Monica Bracconier Named District's January Employee of the Month

The Springfield School District Employee of the Month for January 2012 is Monica Braconnier, a Language Arts teacher at .

Monica, a native of Springfield, earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from St. Joseph’s University in English and Language Arts certification. She spent the first 20 years of her educational career teaching in the parochial school system at , and Archbishop John Carroll High School before coming to the seven years ago. This is Monica’s third year at SHS after teaching at (ETR) for her first four years with the district.

Monica is currently teaching three courses at the Springfield High School (SHS) which include 12th Grade Honors Language Arts, Public Speaking and Journalism.

“I hope to inspire students to learn and grow by exposing them to rich pieces of literature, both the classics and contemporary pieces,” she said.

Beyond her teaching responsibilities, Monica is the advisor to the Spri-Hian, the SHS student produced newspaper. Twenty-five students come together with Monica’s guidance to produce six issues a year.

The (PJAS) is also a passion for Monica. The very competitive Springfield team has 40 student members at SHS and 25 student members at ETR. Last year the PJAS team took home 17 first place awards and three second place awards from the State meet.

“Our students are great, they have a great energy, and are provided a wealth of opportunities to help them make a difference locally and globally as adults – I feel so blessed to work at Springfield," she said regarding her students.

Monica’s colleagues at were quick to share their compliments.

“Monica goes above and beyond in assisting students with their writing and college applications," said Hilary Campbell, the college and career counselor.

"Students in PJAS and in her classes constantly tell me how much they love and respect her. They sense how much she cares about them and accepts them as both people and learners. She graciously accepts challenges and is always willing to be flexible in order to best serve all students.”

“Monica is a teacher whose mastery of her subject area is rivaled only by her dedication to student excellence," Aidan Brett from the Language Arts department added.

"She gives endlessly of her time and always has the best interests of the students in mind. The work she does for the PJAS team is nothing short of inspirational. She prepares students to be effective and intelligent communicators – A trait that will serve them well no matter what path they take beyond high school. Monica is the consummate professional, an intelligent collaborator and a conduit for eliciting excellence from her students.”

Principal Frank McKnight concluded by saying, “Monica is extremely insightful at helping students perform at their highest ability level. She is consistently searching for new opportunities to provide her students with opportunities for success in both the language arts classroom and in extra-curricular activities.”

For all these reasons and many more, please celebrate Monica Braconnier as the Springfield School District January 2012 Employee of the Month.