By Maddy Vitale
Primary School teacher Carrie Merritt was among a host of faculty and students honored for their academic, athletic and professional achievements at the Ocean City Board of Education meeting Wednesday night.
Schools Superintendent Kathleen Taylor told the packed room that Merritt was named the 2019 Cape May County Teacher of the Year.
Merritt follows in the footsteps of Amy Andersen, who won the honor in 2018 and was the state representative for the national honor.
“Carrie, you make it happen for the school, the staff, and now you are making it happen for Cape May County,” Taylor said.
Taylor described Merritt, a first grade teacher, as a passionate educator, who serves as an advisor and mentor to her colleagues.
She is a leader, Taylor said.
“Her passion for teaching is infectious,” Taylor noted. “She motivates, supports and conditions everyone to believe you can do it.”
Primary School Principal Cathleen Smith turned to Merritt at the podium and said, “Thank you for bringing life and happiness Carrie Merritt style to the Primary School.”
Smith admitted that at first, she was a bit concerned about the competition, especially since the number of applicants for the top honor doubled since Andersen received the accolade.
“Carrie you are amazing. In the end, what you do and bring to the table, couldn’t be denied,” Smith said.
Also Wednesday night, the School Board honored students in the Primary School for their “Click-it” project.
Technology teacher Randy Kohr explained that his students had a big challenge. They had to design and build a landmark out of Legos and become an expert on it through online research.
The winners, chosen for their creativity and design, built the Golden Gate Bridge, Lucy the Elephant and the Great Wall of China.
“Kids, I am so proud of you,” Kohr said.
Kohr joked about the intricacy of the designs and said one of them fell apart when he was moving it, and he had a difficult time putting it back together.
During a ceremony, the board also honored members of the sports teams, including Athletes of the Year Hailey Stack and Issac Robertson.
Stack received the Miriam Reichly-Beryl Dougherty Award and Robertson was honored with the William D. Nickles Jr. Memorial Trophy
Athletic Director Vincent Leavey said both athletes exemplify what it takes to be a true athlete. It takes commitment, time management and a positive attitude, qualities Stack and Robertson demonstrated throughout their time at Ocean City High School.
They pushed themselves to go farther and really stood out. The two seniors were active in sports throughout the year. Stack played field hockey, was a diver on the swim team and played lacrosse. Robertson played football, basketball and baseball.
Leavey also presented athletes with awards including Scholar Athletes and Service Awards for working hard in the classroom, in sports and in the community.
The honor of being named Scholar-Athlete Awards went to Mary Katherine Tumelty- Girls Lacrosse and Mathew Catanoso – Boys Crew. The Community Service Athlete Awards went to Aspen Lawlor-Girls Lacrosse and Michael Beebe-Baseball.
Numerous athletes were honored for their hard work and dedication in crew, track, tennis, golf, baseball and lacrosse.
