Four staff members who recently received state-wide recognition were honored at the Clark School District’s Superintendent’s Convocation earlier this week.
The convocation, a district-wide gathering of the entire staffs of all five Clark Schools, is used as a forum for celebrating district successes, among other agenda items.
Superintendent Kenneth Knops called up each honoree, highlighted their accomplishment and presented each with a certificate. Among those honored was Arthur L. Johnson High School field hockey coach Katrina Anderson Poskay, who was recognized by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association when she received the field hockey award through selection of the association’s Honors Award Committee. In an illustrious career as the district’s field hockey coach, Poskay has built the program up to its current status as a state powerhouse, with 14 alumni of the program now playing field hockey at the collegiate level.
Also honored was Frank K. Hehnly teacher Nicole Parlavecchio, whose cutting edge technology-based program “Teaching, Technology, and the Tennessee Titans” was selected as an “Innovation in Special Education” recipient by the New Jersey School Boards Association. Parlavecchio’s program was one of only eight special education programs honored state-wide by the NJSBA.
The final two honorees were Assistant Superintendent Ed Grande and Carl H. Kumpf Middle School Teacher Cristina Faro. Grande and Faro were selected to present the cutting-edge Progressive Mathematics Initiative at the upcoming New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association annual convention in Long Branch next month. Grade spearheaded the implementation of the Progressive Mathematics Initiative in District, overseeing the training of all staff members on this cutting-edge initiative. Faro successfully implemented the program into her classroom as a first-year teacher, presenting the program to the Clark Board of Education earlier in the year.
Commenting on the honoring of the four district staff members, Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Knops stated “As a school community we applaud Katrina, Nicole, Ed, and Cristina for their accomplishments. We have much to be proud of as a school district and the accomplishments of these four educators certainly underscore the wonderful things going on in district.”