John Taylor, a BelovED Charter school physical education teacher, was named the 2016 New Jersey Charter School Association Teacher of the Year.
JERSEY CITY -- John Taylor reminds his students every day to put their best foot forward in anything they do.
And he leads by example.
The BelovED Charter school physical education teacher was named the 2016 New Jersey Charter School Association Teacher of the Year.
Taylor has been teaching at the Grand Street school since its opening in 2012 and has secured more than $80,000 in funding for the school, including a $3,000 physical education grant last September.
"Everything I've ever wanted to do in life I've wanted to do well," said Taylor, the father of two daughters, Molly, 4, and Riley, 2.
Before working as a teacher, Taylor was a fitness coach at Wellspring Academy, a weight loss camp, where he worked with morbidly obese children on the reality show "Too Fat for 15."
Taylor earned a liberal arts and bachelor's degree from Evergreen State College and a master's degree in sports studies from High Point University.
After being asked to be a teacher at Wellspring Academy, Taylor enrolled in Western Carolina University and earned a post-bachelor's teaching certification.
"I didn't stop there, I always wanted to be a better teacher," he said.
Taylor also holds a doctorate from North Central University, and jokes he is likely one of the few teachers students can call "doctor" as they walk into their physical education class.
He takes his drive and instills it in his students each day.
"Whatever is worth doing, is worth putting work into," Taylor said he tells his students daily. "Giving up is easy, saying things are hard is easy, sitting on the couch is easy."
Taylor reminds the children at the kindergarten-through-Grade 5 school that anything worthwhile, they need to work for.
"People respect and admire those who did great things because they worked so hard," he said.
Additionally, Taylor serves as the school's anti-bullying coordinator and organizes multiple activities for students, including the school's Girls on the Run group, which prepares young girls for a 5K race.
This is the second time a BelovED teacher has received the honor, after Grade 1 teacher Jomayra I. Torres received the award in 2014.
Taylor will be honored at the eighth annual NJCSA Conference in Atlantic City on May 26 for going "above and beyond to improve educational opportunities for every child and advance the charter movement."
He is slated to receive his principal certification from Caldwell University in May.
Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.