Learning: DisneyHand Teacher Awards: The 2004 Honorees
Casey LaRosa
Middle School: Humanities - 6th - 8th grade Social Studies

Casey LaRosa
Mt. Hebron Middle School
Montclair, NJ

"My classroom reflects the cultural diversity of the world. We are not all one color or one religion or one gender. Whether it is the activities, the decor, the subject matter, or where in the room we are learning, all students will see themselves and their classmates reflected over and over again. We even travel to ethnic restaurants in the area when we study a particular country. When that isn't possible, I find portable food items to bring in for them. They have learned how to fold a sari, write their names in hieroglyphics and cuneiform, and a sentence in Chinese. While a few of my students will have the opportunity to travel and see these things first hand, most of them won't. This might be their only chance to experience cultures outside of their own. I have had students come back to me years later to tell me that they've visited a particular museum or place because of something that started in my class. That is the greatest reward of all."

-- Casey

"In a District touted for breadth of diversity and the depth of its innovative staff, Casey stands out. In my eleven years as a parent in the District, I had not previously had the privilege to witness so engaging a teacher. She brings history alive taking historical figures off the page and depicting their roles through literature, drama and art. The ancient world or the middle ages comes alive in the imagination of the child in a way no textbook can achieve."

-- Judith McGhee, parent of a student

Picture walking into a classroom filled with noisy students, some of whom are arguing about whether they, as obedient Egyptian children, should turn in an escaped Israelite slave, while others are discovering how many valuable Egyptian artifacts were hidden in an English Lord's manor, unbeknownst to him, and almost lost to us forever. Others are making a game out of learning vocabulary words and another group is playing the ancient game of SEEGA, found in the tomb of dead kings. This is what happened in Casey's sixth grade classes one day. After thirty-five minutes, the students switched to the next station, and the routine began again. Only the routine is far from routine.

Other Highlights:

  • Attended a teacher fellowship program in Poland and Israel to study Jewish
  • Resistance During the Holocaust. Upon returning to New Jersey, wrote a 6th grade curriculum for my district
  • Organized a school-wide fundraiser for Essex County Division of Habitat for Humanity
  • Recently published in the NETS (National Educational Technology Standards for Students) Curriculum Series
  • Received several MFEE (Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence) Grants
  • Recipient of the Josh and Judy Weston Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Coordinator of the faculty Sunshine Club for 7 years
  • Runs an after-school reading club
  • Loves to read and sing
  • My family is most important to me. I have a great husband, a kind, and talented son and daughter