Feb. 12, 2018
The Monticello Central School District Board of Education
held an awards ceremony at its Jan. 18, 2018 meeting to
recognize those individuals who make a commitment to our
students and our schools.
Monticello School Board President Stacey Sharoff presented
the awards.
Teachers
Ms. Jennifer Boffa
Nominated by Nicholas Millas, RJK Middle School principal
Jennifer has taken over the backpack program in our building
after the departure of the previous advisor. She ran a
holiday food drive this holiday season. As an incentive, she
put together a game cart for the classes who had the most
donations. In her short time in the role, she has developed
strong community partnerships in order to secure donations.
Ms. Mary Ellen Hurley
Nominated by Stephen Wilder, Monticello High School
principal
Mary Ellen Hurley is one of the greatest contributors to
Monti Pride in our building and district. Mary Ellen
embodies the caricature of an educator who is waving the
school colors; demanding educational achievement from all
students; collaborating with administrators and colleagues
on improving student outcomes; helping students get in to
college; helping students stay in college; supervising
Student Council; facilitating professional development;
leading the social studies department; giving presentation
to the MCSD Board of Education; calling and meeting with
parents; encouraging the unsuccessful and celebrating
student personal and academic accomplishments; Tweeting
pictures, assignments, encouragements, and reminders;
juggling a multitude of fundraisers; wearing an assortment
of school-pride clothing; attending school sporting events
and activities; all while fending off the germs that are
attempting to keep her in bed. In short, Mary Ellen needs a
shirt and a cape with an “S” on it.
Mary Ellen works endlessly to engage our students in
meaningful and relevant learning opportunities that extend
beyond the walls of her classroom. Her genuine care and
support of students has built bridges that help students
know that they are valued and capable of being great. She
provides guidance, encouragement (in many forms),
recognition, and assistance to our students. Mary Ellen
consistently produces ideas that would lead to greater
student engagement and school pride. We are very fortunate
to have Mary Ellen as part of our school community.
Ms. Tara Komatz
Nominated by Rosemarie Romano, principal, and Melanie
Hector, assistant principal, Cooke Elementary School
Tara is exceptionally gifted and talented in the field of
teaching. Tara has taught 5th grade math for the past two
out of eight years in the Monticello Central School
District. Tara comes in early, stays late, attends summer
conferences, and works diligently to meet all her students’
needs. Tara has implemented flipped learning through
learning stations in her classroom. After seeing the
increase in engagement and achievement in her students, she
took this initiative a step further and dove deeper by
implementing mastery flipped learning in her classroom. She
has created an inviting 21st century learning environment
where all learners can move around the room freely to meet
their comfort level and can learn at their own pace. She
took time to create her own teaching videos, learned new
apps to support her students learning and worked with the
technology specialist to work out the kinks. Now, she models
this teaching styles to her colleagues throughout the
district. In addition, she participates in a flipped
learning support group for her colleagues and offers
suggestions for successfully implementing this teaching
style.
Tara participates on the Cooke School Spirit committee as
well. She helped put together a Fall Harvest dance for
grades 3-5. She linked this event with the backpack program
by implementing a nonperishable foods item as admission into
the dance. This food was donated to our families in need.
Tara took the initiative to seek out Jane Sorensen two years
ago requesting a drama club. Jane and Tara worked together
to bring this club to fruition. If you could see Tara in
action as a drama director, you would be truly impressed.
Her positive energy and connection to the students is
evident. She provides students an opportunity to come alive
on stage. Jane Sorensen, EPIC program manager, said “EPIC is
grateful to have her as part of this after school program.
Tara is working to make George L. Cooke School a great place
to work and learn both in and out of school. Educators like
Tara are extremely valuable and we are very lucky to have
her on our team.
Ms. Maryann Swensen
Nominated by Dana Taylor, executive director of Special,
Summer and After School Programs
Maryann has made an incredible transition from the classroom
into a school- and district-wide position. It is no easy
task to go from staying in place throughout the school day
to traveling throughout the building and, in Maryann’s case,
the district. Her flexibility and enthusiasm are admirable.
She has brought fresh ideas to the TOSA position at Chase
such as the Pennies for Patients fundraiser and was the lead
in organizing the Life Ready Fair at the MHS. Despite the
confusion of traveling and operating on different schedules.
Maryann has truly risen to the challenge and exemplifies the
type of employee we should all strive to be.
Ms. Jill Yannetta
Nominated by Michelle Knowlton, principal, and Douglas
Murphy, assistant principal, Rutherford Elementary School
I am very proud to nominate Jill Yannetta for a BOE award.
Many colleagues are able to describe how Jill Yannetta
contributes to the success of the students at KLR. As the
instructional coach she is responsible for planning and
carrying out all professional development for the many
programs that our staff utilize in the classroom.
Jill also works with the technology department to make sure
that Superkids, Wonders, Do the Math, and IXL are accessible
for both students and teachers. She works with each grade
level to interpret data and come up with action plans to
help meet our goal of 65 percent proficiency in reading,
writing and math.
In her desire to serve our students, she challenges herself
and others to take risks and seek alternatives. In her quest
for continued growth, she meets and works with new teachers
and struggling teachers. Ms. Yannetta also chairs KLR RTI
and sits on many committees.
She goes above and beyond to help raise money for the KLR
backpack program, the Tinsel Trot and the Boys and Girls
Club. In December, Ms. Yannetta helped plan two fundraisers
- “Pantha Claws” and “Decorate a Holiday Cupcake.” She
raised over $1,000 through these two events.
Ms. Yannetta brings a high level of energy, insight and
expertise to Rutherford. Thank you for everything you do for
the children and staff at KLR.
Support Staff
Ms. Mary Buchholz
Nominated by Stephen Wilder, Monticello High School
principal
Mary Buchholz is the kind of professional that really is
irreplaceable. Her combination of dedicated work ethic,
thoughtful completion of tasks, considerate personal
demeanor, and fierce determination to do her best is
powerful.
Mary Buchholz is an everyday hero who accomplishes so many
of the tasks that are necessary for our school to succeed.
Whether she is managing instructional coverages, supporting
the development of building-wide scheduling, managing the
reporting of grades, problem solving school-wide issues to
find greater effectiveness and efficiency, or any other task
that is integral to our school success, she is resourceful,
gracious, kind, relentless, and dependable. Her work ethic
has resulted in us being able to continuously improve the
service that we provide to our students and our school
community.
Mary is a consummate professional who improves the work, and
the lives, of others through her efforts. It is with great
appreciation that I trust Mary to provide assistance when it
is needed. I know that if anyone has a question or
challenge, Mary is the kind of professional who will help
figure things out. Her resourcefulness cannot be over
stated. Monticello High School is fortunate that Mary
Buchholz has chosen to serve in its building and we look
forward to many more years of her service.
Mr. Ramon Ciprian
Nominated by Nicholas Millas, principal RJK Middle School
On Oct. 6, during lunch, a 7th grade student alerted Ray
that his classmate was choking. Ray witnessed the student
from across the cafeteria gasping for air. The student was
grabbing at his throat in distress. He ran to the student
and performed the Heimlich maneuver. As trained, he stood
behind the student and provided two abdominal thrusts that
dislodged the food and saved the student’s life. The student
was turned over to the nurses for further care and
attention.
Ray continues to serve Monticello Central School District
and RJK as one of the most respected members of our staff.
Ms. Jeanne Cyrek
Nominated by Tanya Duryea, director of Pupil Personnel
Services
Jeanne Cyrek shows initiative and a clear commitment beyond
the normal expectations. Jeanne is a true asset to our
district. Her established skillset, positive personality,
effective approach to problem solving, and her general fund
of knowledge is unmatchable. Jeanne is responsible for
fulfilling diverse roles. She serves as our lead Registrar,
Medicaid Compliance biller, collector of district data for
McKinney Vento, UPK, PPK, and 3PK. Jeanne’s diverse roles
requires her to work in a collaborative manner with numerous
individuals in all five buildings, our area pre-schools,
Transportation, and Central Office. Jeanne’s impeccable
daily performance combined with her completion of projects
is greater than the average. She works each day with pride
and precision. First impressions are lasting and we are
grateful that she is the first friendly face that our
families meet when registering in Monticello Central School
District.
Ms. Sandra Nieto, Ms. Amelia Torres, Mr. David
Wright and Mr. Jose Ortiz
Nominated by Michelle Knowlton, principal, and Douglas
Murphy, assistant principal, Rutherford Elementary School
I am very proud to nominate our facility staff for their
outstanding and professional work. They had 36 hours to make
Rutherford Elementary SHINE! for Governor Cuomo’s visit on
Nov. 16, 2017. In addition to the governor’s visit, they
made sure the classrooms were ready for parent teacher
conferences the previous night. Whatever they were asked to
do, they quickly completed the task and moved on to the next
request. “It was all hands on deck!”
The team:
• Painted the blue trim in the 100 wing and touch up paint
throughout the building.
• Cleaned and moved furniture off the stage and in the
hallways.
• Moved the cafeteria tables and coolers into the gym lunch.
• Set up the multipurpose room for 250 guests.
• BUFFED the floors and wiped down the walls.
• Broke down the multipurpose room and cafeteria tables
after the event.
• And anything else that we asked the whole team to do.
The KLR custodial staff works hard daily and takes pride in
our building. Thank you for everything you do to make sure
that the building is clean and our students are safe. They
made the event run smoothly!
Ms. Kerry Fernandez, Mr. Davon Knight, Mr. Stephon
Rivera, Mr. Brian Arroyave, Mr. Nelson QuiƱones, Mr. Curtis
Harrington, and Mr. Charles Payne
Nominated by Michelle Knowlton, principal, and Douglas
Murphy, assistant principal, Rutherford Elementary School
We are very proud to nominate our KLR Safety Staff led by
Nelson QuiƱones as well as our Facilities leaders, Curt
Harrington and Charles Payne, for their outstanding and
professional work on Nov. 16, 2017 when Governor Cuomo
visited Rutherford Elementary to announce the districts
award of $1.4 million through the Empire State Grant. The
decision was made early on that it would be business as
usual, with some minor adjustments to our schedule and
location of lunch from the multipurpose room to the gym. At
8 a.m., Cuomo's large staff arrived to prepare for his
visit. Our safety staff didn't hesitate to step in to ensure
that all the students were safe and that the event ran
smoothly.
The team:
• Rerouted all classes through the 300 wing for specials and
lunch.
• Checked in all invited guests for the event.
• Escorted all 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes to the
multipurpose room for the Governor’s visit.
• Assisted during lunch with moving classes back and forth
to the gym.
• Made sure parking lot was safe and secure.
• And coordinated with the New York State Police and
Governor’s Office.
Our Safety and Facilities team, are GREATER THAN THE
AVERAGE!