Monmouth County teacher's passion helps net state's top education honor

A kindergarten teacher from Monmouth County has been named New Jersey State Teacher of the Year by the Department of Education. Karen Ginty, who teaches at Monmouth Beach Elementary School, says nowadays teachers have to compete with computers, videos and the Internet. In order to get her students involved, Ginty says she has to be animated. She uses props like stuffed animals and paper images to help make learning fun. Last but not least, Ginty says speaking to students in a positive way makes all the difference. Ginty says the only disappointment about the award is that she must take a six-month sabbatical from teaching to work with the Department of Education. She says pushing for mandatory full-day kindergarten will likely be her mission.