Success Stories

Brian Betesh, Danbury’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, finds life has a funny way of providing “full circle” moments

(l-r): Dr. Kristy Zaleta, Brian Betesh and his family at the Danbury Teacher of the Year awards ceremony.

(l-r): Dr. Kristy Zaleta, Brian Betesh and his wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Avery, at the Danbury Teacher of the Year awards ceremony.

Rogers Park Middle School teacher Brian Betesh has had a lot of “full circle” moments in his life, the most recent of which was when Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, a former classmate growing up, joined Betesh on the stage of the Danbury High School auditorium at the Danbury Teacher of the Year Award ceremony — a stage on which Betesh last stood as the host of his Senior Talent Show 24 years earlier. “I knew going into the ceremony that I was one of three finalists for the award because I had been interviewed by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Cara Casamiro, but I did not know I had won until she said my name,” Betesh said. “Mayor Alves then presented an award from the city and spoke about our time in school together. Being back up on that stage under these circumstances was pretty cool.”

Betesh grew up in Danbury, attending Mill Ridge Elementary and Intermediate, Rogers Park and DHS. As one of the first in his family to attend college, he decided to put some distance between himself and his hometown, opting to attend Eastern Connecticut State University to study history and Social Sciences as an undergraduate and the University of Bridgeport for his master’s degree in Secondary Education. He returned to Danbury to teach at Rogers Park beginning in 2007.

When an opportunity presented itself for the new teacher to earn a second master’s degree at Western Connecticut State University, Betesh decided it was time to enhance his education in his hometown, and it provided another full-circle moment.

“I was teaching Ancient Civilizations as a new history teacher when I learned that WCSU was offering a Teaching American History grant to teachers in Newtown, New Milford and Danbury,” he said. My grandfather was a historian and loved American history, and that inspired me to want to enroll. I learned so much from WestConn’s professors, and also from my classmates, who were teachers in either Danbury, Newtown or New Milford.”

Rogers Park Middle School's 6th-grade social studies class visits Mayor Roberto Alves at Danbury City Hall, accompanied by teachers Brian Betesh and Emily Lopes.

Rogers Park Middle School’s 6th-grade social studies class visited Mayor Roberto Alves at Danbury City Hall, accompanied by teachers Brian Betesh and Emily Lopes.

Betesh has taught at Rogers Park for his entire 18-year teaching career, and while he’s proud of the knowledge he has passed down to his students, what he’s most excited to reflect on is what he’s done outside of the classroom to make Rogers Park a more welcoming, inclusive and positive place to work and study.

“I love working to get things done for the school,” Betesh said. “I love the students, the staff and the diversity. It’s my community.”

For Betesh, some of his inspiration was borne from adversity. When the schools went to online teaching during the pandemic, Betesh noticed that three female students would remain logged in to his virtual classroom to chat about the current state of the world and what it would feel like when everyone was finally able to return to in-person classes. From that, a club called Park 21 was created, with an edgy name to reflect “park” in the school’s name and “21” from its street address. The goal was to find a way to make everyone feel more comfortable about returning to school, and to make it more welcoming and exciting. One of the favorite club activities has been to “flip” classrooms so they feel more like home. Other teachers give permission to have their classroom “flipped,” and Betesh’s club members – 20 or more – have painted six classrooms, added lighting and bookshelves and transformed the spaces to be more comfortable.

Another inspiration was “Stress Less” carts, 26 of which have been created and placed throughout the school containing stress balls, fidget toys, journals, puzzles and colored pencils, to assist students who may be having a less-than-ideal day.

Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves returned the favor by visiting Brian Betesh in Room 207, the classroom they shared as children at Rogers Park Middle School.

Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves returned the favor by visiting Brian Betesh in Room 207, the classroom they shared as 6th graders at Rogers Park Middle School.

But it’s not all fun and games for Betesh’s students: there’s also a lot of learning taking place in unconventional ways. He created a podcast for the tech-savvy sixth graders, who are actively interviewing teachers, administrators and community members. Initially, 18 episodes were taped after school, but at present, there are more than 100 episodes featuring student-directed interviews with the chiefs of police and the fire department, local businesspeople, TV reporters and sports analysts, and even Sen. Chris Murphy.

“This is the project I’m most proud of,” Betesh said. “The students do all the research and work for these interviews, and it’s teaching them collaboration and connecting them to their community. This really opens their eyes.”

Betesh hopes to take the project a step further by creating an innovation lab/maker space/recording studio in the school next year. “We have to continually update and modernize the spaces that these students have available to them,” he said.

“I love it at Rogers Park. I want to keep creating new things to help the school keep raising the bar. I want to change people’s perceptions and how they look at us,” Betesh said. “I’m able to do these things because of my principal, fellow WCSU alumna Dr. Kristy Zaleta. She empowers me to do what I think is right for our school community. She’s an innovative leader and I don’t take that for granted.” Zaleta recently was appointed K-12 Chief of Schools for Danbury.

Betesh said the local community also plays a large role in what he is able to accomplish at Rogers Park. “A lot of these projects are able to be accomplished because of DonorsChoose,” he said. “Teachers post their projects and seek local funding. Almost $500,000 has been raised in total so far, and $33,000 of that was for my projects. It’s a creative way to find people who support what we are doing and want to help us out.”

Brian Betesh was voted by Rogers Park Middle School students as having "Most School Spirit." Here's his yearbook photo for that award.

Brian Betesh was voted by Rogers Park Middle School students as being the teacher with the Most School Spirit. Here’s his yearbook photo for that award.

It truly is all about the students and his colleagues as far as Betesh is concerned, but neither group is willing to let him shy away from the notoriety his contributions to the school have merited. During the recent Spirit Week-Twin Day at Rogers Park, 90 percent of the staff showed up dressed as his “twin” – wearing T-shirts from his Park 21 club and name tags with his name. And on the last day of the school year, all the staff wore custom T-shirts that said, “Be Your Betesh Self,” a statement made every day in the morning announcements during the school year.

“I never thought I’d be a middle school teacher,” Betesh said. “Even 18 years in, I feel like I’m literally just getting started. It’s cool that I started my education here in Danbury and came full circle to get my second master’s degree at WCSU. It was great to be on campus and explore something right in my backyard. I hope to bring my students to check it out next.”

 

 

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