In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5-9, 2025), many businesses are celebrating educators by offering exclusive discounts. Teachers can redeem coupons for school supplies, insurance and auto repair deals, clothing discounts, and more.

For many people, substitute teaching offers the benefits of teaching with more flexibility. Subs can choose which subjects they cover and which buildings they prefer to work in. Additionally, there is no full-time requirement—substitute teachers can work as many as five days a week, as little as one day a week, or even a couple days a month.

Travel and study programs recognize this unique opportunity to engage educators in one-of-a-kind professional development opportunities—many far from home. These excursions all have the purpose of expanding educators’ horizons so they may expand multicultural learning in the classroom.

It is beneficial for New Jersey to invest in STEM teachers because there is a heightened need to close demographic gaps and meet the demands of a growing STEM workforce. Read on to learn why STEM educators are so important to student learning, confidence and success.

Kwamé Floyd saw potential in Rutgers Alternate Route to help launch and lead a teacher apprenticeship program and encouraged Director Heather Ngoma to apply for the NJDOE grant. Now a trusted partner, TAN’s role is to provide essential technical support for districts seeking registered apprenticeship status, and to individuals seeking pathways into the teaching profession.

Eliminating the Praxis Core basic skills barrier is one example of how New Jersey leadership has stepped up to address the teacher shortage at home. Others include forming scholarships for student teachers, creating a task force and implementing three annual job fairs hosted by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE).

When Robyn Griffin graduated with a bachelor’s in education, she entered a tough market for teachers. Griffin needed another route to gain experience and get her foot into a school district, so she looked into becoming a paraprofessional. While she admits the choice was “a little disheartening,” it was an inspiring interview, a helpful teacher and a supportive school that reframed the opportunity.

New Jersey’s Amistad Bill became law in 2002, mandating schools incorporate African American history in social studies curricula. The only problem was the law established no real consequences for districts that did not comply.

Eventually, it was strengthened in 2021 and the Amistad Commission—the body created to oversee curriculum implementation— was given more agency to execute its work. The update created a line item in the state budget for the commission and expanded African American history to all subjects, not just social studies.

As provisionally licensed teachers, Rutgers Alternate Route program candidates connect with expert mentors selected by principals for their teaching achievements. These connections help our first-year teacher candidates feel supported, introduce them to new teaching methods and provide a listening ear when challenges arise.

We often hear how mentors have helped their mentees succeed, but what if we shared the positive impact mentees have had on their mentors?

We asked our mentors to share what they love about their mentees and how they helped make the recent school year successful.