Bloomfield Tech Teacher Named Finalist For National Award

Bloomfield, NJ – Emily Bonilla, a high school career and technical education-media production teacher at Bloomfield Tech, was recently named one of ten teachers named finalists for the national 2016 Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice.

According to a news release, the $25,000 award “recognizes the nation’s most effective teachers working in high-need public schools,” sees thousands of nominations annually and had nearly 800 teachers’ applications in 2016. Applicants undergo a six-month selection vetting process, with selection decisions made based on submitted essays, teaching videos, letters of reference, and in-person classroom observations.

Bonilla is the only finalist from New Jersey this year.

According to a news release:

“For Emily Bonilla, teaching media literacy means teaching students to think critically about the various forms of media they interact with every day, and encouraging them to be active participants instead of passive consumers. Over the course of her eight-year career, 60 percent of her students have gone on to pursue communication-related majors in college, and 97 percent enroll in post-secondary schools. Which makes sense, considering the level of instruction in her classroom seems fit for a college course. Says her district superintendent, “In a district with many talented teachers, she stands out as one of our best.”

The ten finalists convened in late April for interviews with an expert panel of judges at TNTP, the Brooklyn-based nonprofit that offers the award. Four of the finalists will be named winners in May, earning $25,000 each and a seat in a special summer residency with TNTP.

The other finalists include:

• Carla McCall, 8th Grade Math, Crawford W. Long Middle School, Atlanta, Georgia
• David Gesualdi, Pre-K – 8th Grade Physical Education and Health, The Walker Jones Education Campus, Washington, D.C.
• Eric Hale, 3rd Grade Math and Science, David G. Burnet Elementary, Dallas, Texas
• Erica Stewart, 4th Grade Math, KIPP Excelencia Community Prep, Redwood City, California
• Evelyn Rebollar, High School English, Bronx Arena High School, Bronx, New York
• Heather Howle, 8th Grade STEM, West Feliciana Middle School, St. Francisville, Louisiana
• Jason Catanese, 7th and 8th Grade Math, Pueblo Del Sol Elementary School, Phoenix, Arizona
• Lavinia Draper, 3rd Grade Gifted/Accelerated, U.B. Kinsey Palmview Elementary School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida
• Matthew Patterson, 12th Grade English, Benjamin Banneker High School, College Park, Georgia

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Photo courtesy of TNTP