NHS Teacher Deceased

A beloved Newtown teacher and Newtown resident passed away in mid August after a year-long battle with cancer.  

Tammero passed away in the morning of August 17 at Danbury Hospital at 37 years old after a year-long battle with cancer Tammero raised four children alongside his beloved wife, Autumn, while staying involved in his community by coaching NHS hockey, softball, and helping with the Newtown Middle School Drama Club. 

“Coach Tammero was ‘one in a million’, a lifelong friend of mine, who I miss dearly. He was always there to support and lend a helping hand to me, the players he coached on multiple teams, and the students he taught and mentored,” NMS history teacher Paul Esposito said. 

Tammero’s family had advocated for his struggle with Metastatic Adenocarcinoma for the first time in September 2024. 

Tammero’s sister-in-law Danielle Cosentino, had started a gofundme on behalf of Tammero and his family, as he was his family’s main source of income. 

The gofundme had a goal of $75,000, and reached about 90% of this goal within the following 9 months and almost 600 donations. 

“Adenocarcinoma is a rare cancer that has developed in his bile ducts and in Andrew's case has metastasized and spread to his lymph nodes,” Cosentino said on gofundme.

Tammero left an imprint on everyone he met, or taught, or coached and was a teacher many students trusted because of his ability to be open and honest with students about everything. 

“My first impression of him was that he was very passionate about teaching health and being a part of the drama program,” NHS Senior Olivia Grasso said. “He definitely inspired me and a lot of other students to strive to be the best people we could be and overall just wanted every student to make good decisions and work hard.”

Tammero was also very close with his colleagues like Esposito, and Officer WIlliam Chapman. 

“I met coach Tammero when he began teaching at Newtown Middle School as a health teacher about ten years ago. He was an energetic, fun, genuine colleague who I knew had a hockey background. We quickly became good friends in and outside of work,” Esposito said.

NHS Athletic Director Matthew Memoli was on the interview committee for evaluating possible health teachers at NMS when he met Tammero. 

“He was fantastic, I mean he was everything he ended up being at the middle school and everyone really liked him, not just for his personality, but the ideas he had and the things that he said he was gonna bring to the middle school,” Memoli said. “For me I thought it was a no brainer.”

Tammero was also known for his passionate love for sports like softball, basketball and hockey, and coached for the NMS softball team, Basketball team, NHS Hockey team, and unified sports at NMS. 

“When Coach Tammero joined the hockey coaching staff, during his first game on the bench at Ridgefield Wintergarden Ice Arena, we were playing Wilton HS. He had never coached a hockey game before. He was so excited and into the game he was yelling and cheering so loud- I had to tell him to go stand on the other end of the bench because he was hurting my ears. He had such a passion for the game and wanted his players to succeed!” Esposito said. 

If there’s one word that people had to choose to describe Tammero, most would choose passionate. Tammero was passionate about everyone and everything, no matter the circumstances.

“He was so invested in the hockey program and added so much to it during his time with us,” said Esposito. “Fond memories of him visiting my classroom daily with Starbucks discussing the team. We had so much fun working on charitable fundraisers, most recently the Bender Classic with Sergeant Chapman to benefit CT Special Olympics. This year we began the Hockey Fights Cancer annual game, in honor of him and his courageous battle.”

Tammero also wanted to be part of an administrative staff within a school, and he was given the opportunity to pursue that goal as Athletic Director at Nonnewaug High School before he became sick. 

Tammero also worked with current Sergeant Chapman at NPD when Chapman was a SRO at NMS. They both created a welcoming environment with the philosophy that “everyone makes mistakes, but you should make your choices, bad or good, based on accurate information from people who care about you.”

“I remember walking into class that day and just knowing it was going to be such a fun class by the energy he brought. His class made me want to come to school,” NHS senior Elena Burdo said. “I also had the honor of not only being my health teacher but also my softball coach. He made the sport so enjoyable to play. He knew how to push us to do our very best. His teaching impacted me as a student because I can tell he had a real passion for what he was doing.”

“To this day, anytime my 14 year-old shows some new impressive footwork on the ice he says, ‘It’s because Mr. Andrew helped me with my turns,’” Chapman said. “He took a little piece of tape from Andrew’s hockey stick and put it in his glove so he’s always with him on the ice.”

“He left his mark on that school and this town. If you look at kids that graduated in ‘15 or ‘16 or going up to this past year, you would hear them say just the nicest stuff about him. And how he related so well to kids. He was that type of guy that just listened to everyone and was so down to earth,” Memoli said. “You have people who will be there, and they care, but then you have people like him who just left it all out there.”

Tammero had the same effects on students from his first year of teaching at NMS to his final year, creating a safe and light-hearted environment for all. 

“Mr. Tammero was a kind person and I always hoped to see him whether it was in school or at a dance competition,” NHS freshman Hadley Armitage said. “He has been my favorite health teacher and one that taught more than just health but life skills and has left an impact on me and others.”

“It’s easy in our culture to overuse terms like ‘Ride or Die,’ but truly, he was that kind of friend. Fortunately we had some chances over the last year to get a lot of time together and nothing was left unsaid,” Chapman said. “I hope that everyone finds a friendship like ours at least once in life, and that it lasts a lifetime. I hope all of his students know how much he cherished his time as a health teacher.”