May 6, 2002 3 min read

The Fayette Chamber of Commerce will recognize eight local educators as the 2001-2002 “Educators of the Year” at a reception Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Uniontown Holiday Inn. Sponsored by the Fayette Chamber of Commerce in Uniontown, with cooperation from the chambers of commerce in Brownsville and Connellsville, the educator awards honor an individual from each Fayette County school district who embodies the qualities of “excellence in teaching.”

This year’s Educators of the Year are: Diane Guappone, band director, Albert Gallatin South Middle School; Tricia Rohlf, ninth-grade English, Brownsville High School; Donald Grenaldo, computer literacy instructor, Connellsville Junior High East; LaVerne Love, kindergarten to fifth-grade learning support teacher, Perry Elementary School, Frazier; Marti Hill, math teacher, Laurel Highlands Junior High School (sponsored by Robert and Marilyn Garbart); Craig Cheselske, fifth-grade teacher, Marclay Elementary School, Uniontown (sponsored by Laurel Business Institute); Gerald Petrucci, building construction occupations instructor, Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School (sponsored by Verizon Communications); and Marvin Hughes, support personnel, George J. Plava Elementary School, Albert Gallatin.

Honorees are chosen from nominations submitted to the Fayette Chamber by other teachers, students, parents or administrators. Final selections were made by a committee of the Fayette Chamber’s education council and other local business people, based on their assessment of the individuals’ contributions to education, professional activities, extracurricular activities, strengths in teaching, involvement in the community and impact on students.

The education council sponsors the awards to highlight the work that teachers do throughout the year.

“This isn’t a voting process, like the Academy Awards,” said Muriel J. Nuttall, chamber executive director. “It’s not scientific. It doesn’t compare all educators, only those for whom we receive nominations. It’s not based on how long the individual has ‘paid their dues in the system.’ These awardees are the ones whose teaching and actions made an impact, so much so that their students and peers took the time to write about them.”

“Each year, we consistently receive more nominations than the prior year,” said co-reception coordinator Kathy Dowling. “You could tell that a lot of time and thought went into these letters. Many were very moving.”

This year’s awards committee included at-large community representatives; business people with previous experience in secondary, post-secondary and corporate education; parents of students in the public schools; a special education teacher; and a retired education administrator. The committee was evenly balanced, with individuals residing in each of the county’s school districts and from each of the cooperating chambers of commerce.