Six recognized for success as Monroe school teachers

By tara petersen
Staff Writer

Six recognized for success
as Monroe school teachers
By tara petersen
Staff Writer


Monroe’s Teachers of the Year (l-r, front) Maria Naumik, Pamela Tortoriello, Robin Silverman, Laura Schreuders and Janet Bluefield; and Ronald Bilcik (back).Monroe’s Teachers of the Year (l-r, front) Maria Naumik, Pamela Tortoriello, Robin Silverman, Laura Schreuders and Janet Bluefield; and Ronald Bilcik (back).

MONROE — There is now a Teacher of the Year for 2002-03 at each of the township’s six schools.

Among the six award recipients, only one has been in the district less than a decade. Of Ronald Bilcik, Janet Bluefield and Maria Naumik, each has spent 19 years or more in the Monroe district. Pamela Tortoriello, Laura Schreuders and Robin Silverman have 15, 13 and 8 years experience in Monroe, respectively.

Bilcik has been teaching in the Monroe district for 29 years. He teaches sixth grade and basic skills at the Brookside Elementary School.

Resident Caroline Breese remembers when her son, now in college, had Bilcik nearly a decade ago.

"I remember he really liked him. He said [Bilcik] made learning fun, and wasn’t at all dry," Breese said.

Bluefield, who has been in the district 19 years, teaches mathematics at Monroe Township High School, and said she loves her job, particularly because of the students.

"The students are great. They like learning, and I like being the person there to help them," she said.

Naumik is an art teacher at Applegarth Middle School. She has been teaching for 25 years, and has spent 21 of them in Monroe.

She said she sees the Teacher of the Year award as "reinforcing my long-held belief that the arts has an indispensable place in our educational system." She also said that she likes to frame, mount or matte each piece of artwork so that the "students have a sense of pride in their work."

"Building self-confidence is what it’s all about," Naumik said.

Twenty-one-year-old Trisha Lohman remembers having Naumik for art.

"She really had good ideas to keep us occupied in class," Lohman said.

Schreuders teaches sixth grade and basic skills at Woodland Elementary School.

Silverman is a first-grade teacher at Mill Lake Elementary School, and Tortoriello teaches second grade at Barclay Brook Elementary School.

Each school in the township formed its own committee that ultimately chose one teacher who stood out among the rest of the nominees.

According to last year’s high school Teacher of the Year, Marie Pepe, this year’s procedure was more consistent throughout the district, and had an extensive rating system.

"The criteria and rating scale was developed in advance of any names being submitted. There were at least 10 or 12 categories (for rating teachers)," said Pepe, who sat on the high school committee for this past school year. Pepe also said that the committee for the high school consisted of "two former teachers of the year, an administrator from another school, the vice principal of the high school, a parent and a community member."

She said she believes that in previous years, school administrators compiled a short list without much, if any, outside input.

According to Bluefield, award recipients were recognized at a county-sponsored dinner as well as at a district dinner. They also received a certificate of recognition from the state Department of Education. In addition, the Monroe Board of Education presented each with a plaque and $500 to be spent on education endeavors.

"The money is for us to use in our classrooms, as a supplement [toward materials] at our schools," Bluefield said.