Hamden's New Teacher of the Year for 2008-09
Kelly Wade - Ridge Hill - Grade Six

A quote from American writer Joseph Pearce, says “What we are teaches the child far more than what we say, so we must be what we want our children to become”. 

Because of who Kelly Wade is, she is able to model for her students and those who work with her, the qualities we hope to impart to the students we work with every day.  We want our students to be curious and inquisitive, creative and expressive, critical and independent thinkers, and most of all good and respectful people. 

Ms. Wade is a teacher whose daily actions and words reflect those qualities.  Kelly not only inspires her students to be better, but her colleagues as well.  Kelly is a teacher’s teacher.  When those of us who are educators went to school to become teachers and thought about the kind of teacher we would like to be, Kelly is kind of teacher we all hoped we’d become. 

Her creativity and ability to make learning relevant to students’ lives is rivaled only by her compassion for her students and her own personal love for learning.  From just one conversation with her you know that one of her deepest desires is that all of her students succeed academically and, more importantly, become good and respectable people. 

Her students know it, and even the younger ones, who she hasn’t taught yet, quickly recognize these qualities in her.  When students return to Ridge Hill to visit, she is without question, the first teacher they ask to see.  Obvious evidence of what a wonderful teacher she had been to them!  She is one who is never afraid to open her heart, poke fun about herself, or fight the good fight, if it means her students get the point or the lesson she wants them to learn. 

Kelly has been a teacher since 1997. She has spent all of her teaching years in Hamden Public Schools teaching fifth and sixth grades at Dunbar Hill and Ridge Hill Schools. She earned her BA in English from Southern Connecticut State University and her Master’s in Elementary Education from the University of New Haven. Kelly is a native of New Haven and still resides there.

Kelly’s classroom is adorned with a poster which reflects her approach to teaching and learning.

“In this classroom, everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher.”

If ever you want to see an extraordinary teacher in action, stop by the Apollo unit at Ridge Hill School and look for Ms. Wade.  She will be the one who has all of her students engaged and excited about learning.