Celebrating Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Pottstown School District educators that were selected by their peers to be recognized as their 2024 Building Teacher of the Year. They were honored at our school board meeting. https://www.facebook.com/PottstownSchoolDistrict/videos/401653732657550

Read what their colleagues had to say about them, and you will know another reason we say, proud to be from Pottstown:

Barth Elementary: Jaime Stringer is an essential part of Barth Elementary School. First and foremost, Jaime is an excellent teacher!  She goes above and beyond to care for and educate her students to their highest potential.  She uses real life situations to teach her students on their level.  They are always having fun while learning and they are definitely given lots of love! The class makes pancakes and all sorts of other goodies, and they go on fun field trips!  Stringer makes sure that her students are included in every activity no matter their age, disability and/or capability.  She always goes above and beyond to ensure her students' success and love for learning. The love and dedication she shows her students is invaluable! Stringer has great respect and compassion for her students and colleagues.  She has gone above and beyond for her students and colleagues in so many ways. Stringer wears many hats at Barth.  She’s kind, patient and so caring. She is a welcoming and supportive co-worker anytime we need ideas and suggestions to better meet the students’ needs. She is a great asset to our building. Jaime does more for Barth than she should. She works all day long - oftentimes not even leaving her classroom for lunch or prep.   She organizes our building pretzel sales, which the students and staff look forward to each week. Jaime orchestrates our building spirit wear sales which everyone loves! She is always a bright voice during our kickball games, cheering everyone on from behind the microphone! Mrs. Stringer is the BEST!  Stringer should most definitely be the Barth Teacher of the Year!

Edgewood Learning Center: Tricia Mitchell is the 4th and 5th grade emotional support teacher at Edgewood. She has worked in the district since 2016 and has previously taught emotional support at Rupert Elementary and learning support at the Pottstown Middle School. Tricia is an amazing educator. She is constantly providing her students with engaging lessons that teach to their level. Her teaching is not only appropriate for her students' needs but also helps them to learn, grow and improve their skills. She is consistent in her teaching and in her expectations for behavior. Her diligence in providing appropriate education while holding her students to a high standard is seen by how many of her students have found success at Edgewood and have transitioned back to their home schools successfully. Tricia exemplifies what it means to be a special education teacher. Tricia is calm, patient, knowledgeable, and innovative; everything you want in a teacher. She is always willing to help and assist others. Tricia is our building union rep and has consistently been available to assist union members. She is always willing to answer questions or help to find answers to questions if she doesn't already have the answer. She is always willing to help and assist with any of our students in the building. She is a fantastic coworker as well. She is always there to be a listening ear, provide support or throw around ideas as to how we can best support our students. She has trained her dog, Maizie, to become a therapy dog. Maizie spends several days a week in Tricia’s class providing support to both students and staff at Edgewood. Tricia is a dedicated and professional educator. The time and care she puts into planning and implementing new and engaging lessons is second to none. Her work as an educator is to be admired. 

Franklin Elementary: Bridget Volinskie is the 2024 Teacher of the Year for Franklin Elementary School.  Bridget was born and raised in Pottstown. She graduated from Pottstown High School in 2008.  She attended West Chester University where she received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Special Education.  She has been a learning support teacher at Franklin for 10 years. She resides in our community with her husband Geoff and their two wonderful children. Her oldest son, Colton, is currently a pre-kindergarten student at the North End Early Learning Center. Bridget is extremely dedicated to our profession and her students. She goes above and beyond to prepare for teaching everyday and for assisting her paraprofessionals.  She is always prepared for IEP meetings and is professional when conducting the meetings.  She uses the required materials to teach her students who are on many different grade levels. She makes sure to customize the individual needs of each and every student. Bridget utilizes a plethora of researched based materials such as Language for Learning, SRA Connecting Math Concepts, SRA Decoding and SRA Corrective Reading. She is always creating social stories to address any needs that her students may have. She utilizes a classroom reward system that she uses daily to motivate students. Bridget has also created and customized additional behavior/reward systems for her students. Bridget communicates with her homeroom teachers and parents/guardians on a daily basis. She is organized with her schedule, but is always flexible in adjusting her schedule to accommodate the students and the teachers that she works with.  Bridget supports her students with obtaining their weekly goals on Lexia, Dreambox and Reflex. She also incorporates additional resources such as Kahoot, EPIC and Freckle to make sure the children are gaining extra practice. Bridget is a member of the Leadership and Fall Fest committees at Franklin.  She is the Franklin Special Education Representative and attends the quarterly meetings. Bridget is often seen at Trunk or Treat, the 4th grade chorus/band concerts and Art and Music Night. Bridget plays a large part in helping to organize and run the 4th Grade Awards Ceremony each year with her colleagues. She has also been a mentor to several of our new special education teachers at Franklin. She is an active member of the Pottstown community and can be seen around town at various events with her family. Thank you Bridget for everything that you have done for your many Franklin students and colleagues, the Pottstown School District and the community of Pottstown. Congratulations on being chosen as the 2024 Franklin Teacher of the Year.  It is very well deserved!

Lincoln Elementary: Gerri Poulos works tirelessly to make sure the needs of some of our most struggling students are met. She has had to do extra work this year with her team being short staffed. She comes to work with a positive attitude and a smile on her face everyday. She is always willing to help another teacher when asked. Gerri works with research based programs with her intervention students. She makes them fun and engaging. The students are always happy to work with her. Gerri made the books your ticket to the world to encourage students to read and organized assemblies for students. Gerri will cover classes to help teachers out. She shows up to work with a positive attitude every day. She has a great relationship with her students and works hard for them every day. Rupert Elementary is both pleased and proud to announce Kaylee Weldon as our teacher of the year.  I first met and worked with Kaylee during summer programs.  At that time she was still Kaylee Shumaker. Since then, Kaylee has married Steve and has a beautiful daughter Harper. She is one of the hardest working individuals I have encountered. The staff at Rupert said the following things about Kaylee and why she was selected: Kaylee is always ready and available to help a teacher with whatever they need. Mrs. Weldon has gone above and beyond to help me with students who are struggling. She makes things simple to understand and makes herself available amidst all of her other responsibilities. She works really hard and advocates for us. Kaylee is very well organized with her support for teachers. She is dedicated and helpful. Her presentations are very thoughtful and clear. She goes above and beyond with her support! Kaylee wears so many hats in this building. She advocates for not only the students but the teachers. She is always there for us to support the teachers in their academic planning and just as a listening ear. She is an asset in this building. Kaylee runs around the building jumping in where and when needed, often without being asked. She is patient and works hard every second of every day. EVERY time I ask her for help, she responds instantly with the information, or assistance. She has helped me several times when I needed a last minute regular Ed teacher for an IEP meeting. I think she really understands the challenges that all the different departments face (Special Ed, ESL, Intervention, Etc) and does a good job facilitating compromises. I can't think of anyone more deserving of recognition than her. She is a pleasure to work with. She is able to answer questions and is willing to help find answers to help our students. Kaylee has been an amazing addition to our Rupert family and we are so happy to have the opportunity to work with her.

Rupert Elementary: Rupert is both pleased and proud to announce Kaylee Weldon as our teacher of the year. I first met and worked with Kaylee during summer programs.  At that time she was still Kaylee Shumaker. Since then Kaylee has married Steve and has a beautiful daughter Harper.  She is one of the hardest working individuals I have encountered. The staff at Rupert said the following things about Kaylee and why she was selected: Kaylee is always ready and available to help a teacher with whatever they need. Mrs. Weldon has gone above and beyond to help me with students who are struggling. She makes things simple to understand and makes herself available amidst all of her other responsibilities. She works really hard and advocates for us. Kaylee is very well organized with her support for teachers. She is dedicated and helpful. Her presentations are very thoughtful and clear. She goes above and beyond with her support! Kaylee wears so many hats in this building. She advocates for not only the students but the teachers. She is always there for us to support the teachers in their academic planning and just as a listening ear. She is an asset in this building. Kaylee runs around the building jumping in where and when needed, often without being asked. She is patient and works hard every second of every day. EVERY time I ask her for help, she responds instantly with the information, or assistance. She has helped me several times when I needed a last minute regular ed teacher for an IEP meeting. I think she really understands the challenges that all the different departments face (special ed, ESL, intervention, etc) and does a good job facilitating compromises. I can't think of anyone more deserving of recognition than her. She is a pleasure to work with.  She is able to answer questions and is willing to help find answers to help our students. Kaylee has been an amazing addition to our Rupert family and we are so happy to have the opportunity to work with her.

Pottstown Middle School: During her 15+ year career at Pottstown Middle School, Kim Petro has been a strong, consistent presence and advocate for the children, the teachers, and the community. It's difficult to imagine the building running without her and her myriad contributions. In her classroom, in the school as a whole, and for her students as individual human beings, she should be respectfully considered for a long deserved honor as "teacher of the year." Kim is clearly dedicated to her craft as an educator, and always striving to add more to the experience she gives her students in language arts. She could go up against any expert on what is best for 7th grade language arts students through her deep content knowledge, building up our school's curriculum, constantly adjusting with the data and district initiatives. She seeks out and implements the newest techniques for challenging topics like teaching writing. She also keeps her students' learning perspectives and abilities in mind, coming up with creative, engaging projects for stories as diverse as Christmas Carol to Rikki Tikki Tavi to Jackie Robinson, yet tying them all together to prepare her pupils for not just the tests, but life. Kim has gone above and beyond, not just balancing many different roles, but adding to her plate every school year. When she tackles a task, she devotes herself to the details and implementation. Just to name a few, she has served as: department chair, grade/team leader, union representative, sophisticated ladies advisor, spelling bee organizer, field trip organizer, staff mentor, curriculum writer, summer and afterschool teacher, and more. Her room is always open for patient and understanding advice and counsel, for many hours after school, for students and teachers alike. Finally, Kim is respected by many past graduates as one of their most influential teachers throughout their Pottstown k-12 education. It's always fascinating to watch the 12th graders read the 7th grade letters written from her class. It's especially the case that she is a role model to many girls who are high achievers, who she kept pushing into the advanced learning and into seizing extracurricular opportunities. She has kept tabs on how her students progress not just through high school, but college, and beyond. She is the first to volunteer herself to step up and get the job done. She will make sure she masters the task to deliver it to her team. Her students always show progress in their scores.