The Winthrop Chamber of Commerce held its 21st Annual Awards Night Dinner last Friday at the Hyatt Harborside. Once again it was another first-class event that drew a large crowd which is why is has become one of the most anticipated social events on the local calendar.
Chamber President Bernice MacIntyre, her leadership team, Executive Director Eric Gaynor, and the Chamber members did a great job organizing the event and recognizing those individuals who make Winthrop a better place to work, live, and do business. It’s clear that everyone involved in the event recognizes the prestige involved in receiving one of the awards. The presenters’ speeches were thoughtful and comprehensive and you could sense the pride among the award winners in their acceptance speeches.
One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the Educational Excellence Award to Mary McGunigle, who has been a teacher in the Winthrop school system for more than two decades (She is currently a reading specialist at the Cummings Elementary School). As her proud husband and two children looked on, Mary received a well-deserved standing ovation. She is a true symbol of the dedication and professionalism that Winthrop schoolteachers display on a daily basis.
To hear Mary tell the assemblage about the “look of pride†on students’ faces when they have been working really hard on something “… and finally they get it and they look at you because they know you are just as happy and excited as they are about their accomplishments,†well, that pretty much sums what a great teacher she is and the rewarding profession that teaching is.
There are many teachers like Mary McGunigle throughout our school district. They give 100 per cent every day in the classroom to educate our children to the best of their ability so they can go on and attend college and accomplish great things in their lives.
We congratulate Mary McGunigle for her outstanding honor (along with all the other award recipients) and we congratulate the Chamber for acknowledging the huge contribution that our public school teachers make to the fabric of our community.
(We thought our readers would enjoy Mary McGunigle’s acceptance speech, so we’ve published it elsewhere in this newspaper).