Fourth-grade teacher Rachel Tonkovich is the kind of teacher who provides rigor and challenge while stimulating a love of learning and an infectious community spirit. At Nellie F. Bennett Elementary School in Point Pleasant, NJ, She always goes the extra mile to help her kids and her colleagues become their best selves. Tonkovich sets high standards for her students and for herself, creatively differentiating the curriculum for all learning levels and styles. Also a master of questioning techniques, she takes time to research, develop and implement effective lessons while reinforcing success and achievement. Kind and compassionate, Tonkovich instills a sense of social responsibility in her students and their families. Under her competent watch, they helped raise more than $17,000 for the annual St. Jude’s Math-A-Thon, where students compete and grow in their math skills and in their community consciousness.
When it comes to student achievement, test scores speak both to Tonkovich’s classroom capabilities and leadership. No matter if it’s a peer or a pupil, everyone with whom she comes in contact performs at a higher level. For example, fourth-graders scored proficient or advanced proficient in math and 98 percent proficient or advanced in science. In language arts, they posted a literacy rate of 77 percent, compared to the 63 percent state average. Tonkovich piloted her school’s Everyday Math program adoption and led the workshop for fourth-grade teachers. She also revised her school’s science curriculum after attending the Aligning Elementary Science conference. A teacher leader and mentor across grade levels, she works with her team to prepare for state assessments, facilitates workshops and collaborates with colleagues to create lessons for all learners. With all the positive progress she continues to foster, Tonkovich is creating waves of success that will continue long into the future.
