative, and loving educator. She is committed to her own growth and that of her students. She is a team player and always willing to help out her colleagues. Additionally, Erin exemplifies what it means to be an early childhood educator: she weaves academic learning into play, explicitly teaches self-help skills, thinks critically about social emotional growth, supports process art, and is always considering what is developmentally appropriate. Furthermore, she communicates well with parents about the successes and challenges of students. Lastly, Erin is always searching for additional opportunities to enhance our program and we love having her as part of our team!!"
Ms. Erin Regan is a Preschool Teacher at Weston Elementary School. Although this is her third year at Manville, she has been teaching for about 15 years, with the past 12 years in Preschool. She completed her undergraduate degree at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and her graduate degree at Cabrini College.
Degrees:
Bachelors in Early Childhood Education
Bachelors in Elementary Education
Masters in Education with a Reading Specialist Certification
How has your role as a teacher evolved over your career?
I started teaching fifth grade and then first grade in Pennsylvania. Both of my experiences in these age groups made me a better teacher. In 2011, I started teaching Preschool in NJ and fell in love with the age group. I then went back to school to become a Reading Specialist and my training in literacy has given me the opportunity to give my students many skills in reading and writing before they are off to Kindergarten.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a novice teacher?
Be kind and patient with kids. Build a relationship with them and make that connection. Be the reason they love coming to school.
What other passions/obligations do you have outside of teaching?
I love to travel and see new places. I enjoy reading, hiking and going to the beach. I also love to shop.
Dana Correnti
"She is such a valuable person in our district. She is kind, loving, compassionate, patient- the list can go on and on. She goes above and beyond in all aspects of her job- for her colleagues and for the children. She truly cares and loves them and wants the best for them. She will do whatever it takes to have the children feel loved and heard. I couldn't imagine anyone else receiving this award. This award screams her name. I am so proud to know her and have the ability to work with her every day."
Ms. Correnti has been a School Counselor for 7 years, 6 in the Manville School District. She has worked at the middle school level for a year long maternity leave prior to coming to Manville and has really found the elementary level is her passion. She loves being able to meet kids when they first start their educational journey and helping them work through all the early development of their social skills, friendship building, and coping skills. When she is not at work she loves spending time with her family and friends. She currently lives in Denville, NJ with her husband, Rob, their daughter, Olivia, and their dog, Piper. They love spending time getting to watch their daughter become a wonderful little human with so much excitement in her eyes!
Degrees:
Bachelors in Psychology
Masters in School Counseling
How has your role as an educator evolved over your career?
Over my time here I have gotten to meet so many groups of students and families that I still learn from each day. One student's experience can help shape the next. I am constantly reflecting on my counseling approach and presence with the students to make sure I am the best counselor I can be. I love feed back from classroom teachers on lessons and any social emotional needs they see.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a novice teacher/counselor?
To a new counselor I would say, prioritize the students. Getting to know each individual student has made such a difference in my relationships with both them and their families. When students know they have a safe space with you it helps them trust you and open up to you about things that weigh heavy on them.
What other passions/obligations do you have outside of Manville?
I am currently a mom of a wonderful 2 1/2 year old girl named Olivia. When I am home I love spending time with her, my husband and our dog, Piper. We love going on walks and exploring outside.
George Putvinski
"He finds fun ways to keep the students engaged in activities and learning. He encourages kindness and acceptance toward one another. He is teaching them to have compassion toward those who may have less ability than themselves and to take initiative to include them in games on the playground. He has also learned to speak some Spanish to better communicate and connect with the Spanish speaking students. He acts as a referee for the football games some of the students play on the playground. He is always willing to step in and give "counsel" or advise for a student if an issue should arise. It is evident that he sincerely cares about the educational and social development of each student, and he continues to stay involved as they move on to ABIS since he is involved there as a wrestling coach. It has been a privilege to work with Mr. Putvinski at Roosevelt the past couple years."
Mr. Putvinski is 54 years old and married to his wonderful wife Leanora since 2015. He lives in Hillsborough with his wife and thier two cats Jack and Arnie. He loves to play golf and bowl. He started teaching in Manville at ABIS in 2002 and moved to Roosevelt in 2011. For a couple of years he taught Health at Weston. He has been an assistant coach for football and wrestling at MHS. He has also been a volunteer assistant for girls softball at ABIS and coached the middle school wrestling team for the last 15 years or so. This year he is excited to be the head Golf Coach for Manville High School.
Degrees:
A.A.S. from Raritan Valley Community College
Bachelors Physical Education
Currently enrolled in the Master's degree program for Adventure Learning at Plymouth State University
How has your role as a teacher evolved over your career?
In the early years, I focused on physical literacy. The idea was to help foster proficient movers. I still try to teach my students to be the best movers they can, but I have started to do a lot more with being a "good person."
What is one piece of advice you would give to a novice teacher?
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." is a quote that best personifies my advice. Learn your student's names. Learn as much as you can about them and make connections with them. They are much more likely to listen to you when they believe that you really have their best interest at heart.
What other passions/obligations do you have outside of teaching?
Playing golf, exercising and spending time with my wife and family.
Jennifer Pisano
"Ms. Pisano is a wonderful teacher and person. She is always willing to help anyone with anything and she is a huge asset to this school... She is involved in everything and anything with the school, attends games and dances, and always shows her support to the students."
Ms. Pisano has been teaching for 26 years. She student taught at ABIS when it was a 4-6 building and was hired in September 1997. She taught at Roosevelt School in 4th and 5th grade until 2012 when she went to ABIS to teach 6th grade math.
Degrees:
Executive Master of Arts/Education Specialist
Masters in Curriculum and Instruction/Mathematics
Bachelors in Elementary Education
How has your role as a teacher evolved over your career?
Wow, teaching has changed in countless ways from curricular changes, class sizes and many others but the heart of teaching hasn’t changed at all. It’s all about making sure your students know that you are real and that you really care about what’s best for them and that you are always in their corner.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a novice teacher?
One piece of advice would be to give yourself grace. Things aren’t always going to work out as planned and that’s ok, Every day is a new opportunity.
What other passions/obligations do you have outside of teaching?
Outside of teaching I spend my time with my 11 year old son and his activities, baseball and taekwondo.
Rachel Gottfried
"Mrs. Gottfried is truly deserving of the honor of teacher of the year. She goes far beyond the job description of a school media specialist. Not only for students, but for her follow teachers. She is always helping new teachers and any other teacher that may need assistance, with technology, general questions or even as a confidant. In addition to her duties as school media specialist she teaches three Advanced Placement courses and created the curriculum for them as well curriculum for previous freshman seminar classes. For the students she always makes herself available whether it is recommending a book to read, assisting with research projects and papers for their classes or advising our National Honor Society. As a colleague her knowledge and assistance is invaluable. In the past Mrs. Gottfried has provided professional development, acted as a liaison for our Language Arts Department and been part of our media center’s redesign. Mrs. Gottfried’s expertise in technology has made her an excellent resource for staff and students whether they have questions on using any Google product or need more information on creating and working with their Canvas page or on one of our new Smartboards. She has made the media center a welcoming place for administrators, staff, students and visitors. In such a short response it is a difficult task to clearly show how much Mrs. Gottfried contributes to the strong academic and collegial atmosphere of Manville High School."
Ms. Gottfried has been the Manville High School Library Media Specialist since 2014. She is a New Jersey Native with a husband, two children and three rescue cats. She has a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Masters in Library and Communication Science (MLIS) from Rutgers University (2010). She began her career as Youth Services Library Intern at the East Brunswick Public Library and then as a Knowledge Management Librarian at a BioTechnology Company. Since starting at Manville High School, Ms. Gottfried also became a certified classroom teacher and currently teaches AP Psychology, AP Seminar and AP Research as well as being the National Honor Society Advisor.
Degrees:
Master's Degree: Library and Information Science
How has your role as a teacher evolved over your career?
I started out as solely the Library Media Specialist. I then began teaching College and Career Readiness and Freshman Seminar courses. When the school expanded the Advanced Placement offerings, I was privileged to be able to teach three AP Courses. More than that, being able to advise clubs and activities helps me to form connections as a teacher.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a novice teacher?
I would advise new teachers that you have to really love what you do in any job, and all the more so when it comes to being a classroom a teacher. Every student has a unique story and comes with their own history. It's not our job to know each story, but it is our job to know each student and show them the same empathy that we would want. That and- don't take too much work home with you.
What other passions/obligations do you have outside of teaching?
I am involved in cat rescue which is my passion. I also have a husband, two children and three cats of my own. In whatever small amount of free time I can find, I love to read or take long walks.