South Jersey Teacher Named Teacher of the Year

A sixth-grade language arts teacher from South Jersey was named New Jersey’s Teacher of the Year for 2015.

Woodstown Middle School teacher Chelsea Collins was named the Teacher of the Year on Wednesday by the New Jersey Department of Education.

Collins beat out 18 other county teachers of the year to earn the prestigious award, which honors the contributions of outstanding educators – teaching pre-K through grade 12- who possess a special talent for inspiring a love of learning in students of all backgrounds and abilities.

Each teacher submitted an application to an eight-person panel selected by the by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA). The panel narrowed the field to five finalists, who then had to make presentations and undergo an interview process with the panel at the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) Headquarters in Trenton in August.

The other finalists included Jennifer Clune, a K-2 special education teacher at Jeffrey Clark School in East Greenwich Township School District, Gloucester County; Michael Martirone, a ninth-grade social studies teacher at Egg Harbor Township High School in the Egg Harbor Township School District, Atlantic County; Darlene Noel, a third-grade teacher at Green Street School in the Phillipsburg School District, Warren County; and Kristine Shurina, an eighth-grade English teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, Somerset County.

They were all honored during a special ceremony in Trenton on Wednesday, when Collins was announced as the winner.

“To me, my greatest accomplishments are in inspiring students to build their lives and their futures, and in showing that hard work and diligence will open doors and give them endless and limitless opportunities,” Collins said.

She also said she’s inspired when students give back to their community as a result of her influence. She said she “is thrilled when she gets a note from parents who can see progress that their children are making,” and said she is “touched when her students express their love of learning and acknowledge her role in their progress.”

“I am always amazed at the energy and passion exhibited by our finalists for State Teacher of the Year,” New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner David Hespe said. “Chelsea is personally motivated by her own interaction with students and how she can improve her educational practices in teaching them, and she, in turn, inspires her students to learn.”

According to a release from the New Jersey Department of Education:

Collins graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations. She earned her master’s in elementary education from The College of New Jersey. During those years, she spent a year at the University of Barcelona studying Spanish, international business, and Spanish architecture and painting.

As a teacher in the Woodstown-Pilesgrove School District since 2011, she left her mark on education at every level from her school to an international audience. Her expertise in reading has been recognized worldwide.

Her work has been featured on NJTV’s Classroom Close-Up, as well as on the blog written by author and education consultant Steve Barkley. She enthusiastically shares ideas across the state through engagements such as the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association conference and the Department of Education’s RAC7 Literacy Workshop. She also serves as the sixth-grade team leader in her school.

Before becoming a teacher at Woodstown Middle School, Collins gained experience teaching students in several grade levels where she worked at developing effective reading practices. She routinely uses assessments and data to improve classroom instruction, and differentiates instruction based on the needs of her students.