Three locals named finalists for Pa. teacher of the year

Three local teachers are finalists for the Pennsylvania 2015 teacher of the year award, it was announced Friday.

Crystal Brooks of the Ridley School District, Delaware County; James Ciccarelli of the Rose Tree Media School District, Delaware County; and John Grande of the Upper Moreland Township School District, Montgomery County, along with 10 other teachers from across the state, have been named finalists.

Brooks teaches second grade at Eddystone Elementary School. She earned her bachelor's degree from Millersville University and her master's from Widener University.

Ciccarelli teaches at Penncrest High School. He teaches a Level 1 physics course and is a faculty adviser for the Science Olympiad and Physics Olympics.

Grande teaches Spanish and French at Upper Moreland Middle School.

"These individuals represent the thousands of outstanding teachers who work every day to ensure our children are learning and growing academically," Gov. Corbett said in a statement.

The winner will also be nominated for the national teacher of the year award.

This is the second time in two years a teacher from the Rose Tree Media School District has been recognized.

Anthony Grisillo, an instructor in the academically gifted program for kindergarten through fifth grade in the Rose Tree Media District, is the state's 2014 teacher of the year.

- Mari Schaefer