Osborn Hill community asks support for Fairfield teacher's national recognition

A Fairfield teacher is in the running for a chance to win prizes -- for her school and herself -- in a contest sponsored by a national television talk show.

Kristin Golia, a third-grade teacher at Osborn Hill Elementary School, is one of 12 teachers nominated from around the country in the 3rd annual Top Teacher Search contest promoted by the TV show, "Live with Kelly," hosted by Kelly Ripa, ex-sidekick of Regis Philbin.

Golia was nominated for the honor by Jessica and Bill Gerber and their family, who credit the teacher with extraordinary caring and remarkable help for Gerber's son, Teddy -- who was a student in Golia's class -- when he was diagnosed with cancer two years ago.

Following is a portion of the letter Gerber sent nominating Golia for the contest, as posted on the program's website:

"Kristin Golia is both a wonderful teacher and an amazing person. She was my son Teddy's 3rd grade teacher. Two months into the school year, Teddy was, out of the blue, diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive type of cancer. While his life, and our family's life, was turned upside down, one person who stepped in and became a beacon of strength and normalcy was Kristin. Because of his deteriorating physical condition, two life-threatening operations and his chemotherapy and radiation regimen, Teddy missed 100 days of school, but he still was able to graduate from 3rd grade thanks to Kristin. She volunteered to come to our house and tutor him whenever he was able. She sent home fun activities and books. She visited him in the hospital. She made videotaped greetings from Teddy's classmates and sent them to us. She was calm, caring, thoughtful and strong, and even though she was incredibly upset to see Teddy suffer, she never let him see it, and instead greeted him with a smile every day she saw him."

To take top honors in the teacher contest, however, votes are cast via the "Live with Kelly" website. The balloting, which started Friday, continues through 3 p.m. Monday.

The link to the voting page is: http://dadt.com/live/contest/topteachersearch/12/vote