The Avon Board of Education thanked Nancy Boccuzzio, executive assistant to the superintendent, at her last board meeting Tuesday night as she prepares for a new job out of the public education realm.
"It will allow me to focus on human resources, which is what I really want to do," Boccuzzio, of Southington, said.
Boccuzzio will take on a human resources role created just for her at Lane Construction Corp. in Cheshire, a nationwide builder of bridges and other large projects that is starting to expand internationally. She said that one of the draws of the company was its emphasis on employee wellness.
"They walk it and talk it," Boccuzzio said.
Ironically, she said, her office will be across from Cox Communications, where she used to tape a public affairs talk show she hosted called Community Focus. The show brought national and statewide issues down to the local level, she said. She interviewed everyone from politicians like former Gov. John Rowland and Sen. Lieberman to engineers at the LEGO factory in Enfield. There, she also did live election coverage for Meriden, Cheshire and Southington.
She still has a connection to journalism, doing occasional freelance work for the Record-Journal in Meriden, namely writing an annual feature about her hometown's UNICO Gold Medal of Honor recipient. Prior to working in Avon, she wrote a community-based opinion piece.
Former Avon superintendent David Erwin hired her from her role as human resources director in Berlin Public Schools before leaving Avon to become chief of schools in Berlin.
"It became my passion," Boccuzzio said of human resources work, who said her job was to support the teachers and administrators, as "the theme of a school district is teaching and learning."
She worked alongside Jody Goeler when he stepped up from assistant superintendent to temporarily fill Erwin's place. When Goeler left to lead Region 14, she assisted Superintendent Gary Mala from March 2011 to the present.
"I will miss public education," Boccuzzio said. "I truly enjoyed my work with district administrators...and interactions with the board."
Boccuzzio's last day is next Thursday.
