'Losing a good one': Belavic leaves mark at Level Green Elementary in Penn-Trafford School District

After 24 years with the Penn-Trafford School District, Level Green Elementary School first grade teacher Janna Belavic has arrived at her retirement.

Belavic taught sixth grade at Trafford Middle School for one year, then spent the remaining 23 at Level Green. She also served as a technology assistant for the school and head coach for the high school field hockey program for two seasons.

Belavic said she especially enjoyed teaching first grade because of how much the students grow from the beginning to the end of the year.

“When (the students) take a look at their reading book from the very beginning of the year, and I have them compare it to the stories they’re reading at the end of the year, it’s really pretty amazing how far they come in that year in first grade,” Belavic said.

Level Green and Trafford Elementary Principal Dan DiNapoli said teachers such as Belavic make his job easier, describing her as “spot on” in interactions with students.

“She teaches kids on a one-on-one basis at all times. It’s not as a group. It’s individualized,” DiNapoli said. “She sees the strengths and weaknesses of each of her students, and she builds on those.”

Fellow teacher Diana Hlavsa said she and Belavic worked closely together as Level Green’s first grade teachers for 11 years, and she has learned from Belavic’s guidance.

“I was a brand-new teacher when I came into this building, so I know that I learned so much of what I’m doing from her teaching style,” Hlavsa said.

Hlavsa said Belavic motivated her students to “want to learn and succeed” through the energy she brought to the classroom, which the students keep with them as they continue their education.

She said the district asked some of Belavic’s former students to write letters to her in light of her retirement.

“It’s awesome to read these and see the impact she’s had on her students,” Hlavsa said.

One student who wrote a letter to Belavic is high school senior Maria DiNapoli.

“She probably has the kindest heart out there, and she just always has a smile on her face,” Maria DiNapoli said. “Even if you’re in a bad mood, she tends to put you in a good mood just by the way her personality is.”

High school field hockey head coach and Trafford Middle School science teacher Cindy Dutt said Belavic initially stepped up as the teacher liaison for the team when it began but became head coach when no one else volunteered.

Dutt said Belavic’s even temperament, experience playing the sport in high school and connection with some of the girls through teaching made her a good fit for the role.

Although Belavic said she hopes to find a platform for teaching or tutoring students online in her retirement, she said she will miss spending time with her students and colleagues every day.

“Having raised my kids here … I just couldn’t be more pleased with the experience my family had growing up in Penn Township,” Belavic said. “I’ve been just blessed beyond imagination to be able to spend this much of my career in this place.”

Similarly, Dan DiNapoli said the staff and administration will miss having Belavic at Level Green.

“Everyone’s sad to see her go, and obviously Level Green Elementary’s losing a good one,” he said. “We don’t want to see her go, but we’re happy for her. Well deserved.”