Two Parsippany Teachers Feted by YMCA

Two Parsippany women received honors Wednesday night at the Lakeland Hills Family YMCA awards dinner at the Sheraton Parsippany. The annual event is held to recognize individuals and organizations for outstanding community service and leadership.  

The organization named Rose DeFilippo, a reading specialist at Intervale School, Parsippany Citizen of the Year.  Beyond her role in school, DeFilippo is president of the  and a member of the scholarship committee of Alpha Delta Kappa (the national teachers' service fraternity). She is also a union representative for the Parsippany-Troy Hills Education Association and spends her summers doing volunteer work serving inner-city children.  

“I’m a firm believer in that living in a community entails repsonsibility on the part of the inhabitant," said DeFilippo. "It is one’s duty to go forth and help replenish the community with care and kindness.”

The YMCA chose Parsippany High School instructor Christina Russell as its High School Educator of the Year.  Russell is in her fourth year of teaching business classes at the High, and also leads a class in desktop publishing.  Russell earned recognition for her work done in the classroom and for making a positive impact on youth.  

Asked her thoughts on the best part of being a teacher, Russell said, “It is so rewarding when you can actually see yourself making a difference in your students’ lives.”  

The evening’s host was YMCA Community Relations Director Rosemary Linder Day  .  Rev. Susan Saucedo Sica of Saint Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Parsippany presented the invocation.

The Lakeland Hills Family YMCA,  at 1000 Fanny Road in Mountain Lakes,  serves 10 local communities:  Boonton, Boonton Township, Butler, Denville, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Montville, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany and Pequannock.