While the new school year kicked off for students on Sept. 2, teachers returned three days earlier for a three-day program to prepare them for a new classes and new students and to remind them the importance of their jobs.
To begin the program, school Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Mooney conducted a two-day orientation for teachers new to the school district, providing them with information on the various school programs offered throughout Port Washington schools, according to a news release.
The first day of the orientation concluded with a bus tour of the schools and the surrounding community, and the second day of the orientation took teachers through workshops on classroom safety and technology, the release said.
“When I consider our work as educators, I am more compelled than ever to ensure that we uncover those dark places that overshadow the inner light that every single one of our students possesses so that those talents will brighten a world still often held in the dark grip of prejudice and ignorance,” Mooney said.
During the third day of preparation, the release said, Paul D. Schreiber hosted annual faculty convocation attended by the entire teaching staff where Mooney delivered a welcoming speech.
While addressing the teachers, Mooney shared her own personal experience in which she overcame a serious heart condition and how she used it as the inspiration for the theme of this year’s conference, the release said.
“When I consider our work as educators, I am more compelled than ever to ensure that we uncover those dark places that overshadow the inner light that every single one of our students possesses so that those talents will brighten a world still often held in the dark grip of prejudice and ignorance,” Mooney said, according to the release.
Following Mooney’s address, John Perricone, the convocation’s keynote speaker and a health and psychology teacher for the last 31 years in upstate New York, also spoke to the teachers.
Perricone, the release said, told the district’s teachers that “they should continue to love what they do and bring a high level of energy to the classroom every day.”
