New Jersey

 
Barbara Ann LaSaracina
Woodland Elementary School
114 Stirling Road
Warren, NJ 07059

Elementary, 5 		 
 

Click on the questions to hear Barbara Ann LaSaracina's interview at the State Teacher of the Year conference. You must have a Real Player to listen to the interview. If you do not have a Real Player, click on the Real Player graphic:
 
1) What is one thing that needs to change in order to keep quality teachers in the profession?
2)

Tell us about the teacher who meant the most to you when you were growing up.

 
 

Barbara Ann LaSaracina, 2001
State Teacher of the Year, New Jersey
I would love to tell you that I always wanted to be a teacher, but that would not be true. I liked school and my teachers while I was a student, but I had no desire to become a teacher. (I did, however, love the taste of that white paste in kindergarten!) I decided to enter this incredibly rewarding profession via the alternate-route program. I left the private sector in the late 80's and have been teaching full time since 1992. I have learned many things since entering the classroom a decade ago. I have learned that more things than we can count cannot be measured by any standardized test, that sometimes it's okay to break the rules, and that joining in with the laughter of children is a most joyful experience. I am enormously proud to be a public-school teacher and to share this incredible year with the 55 other state teachers.  
     

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