Teacher savors “Most Valuable Educator” award from Red Sox

Teacher Joe Colombo, Kyle Atwood (wearing red and white face paint) and Wally the Green Monster are on the big screen in center field before a game at Fenway Park in August.

By Alice Waugh

The Lincoln School’s Joe Colombo finds teaching pretty rewarding, but he never thought he’d get a Most Valuable Educator award from the Boston Red Sox.

MVE winners are selected based on essays that students submit to nominate a favorite teacher. Kyle Atwood, a fifth-grader this year, nominated Colombo (who teaches third grade) to recognize the help and guidance he got from his former teacher through the Lincoln School’s Academic Mentoring Program. At Fenway, Colombo and Kyle participated in a pregame ceremony in August where they read portions of Kyle’s essay and then got to watch the game from seats behind home plate.

“He helps me after school with homework and encourages me to be my best. While other teachers take a break, Mr. C. invites kids to have lunch with him. We all race to get there,” Kyle wrote in his essay. “Mr. C. told us at the end of 3rd grade he will always be here for us because he cares about us. He has been there for me all the time. He asks how I am doing, not just in school but in life. He cares if kids are happy or sad.”

The mentoring program matches adults in the Lincoln School with children to ensure that every child can have a trusted adult in the school who is not his or her current teacher. Secretaries, custodians, classroom assistants, school-based administrators, Central Office administrators, and other staff members may serve as mentors. Mentors spend time with their mentees during lunch, recess, or before and after school to develop a caring, supportive relationship, explained Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall.

“Our goal is to ensure that every student has a trusted adult that they can go to for guidance and support in the school building. Over time, mentors are able to engage students in conversations about their experience in school and their academic work,” McFall said. Research indicates that when students feel connected to an adult in the school, they’re more academically successful, she noted.

Eighth-grade teacher Steve Cullen has been the primary mentor coordinator since the program was launched at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year. In 2013-14, 48 adults mentored 59 students in grades K-8; those numbers rose to 56 adults and 72 students in 2014-15.

When Colombo got the email notifying him that he had won the MVE award, he didn’t know what to make of it at first. “I initially thought it was some kind of contest where a winner gets “picked from a hat,” or maybe even a spam email,” he said. “Then as I read on, it said, ‘Out of all the submissions, we were moved by Kyle’s words.’ That’s when the shock set in. Kyle had taken time out of his summer to write and submit something about me? Kyle, whose least favorite subject might be writing, wrote an essay by choice? And it won? I was floored, touched, and moved in my own way. It was a very special tribute from a remarkable boy.”

Being a mentor has added another dimension to Colombo’s experience as a teacher. “When I think about why I became an educator, the chance to make a difference in life of child is high on the list. And while my I get this opportunity in my day job, the mentor program opens up whole new avenues to connect with a student beyond the four walls of the classroom. I’ve been able to see the impact my support has had on the students I work with, and there’s no greater reward than that,” he said.

“It’s also given me the opportunity to share some of my interests and hobbies with my mentees,” Colombo continued. “It’s common to see us constructing something from wood for use in the classroom or a school event, baking a treat for faculty after school, or working in the school garden. It’s wonderful to be be able to share these experiences with my mentees.”

At the park on August 15, “we had a blast,” Colombo said. “We were escorted underneath the stadium through all the tunnels the players use, and we got to walk right past the indoor batting cages where the players were warming up. [Seattle Mariners second baseman] Robinson Cano was warming up next to us and he gave Kyle the ball he was using, which was great. The Sox ended up scoring 22 runs that day, so it was a great day at the ballpark—a once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure.”