If Jack Paulishen Jr. has his way, the next president of the United States will find a few surprise guests at his (or her) Inauguration: a classroom of New Haven Public School students, of course.
“Let’s assume that I’m the world’s greatest civics teacher, which I’m not,” a humble Paulishen said Wednesday, explaining why he dreams of sending a handful of students to the nation’s capital Jan. 20, 2009. “There’s still only so much I can do in the classroom.”
The six-year veteran of James Hillhouse High School — who took up teaching in his thirties after a full-time career as a real-estate appraiser — may be onto something.
Whether his students are sent to Washington, D.C. to witness the Supreme Court in action, the Yale Political Union to hear Rev. Al Sharpton or Justice Antonin Scalia speak, or Hartford to live history and see Barack Obama rally a pre-presidential-primary crowd, they have returned to Hillhouse much more passionate and confident than ever before.
Some, like Darayell Brakeen of Fairfield University, have even altered their life trajectories after experiencing firsthand Paulishen’s hands-on approach to teaching civics. (Brakeen switched from biology to political science.)
But Paulishen may be wrong about something else: If an award-ceremony held late Wednesday afternoon at the Beecher School is any indication, he could very well be the “world’s greatest civics teacher” — or at least the district’s.
Paulishen — who says he “just happens to have a lot of enthusiasm” for his job and “hopes the kids end up,” too, “with a passion for something in their lives” — was one of 25 recipients Wednesday of the New Haven Public Schools T.A.P.S. (Teachers, Administrators, Parents, Support Staff) awards for going “above and beyond to put kids first.”
The complete compendium of honorees, nominated and selected by their peers for outstanding service to the children, was an eclectic one — a so-called “energy bunny”; an ESL instructor; the teacher-organizer of the Beecher Fashion Show; an administrator who volunteers in Sierra Leone; a parent who built up the Washington Hooker baseball and basketball programs from scratch; a master multi-tasker who manages to not only direct a bus room, but also assist a kindergarten class, serve as morning security guard at Vincent Mauro Magnet School, direct a school a capella group and lead community-service initiatives.
The ceremony, said NHPS Director of Communications Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo in her introduction, is, at its core, about “recognizing people who don’t often get recognized but should.” New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., Superintendent Reginald Mayo, DeCarlo and several members of the Board of Education officiated the event — an annual tradition jumpstarted about two decades ago by Mayo’s predecessor, John Dow — which took place at the K‑7 Beecher School on Jewel Street as it celebrated its one-year post-renovation anniversary.
“Sometimes it’s not about money,” Mayo said, calling T.A.P.S. a way for his district to retain the “best of the best.” “Sometimes, it’s about whether people acknowledge people doing good work, and that’s what this is all about.”
And based on interviews with about a quarter of the recipients, the superintendent need not worry at least about keeping this year’s 25 winners engaged. For all their disparate talents, after all, they shared one thing: a love for New Haven’s youth.
For Alba Williams (pictured), a second-grade bilingual teacher who has spent 11 years in the district, leaving Timothy Dwight School at 5:30 or 6 p.m. — even though the school day ends at 2:50 — is second nature. Perhaps that is why she has become known as the “energizer bunny.”
“I need to put in as much work into my job as possible,” she said after the ceremony. “If I don’t, I don’t think I’m the best I could be. If you are energetic and enthusiastic about whatever you are doing, that is one of your better tools in teaching kids because that’s contagious.”
It is not, however, amount of time spent that matters to the fiery instructor, but how she uses it. Williams has identified two areas she says would otherwise be neglected, much to the disadvantage of the districts increasing number of bilingual students.
First, Williams said, many bilingual students require extra attention after school in order to succeed — but teachers are not always willing to put in the hours. But Williams offers free after-school tutoring to about a dozen students. Moreover, the English-heavy school newsletters, she said, are usually incomprehensible to immigrant parents, leading to a communications gap and less parental involvement for bilingual children.
So she devised a simple enough solution: Williams writes her own newsletter every week — known affectionately by parents as “the newspaper” — containing stories, upcoming lesson plans, and events.
For one of the honored administrators, Althea Norcott (pictured with husband), the assistant principal – and “taskmaster” — of James Hillhouse High School,) one district event in particular each year stands out: the regular sending of supplies to Sierra Leone, in part from the public schools, an effort she has coordinated for more than a decade as chairperson of the New Haven-Freetown, Sierra Leone Sister City Project.
When the public schools, for example, underwent their massive reconstruction, Norcott ensured that dormitory and library furniture, desks and books were directed to Africa rather than the Dumpster. But she and her team ensured more than just that: they physically followed supplies — whether toothbrushes or tables — to Sierra Leone itself, seeing to it that they reached the children and schools in most need.
“It’s an honor,” she said, “to be recognized for doing something that I love to do.”
As Norcott received her engraved clock Wednesday, Flemming L. Norcott Jr., her husband, looked on as only a proud spouse could. He is the State Supreme Court justice who cast one of the four majority votes 12 years ago in the narrowly decided Sheff v. O’Neill ruling that called for desegregation of Hartford, and Connecticut, public schools.
Among the others apparently well known within the district for excellence include Terrence Patterson (“Mr. P,” pictured), a parent of a Barnard student, longtime East Rock teacher George Cassidy Jr., and semi-retired educator Sammolene Patton of Betsy Ross.
Patterson (pictured), the PTO president at Barnard — and a colorful father who evoked audience laughter when he overenthusiastically embraced the mayor and superintendent after his name was called at the ceremony — said he believes that lack of parental involvement is plaguing the district more than anything else.
So he organized basketball teams, pep rallies, and, most of all, monthly movie/dinner nights. (“You know what,” he told the Independent, a wide grin forming on his face, “The next one is going to be Caribbean!”)
Cassidy (pictured), in his 38th year of teaching, bubbles and gesticulates excitedly when asked to discuss his after-school program.
He called the program proof that one can start “something” out of “nothing.” Through countless conversations with parents and colleagues, he personally raised the funds — $200 here, $250 there — for well-behaved students to engage in extracurricular activities, such as a school newspaper, at East Rock.
More funding — and busing — is on the way, he noted, beaming.
And although Patton (pictured), the semi-retired educator at Betsy Ross, left full-time teaching in 2001 after 35 years on the job, she acts in 2008 as a “teacher-mentor” — but that is not all.
“I just do anything that needs to be done,” she said. Last year, for example, she coached the Betsy Ross Scrabble team to a victory in the middle-school division.
Patton, like several of the honorees interviewed, said the district is on the right track but would benefit from some tweaking. She advocates more central-office emphasis on her specialty — classroom management.
“That,” she said, “seems to be where the problem is.” Williams, for her part, said New Haven should resurrect its earlier bilingual-education model in which immigrant students could remain in bilingual programs for four years as opposed to 30 months, which she said for some students proves an impossible timeframe.
“We are becoming more and more a city with Hispanics,” she said. “They need the time to master the language.”
In a “rare” T.A.P.S. twist, according to Sullivan-DeCarlo, a couple took home one of the awards. Not only that, but Lenora and Walter Turner of Riverside Academy
(pictured) received a surprise visit from their alderwoman, Katrina Jones, who announced to the crowd of approximately 200 friends and family members that the Board of Aldermen voted to award a citation to the Turners for selfless — and unprecedented — service to the community.
Their story, for one, suggests that giving can come back: both Lenora and Walter recounted moments in the past year or two in which they found themselves crying — out of happiness — at the sight of a student or homeless man extremely appreciative to them for offering free food or services.
“I was so glad I could do something, Walter Turner said.
Why does Lenora Williams do what she does? “There’s a need for more people to do things,” she said, “and I’m just full of surprises. You name it, and I’ll claim it.”
That’s when her husband chimed in, noting that her answer was hardly complete. “She’s been helping people so long,” he said, “that she’s forgotten why she does it!”
The teachers honored were: Alba Williams of Timothy Dwight (2nd grade bilingual instructor); Jennifer Walsh of Fair Haven (literary coach); Melinda Struwas of Columbus Family Academy (ESL); Paulishen of James Hillhouse High (civics); Cleondra Fulcher of L.W. Beecher (magnet-school resource teacher); Cassidy of East Rock (founder of the after-school program for successful, well-behaved students); and Doreen Peterson of Troup Magnet Academy (guidance counselor).
Four administrators took home awards as well: Dr. Albie Benitez, the principal of Columbus Family Academy; Food Service Administrator Sherly Burton; and two assistant principals — Lesley Stancarone of Jepson Magnet and Norcott of Hillhouse High.
Eight support-staff employees won T.A.P.S prizes including Richard Conrad, a reading tutor at John C. Daniels; Patton, the retired — but still active — teacher at Betsy Ross; Lourdes Castro, a clerk typist and self-starter in the district’s Personnel Department; Sheryl Ray, the aforementioned multi-tasker at Vincent Mauro Magnet; the Turners; and two staffers in the district’s physical-education department — Business Operations Manager William Wynn Jr. (pictured below) and Tyree McCray, the secretary.
T.A.P.S. winners, though, were not limited to paid employees of the New Haven Public Schools. Parent honorees were Vilma Jones of Timothy Dwight; Carroll Brown of MicroSociety Magnet; Ken Ayers of Worthington Hooker; Shari Watson and Patterson of Barnard; and Ramona Knox of Lincoln Bassett.
For the district press release, which includes background on each of the 25 T.A.P.S. winners in 2008, click here.
The Hill Regional Career High School Jazz Ensemble opened and closed the program, and after the winners were announced, Beecher students Jade Maddox (grade six) and Tiana Scales (grade seven) performed an interpretive dance — fittingly, to Mariah Carey’s “Hero.”
Congratulations to all. Well deserved. Mr. Paulishen is an outstanding individual with a great gift of teaching. It is wonderful to read positive news about ours schools. We need to continue to acknowledge the wonderful individuals who give so much of themselves every day so our children can learn and feel passionate about their education. If we want change to occur, it needs to start with us the parents working together with our teachers.
Well done Jack. Proud to call you my friend and inspired to work harder to be a better educator.