(above) Vocal Music Teacher Angela DiIorio Bird has been named the Watchung Hills Regional High School (WHRHS) Teacher of the Year for the 2018-2019 School Year. A graduate of WHRHS, Class of 2005, DiIorio Bird is in her eighth year teaching at WHRHS, and 10th year teaching overall.
Angela DiIorio Bird Named WHRHS Teacher of the Year
Vocal Music Teacher Angela DiIorio Bird has been named the Watchung Hills Regional High School (WHRHS) Teacher of the Year for the 2018-2019 School Year.
“Please join me in congratulating Angela DiIorio Bird, our Teacher of the Year for 2018-19,” WHRHS Principal George Alexis said. “Angela has played a significant role in deepening our commitment to the arts. Her passion for music and performance benefits our students and our entire school community. She is a talented teacher who knows how to differentiate instruction and help students of all abilities reach high expectations. In addition, she produces beautiful chorus concerts, serves as vocal coach for the musical, and mentors students all year long.”
DiIorio Bird is in her eighth year teaching at WHRHS, and 10th year teaching overall. During her first two years after college, she taught in the Lambertville Public Schools, a district she described as among the smallest in New Jersey.
That stood in stark contrast to the size of WHRHS. However, DiIorio Bird was already very familiar with WHRHS, having graduated from WHRHS in 2005. She had grown up in Watchung, and attended Watchung Public Schools.
When was DiIorio Bird first attracted to music?
“My grandfather gave me my first piano lesson when I was in 1st grade,” DiIorio Bird said. “He was an opera singer. He came from a musical family. I fell in love with music then.”
She played tenor saxophone in high school in the WHRHS band program for all four years, as well as the oboe. She qualified for All Region Band in tenor saxophone. She was in the Alto section when she sang for three years in the WHRHS Choir.
“Piano is my primary instrument,” she said. “My undergraduate degree at Ithaca College is in piano performance and music education.”
Following Ithaca College, in Ithaca, N.Y., DiIorio Bird earned her first master’s degree in Education from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), Ewing Township. She is currently continuing her studies, pursuing a second master’s degree in Educational Leadership at the College of St. Elizabeth in the Convent Station section of Morris Township.
She added that she has also completed training for certificates for Principal and Supervisor.
Diorio Bird is married to fellow WHRHS faculty member, Carl Bird, a Special Services-Science Teacher. They are expecting their first child in August.
Photos by WHRHS
(above) Earlier this year, DiIorio Bird brought her students to Disney World, in Orlando, Fla., where they had the opportunity to meet with and learn from Disney professional singers and entertainers. They also performed in public at various Disney locations, and competed in interscholastic competitions there.
