Christina Caamano loves the opportunity to build positive, meaningful teacher-student relationships. In doing so, she is able to create a learning environment where students feel comfortable enough to ask questions, share ideas, and work through and process concepts that they may not fully grasp. Christina enjoys being able to guide them through their development and mastery of their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. She loves challenging her students to read critically, think critically, and broaden their worldviews through the analysis of literature and nonfiction in an effort to connect to the world around them. For Christina, the most rewarding parts of being a teacher are helping students maximize their potential and witnessing their academic growth over the course of the school year.

Being employed in the Wayne Township Public School District has afforded Christina many opportunities to grow as an educator and be involved in the community. During her time in the district, she has had the opportunity to revise High School English-Language Arts curriculum, develop diagnostic assessments, lead in-service presentations, and serve as lead teacher of the English Department. Christina is a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, as well as Wayne Hills’ School Climate and Code Blue Teams, and is a current co-advisor of the Wayne Hills Empowerment Club and the Class of 2025. Christina has also coached girls soccer and is currently the head coach of the Wayne Hills Girls Fencing and Girls Spring Track programs. She is grateful for the opportunities she has to be involved in professional, academic, athletic, and extracurricular capacities in the district.

School counselor, Ms. Sandas love being able to give back to the community she serves. She is there to help, support, listen, and affirm her student's worries, anxieties, and fears, whether it be about the college process, a stressful test coming up, or maybe some more personal things going on. The school counseling profession has evolved so much over time to not only focus on the "guidance" aspect of the career, but to also look at the entire student as a person with real feelings and emotions, which can oftentimes be barriers for success. Truly listening to understand, rather than listening to respond, is what Ms. Sandas loves the most about being in the field. At the end of the day, we all want to be heard.

School counseling encompasses three main domains: academic, career, and social emotional learning. As a counselor, Ms. Sandas works with her students to ensure success, happiness, and wellbeing in those three areas. She aims to challenge her students to break down their glass ceiling and rise above the limits they set for themselves. She also encourages her students to gain the confidence to ask for help when they need it, which is certainly not an easy task for people of any age, let alone a teenager. Finally, Ms. Sandas strives to be a trusted adult for all students in the building. She is here to give her students tools for success so that they can build their unique path beyond high school.

Ms. Sandas felt privileged to be able to land her school counseling position with Wayne Hills High School upon her completion of her internship, which she also completed at Wayne Hills. The connections she built with the fabulous counseling department and administrative team made Wayne feel like a home to her. She felt as though she could truly make a difference in this community. She believes that everyone who works in education would have the same answer to this question and that would be the students. To watch the students grow from freshmen to seniors is something she would not pass up for the world. The Wayne Township Public School District has given her the chance to do the work that she loves while also continuing to grow and learn as a school counselor. Thank you!