Educators of the Year Winning Streak at HHS!

Several years ago, the Masonic Lodges of New Jersey began to recognize outstanding educators who best exemplify the values of friendship, morality, and brotherly love.  Caesarea Lodge No. 64 in Keyport collects nominations for outstanding educators from eight area high schools and from them, selects a winner.  Local lodges cluster into districts, which, in turn, select a winner.  Finally, a state winner is chosen.  For the past four years, Holmdel High School teachers have won the local contest.  In three of these four years Holmdel teachers have also won at the district level.  In 2009 and 2012, two of these teachers were chosen as New Jersey’s Teacher of the Year!

In 2009, Sandra Whitten was chosen as the Bayshore, the District, and the State Educator of the Year.  An English teacher, Ms. Whitten uses journals, portfolios, and seminars to encourage her students to develop their strengths as literary analysts and thoughtful writers.  Her students have won state and national writing contests, and her AP English curriculum has been commended by the College Board.  Ms. Whitten is the school’s coordinator for the Dodge Poetry Festival, has advised the literary magazine, coaches students in public speaking, and has helped establish the high school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  During her 14 years as club advisor, FCA conducted food drives and sent “Gifts of Love” to soldiers in Iraq.  Ms. Whitten has contributed to research in education and has been recognized by Princeton University as one of the top 13 teachers in New Jersey. 

In 2010, Matthew Goetke was selected as Caesarea Lodge’s Educator of the Year.  Mr. Goetke won for his dedicated work with students in an impressive array of choral groups.  His work with the tenors, sopranos, mezzo, and bass, at both Satz School and the High School, has produced melodious and uplifting music.  He has brought smiles to the faces of audiences during every performance and has inspired his students with a lifelong love of music.  His choirs have earned the highest ratings in adjudications.  Mr. Goetke helped raise $10,000.00 toward the purchase of handbells, which enabled him to involve even more students in music.  This year’s successful Broadway Dinner Theater featured songs from Broadway musicals, and Mr. Goetke’s direction of the school’s spring musical is another example of his excellence and dedication. 

Jill McCracken was the next Educator of the Year, winning at the local and district levels in 2011.  A teacher of AP Psychology, International Relations, World Civilization, and various elective courses, she was honored for her “global” approach to education.  In her Global Connections project, students worked internationally with their Serbian and Albanian counterparts in Kosovo after the ethnic cleansing tore the former Yugoslav region apart.  Books without Borders followed, with Holmdel students donating their old books for English instruction in Kosovo schools.  Ms. McCracken also does election monitoring with O.S.C.E. in newly democratic countries, such as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine, bringing back a wealth of experience to benefit her students. 

Kathleen Doughtery is Holmdel’s most recent winner as the local, district, and state Educator of the Year for 2012.  Ms. Dougherty teaches both English and social science at Holmdel High School.  Each year, Ms. Dougherty’s  A.P. U.S. History students eagerly participate in her challenging Continental Congress simulation, where representatives of the original 13 colonies engage in robust debate of the issues leading to the vote for independence.  Dressed in full colonial regalia, Ms. Dougherty invokes the very spirit of John Hancock, pressing students to delve deeply, to examine abstract principles of the Founding Fathers, and to analyze their relevance to our nation today.

 As an English teacher, Ms. Dougherty’s greatest gift to her students is teaching them how to write.  Her kindly step-by-step process includes one-on-one conferencing with each of her 124 students, as she encourages them to identify their strengths, as well as their weaknesses.  Ms. Dougherty helps each student revise so that he or she will be able to write clearly and effectively. 

With 100+ years of dedication and excellence, these four outstanding Holmdel High School teachers have clearly earned the honor that they have received as Educators of the Year.  Along with their fellow Holmdel teachers, Ms. Whitten, Mr. Goetke, Ms. McCracken, and Ms. Doughtery share a commitment to their students that the Masonic Lodges of New Jersey have recognized for four successive years.