"Spotlight" Highlights Seven Teachers

Congratulations to our first seven teachers to be in the spotlight following the 2022-2023 Winter Trimester.
 
Pete During ‘06
Although Pete is known primarily as the Director of Activities and coordinating our transfer students, it is his contributions to the English Department that we highlight here.  In addition to his consistently excellent work in the classroom and with our Support Academy students, Pete was instrumental in bringing online resources to the department during our Covid shutdown.  It was Pete’s charge to bring Membean and NoRedInk to the English Department when it was needed.  These software packages were so useful that they have become permanent fixtures for all English teachers.  Pete, we are grateful for your insightfulness into what our students and teachers needed (and still need!)

Pete Ford ‘04
Pete Ford returned to SHP and our English Department in 2011.  He has been a favorite teacher of our seniors for most of that time, helping them to develop a love for reading and writing.  Pete is known for making sure our graduating seniors are prepared for the papers that they would write in college.  When artificial intelligence website ChatGPT hit the internet a few months ago, Pete immediately made a new plan for the senior research paper. This new plan would incorporate student writing as well as a presentation of their research, thus maintaining the integrity of the process for our students.  We thank Pete for always going the extra mile for our students and for being such a positive presence for them.

Dave Gairrusso
Dave joined SHP in 2006 as a member of our History Department.  We highlight him for the energy, enthusiasm, and innovation that he brings to his classroom.  This year, he has been very creative with his World History classes, introducing an Enlightenment Salon where students debate various arguments of the main Enlightenment thinkers.  He also ran a Congress of Vienna where students had to negotiate on behalf of the various hostile powers.  Thanks so much, Dave, for always putting so much into your lessons and for being such a positive presence for our students.

Mike Hegedus
Mike joined SHP in 2012 as our Mandarin teacher and is also the International Program Director and NHS moderator.  Mike, who teaches Mandarin and Spanish, was instrumental in the planning of our Lunar Year Celebration.  His preparation included the purchase of a 25-foot dragon and teaching his students how to operate it.  Mike shared his vision for this celebration to include all students, not just those studying Mandarin.  Mike taught his Mandarin I students the story of the Chinese Nian monster, as well as the story of the Chinese Zodiac animals.  His students learned how to identify their zodiac signs and created story books in Chinese featuring various animal characters. It is for these things and so much more that Mike does for our school that he is included in the Teacher Spotlight.

Lucy Lee
Lucy came to Seton Hall Prep in September of 2020 after a successful career at Livingston High School.  Lucy teaches Mandarin here at SHP, where her goals include the bringing of  outside aspects of Chinese culture into the classroom while at the same time sharing Chinese language and cultural knowledge. For one of her lessons, Lucy brought the ingredients of homemade dumplings and taught her students how to wrap them by hand. Lucy also led Mandarin students across all levels in basic brush calligraphy, assisting them to write festive sayings that now decorate our Mandarin classroom.  We thank Lucy in such a special way for sharing her culture and expertise with our students and for being such a dedicated teacher.

Jim Revel ‘H01
Jim started teaching at Seton Hall Prep in 1986, after a short time teaching at Union Catholic.  Jim, the senior member of our Math Department, has worked consistently to hold students to a high standard during his tenure at SHP.  He has taught both CP and Honors students and was responsible for the introduction of Statistics for both of those levels. Jim also developed and introduced a course in Calculus I Honors in recent years. Jim has remained current with our textbooks, requesting that we always teach using the latest editions.  Jim has been responsible for curriculum updates and coordination with all classes.  For these reasons, and many more, we highlight Jim’s accomplishments at our school.

Mike Smircich ‘09
Mike returned to Seton Hall Prep in 2016 and immediately became an invaluable resource for our students, and eventually our faculty and staff.  Mike is a member of our Science Department and is literally the first teacher in the building each day.  This year, Mike is teaching seven classes, including five APs.  Mike enjoys regularly doing labs and activities regularly with his classes and is rarely absent other than for school-related reasons.  Mike is the head coach of our County Championship Bowling Team, is a member of the Faculty Senate, and is our new Faculty Health Insurance Representative.  For all he does for the entire SHP community, we thank Mike.
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