Sgt. Harvey Craig of the Irvington High School Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, right, stands with Sgt. 1st Class James Hamilton-Williams, one of his former students who is now the chief recruiter for the Irvington High School area operating out of Montclair, on Thursday, June 23, at the Class of 2016 graduation ceremony at the Richard Codey Arena in West Orange. Craig was named Essex County Teacher of the Year for the 2015-2016 school year.
IRVINGTON, NJ — Irvington High School Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps had a banner year, and a banner hangs outside the school proclaiming Staff Sgt. Harvey Craig the Essex County Teacher of the Year.
“I was very lucky,” said Craig on Thursday, June 23, at the Irvington High School commencement ceremony, at which 58 of his cadets graduated. “Superintendent of Schools Neely Hackett and Board of Education members unveiled a banner in front of the high school. So if you go in front of the school, you will see that banner.”
Craig said he was both honored and humbled to have been chosen as the Essex County Teacher of the Year for the 2015-2016 school year, adding that it was an honor he never expected to receive.
“It was just so awesome to see my former cadets,” said Craig. “And my own son, Haneef Craig, drove up from Aberdeen Proving Grounds. He’s in the Army and I’ve got a daughter that’s in the Army, too.”
Sgt. Quasim Austin Turner of the Irvington Police Department, said he wasn’t at all surprised by Craig’s award. Turner worked as a school resource officer in the Irvington public schools for years, in addition to volunteering as a youth basketball coach, and he said Craig is one of the best educators, officers and men he has ever known.
“He deserves this honor and this award,” Turner said on Tuesday, June 28. “You always hear a lot of negative things about the public schools and public education in urban areas like Irvington, but the truth is there are a lot of very good things going on in our schools and the JROTC program is one of them. It didn’t get that way overnight. And the fact it has been so successful is due to the hard work, dedication and selflessness of good men like Sgt. Craig.”
That was high praise coming from a veteran of the Irvington Police Department and the township youth and recreation community.
“Soldier for life,” said Craig. “That’s what I’m going to do — soldier for life. I always say, like everybody else, ‘Why me?’ It could have been anybody else.”
Craig said all the credit for his success as a teacher and military instructor has to go to his students. He said he became a teacher after retiring from the Army, where he served for 21 years and three months as a finance specialist, because he wanted to teach children from the same streets he came from.
“What the Army taught me, I wanted to come back to my home and give it back to those that walked the same streets that I’m from,” said Craig. “The same thing; I see their parents and I wanted to give back.”
And so far, Craig said, it’s been mission accomplished, when it comes to achieving that initial goal he set for himself, when he came to Irvington High School to work with the JROTC program. That was evident on graduation day.
“A couple of years ago, we sat here and saw them call off of those names of graduates that participated in the JROTC program,” said Craig. “Fifty-eight of them they called out today, standing up there with their sashes on. Tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, June 24, 25 cadets will be going down to Fort Dix for a week. Somehow, we’re getting them; they’re liking what we’re saying, they like what we’re doing. My major and myself, we try to be real with the kids. Our mission statement is simple: Motivate young people to be better citizens — and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Based on the number of JROTC members in the Class of 2016 and Craig earning the distinction as Essex County Teacher of the Year for 2016, it appears he and Irvington High School are succeeding in their mission to motivate and educate young men and women.
“We’re the oldest program in the state of New Jersey, along with Lakewood; Lakewood High School and Irvington High School JROTC program started in 1984,” said Craig. “A lot of our young men and women are serving in the National Guard. A lot of them will be going this year.”
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