Berkeley Heights Resident Inducted Into 'Teachers Who Rock' Class of 2012

Matheny School teacher Karen Deland, a resident of Berkeley Heights, was one of 18 New Jersey teachers honored on March 13 as part of WDHA/WMTR’s Teachers Who Rock class of 2012. 

Deland received her award from WDHA midday personality Terrie Carr at a special banquet held at Ravello Elegant Weddings & Banquets.  The awards were presented because the Greater Media radio stations feel excellent teachers aren’t receiving adequate recognition for their important contribution to society.

Deland first taught at Matheny in 1979, leaving in 1980 to accept a teaching position in the Franklin Township Public School District in Quakertown.  After earning a law degree and raising a family, she returned to Matheny in 2009 and was named Matheny’s Educator of the Year in 2010. 

The keys to her success, she says, are flexibility and patience. “You have to be flexible in all aspects. You just kind of have to roll with it.  Nothing is set in stone.” 

The Matheny School is part of the Matheny Medical and Educational Center, a special hospital and educational facility in Peapack for children and adults with medically complex developmental disabilities.