By Andrew Martins
Staff Writer
PLUMSTED – The work of four teachers in the Plumsted Township School District was recognized by the Board of Education during a recent meeting.
The recipients of Plumsted’s Teacher of the Year awards were Aileen Chaney, New Egypt Primary School; Helen Sipos, Dr. Gerald H. Woehr Elementary School; Caitlin Lynch, New Egypt Middle School; and Jay Corby, New Egypt High School.
District administrators cited the teachers’ commitment to the district’s goals and to their students.
“Aileen Chaney is a phenomenal educator,” New Egypt Primary School Principal Rick DeMarco said. “She is humble, which is not necessarily a criteria (for the award), but she is soft-spoken and a very wonderful educator in the classroom. She is experienced and I think it is a well-deserved honor.”
DeMarco said Chaney, who teaches kindergarten, regularly spends extra time outside of her duties in the classroom to make certain her pupils excel.
“[Chaney] plans really engaging activities for her students and differentiates instruction for each and every one of her students,” the principal said.
Dr. Gerald H. Woehr Elementary School Principal Walter Therien said Sipos “is a compassionate, creative and energetic teacher who helps her students be the best they can be, every day. [Her] caring for her students goes well beyond the school day.”
Sipos, who has taught in the district for 13 years in grades three through five, is currently teaching a self-contained special education class.
Therien said Sipos has been a significant asset not just for her students, but also for the school’s faculty and the community.
“In addition to delivering innovative lessons to her students, Mrs. Sipos is the type of person who jumps in and helps any student or teacher,” the principal said. “No matter what she is doing, she always stops and helps.”
At New Egypt Middle School, Interim Principal Tara Nesbihal said Lynch was deserving of he honor.
Lynch, who has taught English and supplemental social studies at the school for nine years, has also coached soccer and lacrosse.
“There are endless compliments [for Lynch],” Nesbihal said. “She is a woman who goes out of her way to make sure every child is validated and does their best.”
Nesbihal said Lynch’s devotion to education extends beyond the middle school’s halls.
“This is a woman who responds to emails at all hours of the night. She is the first to volunteer and she is a union liaison. Anything you need, she is the person you want to reach out to,” Nesbihal said. “Everything she does is all about the kids and she never stops being a teacher.”
New Egypt High School Principal Michael Mendes said Corby, who is a physical education teacher, has been a favorite of students over the years.
He said Corby “has such a dynamic personality and he cares so much about New Egypt High School and the community as a whole that he spends so much time here that goes above and beyond what he is paid to do. He is the teacher our students look up to and want to be like the most.”
Mendes said Corby regularly stays after the final bell to assist students and fellow faculty members, helping to coordinate fundraising events and parent-teacher conferences with the parents of at-risk students.
“[Corby] has always been what I call my go-to guy,” Mendes said. “Any time I have a student who may be struggling academically or socially, or who could be going down the wrong path, Jay is the guy who takes that student under his wing and steers (that student) back to where they need to go.”