EAST LONGMEADOW –  Annually the Harold Grinspoon Foundation awards educators from each district in Western Massachusetts with the “Excellence in Teaching Award” in an effort to honor and motivate teachers of all career stages for their hard work.  This year, three veterans teachers and one new teacher from East Longmeadow were chosen for this distinction.

New special educator at the East Longmeadow High School Stephanie Mailman, along with veteran Mapleshade Elementary School fourth grade teacher Renee Levesque, veteran first grade educator at Meadow Brook Elementary School Joanne Hasbrouck and veteran physical education teacher at Meadow Brook Barbara Selvey were all chosen as the 2018 East Longmeadow recipients for the award.

This year is the 15th year the Harold Grinspoon Foundation has honored teachers for their work, and in total more than 1,250 have received this award.  To win, a teacher must reach above and beyond the required teaching job, demonstrate collaboration and cooperation, show his/her own professional development and show other outstanding qualities that set them apart.

Each of the East Longmeadow teachers were nominated by their fellow educators for this prestigious honor based on the criteria they feel the educator reflects each day in and out of the classroom.

“It’s a special honor for us, it really is, because our colleagues voted for us,” Hasbrouck said.

The recipients will receive two tickets to a private gala reception, two tickets to the awards banquet, a prize check of $500, an award plaque, course tuition at a participating college or university, one year membership to WGBY, a membership for a limited time at a participating YMCA and at the Springfield Jewish Community Center, among other gifts.

In a release Harold Grinspoon said, “It’s amazing the difference a great teacher can make in a child’s life – someone who cares, motivates and inspires. How lucky we are that the schools in our Valley have so many of these incredibly wonderful human beings. Along with my partners at the Davis Foundation and MassMutual, I am thrilled that we are able to honor over a hundred talented local educators every spring.”

On May 10 at 6 p.m. at the Log Cabin in Holyoke Mailman, Levesque, Hasbrouck and Selvey will be honored among the other Grinspoon Excellence in Teaching Award winners.