KHS educator named county teacher of year

BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Dr. Stuart Cristo of Keyport High School is the Monmouth County Teacher of the Year. At rear are students Katie Biechler (left) and Amanda Ries.

KEYPORT — While there are many parents and grandparents who are adored by the younger generations, they’d be hard-pressed to become as popular as Stuart Cristo has during his 15-year tenure at Keyport High School. From colleagues to students, some of whom have never even set foot in his classroom, people seem to naturally gravitate toward this man.

Cristo, referred to by everybody in the school as "Doc," because of his doctoral degree, has a unique teaching style that separates him from his other colleagues.

"Students are motivated by the way he teaches his classes. They are interested in seeing how he does things and how he operates, and I think that is how he has been so successful," Keyport Schools Superintendent John Dumford said. "The students of Keyport High School really seem to enjoy being involved in his classes."

So, it should be no surprise to those who know him that he was recently selected as the Monmouth County Teacher of the Year. This honor puts him in position to win the New Jersey State Teacher of the Year, which is awarded at the end of October.

Amazingly, Cristo did not even know this snippet of information. The former U.S. Army captain, who served nearly five years in Vietnam, failed to realize that there was a luncheon in his honor, a luncheon that he almost missed because he did not want to miss time that he thought could have been better spent with his students.

"I was told about the luncheon, but I really did not want to go. I have a responsibility to my students to teach them, and I did not want to miss any class time. Eventually, I was talked into it, but I made sure I was back by the end of the day so I could teach my eighth-period class," Cristo said.

Whereas most educators go straight into high school teaching following college, Cristo took a more circuitous route. Following a suc­cessful career in publishing and earning master’s and doc­toral degrees in Roman history from Fordham University in New York, Cristo taught graduate courses on a part-time basis at Columbia University, N.Y.C., and Rutgers, but soon realized that his calling was elsewhere.

"I think I had an impact on the college students, but at the same time, it’s very difficult for some­body with a doctoral degree to find full-time work," Cristo explained.

In 1989, Cristo started out at Keyport High School teaching En­glish but eventually moved on to so­cial studies, where his passion for history and archaeology have be­come more conducive to learning. Many archaeological artifacts sur­round the room, which gives Cristo’s students ample opportunity to learn in ways other than just listening to their favorite teacher.

"Doc always keeps things in­teresting in class, and that’s what makes him a great teacher," eighth-grader Danielle Yard said. "He’s really nice, and he’s smart also. I don’t think I know many people smarter than him."

It’s not only his students who are enamored of him.

"For me to say that he is awesome is an understatement. The kids are not the only ones who are invigo­rated by Doc" Danielle Harris La­casale, director of special services, and member of the nominating committee said. "To him it’s no big deal, but to everybody else at this school, we think it’s dynamite that he won this award."

Although Cristo got a late jump on teaching high school students, he still has been able to adapt to them very well, a skill that he credits to his style of teaching.

"I go with an old-school teaching philosophy, which is to tell stories in order to get my point across," Cristo said. "For me, that is what works, and so I have subscribed to that way of thinking for a very long time now."

While he has been able to come across as more of a friend than a teacher to nearly everybody that has come into his classroom, he does realize that some students may ini­tially be wary of him, especially the younger students.

"I think that some people, espe­cially eighth- and ninth-graders, are a bit scared to be in my class, but the reality is that while most kids are trying to bang the door down to get out of class, most kids are actually trying to bang the door down to try and get into my classes. I guess I have a way of teaching that kids seem to appreci­ate and like," Cristo explained.

"At first, I did not know what to expect in his class. With all of the stuff he has in his class, it’s a lit­tle different, but once you get to know him, you see that Doc really cares about all of the students," Yard said.

One has to wonder when Cristo will stop and take a well-deserved break. For the students of Keyport High School, the award may have come at exactly the right time.

"I had thought about leaving at the end of this school year, but when I got this award, it really would not have been right for me to leave," Cristo said. "Besides, I can’t leave now. I’m like platinum. I’m on a roll."