Educator Spotlight: Garritano & McEwen
Educator Spotlight: Garritano & McEwen
Congratulations to Lakewood High English teacher Amy Garritano and Lakewood High cafeteria lead Kerry McEwen on being named our May Educator Spotlight honorees! Please click on Read More to learn more about these two exemplary LHS staff members!
KERRY MCEWEN
It’s been a long while since the Nutrition Services Department has had new leadership at its helm. A change of the reigns often means a change in operations. As cafeteria lead at Lakewood High School, Kerry McEwen has adjusted to these changes using her best Vision of a Lakewood Educator qualities such as collaboration, communication and a growth mindset.
“Kerry has been tremendously helpful during the transition to a new Nutrition Services admin team,” says new Nutrition Services supervisor Jacob Green, Kerry’s nominator. “Kerry is known to go above and beyond by helping and providing guidance to many different Nutrition Services leads throughout the District.”
Kerry, who has been with the District since 2005, has the difficult task of producing the most meals out of any of our schools and she does so smoothly and efficiently. When the new Nutrition Services leaders completely revamped the lunch menu, Kerry and her team tapped into their growth mindset and didn’t miss a step even with the significant increase in the number of lunches sold due to the new menu items. Learning to cook the new food was an adjustment but Kerry said it was worth it to see the kids excited about the changes.
Kerry says collaboration and communication are key to managing the kitchen and two serving lines that now provide approximately 800 lunches a day. Having been with the District for nearly 20 years, Kerry has her job down pat and she enjoys sharing her knowledge with her lead counterparts at the other buildings. Kerry attributes her success in great part to her staff and was particularly grateful for them during remote learning when the Nutrition Services continued to make lunch and breakfast available to students.
Thank you, Kerry, for helping to provide a critical need for our students that allows them to be successful during the school day!
AMY GARRITANO
Lakewood High AP Language and Composition teacher Amy Garritano exhibits all of our Vision of a Lakewood Educator competencies, but she is partial to one in particular.
“My personal philosophy is that having a growth mindset is everything,” says Amy, who has been teaching AP Lang at LHS since 2011 following a successful career as a financial analyst. As anyone who has tried writing knows, it’s a continually evolving process and Amy strives to instill that growth mindset in her students.
“There is always something to learn, something to refine, something to rip up, throw away and start over,” she says.
Amy wants the best for her students and gives of her time outside the classroom to mentor and encourage her students to share their writing through various local, regional and national contests. Each school year, Amy’s students earn honors in these competitions, including a student’s essay being published in the New York Times recently and four of her students sweeping this year’s Rotary Club speech contest.
Amy’s passion for words and desire to mentor students in the classroom and beyond led her to leave the banking world for teaching and it's the words that help her build connections with her students.
“Our connections grow through their writing. Because ours is a course that deals with timely, topical, real-world considerations, I am lucky to be able to get to know my students on a different level,” says Amy, who often reaps the rewards of these connections years later when former students share their post-graduation successes with her.
Amy’s nominator, English Department facilitator Jennifer Lewis, admires Amy’s dedication to her students. Says Jennifer: “Amy Garritano's commitment to helping our students develop skills necessary for student success goes way beyond the classroom.! Hats off to a great educator and an asset to the high school English Department!”