Pascack Valley teacher, Michael Sherman, has been voted Teacher of the Year for the 2022-2023 school year. He currently teaches Video Production, Advanced Video Production, and Broadcast Television classes.

Sherman has been teaching for a total of ten years. His first three years of teaching were spent at Raritan High School in Hazlet, New Jersey before he started at PV in 2016.

Sherman says that getting a job at PV was the best thing that ever happened to him and that his favorite thing about being a teacher is creating new things with his students.

“I love seeing the kids create, especially in [the] video [production class],” Sherman said. “A lot of them are better than me. The kids inspire me.”

As a young student, Sherman looked up to many of his teachers. He moved to a new school when he was in ninth grade and during his first few months, his only friends at the school were his teachers. 

“They were the first people who gave me the time of day and that stuck with me,” Sherman said. “So my room’s always open. I wanted to give that back the love and the welcome that those teachers gave me when I was an awkward teenager and didn’t know where I was.”

Sherman said he wasn’t expecting to win Teacher of the Year until he was in his 50s, but he was lucky enough to have very good students over the past years which helped him achieve this honor. 

“My winning teacher of the year is finally recognition to all those kids who are nameless, and sometimes faceless because they’re behind the scenes,” Sherman said. 

Sherman stated that he couldn’t have gotten this award without his students and having the administration as a support system.

“The administration at Pascack Valley has always been supportive, not just of me, but of the arts in general,” Sherman said. “That’s very, very important. And again, the students are what makes me come to work every day.”

Zach Gasperino, a PV senior, and Sherman’s student for the past four years says that Sherman’s class is so special because Sherman never shuts down any ideas and lets his students be creative.

“Even an idea that sounds bad on paper, [Sherman] will always just let us run wild and be creative,” Gasperino said. “He contributes just as much as [us]. He’s always there to mentor you and guide you.”

Gapserino’s favorite thing about having Sherman as a teacher is that Sherman builds relationships with all of his students.

“He’s friends with [his students] and keeps going. He does things with former students,” Gasperino said. “[He works] not just so he can get recognition from the school, it’s because he actually cares.”

Gasperino says that Sherman always goes the extra mile, whether it be with his students or something to benefit PV. He thinks that Sherman’s award is well deserved and he’s glad that he is getting recognition.

“I’m honored to win Teacher of the Year. I couldn’t have done it without all the amazing students I’ve had over the years,” Sherman said.