Lori Cavanaugh
Gregory Hunter
Sarah Lindbloom
Paula Ann Muhlbauer
Catherine Kulp
Kimberly Renick
By Alicia Brooks-Waltman
Six teachers from the Hopewell Valley Regional School District are being honored with the Governor’s Teacher/Educational Service Professional Recognition award. The awards are part of a statewide program that acknowledges educators who demonstrate outstanding performance year after year. Educators can be nominated by parents, students or other educators and are chosen by a committee of administrators teachers and former honorees.
Hopewell’s 2015 winners are Hopewell Valley Central High School teacher Lori Cavanaugh; Timberlane Middle School teacher Gregory Hunter; Stony Brook Elementary School eacher Sarah Lindbloom; Bear Tavern Elementary School Media Specialist Paula Ann Muhlbauer; Hopewell Elementary School teacher Catherine Kulp; and Toll Gate Grammar School teacher Kimberly Renick.
Cavanaugh has taught in the district for ten years and currently teachers regular and honors pre-calculus and fundamentals of intermediate algebra.
She grew up in Buffalo and has an undergraduate degree in Secondary Math Education from Buffalo State College and a master’s degree in the same subject from the University of Buffalo. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
“Some people have a negative feeling about math. It’s nice to see a student who previously was struggling with it do well, and to know that you had a part in helping them accomplish that,” Cavanaugh said.
Hunter, who teaches environmental and earth sciences to sixth graders at Timberlane, has also been teaching in the district for a decade. He is a graduate of The College of New Jersey, where he received a degree in Elementary Education. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.
Hunter said his favorite part of teaching is seeing the kids each day and thinking of creative ways to present the curriculum to his students.
Lindbloom has taught fourth grade at Stony Brook for four years. She majored in Psychology and Elementary Education at Rider University with a minor is Special Education. She lives in Hightstown where she grew up.
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, since I was 5 years old,” Lindbloom said. “I love the challenge of it, being there everyday with the kids. I love bringing them to new levels academically, socially, and emotionally, to see them doing things they never thought they could do.”
Mulhbauer has been a media specialist at Bear Tavern for seven years. She has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Ramapo College of New Jersey and worked for the Michelin Corporation for several years.
Muhlbauer decided to go into education and got an elementary education teaching certificate from Rider University and a Masters in Education with an emphasis in library science from Arcadia University in Pennsylvania. She lives in Newtown, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
Kulp has taught in the district for 15 years. She teaches third, fourth and fifth graders who need extra assistance to succeed academically.
She has an undergraduate degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education and a master’s degree in Special Education from Arcadia University. She lives in Bucks County with her husband and two children.
“I feel that working with students with special needs, I have the opportunity every day to affect change and impact a child’s future. When children are able to receive the interventions that they require at an early age, they have greater academic, life and career opportunities,” Kulp said.
Renick has been teaching at Toll Gate Grammar School since 2000. She currently teaches Advanced Level Math and Advanced Level Reading as well as Basic Skills. She grew up in Oregon, where she was a nationally competitive gymnast as a teenager. After she was sidelined by an injury she studied psychology and child development at Portland State University.
She got a teaching certificate in Early Childhood Education from Warner Pacific University, also in Portland. She currently lives in Pennington.
“The kids continue to challenge me. They give me energy, and I love working with them, the relationships that you can build with your students,” she said.
The Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education will honor the Teachers of the Year at its March 16 meeting and the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation will honor the teachers at the E-Squared Dinner on May 1.
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