“For me as a teacher, it’s so nice to know that I’m doing my job right and that is incredibly important to me. I love when kids have that ‘aha!’ moment where you know that they understand. I want my students to enjoy learning as best I can.”

Every year, teachers throughout the school are selected for one of our most prestigious awards that we have here at Washington Township.

The Teacher of the Year award is an honor that recognizes the stellar work of two of our educators who have shaped the lives of students and their coworkers alike.

Many teachers strive for this, to be someone that can change a life or make learning easier or more fun for a student. Most educators who receive this award seem very humble after the announcement and are very gracious and thankful that their efforts have been recognized.

No teacher seems as shocked and honored when receiving such an honor as Geometry teacher Janet Reardigan.

Reardigan has been an educator for twenty-eight years with this year marking her twenty-sixth at Washington Township High School. She has a passion for what she teaches and doesn’t seem to see herself doing anything else. Interestingly enough, the mathematical field was not her first choice.

“I originally was an undecided major in college. I wanted to coach lacrosse and hockey and I did for a while until I had these things called kids.”

More than her children, a lot of outside factors made Reardigan think to go in a different direction. She said,“I had so many great experiences with school. I loved High School! Teachers really made it worth it for me. They are the ones who reached out to me the most. I love what I do.”

Despite the passion, effort, and energy she has committed to her students over the years, hearing her name called as one of the teachers selected for Teacher of the Year was still something that Reardigan never expected.

“I thought it was a joke at first,” she said. “I never thought that I would ever get this honor because there are so many teachers in our high school who are so great and deserve it just as much.”

Reardigan definitely felt grateful towards being selected and very excited to know that she has indeed impacted people in a positive way.

Making impacts, making learning fun, enjoying education, and more are all traits associated with her. Reardigan can’t express enough how happy it makes her.

These small things act as a kind of reminder as to why she loves her job so much and more importantly, what she can do to improve herself as well. “It makes me appreciate what I do. As a teacher, I’m always ready to learn and there is always room for improvement. I always ask myself ‘what can I do tomorrow to make myself better?’”

If this isn’t enough, colleagues of Reardigan also couldn’t have had more positive things to say about the news of her amazing achievement. “She is one of my closest friends. We’re always joking and working together due to our rooms being right next to each other. We have such a great relationship.” Honors Geometry and Intro/AP Computer Science teacher Bill Faust said.

They have been friends for twenty-one years. He describes their relationship as “solid”.

“It’s good enough where we can watch each other’s dogs.” He said, “My kids were friends with her kids when they were little too so we really know each other well.”

He believes that Reardigan deserves the honor wholeheartedly.

Faust said, “It’s about time. She’s the most caring person I’ve ever met. She would do just about anything for her job.”