JPS Teachers Win Unsung Heroes Award

EDISON, NJ — A group of teachers from J.P. Stevens were honored with Voya Financial's 2018 Unsung Heroes Award, a program that awards grants for innovative teaching programs.

Teachers Heather Guas, Patricia D'Alessio, Lisa Dato, Anthony DiPalo, Julie Jirout, Heather Reusch, Reena Pawar, and principal Gail Pawlikowski were honored with the award for their work on the “Future 10 Leadership Project."

Voya provided a description of the "Future 10" program:

“Future 10” aims to support and develop "average" students who have been identified as having leadership potential, but may otherwise be relegated by feelings of disconnect from the school community, socio-economic disadvantages, or a lack of motivation. Through this exercise and the activities that follow, students involved in the project will learn to collaborate with people who do not approach challenges in the same way, as well as identify the strengths in all people. Each week the group will participate in one-hour sessions focused on leadership skills including active listening, collaboration, mindfulness and stress reduction, and public speaking. These sessions will also include time for feedback and reflection in an effort to strengthen group cohesiveness and culture.

The staff were awarded a $2,000 grant in recognition of their work. One hundred winners were selected out of 1,200 applicants. They will now be considered for an additional $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000 grant.

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