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Health & Fitness

Distinguished Student Gets Head Start to Career

“Tonya Hagler has the heart of a teacher,” said her Child Development and Education teacher Virginia Gertling. Tonya was recently named October’s Distinguished Student of the Month at The Tech Center at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES, an honor bestowed upon Tech’s best and brightest.

A senior at Brewster High School, Tonya is in her second year in the Child Development program at Tech. Gertling observed Tonya’s passion for teaching last year, when Tonya assisted in Tech’s Teens and Tots preschool program for children aged three to five.

“If a child came in out of sorts, Tonya was immediately on it,” said Ms. Gertling. “She would find out what was wrong, bring it to my attention, and then come up with ways to remedy the situation in the best way possible.”

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Tonya redirected the young students to the toy area if they were sad about separating from their parents. If they were tired, she would have them color; or if they were having a bad day she would read them a story and talk to them.

In the Child Development and Education program at Tech, Tonya is interning in a classroom this year, helping out in the math department of her home school. Coupled with her work in the Teens and Tots program last year, Tonya’s got a head start in her college career.

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“I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was three,” Tonya said, “so this program has been so helpful because it really gives you a lot of experience working with children. I’ve learned how to make lesson plans, how to organize crafts and activities, plus the experience of being in the classroom has been great.”

It’s not just preparedness that made Tonya Gertling’s choice for distinguished student. “Tonya is not only an excellent, well organized student, but she cares about people and is really good at meeting students’ emotional needs,” Gertling said.

As if interning in the Math department at Brewster High School as part of her Tech responsibilities isn’t enough, Tonya also works five days a week after school at a daycare center.

“I have a wonderful group of students in my program,” said Gertling, “and you would think that would have made it difficult for me to choose a student of distinction. But Tonya really stands head and shoulders above any other student. She cares not only about the children she works with but also her peers in the classroom.” Tonya was recognized at a recent Brewster Board of Education meeting at which she was presented with a medal and certificate.

 

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