Beloved N.J. educator could be state’s first-ever National Teacher of the Year

Joseph Nappi Visit Jose Marti STEM Academy

New Jersey’s Teacher of the Year Joseph Nappi visited Jose Marti STEM Academy in Union City to tour the school and give a lesson on conspiracy theories to AP students. Nappi is one of four finalists for a national teacher of the year honor.Amanda Brown| For NJ Advance Media

Joseph Nappi may be the only National Teacher of the Year finalist to be suspended from parochial high school his freshman year and public high school his senior year.

“I barely graduated,” said Nappi, 41, who teaches history at Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls. “That kind of makes me the oddity in the teacher world.”


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