Teachers of the Year Celebrated by School District

The Hillsborough Board of Education saluted this year's Teachers of the Year at Monday's meeting.

Each of the teachers were presented with a gift to mark the honor and were treated to words of praise by their school principals.

This year's honorees were: 

• Lisa Caudill, fourth-grade teacher at Amsterdam School;
• Ann Cartmell, fifth-grade teacher Auten Road Intermediate School;
• Kara McKenna, third-grade teacher at Hillsborough Elementary;
• Linda Suozzo, a Speech and Language Specialist at Hillsborough Middle School; 
• Maureen Mullin, fourth-grade teacher at Sunnymead School; 
• Sandra Smith, kindergarten teacher at Triangle School; 
• Amy Fidacaro, third-grade teacher at Woodfern School;
• Amy Mele, second-grade teacher at Woods Road School.

And the district's teacher of the year, Hillsborough High School Family and Consumer Science teacher Roberta Henry.

HHS Principal Karen Bingert noted Henry sought additional certifications after taking charge of the school's preschool child program, where she teaches high school students to operate a daycare in the school.

"What better impact can a teacher have on students than to prepare current students to become the teachers of the next generation?" Bingert said. "That is precisely what Roberta Henry does.

"Her students adore the class, and the preschool students adore Mrs. Henry and her students," Bingert added.

The teachers were selected for the distinction by their peers, and many of this year's honorees were previously chosen: Sunnymead's Maureen Mullin was named Teacher of the Year in 1998 and 2001, and Triangle's Sandra Smith has been nominated for the honor in three of her five years teaching.