NJCTE Wins NCTE Affiliate Membership and Website Excellence Awards

The New Jersey Council of Teachers of English has been named one of eighteen recipients of the 2019 Kent D. Williamson Affiliate Membership Recruitment Award given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Established in 1987, this award recognizes NCTE affiliates that have increased their memberships over the past year. Awards are calculated as a percentage of increase based on membership lists submitted by the affiliates in both the year of and the year prior to the award.

The New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, https://www.njcte.org/, edited by Sarah Gross, High Technology High School, has also been named as a recipient of the 2019 NCTE Affiliate Website of Excellence Award, given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Established in 2000, this award recognizes outstanding websites with high-quality content, easy navigation, size, speed, privacy, links, and interactive abilities (message boards, live chats, forums, blogs, mailing lists, etc.).

The winners for both awards will be announced at the 2019 NCTE Annual Convention in Baltimore, during the Affiliate Roundtable Breakfast on Sunday, November 24.

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Attention NJ ELA teachers: Would you like to write for the NJCTE blog? We would be happy to publish your ideas and insights about your practice or resources you’ve had success with, etc. We welcome original pieces or those that have been posted elsewhere. Please send queries and contributions to njcteblog@gmail.com.

NJCTE Presents Annual Teacher Awards

NJCTE is an organization that honors the work of teachers, with several annual awards.

The NJCTE Outstanding Educator of the Year Award is presented annually to an exceptional English/language arts educator — a dedicated, innovative, dynamic Pre-K-12 teacher, university teacher, supervisor, or administrator — whose activities have significantly and widely impacted New Jersey English language arts education. The selected educator becomes eligible as well for a coveted New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education. The individual can be at any point in his or her career.

NJCTE is proud to announce that this year’s Educator of the Year is Effie S. Russell.

The M. Jerry Weiss Early Career Teacher Award is named in honor of Dr. M. Jerry Weiss, Distinguished Service Professor of Communications Emeritus at New Jersey City University. Jerry has had an important influence on literacy in New Jersey, as well as the greater nation. A nationally recognized expert in the field of children’s and adolescent literature and a pioneer in the area of Whole Language, Dr. Weiss taught at New Jersey City University for 33 years before retiring in 1994. This recognition is given to teachers at any grade level, P-12. Applicants must be currently teaching from one to five years.

NJCTE is proud to announce that this year’s M. Jerry Weiss Early Career Teacher Award winners are Narae Lee and Megan Lowe.

The Marcia Holtzman Preservice Teacher Award is named in honor of Marcia Holtzman, an instrumental contributor to NJCTE, whose service to the organization was long and extensive. Holtzman retired as an assistant superintendent of the Metuchen Public School system and remains active as a volunteer writing teacher in Metuchen. Preservice undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in teacher education programs are encouraged to apply.

NJCTE is proud to announce that this year’s Marcia Holtzman Preservice Teacher Award Winners are Madison Martin, Julia Pugliese, and Rachel Skerker.

Thank you to the educators who recognized our nominees’ great work and nominated them!

We are currently updating our application process for all awards. Meanwhile, please keep in mind the general criteria governing each award. We encourage you to honor others or yourself. Many teachers earn recognition but don’t always receive it. Here’s your chance to reward good teaching.

Are you an NJCTE member who is interested in serving on the 2020 NJCTE awards committee? If so, please email NJCTE President Audrey Fisch, NJCTEpresident@gmail.com.

 

 

Let’s Recognize Teachers’ Accomplishments

by Patricia L. Schall

Do you know teachers whose work calls for recognition? These teachers could be colleagues, friends, student teachers, or you! We invite you to nominate teachers whose work you respect or consider recognizing yourself for all the good work you do every day.

NJCTE honors teachers with the following awards:

The NJCTE Outstanding Educator of the Year Award is presented annually to an exceptional English/language arts educator — a dedicated, innovative, dynamic Pre-K-12 teacher, university teacher, supervisor, or administrator — whose activities have significantly and widely impacted New Jersey English language arts education. The selected educator becomes eligible as well for a coveted New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education. The individual can be at any point in his or her career. Due date for application: March 1, 2019.

The M. Jerry Weiss Early Career Teacher Award is named in honor of Dr. M. Jerry Weiss, Distinguished Service Professor of Communications Emeritus at New Jersey City University. Jerry has had an important influence on literacy in New Jersey, as well as the greater nation. A nationally recognized expert in the field of children’s and adolescent literature and a pioneer in the area of Whole Language, Dr. Weiss taught at New Jersey City University for 33 years before retiring in 1994. This recognition is given to teachers at any grade level, P-12. Applicants must be currently teaching from one to five years. Due date for application: March 1, 2019.

The Marcia Holtzman Preservice Teacher Award is named in honor of Marcia Holtzman, an instrumental contributor to NJCTE, whose service to the organization was long and extensive. Holtzman retired as an assistant superintendent of the Metuchen Public School system and remains active as a volunteer writing teacher in Metuchen. Preservice undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in teacher education programs are encouraged to apply. Due date for application: March 1, 2019.

Check the NJCTE website for criteria governing each award, application requirements, expectations for awardees, and benefits. Note due dates. We encourage you to honor others or yourself. Many teachers earn recognition but don’t always receive it. Here’s your chance to reward good teaching. The awards will be presented at the NJCTE Annual Spring Conference.

Congratulations to Teacher for the Dream Award Winner George Salazar

Please join NJCTE in congratulating George Salazar, one of two winners of this year’s NJCTE Teacher for the Dream Award.

George is a British English speaker navigating the complex landscape of American English education. Born and raised abroad, his experiences have made him acutely aware of myriad philosophies to the teaching of literacy and literature, and how students—especially students of color—are empowered or marginalized by them. When he’s not fighting the spell-checker over the spelling of his words, he loves to write about the literary canon, technology in the classroom, and trends in education policy. Outside of teaching, George is a professional calligrapher, displaying his love for words by marrying both their form and function so others may also fall in love at first write.

As a recipient of the Teacher for the Dream Award, George is honored to join NJCTE’s community of dedicated and inspiring professionals. He is excited by the opportunities granted to share his insights, research, and best practices in local, state, and national conversations being held about teaching, especially in English Language Arts. He believes the perspectives and insights of people of color are necessary to our critical examinations of our content and practices. And with the platform provided by this award, George advocates for more people of color to become educators, so students see themselves represented in our profession, and see their experiences acknowledged, respected, and celebrated in what we do as English teachers.

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Attention NJ ELA teachers: Would you like to write for the NJCTE blog? We would be happy to publish your ideas and insights about your practice or resources you’ve had success with, etc. We welcome original pieces or those that have been posted elsewhere. Please send queries and contributions to njcteblog@gmail.com.

 

NJCTE Board Member Susan Chenelle Receives NCTE 2018 High School Teacher of Excellence Award

NJCTE is thrilled to announce that the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has awarded the 2018 High School Teacher of Excellence Award to Susan Chenelle from University Academy Charter High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Chenelle is one of 14 high school teachers nationwide honored by NCTE this year.

Established in 2001 by the NCTE Secondary Section, this award recognizes and celebrates high school classroom teachers who demonstrate excellent practices and contributions in the classroom. Chenelle will be recognized as a recipient of the NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award at the Secondary Section Luncheon on Saturday, November 17, during the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention in Houston, Texas. For more information about the NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award, including past winners, see http://www2.ncte.org/high-school-teacher-of-excellence-affiliate-award.

Chenelle is currently Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction at University Academy Charter High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, where she taught English and journalism for several years. She is the co-author of the Using Informational Text to Teach Literature series from Rowman & Littlefield with Audrey Fisch, with whom she has presented about informational text and cross-disciplinary collaboration at schools around New Jersey and conferences across the country. She earned her master’s degree in urban education from New Jersey City University, and she is now pursuing a doctoral degree at Montclair State University in Teacher Education and Teacher Development. Chenelle was the recipient of NJCTE’s 2017 Educator of the Year Award and currently serves on the NJCTE board.

For more information about NJCTE’s Educator of the Year Award, please see https://www.njcte.com/teacher-awards/. We highly encourage English educators in New Jersey to nominate their colleagues for this award and to consider nominating early career and pre-service teachers for the M. Jerry Weiss Early Career Teacher Award and the Marcia Holtzman Pre-Service Teacher Award. Help us honor the excellent work of our colleagues in the field!

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English

NJCTE Student Writing Contest Gold Medalists and GAAE Honorees

We are happy to share the gold medal-winning personal essays, poem, and short story from the 2018 NJCTE Student Writing Contest. These student writers were also honored at the 2018 Governor’s Awards in Arts Education reception on May 22. Please visit the NJCTE website to enjoy these pieces and post your comments.

• “Lost in Thought” by Kush Dungana, NJCTE Gold Medalist in Short Story
• “Family Recipe – How to Make an Indian Thanksgiving Dinner” by Swathi Kella, NJCTE Gold Medalist in Personal Essay
• “Communion Cake and Christmas Break” by Gillian Parker, NJCTE Gold Medalist in Personal Essay
• “Aquarius” by Madeleine Song, Gold Medalist in Poetry

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English

NJCTE Student Writing Contest Silver and Bronze Medalists

The silver and bronze medal-winning personal essays, poems, and short stories from the 2018 NJCTE Student Writing Contest are now available on the NJCTE website. (We will feature the gold medal-winning pieces here later this week.) Please visit the NJCTE website to enjoy the students’ work and post your comments.

Personal Essays

“Childlike Curiosity” by Elyse Genrich, NJCTE Silver Medalist in Personal Essay

“Rice Cakes Will Never Be Uncrustables – And That’s Okay” by Amber Leung, NJCTE Silver Medalist in Personal Essay

“Handstand” by Kathleen Parkhurst, NJCTE Silver Medalist in Personal Essay

“When Our Home Became Hers” by Lauren Hirschmann, NJCTE Bronze Medalist in Personal Essay

“A Tiger in Chinatown” by Sarah Lackey, Bronze Medalist in Personal Essay

Poetry

“The Weight” by Isabella Gonzalez, NJCTE Silver Medalist in Poetry

“An Almost Something LoveFool” by Eloisa Sablan, NJCTE Silver Medalist in Poetry

“Beautiful” by Maressa Park, NJCTE Bronze Medalist in Poetry

“Breathe” by Stephanie Shue, NJCTE Bronze Medalist in Poetry

“Don’t Ask Why, Ask Why Not” by Madison Wade, NJCTE Bronze Medalist in Poetry

Short Stories

“Whole Again” by Hee Jae Jung, NJCTE Silver Medalist in Short Story

“Tears of Yesterday” by Vani Shankar, NJCTE Silver Medalist in Short Story

“The Nature of Resentment” by Camila Fang, NJCTE Bronze Medalist in Short Story

(Awaiting Author’s Permission to Publish)

“To Us, He is Eliah” by Su Min Kim, NJCTE Bronze Medalist in Short Story

(Awaiting Author’s Permission to Publish)

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English

 

Congratulations to M. Jerry Weiss Early-Career Teacher Award Winner: Nimisha Patel

Please join all of us at NJCTE in congratulating Nimisha Patel, one of the 2018 M. Jerry Weiss Early-Career Teacher Award Winners.

Nimisha Patel has taken a non-traditional route to teaching English Language and Literature. She graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and English, and then again with a Masters in Literature. She started her teaching career in the greater Princeton Area–teaching high school English at every single grade level. She then moved to the North Brunswick High School English department and has served as an adjunct professor at Middlesex County College, Kean University, and Rutgers University. Her interests lie primarily in literary theory and post-colonial literature and is currently studying Hindi. She enjoys mentoring young students and serving her community.

We look forward to Nimisha’s contributions to NJCTE and to her continued success in English education.

If you have a teacher whom you would like to nominate for this or another NJCTE award, please check out the criteria and nomination process on our website.

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English

NJCTE Wins Affiliate Excellence Award

As Millie Davis explains, the NCTE Affiliate Excellence Award “honors NCTE affiliates that meet high standards of performance for programming and promote improvement in English language arts teaching.” This year, the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English is one of the affiliate winners.

Jean Boreen, chair of the Standing Committee on Affiliates and the Excellence Award committee chair, wrote of the NJCTE affiliate’s work:

Your publications and social media continue to be an exceptionally strong means of communication in keeping members informed and aware; your website is also a strong mechanism for reaching out to your membership. I loved your development of the virtual Hall of Fame; what a wonderful way to highlight great leadership and support of the affiliate. I’m also very impressed with your plans for new members as well as the consistent updating and goal-setting your group is doing; I love the energy that is clearly emanating from the good work you are all putting forward.

We are thrilled to receive this honor. But we aren’t satisfied. We need to continue to grow and improve. We can and will learn from the good work of the other winning affiliates. And we hope to learn more from the teachers of English in New Jersey, as you tell us what you need and want. Let us hear from you!

Posted by Audrey Fisch, blog editor for NJCTE.

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English