Brick 6th-Grader's Praises Win Applebee's Contest For Teacher

BRICK, NJ — Matthew Lafferty is the kind of teacher who makes his students laugh and can turn their least-favorite subjects into something they look forward to learning. That's what sixth-grader Katie Conway said in her essay when she nominated the Veterans Memorial Middle School teacher for Above and “BEE”yond Teacher contest sponsored by Applebee's.

The sixth-grader's praises for her language arts and social studies teacher caught the eye of the judges, and Lafferty was named one of the four contest winners, the company said in a news release.

Lafferty was the winner chosen from the Middlesex-Monmouth-Ocean area, Applebee's said in its announcement. Four winners from 13 counties across New Jersey, including Lafferty, each received a $500 check for classroom supplies for the 2018-19 school year and an end-of-year class party for this school year.

The counties were grouped together by the following geographic areas: Bergen, Passaic, Hudson; Sussex, Morris, Essex; Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset, Union; and Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, the company said.

Teachers were nominated by their students, who submitted essays to their local Applebee’s explaining why their teacher goes above and “Bee”yond, the company said.

Katie Conway and her classmates were assigned in their EXCEL class to write about their favorite teachers, and she chose Lafferty, according to a writeup on the Brick Township Schools' website. In late April, they were surprised to learn Katie's essay and Lafferty had been named as winners.

"Loud cheers could be heard coming out of A5 and A6, as Katie’s classmates learned the prize would mean Applebee’s for them as well," the school district's writeup said.

Read Katie's essay about Lafferty below:

My Lucky Landing with the Linguistic Mr. Lafferty

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite imagination, and instill a love of learning.” — Brad Henry. This quote is a perfect description of my 6th grade language arts and social studies teacher, Mr. Lafferty. He was able to inspire hope, ignite imagination, and instill a love of learning in me. He, with his fun and exciting teaching style, helped me to learn and appreciate social studies. He also engages with students like no other teacher has before.

Before 6th grade, I HATED social studies. It was my absolute least favorite subject over all of them. Well, I did feel that way, until I met Mr. Lafferty. It was the first day of school that we were doing academics. It was time to switch and do social studies and I was thinking to myself, “Oh, no. Here comes the most boring subject of the day. Maybe I can take nap and ask someone for notes later ….” But then we got started and I immediately got interested. We started talking about trading in the 1700s. We were having a discussion when all of sudden Mr. Lafferty called up 2 students to do a demonstration. He had people show what happens when you are trying to trade apples with a person from another state. We all ended up laughing hysterically.

Another time, we were talking about a duel that happened between Andrew Jackson and some random guy who insulted his wife. Again, 2 students came up to demonstrate and we all understood what happened, but again, ended up with our faces hurting from smiling. Mr. Lafferty really makes learning fun and exciting, and he really engages with his students as well.

One time, in language arts, I got a bad grade on something. It wasn't really bad grade, but I really strive to get A’s and I was nervous about it. When we were dismissed to go to encore, he called me over to his desk and told he that with my other good grades, this grade wouldn’t affect me too much. I went off knowing that everything would be okay. I have seen him with other students, too. He is really involved and makes sure all kids are doing great.

Whenever kids are having a hard time, they can always go to Mr. Lafferty. He is a great go-to person when having a hard time.

In conclusion, Mr. Lafferty is able to teach students in a way that gets them excited about what they are learning. He engages with his students and always makes sure they are doing well. He always “inspires hope, ignites imagination, and instills a love of learning” in his students. Mr. Lafferty really is the best teacher!

Katie Conway and Matthew Lafferty photo via Brick Township Schools; Lafferty and Veterans Memorial Middle School Principal Renee Kotsianas with the mock check from Applebee's, photo by Applebee's