- April 26, 2024
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Colleen Fonte, a fourth-grade teacher at Imagine School at Town Center, was named Imagine School's National Teacher of the Year. Photo by Jacque Estes
Fourth-grade teacher Colleen Fonte goes over an end of the year project with student Lily Puritis. Photo by Jacque Estes
Imagine School at Town Center, fourth-grade teacher Colleen Fonte wasn't suspicious when, the night before the school Fun Run Day, she was asked to dress up because a reporter was going to interview her.
She wasn't suspicious when she was told there was an FSA pep rally, or even when, as Regional Teacher of the Year, she was asked up onto the stage.
“Then it hit me what was really happening,” Fonte said. “I looked out and saw the CEO of Imagine (Schools) waking down the path, and my father, my parents..., my husband was hiding – that's when I realized, it's not for Regional Teacher of the Year, and they announced I had won National Teacher of the Year.”
Fonte said she was happy they suggested she dress up that day.
“If I had accepted the National Teacher of the Year in T-shirt and shorts I would not have been happy,” she laughed.
Fonte began teaching at Imagine School at Town Center five years ago. Principal James Menard was a third grade teacher at the time, and on the hiring committee.
“We were together on the third grade team,” Menard said. “She is so dynamic and so passionate with her students. She will do anything to help her students succeed, and that's ultimately what makes a good teacher.”
Fonte said she was awestruck that she had been selected from all of the Imagine Schools nationwide.
“There are 67 Imagine Schools in the nation, an it's quite an honor to be recognized as top teacher,” Menard said.
Along with teaching 22 fourth-graders, Fonte serves as a team lead, the education director for the Intermediate Academy, and sponsors the Builders Club associated with the Kiwanis.
Her summer break will include some time with her family on vacation, but she also expects to work one or two days a week, preparing for the next school year.
“I think it's a misconception that teachers don't work holidays, breaks and over the summer,” Fonte said. “That is so far from true.”
