The Tradition Continues: Students Become Teachers for a Day

The teacher auction is a well-known tradition and fundraiser in Nanuet High School. Seniors can “buy” a teacher to be for a day and shadow or even take over their regular duties. This fundraiser for the senior class helps create community and, in this year in particular, added a much-needed sense of normalcy to the end of the school year.

Mr. Breyfogle was among one of the teachers to volunteer for the auction. Though this is now his fourth year in the district as a history teacher, this was his first time joining the auction and participating in the “Teacher for a Day” event.

“I think Teacher Auction Day went as great as it could have,” he said. “It was fun coordinating lessons and outfits with my mini-me and seeing other seniors do it with teachers around the school. I think it was refreshing for seniors to give them a fun tradition here at Nanuet High School when they have lost a lot throughout this year.”

Teachers such as Mr. Breyfogle, Ms. Cuccia, Ms. Tidd, Mrs. Panker, and more participated in this year’s event. Many, like Mr. Breyfogle, played games such as Kahoot, while others like Mr. Cohen, shadowed by senior Graham Preston, played Jeopardy.

“Graham did a great job running the game and the class,” Mr. Cohen said. “Ordinarily, we would play the game a few days later, but I thought it was a good thing for that day.”

Mr. Cohen mentioned minor troubles balancing online and in-person students with the teacher-for-a-day model. Despite this, it went as expected and was a fun experience for the students. 

Other teachers, such as Mr. Tully, also felt the day was a success.

“Many of the students related nicely to the student teachers,” he said. “The students taught the lesson as planned but had to make some adjustments throughout the lesson. It was a lot of fun, and the student teachers were able to see how much work and organization it takes throughout the day to teach successful lessons.”

Senior Nick Urzi expressed how he spent his day of teaching.

“Being the teacher for the day was an experience that I would recommend to anyone,” he said. “As a teacher I taught a CPR class and Multiple Gym classes. I made the lesson plans and graded them for the day.”