This year’s nominees for UVM Outstanding Teacher of the Year from Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) are Eric Mongeon from Waitsfield Elementary School and Tara Kelley from Harwood Union High School.
Annually UVM’s College of Education and Social Services and the Vermont Agency of Education work collaboratively to affirm and honor the accomplishments of licensed Vermont educators whose work is guided by the Vermont Core Teaching Standards. Each participating supervisory union or school district can nominate two teachers and one technical center teacher.
All outstanding teachers are recognized by their peers, administrators, parents, and/or students as exemplifying the ideals of the teaching profession.
ERIC MONGEON
While Mongeon’s official title is librarian/technology integrationist, his unofficial descriptor is the person who supports everyone, staff and students alike, in pretty much everything. Need a measured, reflective, and problem-solving oriented opinion? Someone to de-escalate a struggling student? Ideas for how to improve a unit of study? Mongeon’s combination of calm, integrity, professional insight and humor, in addition to his great skills in the areas in his actual job description, make him an outstanding educator, Waitsfield Elementary School principal Kaiya Korb explained.
“Eric has served on the Waitsfield leadership team for many years; he can be counted on to always maintain perspective on the bigger picture and find a positive way forward. As a librarian, Eric is a stupendous resource for all, helping students to find the just right book or resource. Anyone passing the library during the read aloud portion of library time will know that Eric’s greatest skill, however, is bringing a story to life. He is truly the master librarian and we are deeply appreciative of his skills,” she added.
Eric Mongeon is an extraordinary teacher. He inspires students, maintains high expectations for himself and his students, and is truly a “students first” educator, Korb said.
TARA KELLEY
According to HUUSD educators and administrators Tara Kelley is a true master at teaching mathematics to high schoolers. She works hard to build strong connections with her students and goes out of her way to learn their strengths to best support them with their learning. She continually looks for ways to make learning fun by designing interactive, relevant experiences for her students. She is incredibly organized and is always looking for ways to support her students and provide assistance to her teaching colleagues.
“She is passionate about personal finance and her class comes highly recommended by students. She is also an integral part of the aspirations team and is passionate about their work for students. Tara consistently pushes herself to be the best she can be for her students. Whether it is adjusting lessons to meet the interests of her students, or staying late to ensure that each student receives quality and authentic feedback on their assessments, Tara's actions are an inspiration to her fellow educators,” Harwood Union principal Meg McDonough pointed out.
“Tara Kelley is a model high school teacher. She is approachable to all students, encourages critical thinking skills among her students, and is an educator who holds all her students to high standards of excellence,” she added.
Mongeon and Kelley will be recognized at the 44th annual Outstanding Educator Awards on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at 4 p.m. at the Grand Maple Ballroom in the Dudley H. Davis Center on the campus of the University of Vermont.
“Congratulations to both of our school district’s outstanding educators who are representative of the dozens of hard working teachers across all of the Harwood Unified Union School District schools,” HUUSD superintendent Dr. Mike Leichliter said.
