Congratulations to Dave Alessia!

Congratulations to Dave Alessia, for winning the Kendall Honors Award for the Educator of the Year Award!

Dave Alessia instills the values of citizenship, honor, patriotism, and volunteerism onto his students and the rest of the staff members at Spring Brook Elementary. As a fourth grade teacher for 8 years, Alessia is a positive role model for students and staff inside and outside school. In class, Alessia goes above and beyond to ensure all students feel success and personal pride in their own work. It is noted by many fellow staff members every year that his classes display amazing citizenship towards each other. He creates this environment by valuing every member of his class by providing differentiated learning and social activities so that every student feels accomplished leaving fourth grade. He can always be found spending extra time planning and collaborating with teammates for an activity that meets the needs of his 27+ students. Alessia continually involves his class in team building activities that promote teamwork, citizenship, positive attitudes and higher order thinking skills. As leader of the student council for many years, he taught students the importance of volunteering and patriotism through their fundraisers. He led the school and student council by promoting and sharing the importance of collecting and fundraising for the armed forces in Treats for Troops, writing and recording personalized books for orphans in Africa, collecting books for local women's shelters, and impacting many other organizations like the Humane Society, Spring Brook PTA, Humanitarian Service Project and Loaves and Fishes. He gives countless hours of his free time to volunteer with students at the local assisted living center, Spring Meadows, not to mention the numerous hours he gives to organize and coordinate all of the planning it takes to pull off successful fundraisers. Dave volunteers whenever he can with school-related activities including the school dances, PTA events like Winter Wonderland, pottery events and fundraisers. When a student is in a play or has an extracurricular event and asks him to attend, he does so without hesitation, making the child feel like a superstar. It is evident that Alessia leaves a lasting impression with his students because his previous students are always knocking at his door to return for a visit. Dave is someone any colleague can reach out to for ideas and enthusiasm in lesson planning and team building. Dave Alessia is an inspiration to both children and adults alike!

Respectfully Submitted by:
-Kim Dolan, Interventionist
-Natalie Hoyle, LMC Director