More Honors for Pottsgrove Middle School Teachers

Photo provided

Pottsgrove Middle School history teacher Charles Deveney, center, is gaining new insights into the life of Abraham Lincoln, thanks to the fellowship from Horace Mann Insurance.

Two Pottsgrove Middle School teachers, social studies teacher Barbara Fagan and history teacher Charles Deveney, were recognized recently by Horace Mann Insurance.

Fagan was presented with the Crystal Apple Award after being named Pottsgrove Middle School's Teacher of the Year by Horace Mann agent Dave Grauel, during a recent ceremony.

 “She is a dedicated teacher. She goes above and beyond, said Principal William Ziegler.

Also recognized was  Deveney, who has earned a Horace Mann-Abraham Lincoln Fellowship.

Deveney was presented with a certificate for the Horace Mann-Abraham Lincoln Fellowship Program and  will take part in the program in Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Ill. 

He is one of 50y teachers and/or school administrators will take part in the 2013 Fellowship program.

While in Springfield earlier this week, Deveney received a behind-the-scenes look at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM). 

The fellowship program includes lectures by library staff and Lincoln experts who provide great insight on Lincoln and the Civil War. 

The five-day event includes special guided tours at Lincoln's Tomb, Lincoln's Home and the village of New Salem where Lincoln lived in as a young man. 

Grauel said, “Mr. Deveney is in for an experience he’ll remember for a lifetime.”

The Fellowship features two five-day programs, one in June and one in July, and includes round-trip transportation, lodging, and most meals, all provided by Horace Mann.

Horace Mann -- the largest national multiline insurance company focusing on educators’ financial needs – provides auto and homeowners insurance, retirement annuities, life insurance and other financial solutions. Founded by Educators for Educators in 1945, the company is headquartered in Springfield, Ill. 

For more information visit horacemann.com.

Teachers of the Year

Photo by John Armato

Teacher of the Year awards include a trophy and a T-shirt. The district Teacher of the Year gets the clock.

You don't have to look hard on the Internet, especially on The Mercury's web site, to find people criticizing teachers for having it easy, making big money, only working 10 months a year.

You usually don't hear from those people when we read about the Newtown shootings, and the teachers there acting as human shields to protect their students; or those who saved and calmed children during the recent Oklahoma tornado.

The truth is, they are, like so many other classes of people, or professions, filled with good and bad, competent and not, and those who are a combination of those things on different days.

But on this day (or Monday to be specific) it was teacher excellence being recognized in Pottstown, for the annual Teacher of the Year ceremony.

Each school nominates a Teacher of the Year for their building and then a district-wide teacher is selected from among that pool.

This year's pool featured Jaime Stringer from Barth Elementary; Lori Freese from Franklin Elementary; Diana Hofmanner from Edgewood Elementary; Jennifer Groff from Lincoln Elementary; Natalie Pileggi from Rupert Elementary; Ginger Angelo from Pottstown Middle School and Mark Agnew from Pottstown High School.

Here they are:

Photo by John Armato

From left are Mark Agnew, Pottstown High School, Jaime Stringer from Barth, Diana Hofmanner from Edgewood, Lori Freese from Franklin; Jennifer Groff from Lincoln; Natalie Pilerggi from Rupert and Ginger Angelo from Pottstown Middle School.

From that pool the administration selects the district Teacher of the Year.

Pottstown Superintendent Jeff Sparagana with the district's
Teacher of the Year, Diana Hofmanner.

This year's winner is Diana Hofmanner from Edgewood Elementary.

In her nominating form, Hofmanner was described as a teacher "who carries out all responsibilities with a high degree of professionalism, pride and enthusiasm."

Hofmanner "adapts to the ever-changing initiatives that occur at the elementary level and accepts these changes with a positive attitude. It is second nature for Mrs. Hofmanner to adjust her teaching strategies to accommodate the needs of all students in her classroom," according to her nomination.

Hofmanner "has welcomed the opportunity to work with co-teaching and grade-level partners, building principal, intervention team, speech therapist, occupational therapist and the entire building staff and faculty to carry out her responsibilities as an effective educator."

Here's a quick video of Hofmanner accepting the award from Superintendent Jeff Sparagana.