TCNJ

16 The College of New Jersey Magazine CHRISTINE GIRTAIN '94 Toms River High Schools North and South, Toms River What's possible for Toms River students enrolled in Christine Girtain's scientific research course? A better question is: What isn't? Over the past two decades, Girtain's students have evaluated breast cancer incidence in younger patients, studied the formation of the Earth's moon, and extracted unique DNA sequences from mosquitoes. One boy even built a solar-powered boat from scratch. These extraordinary projects wouldn't exist without Girtain's herculean efforts; she guides students at both high schools up the ladder of successful inquiry while also working tirelessly to ensure they have the resources and inspiration they need. Since helping to launch the scientific research elective in 2005, she has raised more than $185,000 in grants for research equipment and cheerfully stalked LinkedIn for scientists who might be willing to share their expertise with her students as guest speakers. She's taken students to Costa Rica and arranged cross-ocean collaborations with a class in Israel. Not long ago, she invited a plant pathologist from Missouri to Zoom in, because why not? "The kids mocked me for that one," she says. "And then they listened to the guy, and were like, 'Slam dunk!'" Girtain grew up in Toms River, climbing trees, scanning the skies for meteor showers, and exploring New York's Museum of Natural History with her father. Neither of her parents went to college, but they taught her to prize learning above all else. "You have to continuously educate yourself to better educate your students," she says. Girtain, affectionately nicknamed "Mama G," earned the 2022–23 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year Award for her dedication to students. "I was meant to do this," she says. "I get a rush, honestly, from seeing how excited they are with the new experiences, and then seeing what they go do after that." Her students have become doctors, engineers, and psychologists. That boy who built the solar-powered boat? He went on to study marine engineering at the prestigious Webb Institute in Glen Cove, New York, and later became a naval architect. When the first ship he designed went to sea, he signed the blueprints and gave them to Girtain. Girtain grew up in Toms River, CLIMBING TREES AND SCANNING THE SKIES for meteor showers. Each day in classrooms across the country, teachers are doing the complicated and indispensable work that carries a generation into the wider world. They are there for kindergartners and middle-schoolers and seniors alike, helping them learn to think, fail, and try again. To become who they want to be. Teachers are not just anything. In fact, they're perhaps no less than everything for countless kids every day. Since its founding as the New Jersey State Normal School in 1855 — the ninth teacher training college in the United States — TCNJ has launched thousands of teachers into schools across the state and beyond. It's time we take a moment to celebrate the extraordinary work being done by some of them today.

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