This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ Montclair High School teacher Lei Haiting Liang doesn't just teach Mandarin, he makes students want to live it. This sentiment was shared over and over again by parents and students who nominated him for a Weston Award. Perhaps the most prominent exa

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ “Every so often, a teacher enters a child’s life whose influence feels like quiet magic. Not the kind that announces itself loudly, but the kind that gently and steadily reshapes how a child experiences learning and how they see themselves within it.

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ If you asked Buzz Aldrin Middle School students to describe a great teacher, you might hear things like this: “He is super nice.” “He helps everyone, not just people in his study skills class.” “He makes class feel better. He doesn’t just stand the

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ Positive. Happy. Bubbly. Authentic. These are words shared in Weston Award nomination letters for Glenfield Middle School teacher Elizabeth Cario. And they’re traits that set an excellent example for middle school kids who are experiencing a tremen

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ In the halls of Buzz Aldrin Middle School, Michele Campbell Kinnas is affectionately known as “Ms. Kindness.” It’s a well-earned nickname. Parents, students, and colleagues alike praised her compassionate approach and positive attitude. She was reco

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ A word that came up repeatedly in nomination letters for Nishuane second-grade teacher Jenna DePasquale is “genuine.” It describes the care this veteran educator shows for each individual in her class, her approach to creating a learning environment

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ “[Christen Berman-Schiralli] is exactly the kind of teacher every child deserves.” That’s the opening line of a Weston Award nomination letter for this Watchung Elementary School fourth grade teacher. And it’s not hyperbole. That letter, and several

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ “Shannon Becker-Fyfe is one of those teachers who just gets it. She sees your student as they are, and meets them there.” That’s how a parent described this Montclair High School special education teacher in a 2026 Weston Award nomination letter. Th

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ Cary Bangs has an amazing ability to bring learning to life for her second grade students at Bradford Elementary School. For example, around Thanksgiving, she had her students make shopping lists with prices, providing a practical example of how her

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ At Nishuane Elementary School, school counselor Amillah P. Williamson is known for running her "Compliment Club.” A peer who nominated Ms. Williamson for the Weston award explained: “When students are the 'chair' of Compliment Club, they report feel

This is the first in our series spotlighting the 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ Ashley Dorian Storfer, this year's winner of the Peer Inspiration Award, is a valued member of the teaching team at Montclair High School’s Civics & Government Institute (CGI). Ms. Dorian, an English teacher, is deeply respected by students and her co

The 2026 winners of the Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching, pictured with MFEE Executive Director Masiel Rodriquez-Vars, MPS Superintendent Ruth B. Turner, and Josh Weston. (Photo by Erik Ekroth) Friends, family, colleagues, and members of the Montclair Public Schools community gathered to celebrate the 17 winners of the 2026 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching on Tuesday, June 9, at the Montclair Public Library. See photo gallery below. The 16 winning teachers an

2026 Weston Award Winners Sixteen teachers and one counselor to be awarded $2,000 and honored at public ceremony Sixteen Montclair Public Schools teachers and one school counselor have been named winners of the 2026 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching, selected from hundreds of nominations submitted by MPS parents, students, and staff. The awards recognize master teachers and emerging educators who inspire learning, value students, and support individual needs and st

Sixteen Montclair Public School teachers and one counselor will each be awarded $2,000 MFEE Board Member LeAnne Korbel presents the 2025 Inspired Counseling Award to MHS counselor Chanda D. Fields. Photo: Erik Ekroth for MFEE. The Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence is calling for nominations for the 2026 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching! Now administered by MFEE, the awards were established by Josh and Judy Weston in 1991 to acknowledge and celebrate Montcla

Hillside elementary school science teacher Susan Bartol first saw “ Observe r” at a national convention for science educators in Philadelphia last year. The film focuses on the power of observation, how scientists and artists look differently at the world, and how paying attention can spark discovery and reframe knowledge and understanding. “To be an observer, you must find your portal into the wonders of the world. There is a universe everywhere you turn,” the film's trail

2025 Peer Inspiration Award Winner This is the latest in our series spotlighting the winners of the 2025 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ The Peer Inspiration Award is unique in that it is based on nominations from colleagues. Those who nominated Watchung Elementary School's Brittany Kramer for this honor see first-hand the impact that she has on ev

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the winners of the 2025 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week to learn more about the impact these educators are making in the Montclair Public Schools. +++ Montclair High School counselor Chanda D. Fields believes in her students. She believes in their ability to persevere. She believes in their potential to succeed. And, most importantly, she never gives up on them, even in the face of incredibly

This is the latest in our series spotlighting the winners of the 2025 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week...

+ This is the latest in our series spotlighting the winners of the 2025 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week...

. This is the latest in our series spotlighting the winners of the 2025 Judy Weston Awards for Inspired Teaching. Follow along each week...