Five Distinguished Administrators Honored

The Glastonbury High School Resident String Quartet	Celebration Committee Chair Janet Garagliano
Master of Ceremonies Scott Gray	Barbara Westwater, Chief of the Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction, Connecticut State Department of Education
Amy Clarke (left), 2008 Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year	Norma Fisher-Doiron (left), CT's 2008 National Distinguished Principal
2008 Middle School Principal of the Year Sheryl Kempain (left) and Celebration Committee Member Michael Rafferty	2008 High School Assistant Principal of the Year Andre Hauser (left) and Celebration Committee Member Ev Lyons
Don Macrino (right), 2008 High School Principal of the Year

On Thursday, October 30th, CAS hosted its seventh annual celebration of educational leadership at Saint Clements Castle in Portland. The event was conceived eight years ago following a resolution by the CAS Board of Directors to find ways to recognize and pay tribute to individual school leaders as well as to "celebrate" the profession of school administration.

Five individuals from the ranks of Connecticut's school administrators were honored at this year's event:

• AMY CLARKE, CAS 2008 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
  
  
• NORMA FISHER-DOIRON, CT's 2008 NATIONAL DISTINGUISHED PRINCIPAL
  
  
• ANDRE HAUSER, CAS 2008 HIGH SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
  
  
• SHERYL KEMPAIN, CAS 2008 MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
  
  
• DONALD MACRINO, CAS 2008 HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
  

More than one hundred seventy educators, friends, and family members packed the Waterford Ballroom at Saint Clements to join in honoring CAS' 2008 Distinguished Administrators. Guests were greeted at the door with the mellifluous sounds of the Glastonbury High School Resident String Quartet featuring Sara Flaherty, cello; Bailey Poesnecker, violin; Zacchary Powell, viola; and, Tasha Pulvermacher, violin.

Janet Garagliano, principal of Jonathan Law High School and chair of the “Celebration Committee” which organized the event, warmly welcomed guests and introduced the evening's master of ceremonies, Mr. Scott Gray, 37-year veteran sports commentator for WTIC AM 1080. In his opening remarks, Mr. Gray paid tribute to longtime Shore Line Times executive sports editor Hal Levy, noting that, among Hal’s many talents, his most important was his ability to educate. “You cannot open the sports section of any paper in Connecticut without seeing Hal Levy’s influence,” said Scott. “Hal shared his knowledge, his experience and his love of learning with all those around him.”

Barbara Westwater, chief of the Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction at the Connecticut State Department of Education, extended congratulatory remarks to the honorees prior to dinner.

The evening concluded with an awards ceremony during which each of the five distinguished administrators was recognized individually. The honorees were called to the podium one-by-one to receive a plaque, an engraved clock, and a copy of "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. They were also entertained with a short slide-show containing pictures and quotes from friends and colleagues.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Gray once again congratulated the honorees and praised all the educators in the room. "What you do lives for generations," he said. "You leave your footprints on this earth. No one has a greater impact on mankind than those who teach future generations."

By all accounts, the seventh annual "celebration" was a rousing success! Many thanks to the members of the organizing committee - Janet Garagliano, Ev Lyons, Mike Rafferty, and Andrienne Longobucco - and to our official photographers, Grynn & Barrett.