Green Brook Middle School Welcomes New Teachers

Sept. 4 will be the first day in a new school for incoming fifth graders at Green Brook Middle School—and for some teachers too.

Principal Linda Pollard published a letter on the school website Tuesday to welcome new teachers to the GBMS family.

The new faculty members are: 

• Jennifer Dawson, who will teach fifth grade and is replacing Colleen Figueiredo, who recently welcomed a new baby to her family and opted to take a position in a district closer to her home.  Dawson graduated cum laude from Kean University in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education and English. She has taught literacy at the university level and in Irvington schools.  And she is not a total newcomer; last year, she spent some time filling in with grade five.
  
  
• Michele Wolkun, also joining the GBMS grade five team, will fill in for teacher Erin Jones, who is on childrearing leave until December.  Wolkun earned a master's degree from Rutgers University in elementary education and special education and was on the college's Dean’s list from 2009-2013. Last year, she student-taught at William McGinn Elementary School in Scotch Plains.
  
  
• Michele Freda joins the math department to replace Karen Seiferheld, who resigned after accepting a position as a mathematics supervisor in another school district. Freda was graduated from the College of New Jersey with a degree in mathematics education and has continued her studies at Kean University on the graduate level.  She has taught in Somerset Hills, Bridgewater and Warren Public School Districts as a regular and long-term substitute and was a tenured middle school mathematics teacher in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District prior to taking time off to be a stay-at-home mom.

Pollard also noted that Green Brook Middle will welcome a new group of student teachers: Jeneva Flamingo, Michelle Motyczka, Amy Jacob, Kimberly Bostory and Jenna DeVincentz.