Teacher of the Year: Judy Butterly

 The week before school closed last spring, Judy Butterly received a call from Deputy Superintendent Bill Glass, Ed.D, and with all the budget cuts and early retirements, Butterly figured her long teaching tenure had finally come to an end. Instead, she was told by Dr. Glass that she had been voted as Teacher of the Year for 2011-2012.

 Bill Santarsiero, principal of the Morris Street School, said, “She is always the most humble and effective of teachers. This award could have gone to her years ago.”

 Teaching has been Butterly's love for many years, and in particular, she favors the grade she has taught for the majority of her years.

 “It's a lot of fun to teach this age group,” Butterly said. “The kids are a lot different from the beginning of the year to the end. They go from not reading at all to becoming pretty good readers, and not being able to do any math, to adding and subtracting. They are doing a lot of skill building, and I would imagine that the progress is a lot less dramatic in the other age groups.”

 “First graders are excited about everything; about making new friends, what they can learn. You can do a lot with them,” Butterly said.

 Butterly has been teaching for 48 years, and has been at Morris Street since 1981. “It was a very different era when I started teaching,” she said. “There was a shortage of teachers back then and when I was hired to teach in Danbury, they asked me which school I wanted to teach. We lived across the street from Morris Street, so it was very easy. I was very fortunate, because it has always been kind of a secret. When I first went there, it didn't have a great reputation.”

 The Morris Street School has grown and changed in many ways, most notably, it has become a very high achieving, award winning, school. “Our principal is wonderful,” Butterly said. “He's very willing to let you do what you think is right. In other places there are so many directives it could drive you crazy.”

 “I think we have lost our minds about some of the things they focus on now. Many of the people making policies, and government making directives, maybe they put too much on kids too soon. The things they have kids doing in first grade are things they used to do in second or third. Well, the pendulum always swings back, and maybe this era of push, push, push and test, test, test will end and people will let kids develop at their own pace.”

 When asked why she thought she won the award, she said, “I wonder if longevity played a part. I have been very dedicated to what I do.”

 Butterly's talents have never gonme unnoticed. One of her peers, Laura Mead, said, “You have selected an excellent teacher. Judy Butterly is the most patient person I have ever met. Her dedication to each child makes them feel like they are the most important children in the world. In her time at Morris Street, she has taught multiple generations.”

 Mead said that teaching was not the only handy gift Butterly possessed. “Judy also has the gift of prognostication. If you call her at 9 p.m. the night before, she will tell you whether or not there will be school the next day. She has a 100% accuracy rate. I call her my mother on earth.”

 Students in Butterly's class sing her the highest praise of all, and prove that Butterly has what it takes to inspire her students. “Mrs Butterly knows all the rules. She is nice and kind,” said Sharlene Huaman, 7, leaning forward over her desk with excitement.

 “She knows all about spelling, and she is the best teacher,” said Gavin Hodgetts, 7.

 “She makes me smarter,” Cloe Wang, 6, said.

 “It's nice to know that people you respect think highly of you. It's a nice honor to have.”

 Butterly said that she has no plans to retire anytime soon. “I am staying in it as long as it's fun, and I have always said that until someone walks in and says, You taught my grandmother. When that happens, I will know it's time to quit.”

 Don't count on it though, as that may actually have happened this year.