On Thursday, December 4th, Mrs. Heather Hunkele was announced as this year’s winner of the Governor Educator of the year award for Bernards High School.
Students stopped in their seventh period class to listen to the announcement as Principal Dr. Neigel awarded Mrs. Hunkele this honorable distinction. Every year a different teacher receives the honor of being named the Governor Educator of the Year at the High School.
Mrs. Hunkele has taught at Bernards High School for 18 years, as a part of her 25 year career teaching English. She teaches junior level English as well as the Journalism classes, serving as the advisor for the BHS Crimson Newspaper. On top of her dedication to the newspaper, Hunkele is one of the advisors of the Bernardian Yearbook as well.
Hunkele is no stranger to awards, as the Crimson and Bernardian have found incredible success in state-wide, national, and international competitions. This November, the Crimson was awarded the honor of SNO Distinguished sites, making them the seventh high school journalism program in the world to have this distinction.
At the Garden State Scholastic Press Association awards ceremony at Rutgers this past October, the Crimson and Bernardian combined for a total of over twenty awards. All of which would not have been possible for Mrs. Hunkele’s constant dedication to the groups.
The Governor’s Educator of the year award has existed since 1968 in the state of New Jersey, and is an annual competition in which all public or charter New Jersey schools are allowed to nominate one teacher for the state-wide contest. The teacher must be an “expert in the field who inspires students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn” as well as “have the respect and admiration of students, parents and colleagues”.
Dr. Neigel described Mrs. Hunkele as “innovative, supportive, and truly ‘all in,’”, highlighting her impact on the journalism program at Bernards High School. Over the past year the Crimson has won countless awards and honors for excellence in journalism, becoming just the seventh school internationally to receive SNO Distinguished Site honors.
Dr. Neigel would go on to say that Mrs. Hunkele has had a “transformational presence at BHS” throughout her time.
Mrs. Hunkele said that she was “very surprised and incredibly flattered” upon hearing her name announced on the loudspeaker. She said, “When you work in a school with so many talented people it makes the honor even more significant”.
Though Hunkele may have been surprised, her students certainly were not. Before her name was even called, the Period 7 Journalism class had a hunch that the speech from Dr. Neigel was targeted towards their teacher.
