Along with the award, Immaculate Heart Academy was gifted $500 to be used toward driver education from New Jersey Manufacturers (NJM), the Teacher of the Year award sponsor. Mrs. Skjold, who has worked at IHA for 19 years, has been teaching both physical education and driver education for more than 27 years.

Mrs. Skjold said she feels a major reason she was considered for this honor was due to the dedication of IHA’s Traffic Safety Squad (TSS) to promote safe teen driving. Mrs. Skjold serves as moderator of TSS, which was started 13 years ago with a handful of girls performing seatbelt checks. The club has since grown to approximately 80 members who continually excel in driver education and driver safety projects and contests under Mrs. Skjold’s leadership.

TSS has won numerous awards from Hackensack University Medical Center’s Safe Teen Driving Challenge for seat belt compliance, t-shirt design, posters, and videos. TSS also won a $25,000 grant from State Farm’s “Celebrate My Drive” program and was the 2016 BIANJ UGotBrains Champion School Grand Prize winner. “TSS, over the years, has shown dedication and creativity while developing leadership skills,” she said. “It has been a blessing to work with these enthusiastic girls." 

Mrs. Skjold is an active member of the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE). The N.J. Safe Teen Driving Coalition has not only recognized Mrs. Skjold for her seat belt lesson plan, but also as a Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) Champion. When she was awarded Teacher of the Year, she was humbled to think that other educators throughout the state looked at IHA as a model program.

“When I was nominated, I thought, ‘Is the program at IHA that special?’ I was just doing my job,” she said. “But once nominated, there were several forms to fill out that highlighted the driver education program. Listing achievements in my career made me proud about how dedicated IHA girls are in creating an environment of traffic safety in and outside of our building.”

Mrs. Skjold received the Teacher of the Year award at a NJAHPERD conference, which was attended by more than 100 people from all over the state. She said it was a “feel good” moment to be recognized in front of fellow professionals. To celebrate this honor with the TSS members who work so hard to promote safe driving, students gathered together on September 18, 2017 for a photo opp and cookie party. Mrs. Skold was proud to share the special award with all of her students.

“I'm hoping that this award will be an opportunity to give even more attention to the importance of safe teen driving,” she said. “And remember—without students, there can be no teachers!”