HADDONFIELD, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A teacher in Haddonfield was named Camden County's 2024–2025 Teacher of the Year.
“It’s definitely kind of surreal,” said Stacey Brown-Downham, a reading interventionist and special education teacher at Tatem Elementary School in Haddonfield. “It wasn’t something on my radar.”
Brown-Downham says the science of reading has been her passion for 17 years as an educator, but this was her first year at Tatem. She said it was a shock to be recognized.
“It makes me emotional when I think of all the kids in America right now who are sitting in desks just hoping and praying that no one calls on them to read because they don’t know what sounds letters make. And we still have universities and colleges that are churning teachers out through college preparation programs that are not trained in the science of reading.”
She says the greatest reward is seeing results in students who didn’t believe in themselves, and equity is always on her mind.
“The parent who nominated me … is a parent who represents one of the groups in town that’s maybe not as well represented when people think about who lives in Haddonfield,” Brown-Downham said. “And the fact that she felt so moved by what I was doing for the community, that she felt so seen, that she wanted me to be recognized — that just lets me know that the work I’m doing is hitting the people who matter most.”
Now with this award, she says, she’s already speaking with other winners from around the state about the ways they can continue making improvements to education.