Patty Tramonto, Golden Apple Award Winner
By: Kevin Doran
Updated: January 18, 2010
"What are we looking for guys?... Onomatopoeia." Greece Apollo English Teacher Patty Tramonto is always "looking" for ways to do her job better.
Apollo Principal Linda Pickering says, "Patty is a teacher who has been teaching about 16 years. And each and every year she changes her approach to meet the needs of our students."
6th grader Connor Brock had a major turning point when Mrs. Tramonto introduced him to a book. "I never really liked to read books because I thought it was all boring and there's no such thing as a good book. But when she introduced me to a series called Crispon, I loved the book." Connor asked us to help him thank Mrs. Tramonto for sparking his love of reading.
"Mrs. Tramonto, surprise! You are the winner of a Golden Apple Award for being a great teacher!" "Oh my goodness!" "Congratulations." "Thank you. Oooh. Thank you very much."
In Patty Tramonto's classroom all learning starts with respect. "I think that if I first respect my kids then I get respect back." And she says part of respecting students is understanding them. "I think in middle school you really have to kind of earn, you have to get it into their heads and remember what it's like to be in middle school. Kevin said, "Well a lot of students love you a lot and thank you for being a great teacher." "Oh thank you so much it's an honor thank you."
Patty Tramonto is a News 8 Golden Apple Award Winner. You can read the letter Connor wrote nominating his favorite teacher below.
Dear Channel 8,
I would like to nominate Mrs. Patty Tramonto of Apollo Middle School for her great work at being a 6th grade E.L.A teacher. She was my home room teacher for 6th grade she had a way of explaining things like no one else could.
Before I met Mrs. Tramonto I only read books for projects now I am reading the sequel to the book we read in class. She always had my and all her students best interests in mind the content of her units were fun and had all the knowledge needed. And when we went on breaks I missed being in her class. She rewarded the good students and never had to punish a student. I'm sure many other students have an amazing amount of respect for her.
Above all, I feel that Mrs. Tramonto has provided me invaluable skills which I will use for the rest of my life. That is why I would like to nominate Mrs. Tramonto for a golden apple award.
Sincerely,
Connor Brock
Apollo Middle School


