Greenwich Educator Chosen For 2020 CT Teacher Of The Year Program

GREENWICH, CT — A third grade teacher at North Mianus School has been selected as the Greenwich Public Schools representative for the 2020 Connecticut Teacher of the Year program. The news was announced by Superintendent of Schools Ralph Mayo on Tuesday.

Crystal Kitselman will be recognized by the Board of Education at their 6 p.m. meeting Thursday at Cos Cob School, according to a press release.

"One of the most difficult decisions I have had to make as Superintendent was in selecting our candidate for the Connecticut Teacher of the Year program," Mayo said in a release. "Each of our Distinguished Teachers would have been a wonderful representative for our District."

Mayo said he chose Kitselman due to her "skillful and seemingly effortless ability" to make learning personal for each student in her class.

"Her classroom is a place where students make exceptional growth on a daily basis," Mayo said. "The hands-on learning that these students experience will not be forgotten as they engage in projects in all subject areas in such a way that the learning comes alive for them. The students in this classroom work extremely well together as they share with one another and demonstrate respect for both their classmates and their teachers."

Kitselman was one of the six teachers selected and honored by the Distinguished Teachers Awards Committee in April. Each year, the superintendent is tasked with selecting one teacher from that group to represent Greenwich in the state's program.

Throughout the months of May and June, Mayo reviewed the nomination packets submitted for the Distinguished Teachers eligible for the state's program, spent time in each of their classrooms and reviewed essays submitted as part of the selection process.

"Ms. Kitselman has embraced the true spirit of making learning personal," Mayo said, "and I for one would have loved to have been in a class where the teacher guided the learning rather than directed it."

Kitselman will also be honored by the Distinguished Teachers Awards Committee and by the Greenwich Kiwanis Club at Thursday's meeting. The Kiwanis Club will present her with the Joseph Mitchell Kaye Award.

Kitselman began teaching in 2006 as a fourth grade teacher at Parkway School in Greenwich. She has taught at North Mianus School since 2007.

She received her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte and her Master's Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Bridgeport.