At the annual โExcellence in Educationโ awards banquet to be held February 28, Hillsborough County Public Schools announced the school districtโs 2017 Teacher of the Year.
Although she did not win, one of this yearโs six finalists was Carrie Donatelli, a kindergarten teacher at Turner/Bartels K-8 School in New Tampa.
โJust to be one of six finalists in Hillsborough County, which is one of the largest school districts in the country, is such a huge honor,โ Donatelli said. โItโs very humbling.โ
Donatelli has been teaching for 16 years, with the last four years being at Turner/Bartels. She says she loves teaching at the school because of its commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), and she serves on the schoolโs technology committee, which is currently working to design โcapstone projectsโ to determine what kids at each grade level should be able to do using technology.
โIn kindergarten, itโs things like turning on the computer and logging on to websites,โ Donatelli says. โBut, by the eighth grade, these kids are doing some amazing things.โ
Her supervisor is Turner-Bartels assistant principal Lara Barone.
โ(Carrie) does great innovative things, different than what you would expect in a typical classroom,โ Barone says. โShe wants her kids to be citizens of the world, so her kids have Skyped with people around the world.โ
Donatelli also uses technology to strengthen the bond between home and the classroom. For example, she posts pictures of her class to a private Instagram page. โIt gives the parents a window into their kidsโ class,โ she says.
In fact, while it seems schools are increasingly focused on testing, and technology plays an integral part in Donatelliโs classroom, neither test results nor technology are what Donatelli says is her biggest goal.
โThe most important thing is that my students know I care about them,โ she says. โIโm here for them, whatever they need. My classroom is very structured and has high expectations, but itโs also very loving and caring.โ
Clearly, her students feel the love. Barone says Donatelli is often requested as a teacher and Donatelli says she is now teaching younger siblings of previous students, and strives to maintain relationships with those families. In 2015, she was invited to a high school graduation for a girl who was in her very first kindergarten class. โItโs pretty cool to maintain those relationships,โ she says.
Barone says that, in addition to Donatelli being a natural leader and someone who can always be counted on at the school level to go above and beyond, she also has shown a commitment to the next generation of educators.
โShe is a great mentor to interns, and is able to mold and help shape some of our future teachers,โ Barone says. โHer past intern is now a teacher in the classroom right next door to hers.โ
Donatelli credits those around her, including Barone and her former-intern-turned-next-door-neighbor, for helping her students succeed in a great educational environment.
โI donโt do this job alone,โ says Donatelli. โItโs an amazing school with amazing teachers. We collaborate well and work well together, and weโre all here for the kids.โ