Gilroy
– School was difficult for her. She couldn’t concentrate in
class and test taking was a nightmare. She was put in closets, sent
out into the hallways – ignored. Now, she’s Teacher of the
Year.
Gilroy – School was difficult for her. She couldn’t concentrate in class and test taking was a nightmare. She was put in closets, sent out into the hallways – ignored. Now, she’s Teacher of the Year.
Denise Dromensk, a sixth grade math teacher at Brownell Academy, was named Teacher of the Year May 23 for district 13 in Santa Clara County.
“I don’t expect these things,” Dromensk said. “I am not a reward person.”
She was hand selected by Senator Elaine Alquist, competing against teachers from San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View and Sunnyvale for the honor, marking the first time the senate recognized Teachers of the Year.
Dromensk was recognized on the senate assembly floor in Sacramento.
“The last time I (was there) in fifth grade they kicked me out!” she laughed.
Dromensk also was chosen to represent Gilroy Unified School District at the 36th annual Teacher Recognition Program sponsored by the Santa Clara County of Education in September.
Teachers and administrators nominate other teachers for recognition. The district’s final representative is selected by past Gilroy Teachers of the Year.
“Denise goes the extra mile on a regular basis,” said Brownell principal Suzanne Damm who accompanied her to the award’s ceremony in Sacramento.
Dromensk was recognized at a recent GUSD board meeting for her achievements and was also named the district’s Teacher of the Year.
“I feel like I’m ignored for 29 years and now I’m it,” she laughed.
Damm explained to the audience the impact Dromensk’s impact has on her students.
“You see the seventh and eighth graders stopping by to see how she’s doing,” she said. “Every decision she makes is based on what’s best for her students.”
The audience enthusiastically applauded Dromensk who stood modestly off to the side of the podium, and when asked if she wanted to make a speech, she raced to the back of the boardroom murmuring about being better with students.
Dromensk has taught in GUSD for the past 29 years, and currently teaches all math levels from intervention to accelerated. This year, she took on the role of math chair and started mentoring new teachers in the district.
Dromensk attends to the need of each student making certain they understand the material, Damm said.
“I just love it when they get it,” Dromensk said. “Hardly anybody wants to do math – and I don’t know why.”
According to Damm, Dromensk developed a color coded seating chart to track students’ progress throughout the year.
She never sends students out of the classroom for any reason.
“It makes me shiver when I see that,” she said. “(They’ll) not going to learn anything out there.”
And Dromensk would know.
Growing up with an undiagnosed learning disability, she was often sent from the classroom.
“I don’t even remember why,” she said.
Because test taking was overwhelming and she couldn’t focus in class, she fell behind with her school work. Dromensk’s mother, a teacher, pulled her into her own sixth grade classroom to get her back on track.
Every summer afterward she attended summer school. It wasn’t until she was in college at San Jose State that everything clicked.
“I always tell kids, “Just hang in there. Go to college,’ ” she said. “I think that’s why they feel good in here and safe because they know I’ve been through it.”
