Avon Educator Named Connecticut Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist

John Mason may be Avon Teacher of the Year and one of the few Connecticut Teacher of the Year semi-finalists Avon Public Schools has seen in recent history, but the humble Avon Middle School science teacher doesn't see it as an award solely honoring him.

"I am honored to be a semi-finalist," Mason wrote in an email to Avon Patch. "I really don't view this as an individual award as much as I see it as an opportunity to represent the phenomenal teaching and learning that happens in the Avon Public Schools."

The last Avon teacher to be a semi-finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year was former Avon High School theater director Doreen Cohn in 2004, according to Avon Superintendent Gary Mala.

As one of 16 semifinalists in the state, Mason interviewed at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Thursday morning "in an effort to become one of the four state finalists," he said.

But, again, for Mason, it isn't about him.

"This is as good a time as any to clarify something - that applause was not for one person, it was for every educator in this room," Mason said in his back-to-school speech at convocation on Sept. 18. "This award is about all of the great teaching and learning that happen in our schools."

He also expressed gratitude to his family for their support, including his wife, Jenny, who is teaching kindergarten for her second year at Roaring Brook School and his kids, Noah, Josh and Emma. His three kids are already invested in their education, donating $150 to the Avon Education Foundation through the sale of eggs in their small business called Noah's Hen House.

That real-life application of education is something he carries into the classrooms.

"John Mason brings the perfect blend of passion for teaching, integrity, and knowledge of young adolescent learners," Avon Middle School Principal Marco Famiglietti said. "He is held in the highest regards by his students, their parents, and his colleagues. He is one of our finest teachers here at AMS and in Avon."

Mason doesn't forget the teachers who started him on his journey of learning. He encouraged his peers at convocation to think about a teacher that really had an effect on them.

"I want to offer special thanks to Elena O’Brien, Avon teacher Annie O’Brien’s mother-in-law, who was my fifth grade teacher and all-time favorite," Mason said at convocation. "Mrs. O’Brien, as I will always call her, inherited a shy and somewhat underachieving fifth grader, but saw my potential, and brought out a confidence in the classroom that has stayed with me to this day."

Mason said he became a teacher by accident. First, he was a lobbyist for the National Wildlife Federation in Washington D.C. Then he drove out west in his station wagon with a mountain bike and a kayak on the roof. He landed in Utah and became a river and backpacking guide. Within six months, he was hired as a science teacher at Colorado Academy in Denver. In 2001, he joined the Avon Middle School staff as a science teacher.

But it is the knowledge and talent of his colleagues that he marvels most of all, so much so that he has spent September observing other teachers' classes for the first time in his 12 years at the middle school.

"So here’s my last thought- sometime this year- go visit a colleague’s class, and invite them into yours in return," he told faculty at convocation. "Be a resource for each other. Kick up the level of collegiality a notch. You will learn something, it will prompt some interesting discussion, and I’m willing to bet you will be as inspired as I have been these past two weeks!"