The Veteran's of Foreign Wars (VFW) annually recognizes the nation’s top classroom elementary, junior high and high school teachers who teach citizenship education topics and promote America’s history, traditions and institutions.

This year, the VFW Department of Connecticut has selected Mr. Tom Acri, of Milford's West Shore Middle School, as the "VFW Teacher of the Year" for the state of Connecticut.

Mr. Acri's dedication to instilling the principles of citizenship and civic responsibility in his students is universally admired. For many years Tom has been known for his efforts to teach Milford's young people the value of democracy and the sacrifices our veterans have made to preserve it. Tom has earned the great respect of everyone in our community through his efforts to bring our military veterans, and candidates and elected officials into his classroom. His leadership on many projects has been instrumental to helping many less fortunate veterans while instilling a sense of civic duty in his students.

Next month, Mr. Acri's nomination will be judged alongside our nation's most community-service-minded citizenship educators. Now the rest of our great country will learn more about why we are so lucky to have teachers like Mr. Tom Acri here in Milford. One teacher will receive the national title of VFW Teacher of the Year. The competition is fierce at the national-level, but win or not, Mr's Acri has already made all of us proud.

Respectfully,

Greg Smith
VFW CT District Commander (New Haven County)