Camuso named teacher of year

The honoree has brought innovative learning modules into her program.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Stella Camuso, diversified health occupations coordinator at Choffin Career & amp; Technical Center, has been named Youngstown City School District teacher of the year for 2006-07.
Camuso, who lives in Canfield, is a registered nurse who earned a bachelor's degree in medical services management from Youngstown State University. She earned her teaching credentials at Kent State University of Toledo and her oncology nursing certification at the University of Texas at Houston.
She worked as a critical care nurse and a nursing supervisor before joining the staff at Choffin.
Highlights
Camuso has fostered school-to-work transition programs, linking Choffin with health-care facilities in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Cuyahoga counties, and she currently monitors Choffin health-care students in more than 40 facilities.
She is credited with introducing innovative learning modules into the diversified health program and offering a variety of in-the-field experiences for students, including visits to area surgical sites and an annual workshop involving Cleveland Clinic Foundation faculty.
She also developed a pre-mortuary science module in response to student interest in different heath career pathways and founded an annual community service project as part of the program's veterinary medicine module in which students have educated more than 1,500 elementary pupils regarding the importance of spaying and neutering pets.
She is married to John Camuso, the designer of the Internet science curriculum for Mahoning County schools. She credits her parents, Jane Ross and the late Nicholas V. Ross, with influencing her interest in the sciences and professional nursing.