Four Westfield School Nurses, 4 Teachers To Receive Awards

WESTFIELD, NJ — Four Westfield teachers recently received the 23rd Annual Optimist Club Award, which recognizes the importance of teaching at the intermediate level. In addition, for the first time, the Optimist Club gave out a Special Nurse’s Award for intermediate school nurses who kept students and staff safe during the pandemic.

The eight professionals will receive their awards at a dinner in September.

The Optimist Club, a local not-for-profit service organization that supports youth and the community, usually presents the award each year to two Westfield teachers from each intermediate school.

The award was put on hold last year due to COVID-19.

This year, Edison Intermediate School language arts teachers Marc Lazarow and Kimberly Swenson and Roosevelt Intermediate School science teacher Melissa Czerwinski and language arts teacher Carine Helwig were recognized as outstanding intermediate school educators.

Recipients of the special award are nurse/health educators Martha Fico and Patricia Kelly at Edison and Christine DeSousa and Sharon Dorry at Roosevelt.

The eight intermediate school educators were recognized at the Board of Education meeting on June 1. They will be honored by the Optimist Club as well at a dinner at Echo Lake Country Club on Sept. 9.

A committee of club members, school district administrators, and past award recipients selected the winners.

“I congratulate all of these deserving educators,” said Superintendent Dr. Margaret Dolan. “The Optimist Award recognizes teachers who provide an educationally stimulating and supporting environment during this critical stage of adolescence. I thank the Optimist Club for honoring our health educators/nurses as well during this challenging year.”

What The Nomination Letters Said

• Lazarow was praised, in his letters of nomination, ffor his empathy, initiative, love of teaching, engaging lessons, dedication to professional growth, and for having “an invested interest in the success of his students, both academically and personally.”
• Swenson was lauded for her compassion, kindness, positivity, passion for teaching, and for adapting easily to a new way of instruction during the pandemic while continuing to support and encourage her students to be successful.
• For her “genuine interest and curiosity about science which she shares with her students,” nominators praised Czerwinski for outstanding teaching, commitment to her students, and for looking past how a student is performing academically to see the child as a whole, even through a computer screen during the pandemic.
• Nominating letters noted Helwig’s patience, determination, strength, love for children, true passion for education, desire to grow, and her devotion to her students both during class time and as a coach, club advisor, and mentor for many after school activities.

The selection committee consisted of Optimist Club members Robin Lynch, Marc Epstein and Maria Fuentes, along with Dr. Dolan, Edison principal Dr. Matthew Bolton, Roosevelt principal Brian Gechtman, and previous award recipients.

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