Ocean City Teacher To Be Honored By Sen. Menendez Sunday

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City High School Teacher Amy T. Andersen is one of six women who will be honored by U.S. Senator Bob Menendez for her exceptional achievements. Andersen will receive an Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Award during Menendez’s eighth annual Women’s History Month event on Sunday, March 18, 3 p.m. It will take place in the Wilkins Theatre at Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue in Union.

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver will deliver the keynote address. Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (LD-29) will serve as mistress of ceremonies.

Andersen, an American Sign Language Teacher at the high school, is the New Jersey Teacher of the Year. She is one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year Award. The winner will be announced in the spring.

Andersen was named the New Jersey State Teacher of the Year in October. She was previously named the Cape May County Teacher of the Year.

Ocean City is one of only a handful of districts in the state that offer American Sign Language as a world language for hearing students. About 130 students are now taking the course at the school. This is more than triple the number of students who were enrolled in the course when it first started 13 years ago, according to the school district.

Andersen, of Cape May Court House, has been a special education teacher at Ocean City High School since she moved back to Cape May County from Boston — where she taught deaf students for nine years — in 2004.

That was the same year the district launched its American Sign Language program, with about 40 students enrolled at the time. The following year, more than 130 students had signed up as interest in careers teaching the deaf grew. In 2015, the program was highlighted on an Emmy-award winning program when her students’ ASL anti-bullying video went viral.

Andersen takes students beyond the classroom by arranging paint nights with world-renowned deaf artists, and signing opportunities with the National Association of the Deaf. Her students have interpreted for Michelle Obama and Madonna, often pursue deaf education with 65% testing into college-level ASL 3 after graduation.

ASL is an integral part of Ocean City because Andersen has galvanized the entire community into becoming the “deaf-friendly” town of South Jersey, Menendez said in a release. She reinforces that every voice has value, and it is our human right to communicate. Her students find a purpose, strengths they never imagined, and the realization of how that passion can lead to a meaningful and fulfilling life.

The Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Awards were created in tribute to the Senator’s mother, who came to the United States from Cuba to give her children a better life and who passed away in 2009 after a long, courageous fight with Alzheimer’s disease.

“My mother, Evangelina, for whom this award is named, showed me the meaning of courage, integrity and the importance of fighting for what’s right, every single day of her life,” Menendez said. “She blazed that trail for me and I will continue to honor her and all of the women whose strength, wisdom and tireless determination to stand up for the people they serve make our country and our state a better, safer, cleaner place to live, work and raise a family.”

“Kean University educates its students to be active and contributing global citizens,” said Lauretta A. Farrell, D.Litt., director of the Human Rights Institute at Kean University. “The exceptional women receiving Trailblazer Awards remind all of our students that there are many ways to make a difference, if they persevere.”

• Mayor Wilda Diaz; Perth Amboy
• Uyen (Winn) Khuong; Co-Founder, Action Together New Jersey (ATNJ)
• Ruth B. Mandel; Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University
• Audrey Meyers; President & CEO, Valley Health System
• Rev. Tiffany Williams; Founder, The Esther Project

To attend this free event, visit www.menendez.senate.gov/WHM-2018.

The attached image of Amy Andersen, left, and Ocean City Public Schools Superintendent Kathleen Taylor, right, was previously provided.