NATIONAL RENAISSANCE STAFFULTY OF THE MONTH: NOVEMBER – FLORINA MERTURI

This month we are pleased to honor a yearbook adviser, Florina Merturi from Academy of Information Technology & Engineering in Connecticut, because of her ability to consistently act on the Renaissance Rs in her classroom.

Nominator Zachary Frattaroli gives a good idea of what it is like in Florina’s classroom through his nomination (lightly edited).

“I believe that Mrs. Merturi deserves to be the National Staffulty member of the month because she follows the 5 R’s of Jostens Renaissance. The first R is Respect. She shows respect in many different ways. I think the biggest way she shows respect is by allowing us to come to her if we need to talk to her something personal and will respect our wishes to keep it between herself. She makes you feel comfortable talking to her and she will never deny you the opportunity to talk to her.

“The next R that she follows is Recognize. When she recognizes that you’re doing a great job on an assignment for her or for another class, she will tell you how great you are doing and when a teacher says that without you expecting it, you feel something else. You feel special inside and she makes everyone feel special around her.

“The next R she demonstrates is Reward. Not many teachers at the high school level believe in awards or special things, but with Mrs. Merturi, she will reward you for going above and beyond the asked task. If the whole class did excellent on an assignment she will give us a week off of homework. She is very rewarding to her students which makes her lovable to everyone.

“The next R she demonstrates is Reinforce. She has her set rules in her classroom, and if someone doesn’t follow them she makes sure she reinforces her rules so people know to follow the rules. Her rules are in place to keep us safe and to enjoy our class time. They aren’t crazy rules like no cell phones or no getting up out of your seat. They are more like ‘treat others the way you want to be treated’ or ‘everyone has their own opinion and we must respect that opinion.’ It’s a safe space in her classroom and everyone enjoys being there.

“The final R she demonstrates is Results. This is the biggest one I believe she works towards. She works with 30+ high school students to build a 90-page yearbook each year, making sure there are no mistakes, everything is aligned perfectly and every student had a chance to work on the yearbook. The amount of time she puts into the yearbook and when it’s all done – her reward is seeing the final product and seeing what we learned over the past year when working on the yearbook. The smiles that are on the students’ faces when the yearbook is finished is what she loves to see. I wouldn’t give the nomination to anyone else in the world because of how hard working, kind, respectful and how cool Mrs. Merturi is.”

Mrs. Merturi will receive a tote bag and a lapel pin to recognize her achievement.

To nominate someone in your school for the National Renaissance Staffulty of the Month honor, click here

 

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