Plainville Community School District

Thomas Lombardo
Submitted: December 10th, 2024

I am proud to nominate Tom, an 8th grade resource teacher, as a Plainville Community Schools All Star. He exemplifies our Portrait of the Graduate model through his strong communication, maintaining open lines with students and parents. Tom collaborates effectively with fellow teachers to create inclusive lesson plans that support diverse learning needs. His innovative use of technology makes learning engaging and accessible for all students. Additionally, Tom demonstrates resilience by continually adapting his strategies to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed. Tom truly exemplifies what it means to be an outstanding leader in education. He prioritizes the well-being of both his paraeducators and students, fully recognizing the challenges that come with the role. Whenever we need a moment to gather ourselves, he is always ready to step in, providing invaluable support without hesitation. Tom not only meets expectations; he consistently surpasses them, embodying the spirit of a PCS All Star. His dedication and compassion make him incredibly deserving of this recognition.
Nominated by: Mackenzie Pye

Christiann Jones
Submitted: November 11th, 2024

Christi is a Paraprofessional at Toffolon who splits her time of day between two students with special needs. We often observe her during the day coming up with ways to redirect them, assist them physically and communicate in ways that are helpful to them. It does not matter what situation is presented to her, she remains calm, cool and collected and mindful of their needs. Some days present more challenges for her than others and even on those days, Christi remains resilient, always putting the needs of her students first. She is an All-Star in the eyes of her students as well as our staff and therefore, we believe she is the perfect candidate to receive this award.
Nominated by: Chiara Ramos and Caitlin Butkus

Tim Rankin
Submitted: October 15th, 2024

Allison Makucin has taken on the challenge to take over our AP Calculus program maintain its high level of success. She has attended AP Conferences and shadowed fellow teacher Tim Rankin to prepare for this transition. For the past two years she has been able to maintain and improve our student success rates. In her first year of teaching the course her preparation yielded an 82% pass rate amongst her students in the class of 2023. Last year, she has 24 students take the AP Exam and scores reflected an 88 % pass rate. Thank you Allison for taking on this challenge and maintaining such a high level of success.
Nominated by: Jennifer DeLorenzo

Time Rankin
Submitted: October 15th, 2024

Tim Rankin has been instrumental in growing and maintaining our Level 1 math program. He teaches our summer Algebra 2 course so that students can advance to higher level math or set themselves up to reach Calculus BC during their senior year. This past summer Tim had 25 students in our summer Algebra 2 program. As mentioned earlier, this summer Algebra 2 program has allowed our math department to expand to include Calculus BC. There were 8 students in the class of 2024 who took Calc BC their senior year and all 8 passed the AP Exam. Congratulations to Tim Rankin for preparing his students and achieving a 100% pass rate on the AP Exam.
Nominated by: Jennifer DeLorenzo

Kacey Stewart
Submitted: June 10th, 2024

We would like to nominate Kasey Stewart for the PCS All Stars Award. Our students and family have been working with Kasey since 2017. Kasey exemplifies all the tenets of the Portrait of the Graduate. She embodies positivity, patience and kindness creating a welcoming environment for students where they know they are safe and will be heard. Kasey works hard to inspire her students to advocate for themselves, helping them gain skills they will forever be able to use within and outside the classroom. She works extremely hard to find the best solutions for her students and communicate with families. She is extremely mindful of her students' emotional well being as much as their academics. Kasey understands how to see students as a whole and helps to inspire them. We feel she is an irreplaceable member of the guidance team at Plainville High School and look forward to having her as part of our childrens’ journeys for the next 5 years.
Nominated by: Sarah and Shawn Blake

Wendy Young
Submitted: June 10th, 2024

Wendy Young is our SEL Tutor and my neighbor in the office suite. We touch base most mornings and again throughout the day. She has the pulse of the building, knows which kids need additional support and works so hard to be proactive whenever she can. Her list of students to check in with each morning grows throughout the year and she welcomes the opportunity to start children off on the right path. She proactively touches base with students right before the moment they tend to struggle. She can be found on the buses, the cafeteria, the playground, the hallways, the classrooms, and even finds time to run a chess tournament with our fourth graders. When students are highly dysregulated and not at their best, their choice of language and lack of body control can be very off-putting for most but Wendy displays patience, understanding and forgiveness. Kids start with a fresh slate each morning regardless of the day before. Wendy is deserving of this recognition. The Linden Street School community is so fortunate to have her on the staff.
Nominated by: Jeff Wallowitz

Ashley Carl
Submitted: May 13th, 2024

On April 15th we were informed by the Executive Director of the School Nutrition Association of Connecticut that Ashley Carl would become Connecticut’s next Food Services Director of the Year. It was stated, “Ashley was nominated and evaluated by her peers in school nutrition, who agreed that she exemplifies the best of our state’s child nutrition programs through her professionalism, program innovations and advocacy for child nutrition in Connecticut.” Ashley deserves this at the state level for her leadership role working with End Hunger and others to advocate for school meals for all. We know that children go hungry. We know Food Service programs combat old stigmas that keep students from participating. Ashley has worked hard to address this across the state. Ashley also deserves that award for what she does here in Plainville. She leads a program that complies with rules for food safety and food quality. These rules are there for a reason and incredibly important. And, Ashley leads a program that goes well beyond complying with rules. Our program serves more than 1700 meals every school day with limited resources. Students pay $3.55 or less for each of these meals. Now, we know that students can be hard to please. Ashley and her staff offer options and change up the menu, often based on student input. Our program creates peak moments for students such as Shark Nugget Day or Walking Taco Day. We know students love it because they participate. Our program creates opportunities for life long, positive behavior changes and healthy habits. We are PCS, where the C is for community and that is for a reason. That word, community, makes me think of a place where children are cared for and that is what our Food Services program does, cares for our students. Bringing the words prepare, inspire and engage to life on a daily basis is the hard work of a great school district. I will argue that a district can’t be great without having a great Food Service program that literally fuels learning. In Plainville, there is no doubt in my mind that we have a great food service program. I want to thank Ashley Carl for her role in leading that program. She is entirely deserving of the award of Connecticut Food Service Director of the Year.
Nominated by: Sam Adlerstein

Nolan Meehan and Isabella Peters
Submitted: April 15th, 2024

As part of our efforts to update the Plainville Coalition For Positive Youth Development branding and marketing, our organization recently held a “logo design” contest for Plainville students. We received several outstanding submissions from Middle School of Plainville students, and brought the design submissions to our full Coalition for review and discussion. From the entries submitted, our group selected as finalists, logo entries submitted by 8th grader Nolan Meehan and 6th grader Isabella Peters. Both entries were outstanding and included elements that our Coalition members wanted to ultimately include in our new logo imaging. We provided feedback to MSP Art Teacher Laura Meehan, who then worked with Nolan and Isabella so that they could work together to combine their designs and create a new, updated prototype reflecting components from each of their original designs. Nolan and Isabella demonstrated ALL of the Plainville Community Schools’ Portrait of the Graduate tenets in this effort – they Collaborated and were Communicative, working together as a team; they were Innovative in uniquely capturing the essence of our Coalition focus; they were Mindful of our requests; and most certainly Resilient in “sticking with it” to create updates based on feedback. The end result of their collective efforts, is a beautiful logo, that truly represents our community Coalition’s focus. Nolan and Isabella are the epitome of “PCS All-Stars” serving as exceptional examples of our outstanding Plainville students!

Nominated by: Lynn Davis & Sneha L'Heureux

Diane Lebel
Submitted: April 15th, 2024

Mrs. Lebel is truly a hero. Many of you know Mrs. Lebel as a 4th grade teacher at Toffolon. Mrs. Lebel happened to be walking through the cafeteria and noticed a child that was choking. In true Mrs. Lebel fashion, without hesitation, she immediately gave the child the Heimlich Maneuver, made sure the child was alright, got them to the nurse, and then went back on about her day teaching and caring for her students. When I checked in on her, she said "oh it's just all part of a day's work". She is a true example of what it means to be an educator in Plainville and at Toffolon. She exemplifies community, and the care and concern we each have for every child, regardless of if they are a student in our specific classroom or not. Thank you Mrs. Lebel for your remarkable quick thinking, action and care. We are so very lucky that you choose to be an educator here!

Nominated by: Alicia Atterrato

Plainville BoE
Submitted: March 12th, 2024

March is Connecticut Board Member Appreciation Month. To commemorate the occasion, students created tokens of their appreciation for the Board Members. These were presented to the Board at the March 11th 2024 Board of Education meeting. Thank you for volunteering and modeling for our students, what it means to be a citizen.

Nominated by: Superintendent Brian Reas

Shannon Rivera
Submitted: January 10th, 2024

As a paraprofessional Shannon goes above and beyond to become part of the classroom. Her positive and calm attitude makes her ever approachable by students and she goes the extra mile to meet their needs and provide them with assistance to ensure their fair education. She is proactive with helping to maintain classroom procedures, hand out materials, and give back graded assignments when she is not working with small cohorts of learners. Shannon has been a lifeline for me, she has kept me sane, and she has redefined the role of a paraprofessional in my eyes. The students are lucky to have such a patient, caring, and considerate leader in their learning, and I am lucky to have her in my classroom to meet all of my student's needs. Shannon is a PCS rockstar.

Nominated by: John Czerwinski

Emily Wasley
Submitted: March 10th, 2023

Emily has led the Social Justice Club at PHS to help the community in so many ways. Most recently she led a prom dress drive and has collected over 70 dresses to share at a very low cost to students. Emily's drive and compassion serves as a great role model for our students.

Nominated by: Deb Pikiell

Dan Caron
Submitted: November 13th, 2023

Dan is the day custodian at Plainville High School. He has been such an asset to the school as well as the Facilities Department as a whole. Dan is respectful of students, faculty and staff and never complains about any task he is confronted with. He has put in extra hours helping out when no one else could and lends a hand to the Maintenance Department with after hours issues such as a major pipe issue that could not wait until the morning. He is an indispensable part of the Plainville Community Schools family.

Nominated by: Mike Smith

PCS Technology Department
Submitted: October 10th, 2023

Plainville Community Schools and the Plainville Board of Education would like to extend their sincerest gratitude to the Technology Team for their hard work and dedication to Plainville's students, teachers and staff. The endless hours they have spent managing, troubleshooting, and implementing initatives inspires us all in the Plainville Community Schools' community. The team provides support 24/7 and the school district could not operate without the expertise of these individuals. Congratulations goes out to: Kevin Ross, Instructional Technology Director, Dan Demur, Network Manager, Charles Warner, Data Integration Specialist, Karel Zettergren, Data Integration Assistant, Nick Midolo, Technical Assistant and Zachary Santini, Technical Assistant.

Nominated by: Kevin Case

Mike Smith and Sandy Bouchard
Submitted: September 11th, 2023

Mike Smith consistently performs demanding duties in an exemplary and highly professional manner and demonstrates extraordinary management and leadership skills. Sandy Bouchard's contributions and immense care for our buildings has fundamentally impacted our custodial team. Her passion has set an example and has left a lasting impression.

Nominated by: Sam Adlerstein

Mario Pires
Submitted: June 8th, 2023

I really should have done this earlier but lately I've had time to reflect back on my experience at Plainville High School. I have a teacher that I would like to recognize as a PCS All-Star. There is one teacher in particular that has stood out during my time in Plainville that has made an impact not only in my life but many others. Mr. Pires is a teacher that cares for every single one of his students and has created a safe space for them to openly express themselves. He has been instrumental in helping me recognize my potential in fine arts and in life. He has taken the time to understand me and my peers. There is one example of his kindness that stands out to me. There is a student that speaks very little English and is new to the district. He takes the time to talk to her in her primary language and I see that she feels supported and welcome in his classroom. He has helped me with some of my most ambitious projects and listened to me when times got hard. He has encouraged me to keep going and celebrates my successes with me. He strives to help everyone and I know that he truly cares for every single student. I know that this is last minute, but I'd like him to know how appreciated he really is to many students at PHS.

Nominated by: Anneli St. Lawrence

Kelly Hickey and Mikayla Wells
Submitted: April 20th, 2023

Kelly Hickey and Mikayla Wells have truly been outstanding Unified Sports coaches for Plainville Community Schools. They have taken our program to the next level, and way beyond! With their commitment to the development of their student athletes and partner athletes, the Unified program has gone from a one season, one sport team to a now 3 season, 6 sport operation with an incredible amount of excitement and support from the whole community. I could not be more proud of our Unified athletes, partners, staff helpers and coaches, and it all starts with the fantastic coaches who lead this enthusiastic and dedicated group. We are incredibly grateful to Ms. Wells and Mrs. Hickey for their time and dedication to the development and excellence of the Plainville Unified Team!

Nominated by: Steve LePage

Isabella Donahue and Therian May
Submitted: April 20th, 2023

Isabella Donahue and Therian May have done an absolutely incredible job as co-cheer coaches at Plainville High School. Through dedication and many hours of practice and hard work, they have developed their talented group of cheerleaders into an elite squad who became overall CCC, State and New England Regional Co-Ed Champions! Their dedication to Plainville Schools started when they were both students in Plainville, and we are very grateful that they chose to return home as educators and coaches. These individuals exemplify the core traits of the Portrait of the Graduate and we commend them on a job very well done. The future remains bright for the PHS Cheer Team!

Nominated by: Steve LePage

Stefany Barbagallo
Submitted: March 13th, 2023

Stefany Barbagallo, a PCS alumni and current PHS School Counselor, exemplifies all the tenets of the Portrait of the Graduate that we strive to instill in our students. This year has been an exciting and challenging year for the PHS School Counseling Department. Two of our counselors welcomed their first child and were out on maternity leave at the same time, and our two dedicated office professionals, who had served PHS students through for many years, retired this year. As second year School Counselor at Plainville High School, not only has Stefany served our school community with excellence since she joined the counseling team, but when the PHS School Counseling Department could not secure a substitute counselor for one of the long term maternity leaves, Stefany offered to do wherever it took to ensure that ALL students and families continued to receive the same services that they received under a fully staffed department. Expecting nothing in return, Stefany put in long hours at work and performed work from home in order to maximize her time during the day to meet with students, which is especially important during the course add/drop period. In addition to volunteering to serve additional students and take on additional tasks, Stefany has contributed to the School Counseling Department by helping to train our new office professionals and support/train a temporary substitute counselor. Despite the challenges that the PHS School Counseling Department has experienced this year, Stefany has maintained a positive attitude and helped create a welcoming environment for both staff and students. Her smile and positive energy is addictive. You will never catch Stefany complaining even on the craziest day! She is patient, kind, resilient and flexible- always putting the needs of our students and department first- keeping staff morale up in times of trial. Not only has she supported our department with the increased workload, Stefany has been incredibly valuable to the success of the new initiatives that our department has undertaken this year, such as the FAFSA Challenge. Stefany helped write the state grant that provided our school with the monetary incentives necessary to help encourage students and families to complete the FAFSA. Her innovative ideas contributed to the department’s success in hosting our first ever FAFSA and Food night where financial aid representatives from Wesleyan, UConn, and Tunxis provided individual assistance to many PHS families with the completion of the FAFSA form. In addition, Stefany continues to excel as the advisor to the PHS Student Council. Her students love her positive energy and innovation. Under her leadership, the Student Council has hosted many events that have brought the entire Plainville Community together. Because of the aforementioned reasons and more, I am honored to nominate Stefany Barbagallo for the PCS All Stars award. Her efforts have, and continue to, make our PCS community a better place to learn! As a PCS graduate, Stefany Barbagallo is a testament of the impact that we have as a learning community on our student’s growth as Collaborative, Communicative, Innovative, Mindful and Resilient adults!

Nominated by: Oneda Lamont

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Submitted: March 13th, 2023

Stefany has only been in the district a short time, but has already made the Phs counseling department better. As her "office neighbor" I am continually impressed with how she will not rest until she finds the best solution for students and families, always. Her dedication to student development is so commendable and I love how she continues to challenge her students to be/do their best. On top of it all, she is humble, positive and open-minded...ALWAYS looking for ways to improve and do the best. She is definitely an "all-star"!

Nominated by: Kacey Stewart & Oneda Lamont

Matthew Guarino
Submitted: January 13th, 2023

Matt Guarino has been a Plainville Community Schools employee for over three decades and served in several positions including teacher at Wheeler School, principal of MSP and now tutor back at Wheeler, post retirement, working as a full-time instructional tutor. Mr. Guarino is also a talented artist and when the opportunity came to put his art talents to use at Wheeler, he did so in fine fashion. Mr. Guarino spent an estimated 100 or more hours of his time converting the base of an iconic large oak tree that needed to be removed for safety reasons into a sculpture. The Wheeler wolf sculpture stands 8 feet tall and came out incredibly well! It is a magnificent gift that will remain firmly rooted at Wheeler for many years to come. In addition, he turned a 2 foot section of the tree into a small seat for children. We are grateful to Mr. Guarino for his dedication and donation of talent and time to this incredible project.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

Ashley Carl
Submitted: January 13th, 2023

Ashley Carl is our Director of Food Services for Plainville Community Schools and has done an exemplary job in her position. She goes above and beyond to meet the needs of students and to be a collaborative team player with her staff and the entire district staff. She has taken the very unfortunate and potentially detrimental challenges of the pandemic and shifted operations and service to increase the number of meals being enjoyed by students significantly despite the challenges. As a result, she was able to shift what looked to be a significant budgetary shortfall into a surplus. Funding received from governmental subsidies through the food services program will support the district’s ability to continue the free meals program for all students wanting one through the end of this school year. Subsidized meals for all students ended in December, but due to the realized savings through Mrs. Carl‘s exemplary practices and creative ideas have resulted in this opportunity. In addition, she has been a tremendous asset to a number of other events, including supporting the needs of a recent veteran breakfast hosted at the VFW by our local Rotary Club, Scoops For Troops and school personnel and students from the Middle School. She also shared her craft and career with a number of students at the high school’s recent career focused Learning Adventure Day, and her session was a big success. We are very grateful to have Ashley on our Plainville team.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

Sharyn Lavore
Submitted: January 13th, 2023

Sharyn Lavore has been a long time member and Assistant Director of our Food Services Program. Sharon always goes above and beyond to support the needs of the district, and works hard as a team player with Director Carl to go above and beyond in meeting students’ nutritional needs. She is also active in supporting a number of special district events and catering needs and finds a way to meet all needs with care and excellence. She is a dedicated partner in the leadership of our food services programs. We are grateful to Mrs. Lavore for all she does.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

David Levenduski
Submitted: January 13th, 2023

Assistant Superintendent Dave Levenduski was hired into his role, 3 1/2 years ago, and since that time, he has performed this important and complex role with tremendous dedication, diligence, attention to detail and excellence. He is a true partner in district leadership, and assumes a number of committee and program leadership roles. There is never enough time in the day to get everything done that we hope to do across the district but Mr. Levenduski goes beyond expectations and ensures that projects and programs are as successful as they can be. He is a team builder, who utilizes the capacity of those around him to improve district programs and services. When we were looking for an individual to fill this role, we knew we needed someone who was dedicated, and a hard worker who would be committed to our district efforts for continuous improvement. We also determined that it would be good to gain outside of district perspective and experience. Mr. Levenduski has brought both to this position and we look forward to many great things he will be a part of helping to lead during his time in Plainville. We thank Mr. Levenduski for his dedication and commitment to Plainville.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

Isabella Taylor
Submitted: November 14th, 2022

An outstanding and highly regarded student who has demonstrated dedication and commitment to the PHS Fieldwork Experience Program representing herself and Plainville High School with professionalism and excellence. It is not only through natural talent, but dedication, diligence, and self-discipline that you have achieved the PCS All-Star student award.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

Deb Pikiell, Sue Bradley & Lynn Davis
Submitted: November 14th, 2022

Thank you for your outstanding commitment to the development and expansion of the Plainville High School Fieldwork Experience Prgoram (FWE). Your dedication to Plainville's students and to the PCS team is truly appreciated and commendable.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

Tamia Chapman
Submitted: October 11th, 2022

Tamia Chapman is a sophomore and has been a class officer since ninth grade. She was among one of the first to apply and won elections by a landslide. She is a dedicated varsity basketball player. She is extremely athletically talented and plays basketball in the off season as well. Her contributions to her class and community have been exemplary. She has volunteered her time at North Stars Summer Basketball Camp in addition to Plainville High School events and activities. She challenges herself in school with rigorous courses and does well, remaining in the top 15% of her class. She has a bright, positive demeanor and an infectious smile. She is reliable, intelligent, has great time management skills and is an all-around All Star! Additionally, Tamia is being recognized for her active involvement and voice in our district Strategic Planning process; it has been terrific to have her participation and voice represented. She is a dedicated and driven student who is planning to become a pediatrician.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

Ken Fusco and John Girard
Submitted: September 12th, 2022

I would like to recognize two PHS Science teachers, Mr. Ken Fusco, Science Department Instructional Leader, and Mr. John Girard. This teaching duo has worked side by side for many years, and although I know that Mr. Fusco’s first science love is the study of all things that live under and around the water, and Mr. Girard has a passion for anatomy and human biology, they both teach and inspire students in a number of ways, both in the classroom and outside the school walls. Mr. Fusco teaches biology and marine biology. Mr. Girard teaches ECE Biology, Anatomy and Physiology and Pathology, and Forensics. Through their position as teachers, they and other science teachers have inspired countless students to pursue college programs with a science focus. Mr. Girard also leads the Science National Honor Society, which recognizes students who work hard and succeed at a high level in the sciences, while also meeting the other requirements of that national organization. The focus of their nomination as PCS All Stars is because of their recent efforts with surrounding colleges and recent graduates to build a vision for advancing the Science Department and to create bridges and pathways for better understanding of the skills our students need to succeed at the college level. Their work also builds bridges of opportunity to help expand college credit programs and pathways. In alignment with the district’s focus on College and Career Pathways, Mr. Fusco and Mr. Girard took the initiative to reach out to Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) and Tunxis Community College to obtain information about how our students have performed in science courses over the past few years and what skills our students need to be successful in those classes. Mr. Girard also took the time to speak with recent nursing school graduate, Sydney McGough, to reflect on her preparation for a career in nursing and to discuss possible coursework for high school students that would help them to better prepare for a medical career and more specifically, a career in nursing. In their work with CCSU and Tunxis, Ken and Dave are exploring possible pathways that can be developed for science majors and/or careers. Based on some of their research and college instructor interviews, they put together a presentation which was shared with district administrators and instructional leaders. Their presentation outlined the specific strengths and areas of needs for Plainville High School graduates enrolled at Tunxis, as well as actual performance data. The PHS Science Department members reviewed the performance data and are using that information to amend and revise their curriculum, expected learning outcomes, and instructional practices. This type of work shows the passion these two educators have for ensuring our students have relevant coursework to allow them to choose a science pathway of interest and have the preparation necessary to be successful. Mr. Fusco and Mr. Girard have also researched the courses the University of Connecticut has to offer in the field of Allied Health Sciences, with the possibility of offering UConn coursework in this field as well. We look forward to the dual enrollment offerings and science pathway opportunities this work will lead to, and also as a model for other departments to follow to increase our educational opportunities here in Plainville.

Nominated by: Steven LePage

Jaylen Thigpen
Submitted: September 12th, 2022

I would like to recognize PHS Senior Jaylen Thigpen as our first Allstar. Jaylen has been a committed member of this community since I have known him. He has shared his talents and skills in the classroom, through his gift with instrumental music that has been developed with lots and lots of practice, and in athletics as well. He is also a young man of positive character who gives back to the community in a number of ways. My favorite way is of course through his gifts on the trumpet. Jaylen plays at the Memorial Day Parade and then plays Taps at the ceremony that follows. He also played with the jazz band early one morning last March when the Secretary of Education decided to spend a morning at Linden Street School to celebrate a year in office. I can say that Jaylen’s solo and the entire band absolutely impressed Secretary Cardona who definitely enjoyed that performance. Jaylen played America the Beautiful at a Veterans Breakfast we hosted with the Rotary Club last June, with little time to learn a new song, but he was terrific. Finally, he played the National Anthem at our recent convocation ceremony on August 29th, in front of all of our district teachers and administrators and members of our staff, and he inspired everyone there who gave a booming round of applause. Jaylen, thank you for sharing your talents, and for your displays of positive character. You have certainly earned the recognition as a PCS All Star!

Nominated by: Steven LePage