Lake Riviera's Cerbone Honored As Brick Schools' Teacher Of Year

BRICK, NJ — When Kelly Cerbone was a little girl, she would set up a chalkboard and pretend she teaching her stuffed animals how to do math. When she was buying books at the book fair, she'd buy the teacher's editions of them.

"I would feel so cool, filling out all the answers," Cerbone said, as she explained that her love of teaching was with her from a young age. Now, that love of teaching, and the desire to help children find the best in themselves has earned her the recognition as the Brick Township Schools' Teacher of the Year.

Cerbone, who teaches math and science at Lake Riviera Middle School, was honored last Thursday at the district's Board of Education meeting on May 2, along with all of the district's teachers and education support professionals of the year for each school. (Scroll down for all of the names.)

Lake Riviera Middle School Principal Alyce Anderson said Cerbone's co-workers described her as "extremely dedicated to teaching the whole child," and was a force in bringing the "growth mindset" approach to teaching to the school and the district.

"Her exuberance and energy radiates from the door (of her classroom) outward," one teacher said in comments shared by Anderson. Cerbone's classroom is easy to find because "most of the time the kids are in the hallway working on science experiments."

"She meets her students wherever they are in the learning process," Anderson said, and emphasizes effort over aptitude. Cerbone not only has shared her methods and approaches with her fellow teachers in the district, she has shared them beyond, giving a presentation to Ocean County superintendents on the growth mindset approach.

Anderson said Cerbone, who teaches yoga outside of school, has brought elements of her yoga teaching into the classroom and shared them with her co-workers as well.

She recently was presented with the "Teacher Who Touched My Life" award at the Junior National Honor Society ceremony.

"She taught me not to get upset when I make mistakes, she would encourage me to keep trying," one student said. Another said, "My teacher gave me the best gift of all: believing in me."

"You should be so proud of all the lives you've touched," Anderson said.

"The students don't all come back and tell you the impact you had on them but it only takes one to make you know it's been worthwhile," Cerbone said.

"It comes back to this phrase: It's about TIME," with T for teach, I for inspire, M for motivation, E for empower. "I want them to have a lifelong love of learning."

The teachers and support professionals honored in the district's schools along with Cerbone are as follows. You can watch video of the presentations at the bottom of this article:

Brick Memorial High School: Colleen Devins, school nurse; Timothy Brennan, phys ed teacher (created the Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs class at the two high schools)

Brick Township High School: Karen Domogauer, paraprofessional; Darla Novick, special education teacher

Veterans Memorial Middle School: Lois Testa, paraprofessional; Dawn Byrne, consumer science teacher.

Lake Riviera Middle School: Regina Koblan, paraprofessional; Kelly Cerbone, math/science teacher

Drum Point Elementary: Kavita Patel, occupational therapist; Laura Keelan, 5th grade teacher

Emma Havens Young Elementary: Alyssa Spigai, basic skills; Catherine Wallace, 5th grade teacher

Herbertsville Elementary: Sara Friedman, speech therapist; Christopher Capone, music teacher

Lanes Mill Elementary: Nicole Cannon, speech therapist; Sharon Panek, 5th grade teacher

Midstreams Elementary: Julie Caputo, social worker; Megan Brennan, kindergarten teacher

Osbornville Elementary: Barbara Morris, paraprofessional; Leanne Brisbane, 4th grade teacher

Veterans Memorial Elementary: Denise Ragozzino, paraprofessional; Christine Scott, 2nd grade special education teacher

Warren H. Wolf Elementary: Annie McGorty, paraprofessional; Joe Lawlor, special education teacher.

The Teacher and Educational Support Professionals of the Year presentation begins at the 40-minute mark of the school board meeting video.

Note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Alyce Anderson's first name. Patch regrets the error.

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