NFA P-TECH Teacher Earns Prestigious State-Wide Educator of Excellence Award
The Newburgh Enlarged City School District proudly announces that Mrs. Jacqueline Hall, an English Language Arts teacher at Newburgh Free Academy P-TECH, has been honored with the Educator of Excellence Award from the New York State English Council (NYSEC). This award is one of the highest distinctions given to ELA educators in the state, recognizing those who demonstrate exceptional commitment to literacy, innovation, and student achievement.
Mrs. Hall teaches within the rigorous, dual-enrollment structure of the NFA P-TECH program, which allows students to earn their high school diploma and an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree from SUNY Orange concurrently. The P-TECH program has outstanding results in Language Arts --far surpassing statewide performance. For 2024, NFA P-TECH has an English Language Arts pass rate of 92 percent, which is 14 percentage points higher than the state average of 78 percent. Mrs. Hall’s role has been vital in bridging the gap between high school literacy instruction and college-level academic rigor, ensuring that P-TECH students are not only prepared for college-level reading and writing but are also equipped with the critical thinking and communication skills essential for their future careers.
The NYSEC Educator of Excellence Award specifically honors teachers whose impact extends beyond the classroom walls. Mrs. Hall works tirelessly to provide opportunities for students to take their talent and passions and share them in the larger Newburgh Community. It is commonplace to see Mrs. Hall’s students roll up their sleeves to volunteer with the DEC, Scenic Hudson, Habitat for Humanity, or countless other local community organizations. She has taken students on volunteer trips to Thailand, Cambodia and Ecuador, has won a Human Rights Award for her work with youth in Newburgh and has had professional writing published in both The New York Times and by Harvard Educational Press.
Mrs. Hall’s pedagogy is centered around building students’ literacy skills while helping them learn about power and place. In a nomination letter for the award, student Zhianna Nevarez wrote “In her classroom, topics such as Urban Renewal and deindustrialization were explored through engaging discussions and opportunities to learn out in the city of Newburgh, where we live. In her classes, we learned about the importance of our city’s history and how to apply these lessons to the present… This helped me look beyond stereotyping and to question the things in our city which I hadn’t thought of before.”
The entire NECSD community congratulates Mrs. Hall on this impressive and meaningful recognition, and thanks her for her unwavering commitment to our students' futures.
Story and photo provided by Mr. Anthony Williams.
ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!
