Robert P. Canzanese received his BA in English and his New Jersey State Teaching Certificate from Glassboro State College in 1972. He has continued his studies in British and American Literature at Villanova University, and in Educational Administration at Rowan University. He comes to FTI with over thirty years of teaching experience at Cherry Hill High School East. Mr. Canzanese helped to develop curricula in reading and writing for all levels of learning. His many important contributions to education include working extensively and passionately with Inclusion, Modified, College Prep, and Advanced Level Classes.
Mr. Canzanese insists that his students make every attempt to master basic English usage, grammar, and sentence structure. However, that does not mean that the students cannot enjoy themselves on their journey to become better writers. One way he achieves this is through incorporating his own musical knowledge, whenever appropriate, to help explain how great writers and poets frame their words. Mr. Canzanese is an accomplished guitarist who has performed in ten states and has worked professionally, virtually non-stop, for the last forty-five years.
Among the many awards, honors, and commendations Mr. Canzanese has received are: Nominated and Inducted into the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (five times), Most Distinguished High School Teacher Award from Western Maryland College, 2005 Leading Educators of the World from The International Biographical Centre (Cambridge, England), 2006 International Peace Prize for Outstanding Personal Achievements to the Good of Society as a Whole from The United Cultural Convention, and a full two page article covering his teaching style published in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mr. Matthew DeBarger graduated from Lehigh University. He has been a full-time teacher for 7 years and worked part-time in education for an additional 3 years. In between teaching jobs, he spent 5 years on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. In addition to his responsibilities at FTI, he works as a private tutor and develops curriculum for E-Learning for Kids, a completely volunteer-based Web learning program.
Mr. DeBarger also works with students outside of the classroom. He coached tennis and indoor soccer at previous schools, and now is one of the founding tennis officials for the NJISAA. He is also involved in student theater, having been director, acting coach, and technical adviser for many student productions. Finally, he enjoys spreading the importance of volunteer work to his students, and has served as Community Service Advisor for several years, involving students in local volunteer work like Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchens, and community cleanup projects.
On a more personal perspective, Mr. DeBarger loves the impact he can have as a teacher. He hopes to one day have a student go on to make a significant breakthrough in science, but is happy any day where he helped a young person become a productive, happy member of society. He encourages students to not just learn the procedures of Mathematics, but also to appreciate the perfect beauty of it.
Patrick J. Mulvaney received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Advertising from Rowan University in 2003. Finding the advertising business to be less than satisfying both personally and intellectually Mr. Mulvaney left the advertising business in 2005 to attend Georgian Court University where he studied to become a teacher of History. Mr. Mulvaney brings with him 4 years of teaching experience, having taught History and Special Education at the Camden County Vocation School and the Mary A. Dobbins School at the Children’s Home of Burlington County. Currently, Mr. Mulvaney teaches US History and World History at the Foxman Torah Institute. Additionally, Mr. Mulvaney teaches US History at the Middlesex County Vocational School.
Mr. Mulvaney has a broad and detailed understanding of History and is an exceedingly charismatic and creative instructor, incorporating a varying number of instructional strategies in his every day lesson plans. Mr. Mulvaney works to challenge all his students in an effort to guide his students towards a strong understanding of history, historical events and how those events have changed the world we live in. Additionally, he strives to help his students develop a strong appreciation for how they themselves can serve as agents of positive development and progress in the world today.
Mr. Martin Weiss received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in New Jersey, and his Master of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He comes to FTI with 31 years of experience in the classroom as a public high school science teacher. During this career he wrote and developed curricula in Physics and Environmental Science, as well as helping to develop the first Gifted and Talented Student program for the city of Camden, NJ. He also was the lead innovator of the first urban initiative to get inner city students involved in science research through science fair competition. His previous classroom experience includes teaching classes in all the sciences mentioned above and several years as an adjunct professor of elementary teaching for Rowan University, during which time he taught university classes in science for elementary school teachers in the Camden schools. Mr. Weiss also helps students prepare for the PSAT or SAT testing programs and with researching and applying to colleges and universities.
In 1993, Mr. Weiss was awarded the Princeton University New Jersey Distinguished Teacher award, and in 2004 he was awarded the Distinguished Teacher of the Year prize from the Network of Teachers of Science and Technology at MIT. Mr. Weiss continues to be affiliated with the NEST organization at MIT since his election to the group in 1995, and in 2005 was elected co-chairman of the organization numbering more than one thousand teachers from over 30 states and 10 foreign countries.
Mr. Weiss joined the Yeshiva at its inception in 2000. In his capacity as the school’s science teacher he has taught courses in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science and Genetics. In addition to his teaching duties, Mr. Weiss also coached the students in the Intel International Science Fair. Many of his students competed against students from schools much larger than ours and have won prizes in such categories as Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics. FTI is the only Jewish school in the tri-state area to have entered and won prizes at the Delaware Valley Science Fair.