Melanie Seaman

Position: Counselor

School: Slackwood Elementary School

School District: Lawrence Township Public Schools

City, State: Lawrenceville, New Jersey

About the Nominee: Melanie Seaman was nominated by a colleague, Jay Billy.Mrs. Seaman is the school counselor at Slackwood Elementary School. She has served the families and students of Slackwood for over 20 years. Mrs. Seaman continues to have an amazing impact on her school and community through a variety of actions and activities she promotes. As the school counselor, she holds classroom meetings and groups, getting together with individual students to make sure their needs are met. She is also responsible for the character education programs at Slackwood and holds monthly, school-wide character education assemblies to honor students, staff and parents. Slackwood is a "golden-hearted" school. This is based on Mrs. Seaman's continual efforts to support the building of character in Slackwood. In 2015, Lawrence Township Public Schools was given the honor of being named a National District of Character based on many initiatives that Mrs. Seaman put in place.Additionally, Mrs. Seaman works with two local organizations (Mercer Street Friends and Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) to provide 60 underprivileged families at Slackwood with food over the weekends. Each week, she gets a supply of food and works with volunteers to organize and distribute the food to the families. Because there are so many families in need, Mrs. Seaman also organizes a holiday gift drive. This year, she is getting donations for 37 families and 81 children so that they have supplies and presents for the holidays.Mrs. Seaman is the Heart and Soul of Slackwood. Her positivity and kind-hearted actions have helped build a culture of responsibility and kindness that her school is known for. Mrs. Seaman quietly impacts lives throughout the community with her giving ways and kind nature. She is a LifeChanger in her school and community!

[nominee_videos nominee_email="mseaman@ltps.org"]