Pottstown's Teachers of the Year

Photo by Emmanuel Wilkerson

Pottstown School District's Teachers of the Year for 2015

Pottstown Schools honored their best teachers at the most recent school board meeting, naming a Teacher of the Year for each school building, and then an overall Teacher of the Year for the entire district.

Those named are:

• Barth Elementary: Mary Ellen Lammey
• Franklin Elementary:Tina Ludy
• Lincoln Elementary: Karen Seemann
• Rupert Elementary: Christine Fiorillo
• Middle School 5/6: Aaron Torrance
• Middle School 7/8: John Martin
• High School: Scott Braunsberg

And the District Teacher of the year is Mary Ellen Lammey.

What follows is a write-up of each teacher's nomination letter, beginning with Miss Lammey.

Mary Ellen Lammey

When it comes to producing, it would be next to impossible to find someone who does it better than this teacher.

Through her systematic approach to meeting the needs of each and every child in

Photo Courtesy of John Armato

Pottstown's Teacher of the Year, Mary Ellen Lammy,

with School Board President Judyth Zahora and

Superintendent Jeff Sparagana.

her classroom, she has demonstrated time and time again that she is capable of growing students beyond their capacity; often taking students who were well below grade level and getting them to the proficient level.

One colleague described her as an "enthusiastic educator who implements cutting edge strategies in her classroom on a regular basis."

Another colleague who has worked with this teacher for years said "when I think of the type of teacher I want for my own child, this teacher immediately comes to mind." In education, there is no higher compliment. Congratulations to the Barth Elementary school teacher of the year.

Tina Ludy

Franklin's teacher of the year has been at Franklin elementary school for two years, but has taught in the Pottstown school district for over 30 years.

She is a Pottstown High School graduate, and followed in her father's footsteps when she began working at Franklin elementary. She's a passionate and energetic teacher, known to be extremely patient and dedicated. 

She is seen as a leader in the building, often mentoring new teachers. She has been an active member of the earth day committee and brought the "respect program" to Franklin to help teach students about taking care of the environment.  

She also brought the "Read for Ronald" program to Franklin, encouraging students to read, while raising money for the Ronald McDonald house in Philadelphia. 

Karen Seemann

Lincoln's teacher of the year works collaboratively with colleagues, administrators, and parents.

This extraordinary teacher plans and coordinates with three grade level teachers to ensure that all students' academic needs are being met on a daily basis. She attends student study team meetings and provides strategies and interventions to meet the needs of not only her students but of all students. 

She forges partnerships with families to promote student learning at home and in the school. This teacher displays a positive and enthusiastic attitude in her daily instruction. 

She genuinely loves teaching children and it shows each and every day. She consistently demonstrates and utilizes positive reinforcement with all of her students and she always makes a positive contribution to the overall climate of the school. 

Christine Fiorillo

The Rupert teacher of the year always has the door to her classroom open to students and staff. She's caring and compassionate toward colleagues and students who are always put first.

She is viewed by her peers as a valuable resource, and makes it a priority to address the emotional, behavioral, and academic needs of her students every day. This teacher provides a classroom environment that allows students to grow, feel successful, and cared for. She incorporates technology and kinesthetic learning into her daily lessons, while focusing on the individual needs of each child. 

 This teacher also works hard to establish positive relationships with parents. She communicates with them on a daily basis and partners with them as their child grows under her care. She works hard outside of school on nights and weekends, earning her master’s degree and reading specialist certificate. 

 The Rupert staff is very fortunate to have her as a member of their family.

Aaron Torrance

Sometimes, you do not know the extent of someone's influence and good works until they are no longer present to do them. Last school year this teacher left the middle school for half a year due to an unexpected injury.

Administrators could tell immediately that his absence would affect the fifth grade staff. The middle school was at a loss… And there was no way to fill it. 

Thankfully, he was back this year. His mentoring and guidance with younger staff is amazing and his “problem solver” attitude is contagious among all of the staff. The way students are engaged in his classroom is a sight to see. 

The energy that he displays is exhausting. He makes sure each student in his class is paying attention and grasps the concepts that are being taught. He is truly a lifelong learner, as well as a creative and caring teacher.

John Martin

The Pottstown middle school seventh and eighth grade is proud to recognize the great works that this teacher accomplishes every day in his classroom.

Visiting his class is often a sensory experience. Students learn about different cultures by completing hands-on projects, discussing ideas with peers, watching videos from around the world, and preparing for assessments in partners and groups. 

His classroom is child-centered and he develops of the types of relationships that motivate students to achieve at their highest level. He takes on student success as his personal mission. 

He is a consistent figure in the hallways, offering encouragement and support to students. This modest and quiet man was surprised to be nominated by his peers, but no one was surprised when he was selected as this year’s 7th & 8th Grade Pottstown Middle School teacher of the year.

Scott Braunsburg

The teacher of the year for Pottstown High School is also a PHS alumnus, and has been teaching at his Alma Matre for the past 18 years. He has been involved in sports and co-curricular activities, coaching both boys tennis and golf through the years.

He currently helps students in the learning center after school as they study, complete homework, and prepare for their classes. Providing science instruction almost exclusively to ninth graders, this teacher has been a leader in the development of the Freshman Academy and has helped other teachers as the Federation representative for the professional staff. 

Most recently, he was the coach advisor to the advanced placement student field trip to Costa Rica and is starting to plan for another field trip next year. While he would not describe himself as a building leader, he is always advocating for students.

And the Winner Is.....

Photo by Evan Brandt

The Pottstown School District's Teachers of the Year wait to find out which will will represent the district in the statewide Teacher of the Year Competition. They are, from left, Sarah Paul, Julie Boettcher, Mandy Wampole, Jamie Fazekas, Amy Gazillo, Arden Moore and Kelly Smale.

Well for the umpteenth year in the row, the Pottstown School District chose to combine one of the most important votes of the year, the adoption of the tentative budget for the year, with a number of other ceremonies including the Teacher of the Year.

So, while families of the teachers talked with each other after the naming of the district's Teacher of the Year (I'm not telling, you have to read the Tweets), the board voted 7-2 to spend $55.9 million.

Photo by Evan Brandt

The 16th consecutive Distinguished Unit ribbon is attached to the 

Pottstown High School Air Force JROTC flag by 

Schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagansa. 

Not that you'd know that from looking at the meeting agenda, where other crucial amounts like the hourly rate for the cafeteria manager are dutifully noted. But hey, why would you want to know what the budget is at a public meeting where, you know, you might offer public comment or something.

It's almost as if the budget vote is an after-thought, a sideshow after the main event.

Silly public.

And you thought it was YOUR school district.

You only get to pay for it.

There is still one more budget vote, in June.

In the meantime, this "proposed budget" is available for public review for 30 days, as required by law, after which you can offer public comment when, you know, its too late.

Please find below the Tweets and one Tout video from last night's meeting. And remember to click the blue "Read Next Page" bar to make sure you've got it all.

Check out the new elementary attendance maps

This is an overview of the Pottstown School District’s four new elementary school attendance zones that will be presented at tonight’s meeting.

POTTSTOWN — In advance of tonight’s school board meeting, at which the proposed four new elementary school attendance zones will be discussed, Superintendent Jeff Sparagana has agreed to The Mercury’s request to make them public for inspection.

The meeting will be held in the Pottstown High School cafeteria and begins at 7:30 p.m.

Sparagana said the information was released to give parents and residents an opportunity to look at and digest some of the information prior to tonight’s presentation.

Attached to this article, readers should find a map of the current five-school configuration, a map showing the borders of the four new attendance areas, as well as close-up maps of all four attendance areas.

This map shows the current attendance zones for the 

five elementary schools.

(The four attendance area maps are posted below as large as this format allows.)

The open circles on the maps show established crossing guard locations. The circles that are filled in with color show proposed new crossing guard locations.

The district also released four lists of addresses for each of the four new attendance areas.

We are unable to post those lists on our web site on short notice, however anyone who sends an e-mailed request to Reporter Evan Brandt at ebrandt@pottsmerc.com, will receive a return e-mail to which the attendance areas list requested will be attached.

The re-districting is part of the district’s overall elementary project, which also includes moving all fifth grade students to the middle school and expanding Franklin, Lincoln and Rupert elementary schools as well as renovating all three.

Barth Elementary School is currently under renovation, but is not being expanded.

The attendance areas had to be re-drawn as a result of the decision to close Edgewood Elementary School.

However the Edgewood building will be used in the coming school year because the renovations and expansion plans at Rupert are so extensive.

All three projects will begin this summer, but the work at Lincoln and Franklin will continue into the school year, as is now being done for the Barth project.

Follow Evan Brandt on Twitter @PottstownNews

The proposed new Franklin Elementary School attendance area

This is a close-up of the proposed new attendance area for Lincoln Elementary School that will be presented at tonight’s meeting.

This is a close-up of the proposed new attendance area for Rupert Elementary School that will be presented at tonight’s meeting.

This is a close-up of the proposed new attendance area for Barth Elementary School that will be presented at tonight’s meeting.

What School Will Your Child Attend?

Photo by Evan Brandt

According to this map, the red areas of town will send students to Barth, the blue to Lincoln, the green to Franklin and the purple to Rupert.

Perhaps those who don't send their children to Rupert or Edgewood elementary schools might think the decision to close Edgewood Elementary School does not affect them.

But if you have elementary school-age children in the Pottstown school system, just about everyone will be affected.

Because, as Robert Stevens, assistant to the superintendent, explained to the finance committee last week, when you go from five schools to four, all the attendance lines have to shift.

Stevens gave an overview of those changes during the Feb. 14 committee meeting, but emphasized nothing is set in stone -- at least not yet.

As a result of re-drawing the lines, done with what school officials called the invaluable help of Public Works Director Doug Yerger, each school will hold about 350 students, Stevens said.

Dr. Robert Stevens explains the proposed elementary re-districting

to the Pottstown School Board's finance committee Feb. 14.

Of course that won't be until the renovation and expansion projects at Barth, Lincoln, Franklin and Rupert are completed.

The Barth project is underway now, and the three remaining projects are set to bid shortly and work is set to begin as soon as school lets out.

Because the Rupert project is so much more extensive, school officials decided to move all students and staff from Rupert to Edgewood for the coming school year, to give the contractors more elbow room at Rupert.

All fifth graders will be moved to Pottstown Middle School as part of this plan.

In addition to balancing out school populations, another result of re-districting elementary attendance areas is "we cut our busing costs significantly," Stevens said.

However, in order for those costs to be cut, that means that students attending Rupert will have to cross High Street.

As a result, the district has applied to PennDOT to have High Street removed from PennDOT's list of hazardous streets.

That will allow walking students to cross, with the help of crossing guards, Stevens said.

The district also plans to adopt a policy of re-districting the elementary attendance areas every 10 years in order to keep the populations at each school balanced.

The proposal will be formally presented to the school board at this Thursday's school board meeting and Superintendent Jeff Sparagana said the district intends to put the maps up on the district web site subsequently so the public can become familiar with the proposal.

When Good Writing is the Best Super Power

Franklin Elementary School's writing winners

Blogger's Note: Maybe we should just call this John Armato's blog and be done with it!

The Pottstown School District conducted its annual writing awards contest sponsored by the local McDonald’s restaurants owned and operated by Marcia and Bruce Graham.

Students from kindergarten through eighth grade competed in the annual essay contest which this year had as its theme “If I Had A Super Power.” Students not only had the opportunity to display their excellence in writing mechanics but also demonstrated reflective thinking and compassion as they explained their reasons for selecting their super powers.

From left, Matt Moyer, Mc Donald's franchise owner Marcia Graham,
School Board President Judyth Zahora and Superintendent Reed Lindley

Rupert Elementary Principal, Mr. Matt Moyer, who serves as the coordinator of the annual event, noted, “Our partnership with McDonald’s Restaurants has helped our students develop a greater understanding of writing techniques and has given them reason to do thoughtful thinking. Bruce and Marcia Graham are longtime advocates of quality public education.”

Some of the reflective thinking that is demonstrated in the students’ decisions included:

• Franklin kindergarten student Sean Deppen wrote, “I would like to have the power of super muscles. I would lift the bad guys and throw them into jail.”

•  Hannah Daniels, a first grader at Edgewood, wrote, “If I had a super power, I would like to have freeze powers. I would help freeze criminals to make the world a better place.”

Award winners from Barth Elementary School

• Feeding the hungry was the theme of Barth second grader Yangci Ou’s choice. “My super power would be the ability to feed people. I would use it to help our world by giving food to the hungry.”

• Kyle Wells, Lincoln third grader, chose the super power of strength. “I would use this power to make people happy and help others. I would use my power to help the homeless.”

• Fifth grader William Migala from Rupert asked for the super power of speed. “I could use my super power to help others. I would help them by going to the grocery store for older people.”

• Middle school eighth grade student Brittney Bosko explained her selection, “Super powers come in many shapes and forms. Flying over the tallest buildings, I found can be the equivalent of a friendly hello. Stopping a speeding bullet and stopping poverty are both super powers. Not everything worth admiration comes in huge packages. If I could have any super power, I would create rainbows in the sky.”

Lincoln Elementary School award winners

Marcia Graham noted, “We are proud to sponsor the annual writing contest and look forward to reading all of the creative and thoughtful entries.” This year’s award winners were invited to a special ceremony held at the McDonald’s restaurant on High Street where they received certificates and tee-shirts recognizing their writing achievements. Writing Award winners included:


Barth Elementary School
Kindergarten – Samuel Guardado-Sanchez
First Grade – Yameen Rahim
Second Grade – Yangci Ou
Third Grade – Jaleinda Thompson
Fourth Grade – Emily Weber
Fifth Grade – Jovaun Aponte

Edgewood Elementary School award winners

Edgewood Elementary School
Kindergarten – Shaelyne Weidner
First Grade – Hannah Daniels
Second Grade – Anthony DiCandilo
Third Grade – Cierra Mobley
Fourth Grade – Autumn Graham
Fifth Grade – Jayla Holloway

Franklin Elementary School
Kindergarten – Sean Deppen
First Grade – London Trout
Second Grade – Ivionna Reed
Third Grade – Caitlin Kanagie
Fourth Grade – Quaron Hall
Fifth Grade – Brianna Brown-Winfield


Lincoln Elementary School
Kindergarten – Nathan Tidball
First Grade – Sean O’Conner

Award winners from Rupert Elementary School.

Second Grade – Riley Willett
Third Grade – Kyle Wells
Fourth Grade – Emme Wolfel
Fifth Grade – Milani Roberson


Rupert Elementary School
Kindergarten – Isabella Rose Mulligan
First Grade – Talia Jones
Second Grade – Javon Scott
Third Grade – Emily Russo
Fourth Grade – Adriana Hayward
Fifth Grade – William Migala


Pottstown Middle School
Sixth Grade – Julian Weber
Seventh Grade – Riordon Turner
Eighth Grade – Brittney Bosko