We all know that teachers use the summer to rest and recharge their batteries for September. However, not everyone is aware that many, many teachers spend their summers working to improve their professional knowledge, expertise and teaching skills. Below we are happy to show you just a few examples of the many interesting activities that Watchung Hills teachers wil be involved in over the summer. And...stay tuned as we hope to provide updates throughout the summer detailing teacher adventures and exploits!

• Head wrestling coach DanSmith will be keeping his coaching skills tip-top while also preparing young athletes for a future on the WHRHS wrestling team: he will be running two summer clinics for K-8 wrestlers from our sending districts to teach them principles and techniques in line with the high school wrestling program.
• Two WHREA history teachers Rustin Finelle and Erin Hodge will be attending James Madison American history seminars at Princeton University in July. Rusty will also be putting the finishing touches on his Master’s thesis which is about the effectiveness of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work in Africa.
• Student Assistance Counselor (SAC) Gwen Blake will be attending Emotional Freedom Technique training in August to enhance her counseling skills.
• Carol Landau, biology teacher, will attend two courses on neurodevelopment and thinking patterns in adolescents. Her investigations will focus on how best to evaluate teaching methodologies in order to review assessments and assignments in accelerated and honors biology classes. She will also be working on improving assignments for mixed-ability classes.
• Italian teacher Patti Grunther will be dusting off her Master’s in Linguistics as she designs a syllabus for a sociolinguistics class she will begin teaching at Montclair State University in the fall entitled, “Language in Society”.
• Angelo DiIorio, our talented music and choral teacher is keeping very busy this summer: she will be taking graduate courses at TCNJ, working towards her Master’s in Education, while at the same time continuing to teach piano to numerous private students and to play the piano for the Basking Ridge Trilogy Repertory Theatre.
• Physical Education teacher Kristin Cacchio who is a certified teacher of CPR, AED and First Aid has volunteered to train Girl Scout leaders in these live-saving techniques this summer. Kristin’s other volunteer summer activities include coaching a girl’s basketball team and undergoing training herself for becoming a Girl Scout leader in the future.
• WHRHS Teacher of the Year Laura Goodson is going to find time this summer to be trained in AP English at Rutgers University, to participate in a writing program for teachers at Rutgers College for Teachers, and to repair houses in Kentucky through the Appalachia Service Project.
• Marc Crisafi, Coach and Physical Education teacher will be running a Youth Football Camp in Warren in July for kids in grades 3 to 8.