Home Nonprofit & Education Education Warwick educator named R.I. Teacher of the Year

Warwick educator named R.I. Teacher of the Year

By

James Bessette

-

06/04/2024

MILISSA O'NEIL, left, a special education and kindergarten teacher at Oakland Beach Elementary School, has been named the 2025 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year. Pictured with O'Neil is House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, D-Warwick. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

WARWICK – A special education and kindergarten teacher at Oakland Beach Elementary School has been named the state’s top educator. Milissa O’Neil, who has taught in the Warwick School Department for the last decade, has been named the 2025 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year. O’Neil was recognized Tuesday in a surprise ceremony at the

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WARWICK – A special education and kindergarten teacher at Oakland Beach Elementary School has been named the state’s top educator. Milissa O’Neil, who has taught in the Warwick School Department for the last decade, has been named the 2025 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year. O’Neil was recognized Tuesday in a surprise ceremony at the school in front of students, colleagues, local and state education leaders. The R.I. Department of Education says O’Neil is an advocate for STEAM education in the city and has worked closely with local school officials on math and science curriculum development, and also serves on RIDE’s STEAM advisory board. O’Neil also serves on the executive committee of the Oakland Beach parent teachers organization and as chairperson of the Oakland Beach Green Team, RIDE says. In this role, O’Neil, the department says, helped her school earn more than $100,000 in RIDE’s Learning Inside Out Outdoor Classroom grant funding. O’Neil also strongly advocates for social emotional learning. RIDE says she crafts her daily lessons to be developmentally appropriate, which fosters student discourse and critical thinking. That also ensures optimal participation and differentiation to meet all students’ needs, RIDE says. The impact teachers have on their students lasts long after the school year. In fact, it was a teacher who first sparked my interest in politics and government, which ultimately set me on the career path I chose to follow,” House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, D-Warwick, said in a statement. “I am so proud that a Warwick teacher was selected for this well-deserved honor.” O’Neil, as teacher of the year, will now work with RIDE throughout next school year to help strengthen professional development and engagement in classrooms across Rhode Island, RIDE says. She is also eligible to represent Rhode Island as the national teacher of the year. James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.