West Hartford Teachers Honored as Local Hereos by Ronald McDonald House Charities

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES® OF CONNECTICUT AND WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS RECOGNIZES TWO WEST HARTFORD TEACHERS WITH LOCAL HERO AWARD

Local Charity Awards $1,000 Grants to and in Honor of Teachers Kristi Luetjen and Joyce St. Germaine

Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®) of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts has honored 10 area teachers with the fifth annual RMHC Local Hero Awards. The selected teachers from Connecticut and Western Massachusetts have all exhibited tremendous dedication to their profession and outstanding efforts in servicing their schools and communities.

The recipients were honored by the RMHC Board of Directors at the Connecticut Governor’s Residence in Hartford on Wednesday, Nov. 16, and were joined by Superintendents and Principals from their respective districts and schools, as well as other invited guests including local McDonald’s owners and Ronald McDonald himself. Each honoree was presented with a plaque commemorating their award.

Among those honored with the prestigious award include two West Hartford  teachers: Kristi Luetjen, who is a Kindergarten Teacher at Whiting Lane School, and Joyce St. Germaine, who is an Art Teacher at Bristow Middle School. To further recognize Ms. Luetjen and Ms. St. Germaine for their hard work, RMHC awarded $1,000 grants to Whiting Lane School and Bristow Middle School in their honor.

“Our board of directors is proud to acknowledge these exceptional teachers for their tireless commitment and important service,” said Laura Phillips Ward, President of RMHC of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. “Our RMHC chapter awards grants to local nonprofits that provide a brighter future for children, with a particular focus on supporting education. With the Local Hero Awards, we are able to thank the devoted professionals who help children everyday – our outstanding area teachers.”

There is no application or nomination process for the RMHC Local Hero Awards. Instead, the local charity works closely with partnering organizations, such as the Connecticut Association of Schools, Connecticut State Department of Education and the Massachusetts Department of Education, to identify these "Heroes" throughout the region.

Kristi Luetjen has been a teacher in the West Hartford school system for over a decade. While teaching at the town’s Early Learning Center she learned techniques of Applied Behavior Analysis, worked one-on-one with students on the autism spectrum, and assumed the role of special education teacher. Now a kindergarten teacher at the Whiting Lane School, she is passionate about creating a foundation of lifelong learning for her students and even developed a unique program incorporating weekly yoga lessons into the classroom to help students focus. Her goal is to help ALL children and has been praised for integrating special needs students into her general education classroom. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed – Ms. Luetjen was named the Connecticut Department of Education’s “Teacher of the Year” in 2010. The RMHC Board of Directors was also pleased to recognize Ms. Luetjen, honoring her with the RMHC Local Hero Award. Whiting Lane School Principal Dr. Nancy DePalma notes that the grant money from the award will be put to good use with Ms. Luetjen’s input.

At the age of seven, Joyce St. Germaine knew she wanted to be an Art Teacher and for the past 36 years has been doing just that. She has been at the Bristow Middle School in West Hartford for the last five years. Her focus is to have students develop a lifelong passion of the arts, and facilitates art to become the vehicle for their self-discovery, awareness and growth. She encourages literacy by having students research information and write about their artwork, which she exhibits in such a way to honor their creativity. She has a superb rapport with students and focuses on their abilities and successes, empowering each child to master skills and discover their own talents. Ms. St. Germaine’s support of students and generosity of time is unwavering; for example, she took her own planning time to meet with alternate education students, providing them with an art education experience they would not have had otherwise. She also offers a weekly Art Club and with her students has created 23 permanent murals in the school. Her students also tend to an indoor garden area that she created. Ms. St. Germaine is extremely community-oriented as well: she holds monthly “Family Art Nights,” teaches Adult Education, and has helped the Shriner’s Organization in the past by serving as a presenter at fundraisers. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed: in 2009 she was named Connecticut Art Education of School's Outstanding Middle Level Art Educator, and just this year she was recognized as the West Hartford Teacher of the Year. The RMHC Board of Directors was also pleased to recognize Ms. St. Germaine, honoring her with the RMHC Local Hero Award. Bristow Middle School Principal Dr. Andrew Morrow notes that the grant money from the award will be put to good use with Ms. St. Germaine’s input.

Since 1988, RMHC of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts has provided more than $6 million to over 400 non-profit organizations, helping thousands of area children lead happier, healthier and more productive lives. RMHC and its global network of local chapters in over 50 countries and regions have awarded more than $460 million in grants and program services supporting children worldwide. For more information about RMHC visit www.rmhc-ctma.org or connect at www.facebook.com/rmhc.ctma.

This information was contained in a press release from Ronald McDonald House Charities.