Congratulations to:
Emily Norton-Hughes
Carter Margolis
Kelly Hughes
Anthony Forziati
Shoshanna Cohen
Ryan MacNevin
Joanne Tedeschi
Joanne has been teaching since 1979 and has been in Wakefield since 1980. During her tenure, Mrs. Tedeschi has taught at 7 schools in Wakefield and has always been a Special Education Teacher in grades K-5. Joanne really loves figuring out ways to support students who have difficulty learning --- and she’s good at it!! Her proudest memories of her teaching career are the times that she received notes from graduating seniors that she had as students in elementary school who were struggling learners. They were going off to college and going into special education because she had made a difference in their lives. Mrs. Tedeschi is a positive force on our staff and goes out of her way to support students and families. (ex. Coming in early to help students with homework, transitioning families to new programs.)
Mary Siafakas
Mrs. Siafakas also began her teaching career in 1979 and came to Wakefield in 1986. She has taught in 4 of Wakefield’s public schools: Greenwood, Yeuell, Dolbeare, and Woodville. She has been a Moderate Special Needs teacher, and Kindergarten and Transitional First grade teacher, and a grade 2 and 3 teacher. In addition, she served as the Assistant to the Principal at the Greenwood School. Mary loves to see the excitement of her students coming into the school each day and their natural love of learning to be enhanced. One of her proud moments in teaching was when a former Kindergarten student wrote a tribute to her when he was in sixth grade in the Wakefield Daily Item. This happened in 1996 and the newspaper article is still proudly displayed on her window sill of her classroom. Mary takes on many leadership roles within the school and the teacher community. She has served on many committees over the year to help strengthen curriculum, assessment, and teaching. In addition, she has served on search committees to help select the very best staff for Wakefield. Mary also served on the negotiating team for the teacher’s contract which also shows her dedication to her colleagues.
Lorraine Devine
Ms. Devine is in her 5th year as a Paraprofessional at the Woodville in the Special Education department. She has worked with students in grades PreK through 4. Lorraine has emotional ties to Wakefield as she and her siblings and her husband and his siblings all attended elementary schools in Wakefield. She has also been a substitute teacher and currently teachers youth ministry to 7th and 8th graders. She loves really getting to know the students that she works with. In her role, Ms. Devine gets to be in all settings with the students – academics, special subjects, and recess. She gets to see the children both socially and academically. Lorraine cherishes the times that she gets unexpected thank you cards or pictures from students expressing how she’s helped them to be successful in school. She has a positive spirit and is very caring to the staff at school. Lorraine is currently finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and will be looking for a full-time teaching job in the future.
Kelli Parece
Kelli has been a long time Woodville volunteer who is moving up to the Galvin School with her youngest child. She started volunteering in 2004 and continues through today. She has volunteered by coordinating the Woodville library schedule and volunteers --- not an easy task!, chairing the cultural arts program, chairing the guest reader program, being a room parent, lunch duty, car door opening and a field trip chaperone. Also, at the Galvin, Mrs. Parece has been a field trip chaperone and participated in the kickball tournament and field day. Kelli loves having her children enrolled in public school and loves to be involved in their children’s education. The admirable thing about Kelli is that she volunteers to benefit ALL the students at the school. She had learned so many things about herself as a person from both the students and the type of work that she’s been doing in the schools. She is very grateful to the staff and PTO colleagues for entrusting her with the roles that she’s held. In my opinion, our schools are a better place because of Kelli’s selfless involvement.
Jeff Wardwell
Jeff is a mentor with the Wakefield Adult Mentoring program based in Wakefield. WAM trains mentors to link with students in our schools to provide positive adult influences on our students. Jeff has been a mentor to one of our students and has created such a wonderful bond with him. In addition to visiting the child in the school and touching base with the academic team regarding how he can help support the student, Jeff takes the child to weekly basketball practices and games along with other community events. His dedication to this student and the student’s academic and social well-being is to be honored!
