Southern Regional Teacher Selected To National Humanities Council

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — An award-winning Southern Regional teacher could help educators around the nation. The National Humanities Center selected Bill Smith as one of 20 teachers across the county to comprise its 2019-20 Teacher Advisory Council.

The National Humanities Center provides leadership, training, resources and partnerships to advance humanities education from K-16. The organization collaborates with institutions such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Duke and University of North Carolina.

Teacher Advisory Council members serve a one-year term to represent multiple disciplines in the humanities. They accept an active role in development, evaluation and promotion of NHC materials and projects.

Smith teaches social studies at Southern Regional High School. The New Jersey Department of Education had named Smith a finalist for State Teacher of the Year in December.

Congressman Andy Kim honored Smith with a March 21 speech in the House of Representatives. Kim called Smith 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. Read more: Andy Kim Honors Award-Winning Southern Regional Teacher

The new Teacher Advisory Council members represent 14 states, but two of the teachers work in Ocean County. Jennifer Ansbach, a Manchester Township High School English teacher, also made the council.

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