It was Teacher Appreciation Day throughout New Jersey earlier this month, and two teachers at MAST, the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, well beloved teachers on their own, decided to do something so the MAST cadets could show their appreciation to all the faculty members in the 9 through 12 high school located on Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook. Apple
The teachers, Mae Skrba, the Science educator, and Samantha Moorzitz the technology educator, sent out a message and form to every student in the school, inviting them to respond. They explained they wanted to give students the opportunity to let the teachers know how much they appreciate each one of them. More than 100 students responded and followed directions for filling out the Google form. The message included the names of all 27 staff members names so students could pick and choose which teachers they wanted to describe with their own words.
The survey asked the students to write three words to describe each teacher they selected, explaining that the words would be used in a word cloud that would be presented to the teacher described.
The two educators were specific in their directions: all words had to be in lower case with no punctuation marks. And only three adjectives could be used for each description.
Skrba and Moorzitz than took each of the completed forms describing each specific teacher, creating the personalized word cloud s. They placed the adjectives in an APPLE, and in doing so, the adjective used the most to describe a teacher was printed in the largest print, with all of the adjectives used in varying sizes of letters, depending on how often it was used in descriptions from the students.
All of the images took about an hour in total to create due to jumping between the students form responses, copying the text, and then formatting the generated images. But both teachers said that hour was well worth being able to share with the staff how appreciated they are.
“Word Clouds are not our original idea and we have created them before. Word clouds are a wonderful digital tool to communicate a message through data visualization,” Skrba and Moorzitz said.
The completed Apple word clouds were met with cheers, appreciation and a deep sense of appreciation from each of the 27 teachers on staff, all of whom praised and thanked not only the students, but also the duo who created the idea and designed them.
Skrba and Moorzitz designed the apple cloud for each other, based on the adjectives the students used for each of them.
Moorzitz,is a graduate of the College of New Jersey with a Bachelor of Science degree from their School of Engineering in Technology and Engineering Education. In 2022 she completed her master’s also from TCNJ, in Integrative STEM Education and received her Supervisor Certification. She also completed international student teaching at Ambrit International School in Rome, Italy.
MAST is her first tenure track school, where she has been on staff since 2019 and is Technology Instructor and teaches freshmen CADD (Computer Aided Design and Drafting) and Systems Engineering II (the engineering senior capstone course).
A native of Middletown where she grew up, Moorzitz now lives in Freehold and is devoted to education and the students at MAST. The teacher’s belief is that “learning takes place everywhere and every day. Being at a school like MAST where we have an outdoor campus greatly supports my views as an educator and I am fortunate to be able to provide my students with unique learning opportunities where I can support their passions.”
Skrba earned her undergraduate degree in marine biology and conservation from UCNW, University College at Wilmington, NC, and her masters in Marine Conservation and Policy from Stony Brook University, as well as her teaching certificate from Rutgers.
She grew up on a farm in Hunterdon County but the family spent summers in Seaside Park. The conservationist has been teaching marine biology at MAST for five years, and also teaches two duel enrollment classes, Environmental Science and Sustainable Society.
She previously taught at the former Mater Dei Prep in New Monmouth where she instructed students in Marine Biology, Genetics, Bioethics, Anatomy and Physiology, AP Biology, and Biology. Currently she and Moorzitz run the freshmen class advisor position, and academic team at MAST. This very busy teacher also works summers “and in my spare time” as a marine ecologist and educator at NJ Fish and Wildlife. She and her husband Mackenzie and their two year old son, Thor, live in Millstone, along with their three rescue dogs.
It was Skrba who came up with the idea of designing the apples for each of the students, and she and Moorzitz each did the apple for the other. Skrba said the images took about an hour to complete, with most of the time spent jumping from the students responses to copying the text and formatting the generated images. “But the hour was well worth being able to share with all the staff how appreciated they are,” she said.
That the teachers enjoy working so well together comes as no surprise. Although they did not know each other until both started teaching at MAST, they have become close friends since then. In fact, they are extra busy with a very special celebration this fall.
Moorzitz is in the midst of preparing for her marriage in October to Christopher Kinzler, a financial planner with Creative Financial Group in Wall. The couple will be married at Saint Agnes Church in Atlantic Highlands and then celebrating at The Molly Pitcher Inn, where the bride’s parents were married 30 years ago! It’s this teacher’s ‘partner in crime” Mae Skrba, who will be the maid of honor at the wedding.
