Andy Kim Honors Award-Winning Southern Regional Teacher

BARNEGAT, N.J. — Congressman Andy Kim honored award-winning Southern Regional teacher Bill Smith. Kim congratulated the 2018-19 Ocean County Teacher of the Year at the congressman's town hall April 27 in Barnegat.

The New Jersey Department of Education had named Smith, a social studies teacher at Southern Regional Middle School, a finalist for State Teacher of the Year. Read more: Southern Regional Man Is Finalist For State Teacher Of The Year

Kim also honored Smith with a March 21 speech in the House of Representatives as a "leader and mentor in the classroom."

"Perhaps the most telling testament to Mr. Smith's life and career, is the informal conversations with his students that reveal that deep admiration for their teacher as well as a genuine excitement for his class," Kim said.

Smith, a product of the New Jersey public school system, collaborates with other Southern Regional teachers to develop interdisciplinary educational opportunities, Kim said.

He also finds new learning opportunities for himself. Smith has traveled to Dallas to study President John F. Kennedy and to Scotland to study the Enlightenment, Kim said.

Smith has worked as a public school teacher for the last 11 year. He also serves as an adviser/supervisor for the school's after-school intramural sports program, which gives students who don't have the time to commit to the school's varsity sports an opportunity to keep playing.

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