HOWELL – In their “Staff Spotlight” series, Freehold Regional High School District recognized Lindsey Petschenik who was selected to be honored in the Monmouth County Governor’s Educator of the Year Program.
Petschenik has been teaching English at Howell High School for 13 years. She is an alumnus of the Freehold Regional High School District (Marlboro High School) and graduated from Rider University. She received a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Montclair State University.
Not only is Petschenik teaching English in her Howell High classroom, but she has been the dance team coach for the past 11 years and was a class advisor for eight years. Additionally, she served on the PLC team and the SCIP for the past two years.
When she’s not teaching her students, Petschenik is a dance teacher at Dance Attitudes of Marlboro.
After the state revealed that she was chosen as Howell’s Teacher of the Year, Petschenik said she was “in shock and felt truly honored to be this year’s recipient.”
Petschenik explained what she loves best about teaching is the students.
“It’s amazing to watch my students grow from year to year. I have the unique opportunity to teach some students for a consecutive number of years, and to see them mature in so many different ways is absolutely awesome. In the same breath, I think that might be my greatest accomplishment, making connections with my students. There is no greater feeling than when a student comes back to visit. It’s truly the greatest compliment one can receive,” she said.
Petschenik provided new teachers her ‘words of wisdom’ from what she learned during her first year of teaching.
“Take a breath and remember that it will all get done. Finding the time and balance between all the different parts of our job can be extremely stressful, so it’s important to keep this advice in mind because in all truth, it does all get done, even when it seems like it might not!” she said.
