English teachers Steve Chinosi and Melissa Dilworth have won this year’s Paul E. Elicker Award for excellence in teaching.

The award honors two teachers who show an appreciation and knowledge of the subject matter, exemplify teaching that streches students’ minds and have standards that inspire excellence.

Chinosi said a quotation he heard when he was 14 motivates him most: “To teach is to learn twice.”

“That’s what I love about teaching,” he said.

“I do want to spend the rest of my life learning. That’s why I started Senior Year Project and the biodiesel project.”

Chinosi grew up “between Brooklyn and Philadelphia.” He said his parents were immigrants from Italy.

He attended the University of New Hampshire as an undergraduate and studied African literatures at the University of Wyoming.

Before coming to Newton North in 2005, he taught in Danvers and Bedford.

Currently he also teaches a literature course at Southern New Hampshire University.

“The culture that is Newton North, the faculty and students and city, all combined is what makes this a unique learning environment,” he said.

English department head Tom Fabian said Chinosi brings enthusiasm to his teaching.

“Steve Chinosi’s passion for the classroom seems boundless,” he said. “His outstanding commitment brings meaning out of every experience here at Newton North.”

Dilworth has a bachelor’s in English from William Smith, a master’s in teaching from Simmons, and a master’s in film studies from Boston University. She began teaching here in 1997 and currently teaches junior and senior English and Art and Technique of Film.

Before coming here, Dilworth taught in Nepal for a semester.

In teaching, Dilworth said, “I try to guide students to have moments that make them go ‘aha!’ in my classes.

“I want students to take note of small things that shift their perspective and that force them to see, think and know in new ways.

“For every student, these epiphanies come at different times, and the trick is to make sure that every student in each of my classes has these moments as much as possible.”

Fabian said Dilworth brings intelligence and perspective to her courses.

“Melissa Dilworth is a terrific teacher who really puts her heart and soul into making sure that students understand the power that literature and film hold for expanding our imagination and humanity,” Fabian said.

“She’s gotten many students through a process of realizing that they really can understand the material on the deepest levels.”

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