Biography

I am so excited about the upcoming 2022-2023 school year at our Westwood Regional Middle School. Each year,I look forward to and am honored to be helping our outstanding Principal; Mrs. LaForgia and our outstanding Assistant Principals;Mr. Albert, Mr.Attanasio, and Mr. Corso continue to create a positive,respectful, caring learning environment, and an excellence in education for our students at our Westwood Regional Middle Middle School. l will always develop our students skills necessary for the challenges of 8th grade and prepare our students for the rigors of high school.I have taught 7th,8th,and 9th grade social studies at our Westwood Regional School District for the last 20 years.Over these years,I have taught all levels of classes and grade levels from in class support classes,to regular level classes, and honors classes.Overall, I have been both lucky and blessed to work as an educator in the Westwood Regional School district.The Westwood and Township of Washington communities are truly my home away from home.

Background:

I believe it is always helpful to give the community in which I teach and care so much about some history about my background.It is important for the parents and students that I work with to understand where I coming from as a person.I grew up in a show business family.My parents were professional dancers, actors, and singers.We traveled a lot as a family due to their performing schedule.As a result, I experienced some amazing things at a very young age and had a wonderful childhood.My parents had their own dance school; The Academy of the Dance Inc. for over 20 years in Bergen County.In watching my parents teach dance as an art form,I learned the value and joy of helping people learn,develop, and achieve. My parents always cared about helping people and always tried to nurture self-esteem and confidence in the children they taught dance too. My parents are my inspiration because they spent their lives helping people on so many levels. Some of these values and ideas that I live by and believe in are to never judge anyone, to always to be respectful, to always try to help others, to always be honest,to always give my best effort, and to always want to learn and improve in whatever I do.

Educational Background:

My educational background is both varied and diverse.I graduated from the following schools;The Elizabeth Morrow private school in Englewood,The Village Middle School in Closter, and The Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest.I completed my undergraduate work at Rutgers College; Rutgers University and graduated with B.A. in political science.Upon graduating from Rutgers in 1989, I was professional athlete and played as a professional tennis player for three years on the tennis circuit around the world.Due to a serious back injury, my tennis career was cut short.In 1992, I started working in a marketing firm and business world It was in 1992 that I made the most important professional decision of my life between becoming a lawyer,a biogenetic researcher,or a teacher.The rest as they say is history.In order to achieve my masters in teaching, I worked at a marketing firm during the day, went to school at night, and taught as a tennis pro on the weekends.I graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a Masters in Teaching in social studies.I have two teaching certifications; K-8 in all subjects and K-12 in social studies,and have a strong background in special education.

I have been in the classroom since 1995.I have taught at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels during my career which has helped me develop an understanding of how children learn and develop at different grade levels.

Before arriving at the Westwood Regional School District in the fall of 2002, I had completed my student teaching experience at Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, taught in the Ridgewood School District, and at the St. Johns Catholic School in Bergenfield.This will be my 21st year as a teacher in the Westwood Regional School District and my 28th year as an educator.I have taught the following in the Westwood School District;8th grade Language Arts,7th, 8th, and 9th grade social studies in our district. As always, I continually try to improve as an educator by taking professional development and courses that will help me to improve as a teacher and serve on committees to continue help our school district.

During my time in the Westwood Regional School District, I was involved with The Junior Performing Arts Company (JPAC) for seven years with Mr. Albert. Mr.Albert and I collaborated in developing professional productions with the 7th and 8th grade students in the district.Students performed in shows such as Friday Knight Fever, Flapper, Annie, Grease, and Guys and Dolls to name a few.I am happy that the tradition of JPAC that Mr. Albert and others started many years ago continues down at the Middle School to this day.I am proud to be an educator in the Westwood Regional School district.Overall, my goal every year is to help improve our school district by developing an interesting, rigorous, and effective curriculum for all the students that I work with.

As you may or may not know, the social studies curriculum continues to be improved for the students in our district.The 7th, 8th, and 9th grade social studies curriculum has been rewritten to make the history courses in those grades more rigorous and interesting.The 7th, 8th, and 9th grade curriculum is aligned with the new NJ state standards for social studies which makes our curriculum as rigorous academically with some of the best social studies curriculum's at these grade levels. As always, my goal is to strive for excellence in education and be a part in helping us to continue to create a top middle school and school district in the state.

Presently, I coach the boys varsity tennis team at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan and have coached the team for the past 20years. I also coached the girls varsity tennis team at our Westwood Regional High School from 2009 -2019.As a former professional tennis player,I have been blessed to be able to give back to a sport that I love by teaching and coaching tennis for over 25 years.I ran my own tennis academy for 15 years and continue to train tennis players to develop their game.

As a person, I have a passion for learning, music, sports, history, science, and the performing arts.I believe in the values of honesty, respect, compassion, discipline, and a work ethic that means always giving my best effort in whatever I do.These are the values that I was taught and always try to instill in my students.My philosophy of teaching is based on the belief that one has to teach the whole child.In order to teach this philosophy,I use both differentiated instruction and alternative measures of assessment to help each student reach their individual potential.Through creative lessons, interesting projects, and through working on job skills, students will be able to make the connections from the past to the present, analyze different cultures, and evaluate the issues facing the world today.I believe that I must help my students develop the research, study, reading, writing, test taking, and technology skills necessary to be successful academically.I expect a highest standard of excellence from myself and my students.I firmly believe that it is my job to create a positive classroom environment, help students to develop a belief in themselves, and teach them to become critical thinkers/problem solvers.One of my goal's every year is to improve as a teacher and help my students reach their potential.My hope is to inspire my students to follow their dreams and realize that nothing is impossible if they work hard and always give their best effort.

As a parent, I want you to know that you and your child are extremely important to me.We must always work as a team.I look forward to working with every student and family to make the 2022-2023 school year exciting, productive, and the best school year experience for your child.I want you to know that I will always be there for you, your child, and family in every way.I am here to help and support you and your child in any way that I can.Please all stay positive,healthy and safe during this most challenging time.

Sincerely,

Mr. Delaney

Teacher of Social Studies

World History 8/World History 8 Honors

Westwood Regional Middle School

Westwood Regional School District

eric.delaney@wwrsd.org