Cape’s teachers honored for years of hard work

Cape Henlopen’s building teachers of the year are vying for the top district spot, and the winner will head to the state competition.

They all are representative of high standards Cape Henlopen School District holds for its teachers, the superintendent says.

"I am extremely proud of our Cape Teachers of the Year. Our entire teaching staff is extremely talented, dedicated, and is the heart of our district successes. All of our building teachers of the year are deserving of being named as our District Teacher of the Year,” said Cape Henlopen Superintendent Robert Fulton.

This year's district winner will be announced Wednesday, May 13, at the Atlantic Sands Hotel in Rehoboth Beach.

The nominees selected by their peers at each school are:

Kristin Gray

Shields Elementary teacher Kristin Gray started teaching 19 years ago after graduating from the University of Delaware in 1996. She took her bachelor of science degree in elementary education and began work as a math teacher in Federalsburg, Md.

Gray said she always loved math until eighth grade when a pre-algebra class almost changed her mind.

“From day one, the teacher flew through material, and I was expected to simply memorize and regurgitate mathematical ideas without any understanding of the why behind them,” she said.

Her grades lagged and she was distraught until a high school teacher the following year taught her to again love math.

“She pushed me to look deeper into the mathematical relationships and, most importantly, supported me in believing once again that I was an excellent math student,” she said.

Gray went on to take advanced math courses in college and pass her love of math on to her students. She came to the Cape Henlopen School District in 1999 and has been here ever since. She worked as a math specialist from 2011 to 2013 but now teaches fifth-grade math and science at Shields.

“Teaching is not simply an occupation or something I do,” she said. “I believe teaching is a passionate commitment to learning.”

Richard August Lantz

Richard August Lantz is a physical education teacher at Rehoboth Elementary. He graduated from Wesley College in 2009 with a bachelor of science degree. He began work in the district as a substitute teacher in 2007 and moved into a paraeducator position in 2008. In 2011, he got a position at Rehoboth Elementary, the same school he attended as a kindergartner. As a student in the Cape Henlopen School District, the Cape graduate said he always admired his gym teachers.

“Coach Lehy was my physical education teacher, and later he became my mentor teacher,” Lantz said. “He made me feel special and constantly told me the potential I had athletically.”

That philosophy is one Lantz said he passes on to his students today.

“It is my responsibility to make physical education class a fun and exciting experience for all students, no matter their age, health or ability level,” he said. “My hope is not only to shape lifelong learners, but also to instill the value of a healthy and active lifestyle.”

Lantz said his best days are when he can help a quiet, reserved student find success.

“From personal experience I know that when students are uplifted in unexpected situations, it helps them succeed in other areas,” he said.

Margaret Silverman

H.O. Brittingham Elementary teacher Margaret Silverman began teaching in 2008 after graduating from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She taught at North Laurel Elementary and came to Cape Henlopen School District in 2011. Her early school days were filled with education-related activities but she didn’t realize until college that she wanted to be a teacher. The summers she spent at camp are some of her best memories growing up, and when she had the chance to work as a counselor in college, she said, she finally took the opportunity.

“It was life changing. The training, a combination of team building, natural history, group/class management, songs and skits, was so much fun,” she said. “It confirmed without a doubt that I wanted to teach forever.”

Silverman said she uses the same love of learning her camp counselors taught her to teach her own students today.

“I’m thankful that I embraced my confident, fearless, outgoing inner-camp-counselor, and I’m thankful that it helped me to grow into a collaborative, engaging teaching teammate,” she said.

Silverman said she understands students learn at different speeds, but it’s her job to find what they need to succeed.

“In our classroom, my goal is to create a caring, nurturing environment for students to grow and learn,” she said. “Students who know they are supported in other aspects of their life are more mentally ready to learn.”

Sarah C. McCabe

Sarah C. McCabe has taught fifth grade at Milton Elementary School since 2006. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a minor in athletic coaching from Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., and a master of education degree in reading from Wilmington University.

Growing up, McCabe said she always wanted to be a teacher, and she thanks her mother for supporting her goal.

“My mother taught me the power of a good story and instilled in me an unquenchable thirst for knowledge,” she said. “As a young girl, you could frequently find me in my room, teaching my stuffed animals their ABCs on my purple chalkboard.”

As a teacher, McCabe said she has worked to develop and revise curriculum materials and assessments for English and facilitated Smarter Balanced hand-scoring training for Rehoboth Elementary.

Based on past test results, McCabe said, 99 percent of her students have met the standard for reading during state tests since she became a reading teacher.

But most important, she said, she strives to instill in her students the same love of reading she had when she was young.

“Being a teacher definitely goes beyond just addressing the standards,” she said. “My greatest accomplishment is the success of my students after they leave my classroom … It certainly takes a village, and I am only one piece of the puzzle.”

Christina Hastings

Mariner Middle School teacher Christina Hastings has her high school shop teacher to thank for her desire to become a teacher.

“This teacher took a few extra minutes to check on my progress in other classes and made a world of difference for the rest of my high school experience,” she said. “It was at this point that I realized teachers care. This one man made me realize that to be a teacher is to wear many hats. Yes, he was passionate about his content and was a great teacher, but he also showed me that he genuinely cares about the individuals he teaches.”

With her high school teacher’s influence, Hastings went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in middle level education from Wilmington University in 2006. She student taught at Mariner before substituting in Cape Henlopen and Indian River school districts. After staying home for a year with her first child, Hastings returned to Mariner Middle where she has taught science, social studies and math. She currently teaches seventh-grade life science.

Hastings said she strives to offer her students the same type of support her high school teacher gave her.

“I check in on certain students if I think they need extra attention, and I talk with students when I find out they did not turn in work or projects for their other classes,” she said. “I also offer assistance when possible to students in need of supplies, tutoring, or if they just need to talk.”

Kristine Jarecki

Beacon Middle School teacher Kristine Jarecki has 26 years of teaching experience with nine as a special education teacher in science and global studies. She earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Millersville University.

She credits two people during her younger years for motivating her to become a teacher: her swim coach and an older friend who went on to become a teacher.

Jarecki volunteered to help with Special Olympics because of her friend and realized she wanted to work with students who have special needs.

“Seeing these athletes give 110 percent, and the joy on their faces and the reward of doing well, taught me that this is for me,” she said.

Jarecki said she enjoys interacting with her students and steers clear of standing in front of a classroom and lecturing. She said she works with her colleagues and parents as a team to give a student the best education possible.

“I have been faced with a diverse group of students in my teaching experiences, and each year I have learned more and more,” she said. “I have seen growth, trust and success within my students, and the reward that I get is something I hold dear.”

Linda Duckworth

Linda Duckworth has taught at Sussex Consortium for five years, currently focusing on autistic eighth-graders in a self-contained classroom. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wilmington University.

As a teenager, she said, she remembers reading several books about autistic children.

“I couldn’t get the experiences of these children and their families off my mind,” she said. “I was consumed with the topic and wanted so much to work with this population.”

Duckworth said her parents encouraged her to volunteer to work with children, which led to a career in preschool education.

She homeschooled her two children for six years, and after they were grown, she said, she and her husband moved to Sussex County.

Duckworth began substituting for the Cape Henlopen School District, and it didn’t take her long to find her way to Sussex Consortium. There she reconnected with autistic students – a career she had set out for herself as a teen.

“I am thankful every day to have such a rewarding job and the opportunity to work with such a wonderful staff from whom I learn continually,” she said.

Greg Berman

Cape Henlopen High School Spanish teacher Greg Berman has taught for 11 years, the last five at Cape High. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance with a minor in international business from University of Delaware and a master’s degree in secondary education from Wilmington University.

Berman’s teaching career took a circuitous path. International banking was his chosen field following college, and an English teaching job in Japan gave him the opportunity to work in Asia. He said it also changed his career path.

“While teaching in Japan, I fell out of love with the world of finance and in love with the world of education,” he said.

Returning to the United States from Japan, Berman said he soon began substituting in the Cape Henlopen School District.

“My three-year experience engaging Japanese middle school students to learn English and to expand their world and opportunities in life was the first of many factors that sparked my desire to become a teacher,” he said.

After he was hired to teach Spanish at Cape, Berman said, he began researching study abroad trips because of the rich experience it would give his students.

“When one of the students from the Costa Rica trip told me she decided to study Spanish at the University of Delaware because of me, I felt that I accomplished one of my primary goals as an educator,” he said.