Sixth Grade’s Tom DeBenedetto

Named NMS Teacher Of The Year

By Jeff White

He’s only been teaching at the middle school for two years, but rumor has it that he already has a considerable following.

Sixth grade geography teacher Tom DeBenedetto – or “Mr D.” as his students fondly call him – has what could be viewed as a simple philosophy toward his teaching: make students want to learn and come to class. It seems to be working, judging by the scores of students who eat their lunches in his class and the length of the waiting list for incoming sixth graders who want him as a teacher. Word travels fast, even faster since he was named this year’s Middle School Teacher of the Year.

Mr DeBenedetto, 31, admits to surprise upon learning of this honor. Homeroom representatives for the middle school’s student council helped to bring in nominations spanning the whole school – sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. The student council looked over the names and students came in to speak about the teachers they had nominated. After sifting through the suggestions, the council voted on who should be named this year’s standout teacher.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” Mr DeBenedetto says. “All of the kids were surprised, because it was like they won the award. I think the kids were more excited than I was, because it was a reflection on them.”

“I get along well with all of the students there. I like everyone there,” he adds.

Mr DeBenedetto will tell you that he is loud, and he uses this characteristic as a selling point. He gets through to students. He engages them. He lets them know where they stand. Thanks to time spent with his mentor, middle school teacher Arlene Lathrop, he knows what kind of classroom he wants to have. Most of all, he lets his flexibility and demeanor help put students at ease.

“I knew the type of teacher I did not want to be,” he explains. “I’ve had them. I wanted to make sure I was approachable, where if students have problems they could come to me with any type of question, and they could speak freely to me as long as it was appropriate.

“I’m very disciplined in the classroom, but we have a lot of fun. I’ve always believed that students learn more if they want to be there. I think students want to come to my class. Kids say, ‘we tell you so much Mr D., you’re part our family,’ and that’s flattering.”

And just like a family member, he confides that one of the powers of his job is watching his students grow. “They come in as fifth graders, scared, and by the end of the year they’re sixth graders. You see them grow from fifth to sixth graders. It’s amazing.”

Although only holding his teaching certification for two years now, this University of Bridgeport graduate says that he has already honed his teaching style, one that is rife with games and interactive ways that reinforce lesson plans.

Being a geography teacher, he admits to having a lot of leeway in making his lessons fun. Mr DeBenedetto’s students often find themselves learning about a country’s location, population, and customs through a series of contests and games.

“Caravans” is a class favorite, in which students are grouped together for a treasure hunt. The quest for riches takes them through various countries throughout the world. Students are asked to give an oral presentation on each new country in which they arrive, complete with costumes reflecting native dress and an authentic buffet. After their oral presentation, each group gets a travel dot that allows them to continue their search through other countries.

Students who flock to Mr DeBenedetto’s classroom during recess and after school call themselves “The Mr D. Crew.” His personality – serious when he needs to be, but as often as not lighthearted and amiable – allows him to remain a role model for the students, many of whom view it as “cool” to hang out with him. Oftentimes, they are getting his lesson plans without really feeling like they are in a classroom. That is a great advantage, Mr DeBenedetto says.

It is an advantage on which Mr DeBenedetto can start to focus all of his attention starting in the fall, now that he has no more obligations to the state in terms of his certification. Every first and second year teacher in Connecticut has to work on a Beginning Education Support Team (BEST), attending seminars and completing a portfolio. It took up a lot of his time. With that behind him, Mr DeBenedetto says that he will enter next fall concentrating completely on his teaching and his students.

Mr DeBenedetto acknowledges that a lot of his success in the classroom is largely due to other great middle school teachers rubbing off on him. “The teachers at Newtown Middle school are fabulous. All of them are enthusiastic about their approach to teaching, and I think it rubs off on everybody to have that positive approach to their job,” he says.

Ask Mr DeBenedetto and he will tell you, the summer months are when he plays the waiting game. Waiting to get back to school. But he says there are plenty of things in his life to help pass the days. Besides spending time with his wife of 21/2  years, Michele, whom he calls wryly “the power behind the throne,” the Danbury resident is a 15-handicap golfer who makes his second home on the fairways of Richter Park.

He manages to supplement his golf and private time with continuing to be a mentor for one of the students with whom he has developed a special rapport.

What is the best part of his job? For Mr DeBenedetto, who has coached Pop Warner Football in town for the past two years, the answer is easy: the kids, the ones who recognized him as a superlative teacher this year.

“I can’t wait to get to school in the morning to see those kids,” he confides. “Two weeks into the summer, and I can’t wait to get back.”