Senior Jenna Vincenzino, a Major 3 student in Early Education and Care, received the Career and Technical Education Outstanding Student of the Year Award during the CTE Awards Ceremony b-block Thursday, Feb. 16 in the auditorium. 

Nominees for the award must have a a minimum GPA of 3.5, leadership qualities, community involvement, extracurricular activities, and technical competence and work experience in their career area of study, according to Career and Technical Education department head Kathleen Duff.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Vincenzino. “It’s very awesome to just receive the award and then also to represent Early Education and Care.” 

The other nominees for the award were seniors Karen Matsuoka, a Graphics major, Colin Walsh, a Culinary major, and Poppy Williams, a Carpentry major. 

According to Vincenzino, the Early Education and Care program has helped her grow from shyness to willingness to jump out of her comfort zone. 

“Even if I’m having a bad day, going in with the kids for like five minutes just instantly makes me feel so much better,” said Vincenzino. “It’s really life changing.” 

Vincenzino added that the Early Education and Care program has taught her how to interact with children, implement lessons, and help children develop their skill sets while she develops her skills as an educator. 

“One of the things that makes Jenna really amazing as a student is that she’s able to continuously learn from her work, so she produces amazingly reflective journals reflecting on what she’s done in the classroom,” said Early Education and Care teacher Michelle Ramsdell. 

According to Ramsdell, another of Vincenzino’s strengths is her ability to accommodate children at different ages and levels of learning.

“She has experiences with volunteering and working with children in many different areas,” said Ramsdell. “She is able to bring in very thoughtful and meaningful questions that encourage her peers to really think and dive deep into what it means to be an educator.” 

According to Vincenzino, she is planning to attend Endicott College in the fall to study elementary education, in hopes of fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher. 

“Each and every kid is something special to her,” said Duff, “She really wants to impact the educational field and make it better.”