Gary Whitehead Bergen County Teacher of the Year 2023-2024

01/30/2024

It was great to host Joe Nappi, 2024 NJ State a teacher of the Year and finalist for National Teacher of the Year, and give him a tour of Tenafly High School today.

11/10/2023

2024 CTOYs at the NJEA Convention today

09/29/2023

I received a call from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy today congratulating me on winning Bergen County Teacher of the Year! Pretty cool.

09/28/2023

Co-teachers for 16-years, Denim Day, Spirit Week.

09/28/2023

I got a mention in Bergen Magazine. Unfortunately, they made an error in saying I won the Princeton Distinguished Teaching Award this year. I actually won that in 2002. 🤣

09/15/2023

AP Language & Composition students presenting rhetorical analyses of passages from Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” and Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

08/30/2023

Ready for my 27th year teaching English at Tenafly High School!

08/24/2023

Two CTOYs from my cohort and I were mentioned in today’s local paper, The Suburbanite! 👊

08/19/2023

If you missed my Story post from August 17, I had a letter to the editor published in The Times. Texas could learn from New Jersey’s education policies and strong schools.
See link in bio.

08/15/2023

From the County Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony. From left: Tenafly Superintendent Michael Ben-David, Acting New Jersey Commissioner of Education Angelica Allen-McMillan, me, President of the New Jersey State Board of Education Kathy Goldenberg, and Tenafly High School Principal Jim Morrison.

08/14/2023

Teachers, are you wondering about ways to connect with students as you start back to school? This article on Edutopia has some good suggestions.

My own advice: On the first day, don't start with rules and regulations. Save that for another time. Start with something creative and fun that makes students think, that makes them excited to come back for day two.

Start the new school year on the right foot with these research-backed tips.

08/12/2023

Congrats to my cohort fellow teachers!

The 'dynamic' educators are getting recognized for their work.