Golden Apple Award: Angela Griffith
She decided this would be her career, in the 4th grade.
'I had a teacher Mr. Perotto who used to play his guitar every morning and taught us old-time rock and roll songs. I just really appreciated the way he taught us, so I wanted to be a teacher too,' said Griffith.
Two decades in, and there's still joy and passion for those special moments in class
'I know its really cliche to say but those light bulb moments going on. Aha moments. I like making learning fun, engaging and hands-on. And treating my students the way I would want my own children to be treated by their teachers,' said Griffith.
This week's student nominator said his teacher gave him the confidence to not give up on himself or his school work. Mrs Griffith said education isn't one size fits all.
'She helps me with my work. Like when I'm struggling and having a bad day she like comes to me and calms me down. She does things like that,' said Enrique Maldonado, student nominator. 'When I think I can't do something she'll come up to me and she'll like boost me up and she'll say I can do it.'
'When I assign work it's not always the same exact work for each student. It will be the same content, the same topic. But I'll adjust it to where they're at. Because one size does not fit all and theyre not all at the same level. So meeting them where they're at and slowly building up on it,' said Griffith.
'I hope that we all believe that in life we meet that someone that will always enable us to be that someone we were meant to be. And for Enrique, that's this week's Golden Apple teacher, Mrs. Griffith,' said Mary Jo Melivn PhD, Pennwest University.
Each week our partners at Big Ideas Learning financially reward the Golden Apple winner
'Teachers like Mrs. Griffith that make an impact and understand the students and meet them where they are, are so impactful and meaningful. And we're so happy to donate $250 to this week's Golden Apple teacher, Mrs. Griffith,' said Carissa Snarski, with Big Ideas Learning.
Congratulations Angela Griffith this week's JET 24 PennWest University Golden Apple award winner.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
18-06-2025
- Los Angeles Times
He donated the land that became Griffith Park. Then he shot his wife
Surely you are familiar with the sprawling, rugged glory of Los Angeles' Griffith Park. But do you know about the park's benefactor and namesake, Griffith J. Griffith? The philanthropist and felon endowed L.A. with what was then the largest urban park in the world and still remains a jewel of the city. He also shot his wife in the face. She survived; he served two years at San Quentin; they divorced. We'll get to that. But first, let's rewind back to December 1896. Los Angeles was a city with great ambitions — a rapidly exploding boomtown that was still in the process of leaving its rancho past behind. Col. Griffith J. Griffith and his wife Tina were the talk of the town, often spotted at theater openings or the opera. She was from a prominent society family. He was a formerly penniless Welsh immigrant who'd made his fortune in mining and other ventures. Our paper described Griffith as 'part visionary and part blowhard.' One acquaintance dubbed him as 'midget egomaniac,' another as a 'roly-poly pompous little fellow.' He was, by all accounts, bizarre. His business card just read: 'G.J. Griffith, capitalist.' He insisted on being called 'Colonel,' though his military title was thought to be entirely phony. On December 16, 1896, Tina and Griffith donated more than 3,000 acres of hilly splendor to be used as an L.A. public park. The massive, city-altering gift was several times larger than New York's Central Park. 'It must be made a place of rest and relaxation for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people,' Griffith demanded at the time. Griffith was grandiose and eccentric, but he also believed in shaping the fledgling city, according to Mike Eberts, a historian and author of 'Griffith Park: A Centennial History.' 'He was a fellow who wanted to be loved. He wanted to be seen as a great leader. He was also, in his own way, and for his time, something of an idealist,' Eberts said. Some believed that Griffith's mighty bequest was also angled, in part, to dodge taxes. But for generations of Angelenos who've savored the park, such details are — like Griffith's military title — mere semantics. The initial gift brought him great acclaim locally. Here's how our paper put it in 1898: 'No need to ask 'Who is G.J. Griffith?' The individuality of the man has impressed itself so deeply and favorably on this community that his name is even as a 'household word.'' While thought to be in a delusional — and potentially drunken — stupor in a room at Santa Monica's Arcadia Hotel, Griffith shot his wife in the face in 1903. She lost an eye but lived. Our paper breathlessly covered the ensuing trial, which ended with Griffith taking a short trip to San Quentin. A few years after his release, Griffith (now divorced, according to Eberts) appeared at City Hall once again bearing gifts just before Christmas and hoping to rehabilitate his tarnished image. 'I wish to pay my debt of duty in this way to the community in which I have prospered,' Griffith reportedly told the mayor and City Council as he offered a significant sum of money to build Griffith Observatory. They accepted, though our paper reported that other citizens and public officials angrily protested the decision. One prominent community member suggested that the 'bribe' would send an egregious message to the city's youth: 'Are you prepared to say to them that if a man is a millionaire he can commit a crime and then with his wealth bribe the community to receive him back into fellowship?' The city's parks commission eventually rejected Griffith's gift, our paper reported, and it wasn't until after his death in 1919 that it was accepted as a bequest in his will. The observatory celebrated its 90th birthday this year. For Eberts, the takeaway is simple: 'You don't have to be a perfect person to do a great thing.' Today's great photo is from Times photographer Myung J. Chun, outside the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is set to open next year. Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Blessed Sacrament closes for good, holds final day of school Thursday
A local Catholic school that's been open since 1939 closed its doors for summer break for the very last time. Students at Blessed Sacrament had their last day of school on Thursday, and mixed emotions could be seen from students, parents and staff. Parents voice concerns to school board over closure of Blessed Sacrament The Erie Catholic School System announced that they were shutting down this past February, citing what they called a 'continuous decline in enrollment.' One parent said they are extremely frustrated, but they are hopeful about their case, which is currently being seen before the Vatican. Protest held following closure announcement of Blessed Sacrament School 'They've really paid a lot of attention to the decision. Within three weeks of sending us the information, they have looked at it well enough to know that they wanted to go further with it, extremely encouraging,' said Dorothy Sexauer, a Blessed Sacrament parent. 'We just had schools closed down in the Bronx in February, the same month we did, we had a school in Chicago the 31st of May, so this is an event of national importance.' Sexauer said they are taking a group of students to Waldameer to kick off the summer and keep their minds off the situation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Golden Apple End of Year Celebration Special: A look at spotlighted educators
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — As the 2024-25 school year comes to an end, News 8 is taking a look back at all of the teachers we have spotlighted this year through our Golden Apple series! Each week, News 8's Katrina Irwin surprises local teachers with a 'Golden Apple Award' for being an outstanding educator. Let's take a look back at this school year through the News 8 Golden Apple End of Year Celebration Special: All of the teachers News 8 surprised this year will also be receiving gift cards. For the past six years now, the Bill and Carol Van Dusen Fund through the Rochester Area Community Foundation has awarded these to the winning teachers as a way to give back and thank educators in the Rochester area. Each year, Roberts Wesleyan University gives out three $10,000 scholarships to students pursuing their career as a teacher in varying degrees: Traditional Undergrad Population: Ava Thompson is a freshman student from Brocton, New York — pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Adolescent Education: English 5-12. She is a member of Roberts Wesleyan University's Global Honors Program. Pathway to Teaching: Melissa Brown transferred in courses from California State University and will focus on Childhood Education – Students with Disabilities in Grades 1 to 6. She is currently a stay-at-home mom but would love to work at Honeoye Falls where her kids go to school. Master of Education Program for Initial Certification: L Wiltse currently works as a substitute teacher for Carthage Central School District but holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from SUNY Potsdam. They are looking to get their initial certification to educating childhood and students with disabilities. Sister Karlien Back just wrapped up her 45th year of teaching at Our Lady of Mercy! Fun fact: She taught News 8 WROC's Wendy Bello, Programming Coordinator Colleen Law, and News 8 First at 4 Anchor Natalie Kucko. Hear what she says is her secret to staying in the job all these years: News 8 would not be able to properly thank these teachers without help from a number of sponsors — one of those being support from Advantage Federal Credit Union throughout the year. Diane Miller stopped by the News 8 End of Year Celebration Special to talk about Advantage's participation: Thank you to everyone who nominated a teacher for the Golden Apple award! We'll see you next year! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
