Page 15 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 53 Early Spring 2025

Sharon Drossopoulos Christina Madancy
Sharon Drossopoulos is a 1982 Ly- Christina Madancy graduated from
man Hall High School graduate who Lyman Hall High School in 1994,
was a class officer, a cheerleader, where she was a stellar athlete and
and a swim team member. Follow- brilliant mathematician. She earned
ing Lyman Hall, she graduated from her bachelor's degree from Rhode
the University of New Haven with a Island College and a place in the
Bachelor of Arts in hotel and restau- Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society. She
rant management. She then entered returned to Wallingford and taught
the Hyatt Hotels Management Train- mathematics at Sheehan. While
ing Program. Sharon spent her early teaching, she earned her Master’s
career with the Hyatt group before in Educational Leadership from
pursuing endeavors closer home to CCSU and a 6th-year certificate of
raise her two children, Ariana and advanced studies from the Univer-
Dimitri, with her husband Eddie. sity of Bridgeport. In her teaching career, she advanced to
the roles of athletic director, Sheehan High Mathematics
She worked at various food and beverage businesses in the Department Chair, and ultimately to Mathematics Coordi-
Wallingford community, including Yankee Silversmith, Pavil- nator of Wallingford Public Schools, a position she has held
ion Catering, and the Wallingford Country Club. Her career since 2012, overseeing the math curriculum for the entire
plans changed after volunteering at her children’s school, district. Christina has served on the Commissioner’s Council
instituting a Cultural and Diversity Day Festival at Moses Y. on Mathematics and the CT Council of Leaders of Mathe-
Beach. Sharon earned certifications in family and consum- matics, where she was a board member, secretary, presi-
er sciences and vocational food service and embarked on a dent, and past president. She received the Robert A. Rosen-
new teaching career, first at Sheehan and now at Lyman Hall. baum Award from the Associated Teachers of Mathematics
in 2024. She co-authored Equity in Mathematics Education:
Sharon has earned multiple teaching accolades while also A Position Statement for CT, which was endorsed by the CT
launching students into successful careers. A two-time Wall- State Board of Education in 2023.
ingford Education Foundation (WEF) grant recipient, Sharon
and her students have supported the WEF by hosting numer- In addition to her contributions as an educational leader,
ous fundraising events. She implemented the WEF-funded Christina Madancy has excelled as an athlete and coach. A
Food Truck into the student curriculum. Under Sharon’s ex- stellar basketball player under her father, Nick Economopou-
pert advisership, the Family, Career, and Community Leaders los, while she was a student at Lyman Hall, Christie now car-
of America club earned the distinguished chapter award, a ries on his legacy as the Lyman Hall girls’ basketball coach.
state championship, and a national chapter finalist. Other
fundraising efforts spearheaded by Sharon include events She has also served as Sheehan’s athletic director, co-direc-
that supported the Wallingford Emergency Shelter, victims tor, league director, coach, and counselor at the Basketball
of Hurricane Katrina, Houston floods, Sandy Hook families, Factory Camp. Her coaching credits include the University of
World Central Kitchen, and over $50,000 to help students, New Haven Women’s team, the Sheehan Varsity Girls, the CT
families, and community members due to illness, injury, and Starters AAU team, and the Ulbrich Travel team.
loss of life. Sharon and her students have had multiple ap-
pearances on Channel 8’s “What’s Right with Schools” seg-
ment.

David Warren MacDonald
David Warren MacDonald, president of the Wallingford and Yalesville Funeral Homes, is a lifetime res-
ident of Wallingford. He began his career in funeral service, working after school and during summers
at the Wallingford family-owned funeral home. While working, David simultaneously excelled as a
student-athlete who played football and captained the lacrosse team, an early indicator of one of the
ways he would later serve the Wallingford community.

David graduated from Mount Ida College with a degree in funeral service and passed the National
Board Exam of Funeral Service. While at Mount Ida, he was named captain of the men's lacrosse team
and was voted into the All-New England and NJCAA All-American teams. In 2004, he was inducted into
the Mount Ida College Hall of Fame.

Following Mount Ida, he began his apprenticeship to become a licensed funeral director and embalmer
while furthering his studies at Quinnipiac University. He graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.

In 2000, David was recognized as a Licensed Funeral Director/Embalmer. He is now the president of the Wallingford and Yales-
ville Funeral Homes. His list of accolades and accomplishments include serving on the Executive Committee of the Connecticut
Funeral Directors Association and serving as President from 2020-2021,

He and his wife Jennifer have two sons. He is a Third Degree Knight of Columbus, a member of the Wallingford Order of Elks, a
board member and coach of Wallingford Youth Lacrosse, an organization that David helped found and nurture into a program
that now serves children from kindergarten through high school.

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