New Trustees for Willie Ross School
Pictured are new Trustees of the Willie
Ross School for the Deaf:
Mr. James Ross, left, and Mr. Thomas Laurin, right. They joined the
Board of Trustees at the Annual Meeting held on June 15, 2010.
They represent a second generation of service to the school with each
of their fathers contributing generously to the school. Mr.
Ross's father served through his leadership as Treasurer and member of
the Executive Committee for many years, and Mr. Laurin's father
contributed generously to his gift of the Laurin Audiological Center
for Children in Pittsfield. Both Trustees were welcomed warmly by
the trustees present at the meeting.
Linda
Carfora, Director of the Longmeadow Campus, received a gift from the
Board of Trustees at the Annual Meeting, in recognition of her
leadership of the campus for the past five years. Her servce to
the school will end on June 30, 2010, when she moves out of the area to
join her family.
At the commencement
exercises held Friday evening, June 11, 2010, at the Foster &
Constance Gleason Furcolo Student Center at the Longmeadow Campus of
the School, the following students graduated before an audience of
family, friends, alumni, trustees, and staff: Tim Colby (Holyoke); Joey
Grunden (Springfield); Destiny Jackson (Springfield); Jason Kane
(Belchertown); Arseniy Maklyakov (Springfield); Michael Reno
(Southwick); and Mariluz Vega (Holyoke).
Attorney Susan Phillips, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Dr.
Louis Abbate, Executive Director of the school, and Gregory DeLisle,
Deputy Executive Director conducted the ceremony and the presentations
to each student. Robert Mazzierello, longtime teacher and
assistant principal in the East Longmeadow Schools, and most recently a
member of the School Committee for the past six years, was the
graduation speaker.
Students
spoke to the audience and shared their own outstanding memories of
their years at Willie Ross School, as well as their plans for the
future.
WILLIE
ROSS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF ANNOUNCES
2010 COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES
Dr. Louis Abbate,
Executive Director of the Willie Ross School for the Deaf in
Longmeadow, announces that the school’s 2010 commencement exercises
will be held on Friday, June 11, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. at the Foster &
Constance Gleason Furcolo Student Center at the Longmeadow
Campus. Seven students from the communities of Agawam,
Belchertown, Holyoke, Southwick, and Springfield will graduate from the
school during this ceremony. Mr. Robert Mazzariello, a 1961
graduate of Springfield College, who recently completed a six-year term
on the East Longmeadow School Committee and earlier had served the
school department for 36 years, will be the graduation speaker.
Attorney Susan Phillips, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Dr.
Abbate, Executive Director, and Gregory DeLisle, Deputy Executive
Director, will conduct the ceremony. For additional information, please
contact Dr. Abbate, the Executive Director, at 413.567.0374 Voice/TDD
or labbate@willierossschool.org; or Gregory DeLisle, Deputy
Executive Director at 413.567.0374 Voice/TDD or
gdelisle@willierossschool.org.
WILLIE
ROSS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF IS A SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE! 2010
Dr. Louis
Abbate, Executive Director of the Willie Ross School for the Deaf, announces that the Willie Ross School in
Longmeadow, Massachusetts, has been awarded the title of a School of
Excellence by the National Association of Special Education
Teachers. The description of the school can be located on the
association's web site: www.naset.org under the alphabetical listing of
Schools of Excellence.
Teacher
of the Year Award, 2010
The Willie Ross
School for the
Deaf is proud to announce that its honoree for the Teacher of the Year
award is Gloria Williams, a Massachusetts
certified school/social worker/school adjustment counselor, who has
worked at Willie
Ross School since 2001. Ms.
Williams , of Westfield, previously
worked at the Texas School for the Deaf and Tri-County School
in Easthampton.
She is a consummate professional who always puts students and families
first. She is an outstanding representative of the Willie Ross School
and of her chosen profession of social work. Her Massachusetts
certification is in the area of K-12 Special: Wellness/Sports.
Gloria Williams is highly
respected by her colleagues for her willingness to work as a team
member and to go beyond expectations to provide help and assistance to
students and families. She is our PAC facilitator and arranges
parent meetings after school hours, she has volunteered to assist with
the WRSD basketball program. She does home visits to provide sign
language instruction in the evenings, at times most convenient for
families. Ms. Williams is also part of our Intake Team that evaluates
candidates for admission to the school.
Ms. Williams has
demonstrated her professionalism in countless ways throughout her years
at Willie
Ross School by her excellence in
teaching, her own professional development, and her ongoing
demonstration of collaboration and cooperation. She consistently
demonstrates community outreach as related to education, through
service well beyond the classroom and school walls and through her
volunteer activity, both formal and informal as related to education.
Gloria Williams continues
to demonstrate her consistent dedication to the students and the
programs of the Willie
Ross School. Everyone at the
school is proud of her individual contributions in countless ways which
support students and their families. Willie Ross
School
congratulates Gloria Williams on her accomplishments throughout the
school.
Gloria Williams will
receive her award from the Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Awards
at a dinner in which other teachers from Hampden County
will be honored. Sponsors of these awards in Hampden County, the
following organizations are the sponsors of this program: The Irene E.
& George A. Davis Foundation, the Harold Grinspoon Charitable
Foundation, the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House, MassMutual
Financial Group, Southworth Paper Company, Springfield Republican, WGBY
Channel 57, Channel 40, Channel 22, Meyers Brothers & Kalicka and
the local YMCAs. It is the sponsors' belief that teachers are
very important in shaping the lives of children in our society and in
the community in which they live. It is also their belief that we
need to focus on, support, and encourage these extraordinary
professionals who are expected to carry out multiple programs in very
challenging settings in our society today.
For additional
information, please contact Gregory DeLisle, Deputy Executive Director
of Willie
Ross School for the Deaf,
413.567.0374 or gdelisle@willierossschool.org.
