PV English teacher Mr. Matt Morone has been named the Princeton Distinguished Educator of the Year, which will be received at Princeton University’s Graduation Ceremony on May 31.

The process of nominations and applications for this award began in November.

“I was nominated by a teacher,” Morone said. “Then I provided a resume and also a personal statement about what I value in a classroom.”

He then became one of the ten finalists for the award, so a Princeton representative came to visit Pascack Valley to observe two of his classes. The representative also spoke with a panel of students, a panel of teachers, and certain members of the administration about Morone’s teaching.

Four winners were then decided from the list of the ten finalists, and Morone was among the winners.

Morone thinks that his work this year with the open classroom and newsroom projects may have made him stand out as a more unique choice than the other applicants.

“I think whenever you’re doing something that’s a little unorthodox or a little different than what’s traditionally done, it certainly puts a bit of a spotlight on you,” Morone said. “But I would hope that the real deciding factor was speaking to my students and speaking to my colleagues. That would be the biggest compliment.”

Past winners of this award, including Pascack Hills teacher Ms. Natalie Mack in 2015, can be found here.