Dale Street Teacher, Mike Mason, NCTA Educator of the Year & more

The following provided by Kerry Cowell, Dale St. School

Dale Street School teacher, Mike Mason wins two NCTA Educator Awards!

Each year one teacher and one service award winner wins an award for the entire Medfield school district for the Norfolk County Teacher's Association (https://www.myncta.org/ ) and it is celebrated at a dinner in June at Lombardo's in Randolph.

The NCTA Honor Award is given to individuals who demonstrate significant contributions in three areas: Educational Service; Community Service; Association Service. After all of the 22 school districts announce their winners, the night ends with the announcement of just one honoree from all of the 22 nominees is also chosen to receive the NCTA Teacher of the Year / Laura Warcup Distinguished Educator Award.

This year, the winner was Mike Mason!!

Write up for Mike Mason: Michael Mason has demonstrated the utmost dedication to his community, school, and association in for 30 years. Michael has been our MTA political action liason for the past 3 years and most recently attended the 2019 Union Skills Conference. On top of teaching, Michael has coached baseball, field hockey, and basketball and attends or runs many after school activities. Michael steps up to volunteer at fundraisers such as the Harlem Wizards Game, the Winter Carnival, and the spelling bee. He is always the first to offer to deliver food, encouragement, and well wishes. Having Micheal as a coworker and teacher in our school has benefited all members of our school community. We have a more supportive and collegial school and a happy environment for the staff, teachers, and most importantly the students all thanks to Michael Mason.

This year our Service Award winner was Officer Michelle Manganello!!

Write up for Officer Manganello: Shelly, Medfield Public Schools Resource Officer, possesses an ability to make everyone feel comfortable. She is a tremendous asset to our community because she has the ability to communicate with all different kinds of people. She is particularly dedicated to the youth of our town. Officer Manganello runs a grade 5 health unit, works with suicide prevention and is always making personal connections with students. Beyond her job as the school resource officer she spends countless hours making the lives of our students better by volunteering her time on committees, coaching, participating in fundraisers, and teaching self defense to young men and women. She is a positive role model for the entire community!

Each year the ‘sold out’ Annual Awards Dinner honors teachers, laypeople, and students. During the evening, awards are presented. All is made possible with the membership fee of only $8.00 and the efforts of the dedicated Board of Directors and Officers. It takes everyone’s energies, ideas, involvement, and engagement to plan and implement the varied outstanding NCTA Programs.

History of the NCTA: The Norfolk County Teachers Association is the oldest teachers’ group in the country, was founded by Franklin’s own Horace Mann. The NCTA is an organization dedicated to the service of teachers and students. Low-cost graduate level courses, $9,000.00 in grant funding, $8,400.00 in student book awards, $6,000.00 student scholarship awards, and an annual meeting with the local presidents are just a few of the programs that NCTA has designed, supported, and funded throughout the years.