• Spring 2015 Recipients
    Joseph Andrieux  l  Reading Senior High School
    Joseph has taught at Reading Senior High since 2007. He has been the Advisor for Key Club & Student Government for the past four years, and he previously was the head coach for Girls Basketball at Reading Intermediate and assistant coach for Girls Basketball at the high school. He is a proud graduate of Albright College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Finance and Digital Media Communications. He later earned a Master’s Degree and Teacher’s Certification in Media Design & Technology Education from Full Sail University. He also earned a Master’s Degree and Teacher’s Certification in Business and Mathematics from Alvernia University. He enjoys sharing his experience and knowledge with his students in a way to motivate them to pursue education or training beyond high school. His well-known comments are, “Do something different. Do something that no one has thought of, yet” and “It is not all about you. It is about what you will do that will change the lives of others.” He is married to his loving and patient wife of nearly 23 years, Sabrina L. Andrieux, M.Ed, and they have two children, Ryan P. Andrieux, a 3rd Year Cadet at the US AirForce Academy in Colorado Springs, CO., and Sarah R. Andrieux, an Exeter High School student.
     
     
    Alexandra Booth  l 10th and Penn Elementary School  and Glenside Elementary School
    Alex began her journey toward music and music education right here in the Reading School District as a student at 13th and Union and Northeast Middle schools. By 4th grade, she knew that she wanted to become a music teacher, and she never veered from that path. Alex graduated from Houghton College in NY State in 2001 and purposed to focus her career on urban music education. After starting her career in the Boston Public Schools, Alex and her husband returned to Reading, PA. Alex began working for the Reading School District in 2007 and has felt at home ever since. She currently teaches vocal and general music at 10th and Penn and Glenside Elementary Schools. She loves seeing the students thrive in a creative and expressive setting, and guiding them through their initial performance experiences in life is one of her greatest joys! Her favorite part about her job is exposing her students to the greater music community and world around us, and likewise, exposing the community and world around us to her students! 

     
    Dave Britt  l Southwest Middle School
    Dave is a RHS graduate and a minister at Mt. Zion, under the leadership of Pastor Kevin Glimp. At Southern, he works as a security guard and Project Peace Advisor. He is S.A.P. Certified through the Caron Foundation and also serves as a C.P.I. Instructor for RSD. He has been married to his best friend, Mary Britt, for 17 years, and he has two daughters, a stepson and six grandchildren. He tries to approach each day as a fresh start, and his motto is:  “I believe all children are a gift from GOD, and in spite of what behavior or personality they are demonstrating, it is our responsibility to train him up in the way they should go. Children are not our future, they are our now.”
     
     
    Brooke Dower l 13th and Union Elementary School 
    Brooke  has taught at 13th and Union for the past 11 years. She is an inclusion teacher and team leader. In addition to her classroom duties, she also is the Awards Assembly facilitator, PSSA Pep Rally facilitator, Spring Show co-coordinator and Carnival co-coordinator. She developed the school’s Casual for a Cause program, which allows staff to dress down on Fridays if they make a donation to that week’s selected community program or charity. She was recently featured in the Reading Eagle’s popular “In Our Schools” section. A 1999 RHS graduate and 2003 Albright graduate, she is the mother of four children.
     
     
    Dave Marrella  l  Reading School District
    Dave started with the Reading School District in 1998, following in his late father Leonard Marrella’s footsteps. Leonard Marrella was a long time Reading School District employee, who last worked with Federal Programs. Dave started at the Reading Education Center (Alt Ed), holding positions of case manager, ISS support teacher. After the center closed, Dave began teaching at Northwest Middle School. Soon after, he began working with the Home and School Visitor program, where he is now the lead liason for the district. Dave has been part of the Truancy initiatives in the District, working closely with the county departments of Children and Youth, SAM and the District Justices. Dave is a graduate of Widener University, where he received his Home School Visitor certificate and his Master’s Degree in Education.  Dave is the proud father of two sons, Vincent, 22, and Christopher, 18. 
     
     
    Kathy Sallade  l 10th and Green Elementary School
    Kathy Sallade has been an elementary educator and reading specialist for the Reading School District since 1981. She earned a dual certification in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from Kutztown University, where she also earned a Master’s Degree in education. She is listed in Who’s Who Among American Teachers, and she once served as a Commissioner’s Assistant at the PA Dept. of Education-Division of Federal Programs. She is proud to be a lifelong resident of Reading and Berks County, as well as a 1976 graduate of The Castle on the Hill. Her personal message to students is: “Always smile and be kind and respectful to one another and the Earth.” Her favorite quote is by Dr. Seuss: “The more you read the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
     
     
    Joseph S. Smith  l  Reading Senior High School
    Joseph is an active musician, songwriter, and educator.  For the last nine years he has served as a music teacher at Reading High School. Joe teaches courses in vocal music, piano, songwriting, music theory and harmony and is the school’s choral director.  Before coming to Reading, Joseph received a B.S. in music education from Penn State University and studied songwriting and piano at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.  He also works often in musical theatre, having music directed over two dozen productions. He is currently a teaching artist at the Steel River Playhouse in Pottstown, PA.  Joe regularly writes, records and performs with singer/songwriter Eve Fleishman.  In 2011, they did a national tour, performing in almost 20 states.  Sharing music with others plays a large part in Joe’s life. A few of his favorite things he has achieved in his time in the Reading School District include: Creating a fall musical theatre production (Songs for a New World, 2013; Smokey Joe’s Cafe, 2014); Having the choir perform for Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts when she came to speak in Reading in 2014.; Taking 100 students to perform in Disney World in 2009.;  Collaborating to allow students to perform with adult choirs such as the Reading Choral Society (2014) and the Essence of Joy Alumni Singers (2009); Producing (since 2010) the annual Red Knight Music Association Benefit Concert, which raises over $2,000 a year for student scholarships and allows teachers, alumni, and friends of music in the schools to perform and show their support. Joe is proud to spend his days playing, writing, and teaching music.  He looks forward to all future opportunities that let him share is passion with others.