Student’s nominate teacher

Chris Rossman, teacher at Monmouth Junction, named in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers for second consecutive year.

By: Chinenye Okparanta
   Chris Rossman didn’t like being a student, so he became a teacher.
   Now a third-grade teacher at Monmouth Junction, Mr. Rossman, 42, said that he has worked hard to become the sort of teacher that he never had while growing up.
   "I guess in some ways going through school was not easy for me," he said. "I had teachers who were not a credit to their profession."
   Mr. Rossman said that his parents switched him over to St. Pius Regional High School in Piscataway after a very negative freshman year at Piscataway High School. At St. Pius, he had teachers that helped him develop as a student by not making him feel bad if he did not excel in a particular subject.
   Mr. Rossman decided that he would turn his past negative experience as a student into something positive as a teacher.
   He attended Kean University, formerly Kean College, where he earned a degree in elementary education before beginning a career that has taken him through a number of schools in the South Brunswick School district and landed him at Monmouth Junction, where he has been teaching for four years.
   "Nobody ever forgets being in his class," said school Principal Janis Bozowski. "(Mr. Rossman) has a way of making the world real for his students. At the same time as he’s a teacher he also becomes a mentor for his students. He also has a great sense of humor."
   Mr. Rossman said he works to make his classroom environment positive and encouraging for his students.
   "I try to make learning fun and experiential," he said. "And I try to accentuate different children’s strengths while working on their weakness without pointing those weakness out in front of them."
   Proof of Mr. Rossman’s success as a teacher came a two years ago when one of his former students nominated him for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
   Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers is a volume published annually by the Who’s Who corporation. The corporation honors teachers who are anonymously nominated by their current or former students for being a positive influence in their lives.
   There is no age limit for the students who make the nominations.
   "The Who’s Who people tell me that they take nominations from kids that make the National Honor Society and those kids are able to nominate one teacher that they believe made the difference for them as a student," Mr. Rossman said.
   In September, Mr. Rossman was told that he had been named for the second year in a row as one of Who’s Who teachers. According to the Who’s Who corporation, less than 1 percent of all teachers in the entire country ever get nominated two years in a row.
   "I think (he) was nominated because he builds relationships with his students that helps them feel valued and important," Ms. Bozowski said. "He does a lot of hands-on activities, like with science, so (his students) appreciate the nature of his class."
   Mr. Rossman’s picture recently appeared in the September 2005 edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and he received his second plaque from the organization, but for Mr. Rossman, the real prize is knowing that he has made a difference in the lives of at least a couple of his students.
   "I wanted to get out there and teach and make students feel good and fill a gap that was missing in my own experience," he said. "For me it’s a way to really make a difference for the future."