Donnetta Beatty, Stacey-Brown Downham, Chuck Klaus at the County Teacher of the Year awards. Credit: Haddonfield Schools.

Stacey Brown-Downham has filled several roles in her 17-year career as a professional educator, from teaching high-school English and special education to her current post as an elementary-school literacy interventionist at J. Fithian Tatem Elementary School in Haddonfield.

Brown-Downham, a trained Wilson reading practitioner, holds bachelor’s degrees in English and in education from Brock University and the University of Toronto, respectively, as well as a master’s degree in creative writing and literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

She is a past president of the Haddonfield Education Association and its current social media manager and community events coordinator; Brown-Downham also advises the student comic book club, Preserving Black Haddonfield History Club, and has advised the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Haddonfield Memorial High School (HMHS).

This month, Brown-Downham added another accolade to those achievements: 2024-25 Camden County Teacher of the Year.

She joins the roster of 20 other New Jersey educators who are in the running to become the state 2024-25 Teacher of the Year, who will be named this fall.

A busy community volunteer — the Oaklyn resident is a cofounder and coordinator of Collingswood Porchfest, performs as a singer-songwriter with her band, The Classic Brown, and is a married mother of two school-aged children — Brown-Downham still finds ways to distinguish herself among her peers by demonstrating a high level of commitment to connecting with the students in her care.

Haddonfield resident Nousheen Yousuf-Sadiq, who serves on the borough Board of Education, and who nominated Brown-Downham for the Teacher of the Year award, said Brown-Downham has stepped up for her children in ways that have truly made a difference in their school experience.

When Yousuf-Sadiq’s oldest son, who has autism, was paired up with Brown-Downham for reading help, the teacher devised interventions specific to his needs and intended to help hone his focus on the work before him.

“I try to connect with the teachers on a personal level to find out what we can do to help him academically, socially, and at home,” Yousuf-Sadiq said. “Instead of me reaching out to her, she would reach out to me.

“It’s like she was talking to a friend about how to help their child instead of a teacher talking about how to help their student,” she said.

For Yousuf-Sadiq’s daughter, Brown-Downham became “this fun little break from the day” that helped her feel well supported while learning how to read.

“She treats us like family,” Yousuf-Sadiq said. “She’s such a kind-hearted person to have around; she has a really good energy.

“I trust any ideas that [Brown-Downham] has as far as helping students with literacy, being academically challenged in general, and being socially well-rounded,” she continued; “things that will help our kids be a good member of society; be well-read, and be another kind human that we can put out in the world.”

C. Adrienne Rhodes, with whom Brown-Downham collaborated in launching the Preserving Black Haddonfield History Project, described the educator’s commitment to the project as “consistent from the start,” leveraging her personal and professional resources to the task.

Collingswood Porchfest organizers Kevin Monko (left) and Stacey Brown Downham in 2017. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.

“Perhaps most important, though, over the last two years, as my editorial and production partner, Stacey has commanded the attention of students in remarkable ways,” Rhodes wrote in an e-mail.

“She gets them to show up over the summer, during lunch breaks, and after school to record oral histories and prepare essays that capture the accomplishments and contributions of a once overlooked group… We are extremely fortunate to have Stacey’s support.”

Brown-Downham said that testimonials like those underscore for her the meaning of the work she does as an educator.

“The most reward I can get out of teaching is seeing other people thrive,” she said. “That’s my target audience: people who I want to feel seen in town even if they don’t always find themselves represented. That matters to me.”

At the same time, Brown-Downham was quick to credit the support she has received in her efforts from the borough Board of Education, district administration, her colleagues, students, and Haddonfield families.

“We have a community that has resources and are supportive of the equity work that we’re doing,” she said. “I know there’s a lot of awesome educators, amazing educators, and we could be doing more.”

The last Haddonfield teacher to win Camden County Teacher of the Year was Haddonfield Memorial High School environmental sciences teacher Rom Smith, who took home the honor in 2023-2024. In 2019-20, HMHS language arts teacher Kim Dickstein earned the same accolade, and went on to claim the title of New Jersey Teacher of the Year 2019-20.

Whether she proceeds through the next round, Brown-Downham said that she’d like to use the platform to help advocate for more of the kinds of interventions that have helped her connect with children who don’t always thrive in a traditional classroom environment.

She spoke about finding ways to collaborate, share resources, and align curricular goals for the benefit of all students.

“I want my kids to love school,” Brown-Downham said. “In order to do that, we have to shift how we think about education and how we organize our school districts so kids have access to programs within their district.

“How can we create specialized environments to really pursue their passions?” she said. “I’d love to see us divert funds away from standardized testing to make sure we’re the best in literacy and interventions for students. I’d like to see a county system and high schools with academies within them.

“We have to change how we do things.”