New Teachers in WMC!

Mr. Dillon

Please welcome Mr. Dillon or known by his students as “ Mr. Villain” when he puts his Darth Vader mask on for his students to draw. Mr Dillon will be teaching drawing and sculpture this year. He is only at Central in the morning and he will spend the other half of his day at Mendham High School.  Mr. Dillon says he is mostly self taught but he attended the Maine College of Art and Design. For the past 10 years Mr. Dillon has been drawing and creating his own comics. He says he plans on bringing a project like this to the classroom. He enjoys drawings that tell a story. Mr Dillon expresses, “Both sculpture and drawing are close to my heart.” Mr. Dillon truly is passionate about getting students involved and enjoys their time in his class!

Mr. Visakay

Mr. Visakay is West Morris’s newest teacher in the technology department. Mr. Visakay loves doing hands-on projects and using all the tools in D-118. Mr. Visakay says he plans on doing cool projects with the laser engraver, 3-D printer, band saw, belt sander, drill press, chop saw and much more! Mr. Visakay worked as a civil engineer but decided he wanted to teach others about designing and building rather than working independently.  “I didn’t necessarily like high school myself, so I thought I could do it a little differently. Teach to a point where people would actually enjoy being in class” said Mr. Visakay. Mr Visacay says he looks forward to getting the shop organized in the fashion he likes and getting more tools in the shop. Outside of school Mr Visakay enjoys watching his two  young boys play tee ball. Mr. Visakay is excited to keep expanding and organizing the shop here at West Morris.

Ms. Van Valen

Ms. Van Valen graduated from Central in 2012 and is very excited to be back at Central as a science teacher this year!  Ms. Van Valen has always been surrounded by science and has always been curious about how things worked. She went to Rutgers and had an opportunity to pursue her interest in biology, participating in many interesting studies. One of her favorite memories was when she had to be “on 24 hour pig watch” when she did a study on newborn pigs and their mothers with her professor. Ms. Van Valen is looking forward to teaching biochemistry using special technology like a 3-D printer to print models of molecules. Ms. Van Valen says “everyone’s been very welcoming.” She is happy to now work with some of her past teachers!

Ms. Hayes

Ms. Hayes is a new teacher here at Central, but she isn’t new to the district! This is her 23rd year teaching including her time in Mendham. Ms. Hayes is local to the area as she lives in Independence Township. Before Ms. Hayes became a teacher, she originally had ambitions to become a hairdresser and a writer but later chose to become a teacher as she stated it was a way for her to incorporate many of the things she enjoyed into one job. She also has several hobbies. “I like swimming. I like to watch movies on Netflix like horror movies, Not just in Spanish and I think it’s interesting to see the different cultural ideas through movies,” stated Mrs. Hayes. She also enjoys traveling when she can and owns three cats as well. Welcome Ms. Hayes!

Ms. Joseph

Ms. Joseph is the newest addition to the business department at Central. She worked at Randolph High School last year and before that worked in a corporate environment. One of her jobs was working in a VIP lounge where she was the lounge coordinator. There she met Drake! Although Ms. Joseph found it interesting to meet these celebrities, she was happy to leave the corporate world to teach. She says she is passionate about getting students excited to learn about business and teaches in a non-textbook style. Ms Joseph says “ I’ll find something that the students can connect to.” Ms. Joseph looks forward to the accounting unit in business management because she majored in accounting.  So she is enjoying West Morris very much and says “I think everyone is really nice.”

Ms. Neff

Ms. Neff is a new science teacher here at Central but not a new teacher in the district. Ms. Neff is a traveling teacher but she also lives close to the Central area. She also told us “Everyone speaks so highly of working here so I just wanted to see what it was about.” Ms. Neff has always loved science; it was her favorite subject in school, and she enjoys an environment where she can work with different people. As Ms Neff put it, “it makes for a job that’s never boring.” Ms Neff grew up in Roxbury but currently lives in Long Valley as well. Ms. Neff is  pregnant and will soon be on maternity leave.

Ms. Hartle

Please welcome WMC’s new Spanish teacher Ms Hartle who now teaches at both Central and Mendham as a traveling teacher. Ms. Hartle has been teaching for 20 years now and has come to Central from Madison High School. Spanish has always been a big part of her life. Ms Hartle is Colombian and both her parents grew up in Colombia. Ms. Hartle first started off as just a Spanish tutor in college but then later decided to pursue it as a career. Ms. Hartle is local and lives in the area. Ms Hartle said “I’m really passionate about what I do and I’m just so happy to be here.”

Ms Stoner

From zookeeping to teaching, not much has changed for WMC’s newest teacher. So far she is loving it here at Central. Ms. Stoner originally taught 7th grade but has now jumped up to 9th grade. She states “I was impressed. Genuinely! The students hold themselves to a really high standard.” Ms. Stoner was an ESL student teacher for Warren Hills then she moved to Califon to teach 7th grade at Wood Glen School. Ms Stoner originally went to school as a zookeeping major at Delaware Valley University eventually leading to becoming a zookeeper at the Lehigh Valley Zoo. She then worked at a Wildlife refuge in Pittstown. Later, she transferred to Centenary University to graduate with a degree in education. In addition to teaching, Ms Stoner has been working with the production team for the Drama Club. Ms. Stoner states, “I have a varied experience and I’m excited to bring it to our community.”

New Computer Technicians!

Mr. Ogawa

Please welcome our new Computer Technician Mr. Ogawa! He is really excited to be here and is looking forward to making sure everyone is taken care of and Chromebooks are returned in a timely manner! Mr. Ogawa is new to the school environment but not the teaching world. Mr Ogawa previously worked at a computer wholesaler where he audited equipment, repaired devices, and also did data destruction. He tells us that the transition has been easy and that he thinks the district is fantastic.For hobbies Mr. Ogawa stated “I enjoy board games and card games alike. I am a L1 Magic: the Gathering judge.” Ms. Johnson and Mr. Ogawa will be rotating between schools monthly.

Ms. Johnson

Please welcome Ms. Johnson, another new West Morris Regional Tech
Department addition. Ms. Johnson is traveling between both Central and Mendham this year and will be alternating with Mr. Ogawa monthly. Ms. Johnson previously worked at Eisenhower Middle School in Roxbury for two years providing tech support for students and teachers. Ms. Johnson said “I chose the IT field because of the growth and the demand of technology, always learning new skills and working with my hands.” She attended Fairleigh Dickinson University and got her bachelor’s in business administration. The Paw looks forward to seeing Ms. Johnson keep our Chromebooks safe!

Athletic Trainer!

Jamie Hricay

Meet the newest face in the field house, our athletic trainer, Jamie Hricay! Jamie, who prefers being called by her first name, will be working closely with athletes and coaches to get athletes healthy and keep them that way through various techniques and rehab regimes. Jamie has worked with athletes in many different settings and levels including professional, college, high school and middle school levels. She says her favorite teams to work with are high school teams. Jamie says she “has a lot of passion for watching high school sports” and she “does love the education part.” She likes to teach athletes how to stay healthy and teach them the best and quickest way to return to the field and stay there. Although Jamie has enjoyed her time training all different teams, she says West Morris teams are truly special. “Here, it seems like it is such a different intensity of rivalry and competitiveness” stated Jamie. She is looking forward to what the remainder of the fall season brings and looks forward to the winter and spring seasons ahead!

Board Of Education!

Mr. Dougherty

Mr. Dougherty is the new technology coordinator. Prior to working in school districts, he worked in the tech department in a water treatment plant. Mr. Dougherty enjoys working in a school environment and interacting with people more than a corporate environment. He likes the idea of helping integrate technology into the classroom to help students and teachers both teach and learn more efficiently and effectively. He enjoys the problem solving skills he gets to use in his job. On the weekend Mr. Dougherty enjoys watching NFL games and hanging out with his kids. He also loves animals and has 2 dogs, 4 cats and 2 rabbits. Mr. Dougherty says he is enjoying central very much. “I’m just really happy to be here” states Dougherty.

Ms. Bonura

Ms. Bonura is Central and Mendham’s new Director of Special Services, which entails overseeing all special education programming, 504 plans, anti-bullying,  and the health offices. Ms. Bonura began her career as a school psychologist. She soon became a Supervisor of Special Services and Medicine, and then became a Director of Special Programs.  Now, she has joined Central as Director of Special Services. Ms. Bonura states “Students with special needs is a passion of mine, being able to support their growth and learning by developing programmes to meet their needs. I find that to be the most rewarding and impactful way to contribute to society and to our students.” Ms Bonura speaks very highly of Central’s community and mentions how she admires the sense of community students share. She looks forward to learning about WMC’s students, teachers, and community as a whole.