{"id":33322,"date":"2024-06-04T18:02:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T18:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/?p=33322"},"modified":"2024-06-04T18:02:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T18:02:08","slug":"optimist-club-recognizes-intermediate-school-educators-for-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/?p=33322","title":{"rendered":"Optimist Club  Recognizes intermediate School Educators for Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><u>Edison Intermediate School mathematics teacher Ryan Belline is the co-recipient of the 2024 Optimist Club\u2019s Intermediate School Outstanding Teacher Award.\u00a0 Pictured here with Edison principal LaNova Schall (right) and Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit:\u00a0 Westfield Public Schools<\/p>\n<p>Edison Intermediate School mathematics teacher Ryan Belline and Roosevelt Intermediate School social studies teacher Marissa Conneely have been recognized as outstanding intermediate school educators by the Optimist Club of Westfield.<\/p>\n<p>A nominator describes Belline as \u201can exemplary educator who embodies the qualities of compassion, dedication, organization, and problem-solving acumen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another nominating letter notes that, \u201cbeyond his role as a math teacher, Ryan\u2019s commitment to the well-being and development of his students is truly commendable. It is evident that he goes above and beyond in his efforts to support and inspire his students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI enjoy developing math concepts, but also like spending time developing a great rapport with the students in class,\u201d says Belline, who has been teaching math at Edison for 18 years.<\/p>\n<p>Conneely is lauded as a caring educator who \u201chas an endless breadth of knowledge on how to both teach and assess student learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Conneely stays on top of both content and instructional strategies,\u201d writes another nominator. \u201cShe creates lessons that are interesting, engaging, and keeps students stretching their abilities so that they are all growing.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33309\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33309\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33309\" src=\"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Optimist.RIS_.Marissa-Conneely.5.6.2024-300x212.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Optimist.RIS_.Marissa-Conneely.5.6.2024-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Optimist.RIS_.Marissa-Conneely.5.6.2024.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33309\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roosevelt Intermediate School social studies teacher Marissa Conneely is the co-recipient of the 2024 Optimist Club\u2019s Intermediate School Outstanding Teacher Award. Pictured here with Roosevelt principal Brian Gechtman (left) and Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMy favorite part about teaching is fostering a love of learning and curiosity in my students. Teaching middle school means that I teach kids how to learn, study, and work together.\u00a0 The content comes second,\u201d says Conneely, who began teaching at Roosevelt 14 years ago.\u00a0 \u201cI genuinely love how teaching middle school provides me with the opportunity to be part of and witness a pivotal part of the lives of my students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Optimist Club, a not-for-profit service organization that supports youth and the community, presents an award annually to two Westfield intermediate school educators &#8211; one each from Edison and Roosevelt.\u00a0 The Intermediate School Outstanding Teacher Award was established in 1998 by the Optimist Club to give deserving credit to intermediate school teachers.<\/p>\n<p>Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gonz\u00e1lez expressed deep appreciation for the Optimist Club&#8217;s longstanding tradition of honoring committed educators who nurture and support students during their pivotal adolescent years. &#8220;On behalf of the Board of Education and our entire school community, I extend heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Belline and Mrs. Conneely on receiving this distinguished acknowledgment,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Belline and Conneely will be honored at the Board of Education meeting on May 21 and at an Optimist Club dinner on September 11.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Optimist Club mission and purpose as a \u201cFriend of Youth\u201d is to support the positive development of children,\u201d says Optimist Club President Darielle Walsh.\u00a0 \u201cWe are proud to provide resources for this meaningful annual award that recognizes the dedication and achievements of our intermediate school teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The selection committee consisted of Optimist Club members Maria Fuentes, Marty Gulino, Gene Jannotti, and Victor Mankoski, along with Edison principal LaNova Schall and Roosevelt principal Brian Gechtman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Edison Intermediate School mathematics teacher Ryan Belline is the co-recipient of the 2024 Optimist Club\u2019s Intermediate School Outstanding Teacher Award.\u00a0 Pictured here with Edison principal LaNova Schall (right) and Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gonz\u00e1lez. Photo Credit:\u00a0 Westfield Public Schools Edison Intermediate School mathematics teacher Ryan Belline and Roosevelt Intermediate School social studies teacher Marissa Conneely have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"post_flags":[],"class_list":["post-33322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-westfield-local"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33323,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33322\/revisions\/33323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33322"},{"taxonomy":"post_flag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_flags&post=33322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}