Bienvenidos a la clase de español, welcome to the Spanish classroom of Señora JoDee Sattazahn-Hansen, who has been named Cape May County Teacher of the Year for 2025-2026.
The state Department of Education selects the 21 county Teachers of the Year, and they serve as ambassadors for the profession around the state. Teachers who applied submitted a written application, a video submission and underwent an interview.
“It’s such an honor to get this and to represent all the great teachers at my school,” Sattazahn-Hansen said. “The teachers at LCMR are really awesome, and we all learn from each other every day.”
Students returning to Sattazahn-Hansen’s classroom at Lower Cape May Regional High School this year will find her teaching Spanish II and Spanish Honors III and IV, which offer credit for college.
“New Jersey is always at the top for best schools in the nation, and I can see that in our school, how New Jersey can be ranked that way when I see all the work that [our] teachers do,” she said.
Sattazahn-Hansen earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Brigham Young University and a master’s in Spanish from California State University at Sacramento.
“My master’s program [let you] study in different countries,” Sattazahn-Hansen said, adding that she did so in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Spain.
Studying Spanish abroad allowed Sattazahn-Hansen to appreciate other cultures by living with local families and learning their customs. Her studies allowed her to develop a unique and authentic teaching style.
Sattazahn-Hansen began her career at LCMR in 1995. In 2003, she spent a year teaching middle school Spanish at Rumrudee International School in Bangkok, Thailand, before returning to Cape May.
The best thing about teaching “is seeing my students grow and how much they improve and mature,” she said. “It’s gratifying to see all the things they achieve.”
