Her Story
Theresa Maughan began teaching in 1981 as a sixth-grade teacher at Saint Paul’s in Jersey City, after earning a bachelor’s degree in history and secondary education from Rutgers University. She moved to Saint Mary’s High School in Jersey City in 1986 and joined the East Orange School District in 1987, where she has taught high school social studies ever since. She earned a master’s in administration and supervision of urban schools from New Jersey City University in 1993 and a second master’s, in American history, from Gettysburg College in 2023. Her principal credits her with shaping nearly 4,000 student lives over 38 years in East Orange.
She was named the 2022 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year, received the 2023 Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence from the NEA Foundation, and was honored by the New Jersey Historical Commission in 2025. She has twice been named New Jersey History Day’s National History Day Senior Division Teacher of the Year, in 2021 and 2025, and in 2025 she was a Civics Catalyst Fellow with the Collaborative for Student Success.
Beyond the Classroom
Maughan has been the driving force behind her school’s National History Day program since 2012. Her students regularly reach the state contest, one placed third in the nation in the senior individual performance category in 2013, and in 2025 three projects from her school advanced to the national contest at the University of Maryland, with eight students traveling to present their research. A former student says Maughan guided her through the 2018 and 2019 competitions as an unpaid volunteer, and when transportation to the national contest was unavailable, drove the student and her mother there at her own expense.
She advises the National Honor Society and the Rho Kappa social studies honor society, and for five years has led her students in a statewide student civic convention. Through the Hamilton Education Network she made it possible for her students to see Hamilton on Broadway in 2019 and 2023, often their first Broadway show. She also brings students to Washington, D.C., to the Museum of the American Revolution and the National Constitution Center.
Beyond her school she serves on the New Jersey Commissioner of Education’s Teacher Advisory Council and the state’s Professional Learning Committee, co-leads the New Jersey County Teachers of the Year and sits on the New Jersey National History Day advisory board. She has presented at the New Jersey Department of Education, the National Teacher Leadership Conference, the National Network of State Teachers of the Year conference, and at colleges including Seton Hall, William Paterson and The College of New Jersey. In 2025 she helped create a workshop for high school students marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Philosophy Into Practice
Maughan believes learning is active and inquiry-driven, and she builds her units around projects. With a Pulitzer Center grant she led a team of science and social studies teachers in writing an interdisciplinary unit on medicine and health equity, which ended in a school community health fair where students pitched real-world solutions to healthcare professionals and community members.
She uses think-pair-share, quick writes, exit tickets, and small-group debates so quieter students are heard, and she tracks who speaks, who leads and who withdraws. When a mid-unit assessment showed students could summarize dense policy articles but not separate a problem’s symptoms from its causes, she paused the unit, brought in tiered text sets at different reading levels, and taught students to draw “problem trees” mapping root causes to outcomes. Her own learning continues through summer seminars with the Gilder Lehrman Institute at Oxford, the University of Kansas and Yale, Facing History and Ourselves, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“Learning is an active, inquiry-driven process where students construct meaning through exploration, dialogue, and reflection, rather than passive reception of facts.”Theresa Maughan
In Her Own Words
“Give yourself permission to be a learner.”Theresa Maughan, advice to a first-year teacher
“Start by building relationships before perfect lessons”Theresa Maughan, advice to a first-year teacher
“Most of all, hold on to why you came to this work.”Theresa Maughan, advice to a first-year teacher
What Others Said
“Mrs. Maughan has shaped nearly 4,000 student lives through her unwavering commitment to educational excellence, equity, and innovation.”Dr. Vincent L. Stallings, principal, East Orange STEM Academy
“She does not merely teach; her dedication to craft elevates the entire profession.”Peter Mazzagatti, Ed.D., director, Office of Educator Effectiveness, New Jersey Department of Education
“Her warmth, expertise, and collaborative spirit lift those around her.”Tracey Prince, colleague, East Orange STEM Academy
“Mrs. Maughan’s classroom was a haven for excellence and belonging.”Anisaa Jean-Pierre, former student