‘Truly Inspiring’ Bloomfield Educator Named Teacher Of Year

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the Bloomfield Educational Foundation. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Salvatore Goncalves, Superintendent of the Bloomfield School District, announced Mairead Chern, of Scotch Plains, has been chosen as the 2025 Bloomfield School District Teacher of the Year. Chern will be honored at the Bloomfield Educational Foundation Annual Gala, scheduled for April 30, 2025, from 6-10pm at Nanina’s in the Park, located in Belleville, NJ. Reservations to attend this event can be made at www.bloomfieldeducationalfoundation.org

“[Mairead] Chern embodies the qualities that make our district so special. Her passion for teaching, creative approach to lessons, and ability to connect with students are truly inspiring, said Salvatore Goncalves.

About Mairead Chern

Mrs. Mairead Chern attended West Chester University where she earned a BSED in Elementary Education. She continued her education at Montclair State University, earning a MA in reading.

Mrs. Chern is an amazing educator. She has been teaching for 23 years and holds several teaching certifications; Elementary Education K-8, Reading Specialist, Reading Teacher and Supervisor. Mrs. Chern also holds a Multi-Sensory Education Certification and an Orton-Gillingham Comprehensive Certification. In 2018 she joined our Fairview team as an English Language Arts Interventionist for grades K-3.

Mrs. Chern’s expertise in multi-sensory instruction truly stands out. Her dedication to enhancing her pedagogy is admirable. After completing a 30 hour course at the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE), Ms. Chern took her commitment to a new level by pursuing the IMSE Orton-Gillingham Certification, which involved a demanding 12 month practicum. This rigorous training elevated her practice and deepened her understanding of multi-sensory instruction, benefiting her students immensely.

Teaching is a calling for Mrs. Chern. She provides instructional support that is not only innovative but also aligned with our curriculum standards. Her lessons are data driven which enables her to differentiate her instruction to meet the needs of each individual student. This personalized attention significantly enhances the learning experience and her ability to make meaningful connections with her students is a testament to her teaching excellence. She takes the time to build a rapport with all of her students and creates a supportive and nurturing learning environment.

Mrs. Chern is a leader among her colleagues. She is a lifelong learner and shares her expertise with her colleagues. She has facilitated and co-facilitated several Bloomfield Teacher Academy courses including, The Logic of English, Building Phonological Awareness Using the Phonological Awareness Screening Test, Multi Sensory Strategies for Encoding and Decoding, and Building Phonemic Awareness in the Primary Classroom.

Mrs. Chern is an invaluable asset to our school. She contributes to our school community and has an excellent rapport with her colleagues, and the administration. She collaborates with the teachers of every student she services. Mrs. Chern serves on several committees including School Improvement Panel, Read Across America and Data.

Mrs. Chern is the coordinator for our One Book One District Community Night, a coach in our Wingman Program and she is our Title 1 Testing Co-Coordinator, with fellow teacher, Dara Gima. Mrs. Chern is also on our school’s Intervention and Referral Service Team. She is involved in organizing school events that build morale and allow for the staff to come together as a team.

Mrs. Chern is married to Chris and has 3 beautiful daughters; Lizzie,19; Grace,15; and Molly, 13.

About The Bloomfield Educational Foundation (BEF)

The BEF was founded in 1999, by community-minded leaders, Joseph Kliminski ‘61, Robert Fetterly ‘71 and Howard Friedman ‘59, with support from then Superintendent, Thomas Dowd. Since that time, the BEF raised over 2.7 million dollars and supported the District with over 2.1 million dollars in teacher and District-wide grants and scholarships. Many of the scholarship funds will award scholarships well into the future, as the result of many very generous supporters. The BEF worked very well with the Bloomfield School District and funded innovative teaching programs and District-wide initiatives such as Science Fairs and after school and Saturday programs at the Elementary level, media center upgrades, after school programs and an outdoor classroom at the middle school and the offering of free SAT prep classes, and AP Tests to be paid for by the BEF, at the high school. These are just a few examples of the kinds of support from the BEF over the past two and a half decades.

The BEF mission states the main goal of the organization is to enhance educational opportunities for all students in the Bloomfield School District. This is accomplished by teachers and administrators submitting grant requests for funding of various projects that are not covered by the district budget. Additionally, high school seniors are encouraged to fill out scholarship applications for funding awards to help defray the cost of a college, vo-tech or other learning experiences after high school. In 2025, the BEF is offering 29 scholarships, many of which are funded by generous alumni, ranging from $500 to $5000 a piece and totaling $65,000, to be awarded at the June, 2025 ceremony.

Another program that has received funds from the BEF, is the Vocational Educational Special Training (V.E.S.T) program at Bloomfield High School. The V.E.S.T program services special needs students from ages 15 to 21 with the goal of providing the means to make the students independent and employable. These students have benefitted from funds that have purchased laptops, smartboards, and funded educational trips to name a few projects. The Sunset Classic Race Committee, headed by BEF Board member, Paul Giuliano, annually raises funds to support this vital program. This year’s race will be held on Thursday June 26, 2025 at Foley Field, beginning at 6:30 with a Kids’ Sprints competition. The 5 mile race kicks off at 7:30PM.

Additional fund raisers scheduled for the 2025 year include a Football Tailgate event at Town Pub on Oct.24, and an Alumni Basketball Tip Off event at Bella Napoli in the fall, date to be announced. For more information about the 2025 events, kindly visit the website www.bloomfieldeducationalfoundation.org

The Bloomfield Educational Foundation is a registered 501c-3 organization. For more information, or if you would like to be involved in the organization as a Board member or volunteer, kindly email us at info@bloomfieldeducationalfoundation.org

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