Date: Fri 06-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-teacher-Mastrocinque

Full Text:

Vo-Tech Teacher of the Year: "We Give Them Options"

(with cut)

BY DOROTHY EVANS

You would think that after a 22-year stint teaching vocational technology to

high school students, Adell Mastrocinque would be fast approaching the burnout

stage.

Or at least, that she would be thinking seriously about taking early

retirement.

On the contrary, Mrs Mastrocinque, who is now in her 19th year at

Bullard-Havens Tech in Bridgeport, says she is just hitting her stride.

Full of enthusiasm for her work and enjoying the satisfaction of seeing former

students succeed after graduation, Mrs Mastrocinque, a Newtown resident, feels

there are still goals to be accomplished.

At the same time, her teaching experience and her enthusiasm have both been

recognized by her colleagues, who have nominated her for Connecticut State

Teacher of the Year.

After reviewing 17 other nominees for the statewide honor, Governor John

Rowland has agreed that Adell Mastrocinque is deserving of the award for her

work teaching physical education and life skills.

Accordingly, the governor named her state vo-tech teacher during a November 18

ceremony at the Bushnell in Hartford and presented her with a special plaque.

Unaccustomed As She Is...

Finding out about the award -- and the speech she must give this spring -- was

something of a shock, Mrs Mastrocinque said.

"When they called to tell me, I didn't believe it. `Can you put someone on

[the phone] that I know,' I asked them."

Ever since receiving the award, she has been wondering what she would say at

the awards dinner scheduled in May at the Old State House.

"That gives me a long time to think about it," Mrs Mastrocinque joked.

Attendees might want to hear some sort of a philosophical statement on her two

decades at Bullard-Havens Tech, she figured, but "after 20 years, there are

just too many things... too much to say. I want to keep it simple," she added.

One area she will certainly touch upon, however, is that people do not

generally understand what vocational education is.

"It's misunderstood. I want people to realize that our students earn a full

high school diploma, but at the same time they become certified in a trade

area that may qualify them for apprenticeship."

"We give them direction, options," Mrs Mastrocinque said.

A Trade Can Help

When they have completed their vo-tech course of studies, "these kids can

really do amazing things."

"They build houses. They cook dinners, and they even make wedding cakes. For

example, our school has the only [school] bakery in the state. I work across

the hall and let me tell you, it's painful with all those wonderful smells to

keep right on working," she laughed.

One 1983 vo-tech graduate went on to law school and completely paid for her

education while "doing hair."

Another graduate was able to pay for his master's degree in architectural

drafting by working as an electrician, a craft he learned in vo-tech school.

"Perhaps they are asking themselves, `What am I going to do with my life?' We

try to help them in many ways -- everything from correcting their English to

teaching them how to weld one pipe to the next so water will flow through a

house."

The Mastrocinque family has lived in Newtown, on Well's Road, for the past 11

years. Nicholas Mastrocinque is an employee of Sikorsky Aircraft. Their

daughter, Sasha, is a sixth grader at Newtown Middle School and a son, Thomas,

is in the first grade at Landmark Academy in Wilton.

Mrs Mastrocinque said also that she is "heavily involved" in Girl Scouts in

Newtown.