Ocean City Teacher Praised By State Education Commissioner

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City American Sign Language Teacher Amy T. Andersen was praised by New Jersey’s Acting Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet on Friday. Andersen, the New Jersey Teacher of the Year, was one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year award.

Mandy Manning of Washington State was named the National Teacher of the Year on Friday. Manning is the first teacher in the U.S. for her refugee and immigrant students. She uses experiential projects to help her students process trauma and learn about their new community.

Repollet commended Andersen for “igniting enthusiasm and showcasing exceptional teaching in New Jersey.”

“We congratulate Ms. Manning, and we especially pleased that, for the first time since 1972, a New Jersey teacher was a finalist for this national honor,” Repollet said. “Amy’s achievements place the spotlight on some of the amazing instruction that occurs every day in New Jersey classrooms.”

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. New Jersey has been participating in the National Teacher of the Year Program overseen by the Council of Chief State School Officers since 1969.

National Teachers of the Year speak at over 150 events each year before audiences ranging from several hundred to over 10,000 and are often asked to sit on national and state commissions and policy advising bodies. Each year since 1952, the National Teacher of the Year has also been honored during a ceremony at the White House in the spring.

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.

Community oriented activities, such as ASL socials at local coffee shops and evening performances that raise funds for scholarships immerse students in deaf and hard of hearing culture helping them to build confidence.

In the past three years alone, more than 85 percent of her students have achieved the New Jersey Seal of Biliteracy, which denotes a student's fluency in sign language, according to the State Board of Education. Her program has inspired a number of students to pursue American Sign Language-related careers.

Andersen earned a bachelor's degree in flute performance from Indiana University and a master's degree in deaf education from McDaniel College, according to the State Board of Education. She is also nationally certified in Exceptional Needs Specialist: Deaf/Hard of Hearing.

Every year, exemplary teachers from each state, the U.S. extra-state territories, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity are selected as State Teachers of the Year. From that group, a national selection committee representing 14 renowned education and community organizations, which collectively represent millions of educators, selects four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. The National Teacher of the Year is then selected from the four finalists after rigorous in-person interviews with the selection committee. For more information, visit the National Teacher of the Year Program website.

Andersen is among a number of representatives shining a positive light on the Ocean City Public School District this year. Ocean City School District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Taylor was named 2018 Superintendent of the Year by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.

Ocean City High School junior Nora Faverzani was elected as a New Jersey Association of Student Councils state officer and will serve as the single State School Board of Education Student Representative for the 2018-2019 school year.

Ocean City High School Principal Dr. Matthew Jamison has been named one of the 2017-18 Visionary Leaders of the Year by the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA) and the New Jersey Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the district announced on Wednesday. Ocean City Intermediate School Principal Geoffrey Haines has been selected as the winner of the 2018 AtlantiCare Healthy Educator Award.

See related: Ocean City Teacher Named Finalist For National Award

The attached image of Amy Andersen was provided