Winners of Excellence in Service and Teaching Awards Announced

Manchester Community College bestowed its annual Excellence in Service and Excellence in Teaching Awards to two members of the college community.

Daniel Janczak was awarded the Excellence in Service Award. Excellence in Teaching went to Kaarina Finegan LaBella. These MCC awards annually recognize and honor employees who demonstrate excellence as judged by their peers.  All employees of the college are eligible for one award or the other. Nominations are submitted during the fall term and may come from students, colleagues, supervisors, alumni or other community members.  The awards were recently presented to Janczak and LaBella by Dr. Gena Glickman, MCC president.

Janczak joined MCC 14 years ago and is the chemistry lab assistant. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2000 from Central Connecticut State University. As the award winner, he was cited for being extremely diligent and dedicated to ensuring that students have an exceptional lab experience when they participate in physical sciences classes. His devotion to the students demonstrates not only his excitement and passion for the sciences but also his commitment to student success according to his nominator.

LaBella has been at MCC for 20 years, first as adjunct faculty and then as a full-time member of the English department. She earned the Excellence in Teaching Award for making herself extremely available to her students and giving of herself without any hesitation. Her students spoke highly of her teaching style and dedication, and she was credited with making the reading material come to life by having students take on the roles of characters. LaBella holds a master’s degree in English literature from Trinity College, Hartford.