Karen Papacoda Named Teacher of the Year

Housatonic Community College Early Childhood Laboratory School teacher Karen Papacoda of Hamden has been named Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Connecticut Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC).

Papacoda has dedicated 43 years to the field of early Childhood Education, 17 of them with the HCC Lab School. “The CAEYC award recognizes the critical difference an outstanding teacher can make in the life of a child,” said Lab School Director Heidi Szobota.

Papacoda holds a master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Early Childhood Education from Southern Connecticut State University, as well as a Connecticut certification for pre-kindergarten through Grade 6.

The state-of-the-art lab school provides a high-quality, pre-school program for the children of students, faculty, staff and the community. Also, it serves as laboratory setting for HCC's Early Childhood Education Program.

The school has won national recognition. In a visit to the school, President Clinton described it as “what every child in America needs.”