Mr. Thomas Lanza Toms River Intermediate East 2005 Teacher of the year

This is Tom Lanza’s eleventh year teaching.  He has spent all eleven years at Intermediate East, teaching eighth grade for nine years and seventh grade for two.  This is his first year in the Gifted and Talented program. Mr. Lanza enjoys being a part of the Intermediate East community, working with nice students and teaching alongside a tremendous, dedicated, and hard-working staff.

At home, Mr. Lanza has a wife, Julie, and two sons.  Justin is three-years-old and Dylan is two months.   They live in Atlantic Highlands, NJ. He enjoys spending quality time with his wife, playing with his sons, reading, golfing, playing the drums, and watching sports and movies.

Born in Staten Island, NY, Mr. Lanza grew up in Middletown, NJ. He attended high school at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, NJ.  He spent his college years at Villanova University, in Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in teaching and a Minor in English. He then moved on to graduate school, earning a Master of Science degree in Education, Administration and Supervision, at Monmouth University, NJ. 

Mr. Lanza believes that it is important to be as active and involved as possible with school activities outside of the classroom. During his teaching career so far, he has participated in a number of areas.  Currently, he advises the yearbook staff while helping to create the school’s yearbook. He also advises the literary club and helps to publish the school’s literary magazine.  Mr. Lanza is a part of the school’s conflict management program, SSTOP.  He is a building representative for Intermediate East and currently serves on the union’s executive council.  

Overall, Mr. Lanza tries to make his classroom one where students experience many different things, learn much, and laugh often.  He is very demanding of his students and sets the bar for their achievement very high.  He hopes, by doing this, they will be able to accomplish great things and see how far they are truly able to go, both as learners and as young adults.  However, in addition to expecting much from his students, he also expects much from himself.  He prides himself on working very hard at planning and devoting much of his time (too much time, as Mrs. Lanza would say) to preparing for what he loves to do.  And, what Mr. Lanza loves to do is to teach.  While he realizes that, at times, it can be a demanding and frustrating job, he ultimately cherishes the time he gets to spend with great kids, teaching them to appreciate and love reading and writing, helping them become better students, and learning a lot from them in return.