St.Anne's School
Garden City, NY
I would like to nominate Lucia Ruggiero. Lucia has been an inspiration to me and to all her students. She has dealt with many disappointments during Covid but has fought and made her little students her top priority. Lucia graduated with honors from St. Joseph’s College neither virtually or in person and was to have her thesis paper showcased but COVID took all of that away from her. She had been searching for a job and was fortunate to have found a job working at St. Anne’s in Garden City. She is a nursery teacher and has done everything possible to ensure her 3 years old’s had the best learning experience possible. She made the classroom a safe friendly environment. Lucia along with Santa Claus visited each child at Christmas and delivered a small gift she has done experiments with them taught them the alphabet taught them how important nature is by growing flowers in the classroom has instituted a classroom fish where every child can take home and learned responsibility. She spends countless hours researching ways to help her little minds enrich. She puts her students above all things and I love to see the joy in her face when she leaves for school. I am blessed she is my daughter and so proud.