Area February 24, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Maryann Woods-Murphy rated top teacher by NJEA by John Koster Maryann Woods-Murphy, a founding teacher at the Bergen Academies and now the Spanish teacher at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, has been named 2010 Teacher of the Year by the New Jersey Education Association. She will be featured on Classroom Close-Up, NJ, on Feb. 27, March 29, and April 3. Woods-Murphy learned Spanish the total-immersion way when she and her husband moved to Spain after she graduated from Montclair State College. She said she adapted to her new home in Spain by speaking only Spanish to her husband Joe and to the rest of the people around her. She achieved fluency within three to six months. She was able to obtain a job teaching English, and enrolled in the University of Salamanca. When she and her husband returned to the United States, they started a business, opening the Bergen County Language Institute in 1984. Her daughter Malynda and her son Joseph were born, and WoodsMurphy qualified for her teacher’s certificate and taught at New York middle schools and high schools before becoming a founding teacher at the Bergen Academies in Hackensack. Woods-Murphy joined the staff of Northern Highlands Regional High School in 2003. At Highlands, she works to stimulate a community environment in her class- Distinguished Speaker Series continues The Second Annual Food for Thought Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by the Fred Emert Memorial Adult Education Fund at Temple Beth Rishon, will continue March 14 at 9:45 a.m. Rabbi Chernick will discuss “Must I Love My Fellow Jews? Halakhah & Jewish Religious Pluralism.” Rabbi Chernick was a founder of the Teaneck Intra-Communal Dialogue and was chair or the Bergen County Muslim-Jewish Dialogue. The program cost, which includes a breakfast buffet, is $10 for temple members and $15 for non-members. Rabbi Chernick RSVP to (201) 891-4466 by March 11. Temple Beth Rishon is located at 585 Russell Avenue in Wyckoff. The next speaker in the series will be Andrew Silow-Carroll, editor-in-chief of the New Jersey Jewish News on May 2. For more information, visit www.bethrishon.org. room, one where students feel safe to take risks and to take their abilities with the language out of the classroom. She has arranged 26 trips abroad for students and colleagues, and organized a Martin Luther King Day of Service at the high school. The school was closed for the day, but more than 80 students offered their services for the day at homeless shelters. As New Jersey Teacher of the Year, Woods-Murphy will participate in a halfyear sabbatical sponsored by the Educational Testing Service through June of 2010, traveling around the state in a car rented for her by the sponsoring organization. Her husband is chairman of the ethics program at Dwight Englewood School. Her daughter is a Spanish teacher at the Emil Cavallini Middle School in Upper Saddle River, and her son is studying Spanish and kinesiology at Temple University. COSMETIC VEIN CENTER, LLC Medical Day Spa ������������������������� ������������������������ ������������� ������������������ • Microdermabrasion • Facials • Chemical Peels Luba • Teen & Adult Acne Control • Eyebrow Design & Eye Lash Tint • Body Waxing (including Brazilian Bikini) 265 Ackerman Avenue, Suite 203, Ridgewood • 201-445-8820 HARDING WINE&SPIRIT We are beside ourselves about this wine we found. It’s called Coastal Vines and the quality blew us away. Every variety tastes like a $10 bottle of wine, but we’re selling it for only $5.01! We have customers coming from all over to take advantage of this incredible buy. How exciting to be able to buy a mixed case of 12 bottles of wine, that has something for everyone, for UNDER WORTH THE TRIP! HUGE WINE SELECTION Beer • Super Premium Spirits Party Planning • Gift Baskets Free Parking • Ice • Soda $65.00 TAX INCLUDED! 305 E. Ridgewood Ave Ridgewood, NJ DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED 201-445-7122 Coastal $ Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay & Pinot Noir 5 .01 750 ml No rain checks issued. Not responsible for typographical errors.