LAWRENCE: Sturgis named county Teacher of the Year

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Angeline Sturgis, a veteran educator who teaches English As a Second Language at the Eldridge Park School, has been named the Mercer County Teacher of the Year, according to the state Department of Education.
   Ms. Sturgis was named the Lawrence Township Teacher of the Year in January and is now in the running for the honor of being named New Jersey Teacher of the Year. The state’s top teacher is chosen from among the 21 county teachers of the year, and will be announced at the state Board of Education meeting in October.
   Ms. Sturgis said she was surprised to have been named the district’s teacher of the year and had mostly forgotten about the competition at the Mercer County level, even though she had to write a few more essays.
   ”When I received the call at home from Dr. Sam Stewart, the executive county superintendent of schools, I was thoroughly honored, amazed and proud to represent the teachers of Mercer County. It was all so astonishing to me, after this long career, to be in the spotlight,” she said.
   ”I am especially proud of the ELS children and families I work with and who inspire me so much. I told my students that we had won an award for all the learning and teaching that goes on in our little world of ESL,” Ms. Sturgis said.
   But the most important thing, Ms. Sturgis said, is that teaching is still a treasured profession and valued by the community.
   In the last 14 years, seven teachers from the Lawrence Township public school district have been named Mercer County Teacher of the Year — and one was named the New Jersey Teacher of the Year. Ms. Sturgis is the eighth Lawrence teacher to win county honors.
   Ms. Sturgis has taught ESL in the Lawrence Township school district for eight years. She was a classroom teacher in the Philadelphia public school district and also taught in Lancaster, Pa., Cranbury and at an international school in London.
   A teacher for more than 30 years, Ms. Sturgis was selected to be the Mercer County Teacher of the Year by a panel representing a cross-section of administrators, teachers, parents and county education association representatives. The panel was convened by the Mercer County executive superintendent of schools.