Bernadette Orsita
2024-2025
Passaic County
Teacher of the Year
Spanish Teacher
Manchester Regional High School
Bernadette Orsita graduated from William Paterson University summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish. Since 2008, she has taught Spanish 1, Spanish 2, Spanish 3, Native Spanish, and Heritage and Culture at Manchester Regional High School. Bernadette has a unique ability to involve the community in her lessons and bring that into the classroom to engage her students on a deeper level. She prides herself on creating, nurturing, and maintaining long-lasting relationships with her students. Bernadette’s students gain a profound sense of pride in themselves and their finished products. She truly believes that education is so much more than the content she teaches. So she has spearheaded many wonderful programs at the high school, such as the Make a Difference Club, Camp Manchester Regional High School, Camp Students Overcoming Substance Abuse (SOSA), the high school fashion show that promotes inclusivity of all people with all abilities, the Hispanic Fair, and the Multicultural Fair. The Multicultural Fair is a unique event that leverages and reflects all cultures that encompass the student body and staff at the high school. Bernadette plans it every year to include dance and music performances, deep and meaningful educational dives into the cultures of dozens of nations around the globe, and an incredible smorgasbord of international culinary delights. Her strong relationships in her school have made it possible for Bernadette to recruit over thirty staff members to make this event the success it is. She is a life-long, autonomous learner who engages in consistent daily reflection and professional learning and requires the same of her students.
“My personal feelings and beliefs about teaching are that every child should be able to come to school and be treated with respect. My goal each morning is to make sure my students know that I am glad to see them and that their well-being is important to me.”
– Bernadette Orsita