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Date: June 3, 1997
Princeton University Honors
Four N.J. Secondary School Teachers
PRINCETON, N.J., June 3 -- Princeton University honored four outstanding secondary school teachers from the state of New Jersey at its 250th commencement ceremonies this morning. Each teacher received an award of $5,000, and each of their schools received $2,500 for library books. This year's award winners were Vickie Bejda of Ocean Township High School in Oakhurst, Dale Lally of Dickinson High School in Jersey City, John O'Hara of Kearny High School in Kearny, and Katherine Widmer of Hopewell Valley Central High School in Pennington.
Bejda has taught biology at all levels from modified to Advanced Placement, as well as physical science and zoology, at Ocean Township High since 1971, when she graduated from Colorado State University. During the course of her teaching career, she also earned a master of arts degree in human development at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is the winner of numerous teaching awards, including the University of Chicago Outstanding Teacher Award and the N.J. Academy of Science Distinguished Service Award. In addition to teaching, she has been active in the N.J. Science Teachers Conventions each year since 1989 and in her community as a Habitat for Humanity volunteer since 1994.
Lally has been an English and theater arts teacher at Dickinson since 1992. Among his theater activities outside the classroom are participation in the Lincoln Center Institute, a summer teachers' workshop; Parents' Academy, a role-modeling revue series that promotes parental involvement in the schools; and Hooked On Classics Live, a participatory theater program sponsored by the Jersey City school system. He earned his bachelor of arts at Dartmouth College and his master of arts at Teachers College, Columbia University. He teaches audition technique and monologue presentation for actors in New York City and has directed off-off-Broadway plays, showcases and club acts.
O'Hara began teaching science at Kearny in 1970. His course responsibilities have included physics, chemistry, aerospace science, astronomy, math and sports medicine. He is also involved in athletic training, guidance and counseling, and curriculum development at Kearny and is director of aerospace education for the N.J. Wing Civil Air Patrol. He earned his bachelor of arts at Seton Hall University and his master of arts in guidance counseling at Montclair State, and has previously won teaching awards from the N.J. Department of Education, National Science Teachers Association, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, among other organizations.
As science teacher at Hopewell Valley Central since 1970, Widmer has given classes in earth science, environmental science, life science, field ecology, ecology and society, lab techniques, chemistry, and biology. Outside the classroom, she has led workshops for the Stonybrook-Millstone Watershed Association, been active in the N.J. Science Teachers conventions and served as a consultant to the Educational Testing Service. A graduate of Tufts University, she is the author of Project Mayfly: A Guide to Water Quality Investigations, published by the National Audubon Society. In 1991 she received the N.J. Governor's Teacher Recognition Award.