‘Dynamic teaching’: Local teachers react to being named County Teachers of the Year – NorthJersey.com

Smiling, and full of good words for their students and their colleagues, the 21 educators named New Jersey 2022-23 County Teachers of the Year looked gratified and proud to have been recognized by the state and their districts for their work in 2021, a historically hard year for teachers as students emerged from the pandemic’s disruptions.

One among the county educators announced by the state Department of Education during a virtual ceremony last week, will receive the State Teacher of the Year award in October.

“My students push me to stay contemporary and my lessons relevant,” said Christine O’Brien-Mase, Sussex County’s Teacher of the year.

“Art education encourages students to be creative thinkers,” a key criterion for 21st-century learning, said O’Brien-Mase, an art and photography teacher at Sparta High School, who is also currently taking a course in teaching the Holocaust.

They’re all still learning on the job, the educators said, but what they love best are the learners.

“These 21 educators are exemplary models of the kinds of dynamic teaching that takes place in New Jersey’s classrooms,” said Gov Phil Murphy. “The quality of our schools is driven in no small part through the strength of our teaching workforce, represented by these County Teachers of the Year. It’s no wonder New Jersey public schools are among the best in the nation.”

From science to business education to photography, the awards spanned many subjects and specialties. Also on display were some great credentials.

Bergen County Teacher of the Year, Gina DiMaggio has taught English at all levels at Lyndhurst High School. She created an escape-type room, complete with music and visual clues, to prepare her students for a test in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, her supervisor wrote in a letter nominating her for the title. DiMaggio, who holds a doctorate in education, is a “natural-born teacher” the school said.

Returning the students to a sense of normalcy after a year spent on Zoom and hybrid classes was her biggest challenge, said DiMaggio, a second-career teacher who took up the job when she saw her son struggle socially in school. For DiMaggio, who said her school life was relatively easy and free of anxiety, teaching was a way to understand what her son was going through and help students like him feel more comfortable in their own skin.

NJ teacher shortageTeacher shortages continue. Here’s what New Jersey is doing to make it easier to hire more

“It made me want to help other children too, who maybe don’t fit in with other students too, and maybe don’t feel as confident in their abilities as other students do,” she said. That’s why she works as an advisor for several extra-curricular activities. It’s “so I can see students that are more than just a grade in my English class.”

What was DiMaggio’s point of pride on hearing the news? That she is able to represent her school district ‒ Lyndhurst, a South Bergen County district.

“The thing that I felt proud of if you look at Bergen County and the past Bergen County Teachers of the Year, they’re from upper Bergen County. They’re from fancy schools, Northern Highlands and Ramapo, you know, towns like that.” Her nomination, she said, helps recognize the hard work of teachers at her high school and districts that she said didn’t make the cut in past years. The state Department of Education provides lists of county teachers in previous years. Northern Valley Regional was selected twice and Tenafly school district three times, among winning districts since 2012.

Passaic County Teacher of the year Emily Blumberg is a science teacher at Passaic Preparatory Academy. As the first female physics teacher at the academy, her goal is to make science more inclusive, said Maughan when introducing Blumberg, a fellow of the education non-profit JERSEYCAN’s Teacher Leadership policy program, a National High Magnetic Field Lab Experience for Teachers Fellow and leads a teacher collaborative in the school that she founded.

 “I hope that I have taught you as much as you guys have taught me,” she said, thanking her students.

People usually cringe, said Blumberg when she tells them she teaches chemistry and physics because of the “very dry way” in which the subjects are usually taught. Keeping students active, doing lots of experiments and showing them how relevant the subjects are to their own lives is Blumberg’s approach. Anyone can be a scientist, she said. “So often I see students who have really low confidence in science and math. I think it’s really important that we change that narrative,” she said.

If multi-tasking is an unwritten requirement for a great teacher, Sussex County’s O’Brien-Mase, and many of her fellow winners take that part of the job description to a new level.

She is pursuing a certification in teaching the Holocaust and Prejudice Reduction, with a degree in art and another in teaching already under her belt. O’Brien-Mase also was instrumental in helping an entire class of AP (advanced placement) students pass with the highest score of 5 in 2021, said last year’s teacher of the year, Theresa Maughan, who spoke at the ceremony.

Her award was especially meaningful, O’Brien-Mase said, because she was raised in Sussex County and graduated from Sparta High school. It was a similar sentiment for Kristen Dunleavy, Essex County’s teacher of the year and an elementary special education teacher. A self-described lifelong wheelchair user, Dunleavy said she was a West Orange native, and has spent her entire career in the district’s public schools.

An expert in virtual learning technologies, Dunleavy said she advocates for students with all abilities, including the disabled.

Andrea Ritacco, Morris County Teacher of the Year, teaches Business Education at Whippany Park High School in Hanover Park Regional High School. She has been teaching this subject for 13 years, and she thanked her family for adjusting to the “personal demands” of teaching. Her students, said Ritacco, “make every day an adventure”.

The County Teachers of the Year and state teacher awards are announced annually as part of the Governor’s Educator of the Year program. Nominees are all licensed classroom teachers and are awarded the title of “Ambassador for Education.” School principals nominate teachers of the year. The Department of Education informs all nominees about their selection and the teachers are then encouraged to apply for the county teacher award, followed later by video submissions for the New Jersey Teacher of the Year award.

See the list of other counties’ teachers of the year on the state website.