On May 31, at the Board of Education Building, the PTAC Essence Award Recognition Ceremony was held to honor excellence in volunteerism. The Essence award, in its seventh year, was created to acknowledge individuals who tirelessly and admirably work to better the Greenwich Public Schools, whether in a position of leadership or as a member of a team.
This is the first year two winners were honored, a traditional Essence Award winner and a new Lifetime Essence Award winner. The new lifetime category was created to specifically honor an active, long-standing impactful PTA volunteer who has contributed over the course of many years through a variety of positions and schools.
The 2017 Recipient of the Essence Award was Meredith Vartuli, Co-President of North Mianus School PTA. In her time at North Mianus, Vartuli has eagerly taken on the two biggest volunteer positions: she was the head of Social and Fundraising for two years and PTA Co-President for two years. She has been class mom, volunteer coordinator for their biggest fundraiser (the Pow Wow – which requires over 500 volunteers), and has organized countless fundraisers and social events. Vartuli worked diligently to get a new playground installed at NMS last year. Angela Schmidt, NMS Principal, commented: “Meredith heard there was a substantial savings in installing a new playground as the company would match funds. There was a very close deadline and I remember thinking we would not be able to make it happen in time. Despite the challenges, Meredith worked closely with Parks and Rec. and Facilities, called a special PTA meeting to request additional funding and saw the project to fruition in a matter of weeks. Today I think of her dedication and determination every time I see that playground. What a gift to our school and our community!” She also added, “No task is too small or too big for her. Meredith’s passion for children, dedication to making our school a better place and commitment to community service has made her a model parent in our school community.”
The 2017 Recipient of the Lifetime Essence Award was Patti Jomo, Co-President of Greenwich High School PTA. Jomo has served as Co-President of the Riverside School PTA, on the board of Eastern Middle School, as the GHS Executive Board Secretary and VP of Communications, as GHS website and digital transition manager and she served on PTA Council as Secretary. In 2015-16 Jomo worked closely with the Director of Communications at GPS, Kimberley Eves, on the redesign and implementation of the new website for Greenwich Public Schools. She was part of the project from start to finish, and was also instrumental in providing design and training help to the PTA webmasters throughout the District schools. Dr. Christopher Winters, Headmaster of GHS said, “Patti is deeply dedicated to the cause of making our schools the best they can be, she cares deeply about each and every student. Patti brings warmth to our conversations and a smile to every encounter. It is an honor and a privilege to work alongside her.”
The following individuals were also honored at the Recognition Ceremony for their contributions to their individual schools and PTA Council committees:
Melissa De Vries, Riverside School; Renee Jennings, Eastern Middle School; Christine Jones, Hamilton Avenue School, Clare Kilgallen, New Lebanon School, Nadine Longmuir, Greenwich High School; Cheryl Probst and David Rafferty, Greenwich High School; Christina Sogaard, North Street School and Chizuru Takita, Cos Cob School.
