Saint Francis honors five outstanding educators
Kruise Vescovi
Sutton
Porta
McNitt
Hunter
Kruise Vescovi
Sutton
Porta
McNitt
Hunter
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LORETTO -- Saint Francis University presented the Dr. John Powers Outstanding Educator Award to five educators during its President's Awards Convocation on April 26.
The recipients were:
Kierstyn M. Kruise Vescovi, a speech-language pathologist at Central Cambria Elementary School, where she works with students to prevent, assess, diagnose and treat speech, language, social communication and cognitive-communication disorders.
Robert Sutton, who has taught in Pittsburgh and Chicago before returning to central Pennsylvania, where he has been for the past 16 years. He is currently a theology instructor and campus minister at Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School.
Cummins McNitt, who took a mid-life turn toward education. After getting a variety of degrees and working in the field of history, he returned to SFU for his teaching certification and began teaching at Tyrone Area High School in 2007, where he has been involved in creating many committees dealing with issues of diversity, school climate, discipline, student community service and the Positive Behaviors and Interventions Supports program. He teaches human geography, economics, U.S. history and a dual enrollment geography course.
Laura Porta is the fourth-grade learning support teacher and third-grade Virtual Academy instructor at Chestnut Ridge School District, where she has worked for the past 17 years. In addition, she became certified to teach English as a Second Language.
Zachary Hunter, a social studies teacher at Conemaugh Valley Junior-Senior High School since 2007, has been involved with different activities and sports throughout his career. In 2010, Hunter became an English as a Second Language program specialist, which he calls one of his proudest career achievements.
Saint Francis established the Dr. John Powers Outstanding Educator Award to honor the memory of the late John Powers, who began his 30 years of teaching in Loretto in 1946.
Originally hired by the Franciscans to teach history, Powers accepted the chairmanship of the Education Department within a few years and earned his doctorate in that field from Penn State University in 1956.