Photo submitted Jared Mulcahy is a third grade teacher at the J.W. Alvey Elementary School in Haymarket, Va.

52 Weeks Of Success

By JIM MULCAHY

Staff Writer

Jared Mulcahy feels that he is rewarded every day when he is able to teach children not only about the curriculum but life and in return he learns from them.

Mulcahy is currently a third grade teacher at J.W. Alvey Elementary School in Haymarket, Va., where he teaches the Autism and ESOL (English speaking other languages).

Jared is the son of John and Lynne Mulcahy of St. Marys. He has four brothers, Collin and his daughter Lexis, Tristan, Brendan and Shealin and a sister, Chelsea.

Mulcahy received a Bachelors in Education from Clarion University in 2006 and a Masters in Education from Clarion University in 2007.

According to Mulcahy, the people who have influenced him the most in his life has been his family.

“My father and mother have been nothing but supportive in anything I have done. From the exponential hours of flying and driving to see colleges and playing sports, to being financially and emotionally supportive, they have always had my future and happiness in mind. It is with the guidance and help I can stand on my own two feet today and I am forever thankful to them as well as my brothers and sister who have been supportive in everything,” said Mulcahy.

While attending St. Marys Area High School, Mulcahy was a member of the two-time District 9 wrestling team champions, a two-time District 9 individual wrestling champion, a member of the two-time District 9 soccer champions as well as MVP of the District 9 team tennis champions. He was also a two-time National Honor Society student.

At Clarion University, he was two-time Clarion Men’s Rugby MVP, a Midwest Rugby All Star, a member of the National Honor Society for three years in the field of Education and a member of Alpha Tau Omega where he received the Community Service Award and also served as historian.

At J.W. Alvey Elementary School he is a two-time recipient of  the AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), which is given to schools with outstanding performance on standardized testing. While at Alvey, the school received the Governor’s Award which is given to only one school each year in Virginia last year. The award is for academic excellence.

“It is cliche’ and has been said before, but I teach to help students become successful and because I simply enjoy it. Coming from a large family, I have enjoyed working around children all my life. I am rewarded everyday when I am able to teach children not only about the curriculum but life and in return I learn from them. Different cultures, family backgrounds and community all provide a learning experience for me as well as them,” said Jared.

Jared is also involved in extracurricular activities at Alwey including being a coach for a running club at his school, The Runaway Sunrays. Approximately 140-plus students are broken into groups of six to eight. They do a 12-week program in the fall and spring with the ultimate goal of competing in a 5K at the end of the season.

Mulcahy is also head coach for the robotics team at his school, the Alvey Robotic Sunrays. The team consists of 10 fourth and fifth grade students who compete in four areas at a competition: Research and presentation, robot competition, robot design and teamwork.

“This past year we took eighth place out of 33 schools in our region. We practice 10-plus hours a week using a sophisticated Lego kit (thousands of pieces and dollars for each kit), constructing a robot similar to Wall*E,” added Mulcahy.