Whitman Teacher Tia Cade Named 2017-18 District Teacher of Year
Whitman Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Tia Cade has been selected as the District’s Teacher of the Year, making her eligible for Gloucester County Teacher of the Year consideration. Tia has spent 21 years in education, 16 of those in the Washington Township Public Schools.
“Tia Cade, as a respected teacher, mentor, colleague and friend, is a tremendous source of pride to all of us in education and most especially to all of us in Washington Township,” Superintendent of Schools Joe Bollendorf said. “She is kind, passionate, dedicated and exceedingly competent in motivating and advancing students. She is an energetic transformer of children, and we are blessed to have her.”
Cade began her teaching career at the South Main Street School in Pleasantville, N.J. in 1996 before arriving in Washington Township in 2001, where she taught fifth-grade at Bells Elementary School until 2014. She moved to Whitman Elementary to begin the 2014-15 school year. In the 2000-01 school year, she was honored as the South Main Street School Teacher of the Year, the Pleasantville Public Schools Teacher of the Year and the Atlantic County Teacher of the Year.
In Washington Township, Cade has contributed beyond the classroom as a valued member of the English Language Arts Literacy Committee, the Literacy Consortium, the Olweus character education committee and the mathematics adoption committee. She has served as a mentor teacher and a turnkey trainer for equity literacy and Marzano goals and scales.
Cade also is credited with teaching Whitman’s additional time programs, designing informative Family Math nights and presenting workshops at the District’s annual Parents as Partners evenings. She is among District leaders in curriculum writing and piloting new programs. She has participated in the Rowan University Impact Grant to improve the delivery of Language Arts Literacy instruction, as well as in Rowan University’s Mathematics Grant program to strengthen expertise related to standards, improve delivery of mathematics instruction and increase students’ competencies.
“Mrs. Cade is an exceptional, highly effective educator,” Whitman Elementary School principal Ray Anderson said. “She is deliberate in her lesson planning and designs activities daily that not only meet the varying educational needs of her students, but also motivate and engage them. She is innovative, focused and conscientious.”
“I have long had a desire to challenge my student to do their best, and I strive to create an environment where my students have fun and feel safe taking academic risks,” Cade said. “I love what I do. I truly enjoy watching them make connections between what they know and what they’ve learned. I am honored to help shape the lives of the young people I serve. Knowing that I play a role in increasing my students’ options throughout the rest of their educational careers and into adulthood keeps me in education.”
Cade holds a bachelor of arts in biology from Rutgers University (1995).
Pictured (01.jpg): Whitman Elementary School principal Ray Anderson introduced Tia Cade as the school’s 2017-18 Teacher of the Year during the January Board of Education meeting.
Pictured: (02.jpg): Superintendent of Schools Joe Bollendorf, Whitman principal Ray Anderson and Board of Education president Ginny Murphy celebrated Tia Cade’s Teacher of the Year distinction in January. She has now been named the 2017-18 District Teacher of the Year.