JERSEY SHORE, Pa. — Brooke Menzen is an English teacher at Jersey Shore Area High School. She has been teaching for just over a decade.
"It actually goes back to my teachers here at Jersey Shore High School, and I saw their passion for teaching and how much change they were making, and I decided my senior year to become a teacher," said Menzen.
Menzen happens to be a finalist for the 2023 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. She and 11 other teachers from around the state will travel to Hershey on Monday to be recognized.
"It is a great honor and a very humbling experience, and I am super grateful for all of my students, faculty, and administrators that helped me along the way," added Menzen.
"She is an amazing educator. I have been in her classroom a number of times, and I can truly say she is a teacher that you want your kid to be in her classroom," said Jersey Shore Area Superintendent Brian Ulmer.
Newswatch 16 caught up with two of Menzen's senior class students. They are grateful to have her as a teacher and believe she deserves this award.
"Mrs. Menzen has no problem making her classroom a very good environment for her students, and she also loves helping her students," said senior Rachel Lorson.
"Yeah, I think that is awesome because I actually want to be a teacher, and she is one of the teachers I really look up to, so I think that is really cool," said senior Arianna Milbrand.
Menzen shared her favorite part about teaching.
"The best part is definitely the students. I love to see the change in the students and how they grow and how they take the contents of what I am teaching them and how they apply it to everyday life," she said.
The award for Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year was handed out on December 5 in Hershey.
Ryan Hardesty from Blackhawk School District in Beaver County is the 2023 PA Teacher of the Year.
He teaches social studies to seventh and eighth graders.
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