Montclair Resident to Receive Princeton Award for Teaching

Montclair resident Deane Stepansky will be one of four exceptional New Jersey secondary school teachers honored at Princeton University's 2013 Commencement Tuesday.

Stepansky's love of the ancient world started with learning about Athens of the fifth century B.C and the legends of the Trojan War in fifth grade. For 18 years, she has shared her passion as a Latin teacher at Nutley High School.

She said students can use Latin and Roman culture surrounding it as a launching pad for a lifetime of learning.

"I especially want Latin to serve as a vehicle for demonstrating that learning is not only worthwhile but also exciting, even exhilarating," Stepansky wrote. "Part of this excitement has to do with the way an ancient language and the debates and struggles to which it gives expression illuminate the debates and struggles of the present day."

Students are often surprised by where Stepansky's course will take them.

"They begin Deane's curriculum to satisfy a language requirement, but end up comparing Athenian democracy with the Roman system of governmental checks and balances, writing and giving orations in the manner of Cicero, and rehearsing and critiquing the debates of the Roman Senate — all with an eye to understanding the cultural and political world they themselves live in," she wrote.

Stepansky earned her bachelor's from Princeton and a master's from Yale University.

"Under her watchful care, students find not only their immediate academic needs met, but their philosophical thirsts at once quenched and increased," former student Chelsea Woods wrote. 

Stepansky's fellow 2013 honorees are Medha Jayant Kirtane, Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood; John McAllen, Point Pleasant Borough High School, Point Pleasant; and Robert O'Boyle, Hopewell Valley Central High School, Pennington.

The teachers were selected for the award from 62 nominations from public and private schools around New Jersey. Each teacher will receive $5,000, as well as $3,000 for his or her school library.

"I feel very humble in receiving this award but also very excited," Stepansky told Patch. "I am pleased that a language teacher is recognized -- and a Latin language teacher at that. I know there are so many wonderful teachers here in New Jersey, and am immensely grateful for the support and esteem of all those who wrote and spoke on my behalf."