As we come to the end of 2025 and look forward to the new year, here’s a look back at top stories in the Pinelands.
With applause, Tabernacle Rescue Squad chief George Jackson III stood at the podium at the township committee meeting on Sept. 8.
Passionate pleas
The sign at a township committee meeting on Sept. 8 said it all: “Save the Tabernacle Rescue Squad.”
The two-plus hour meeting became loud at times as many members of the community expressed their passionate pleas to do just that. In August, the squad was informed by the township of a 90-day termination agreement. Shamong, which the rescue squad also services, issued a similar notice.
On Oct. 21, the squad posted a message on its social media page.
“Because of your overwhelming support and civic involvement,” it noted, “Tabernacle’s committee joined Shamong’s last night in rescinding our notice of termination and eviction. Both committees will be creating new emergency services subcommittees that, among other things, will begin negotiations with our agency for needed updates to our contracts with their respective communities to continue our service into the future.
“We’ll see you on the street Tabernacle and Shamong!”
Tabernacle Committeewoman Grace McCloskey, who led the township’s Emergency Services Subcommittee, said there were concerns of response times and limited staffing. The squad’s station consists of a 12,800-square-foot building that was completed in 2012, a joint project with Tabernacle. It also has space for the Tabernacle Office of Emergency Management and the Pinelands Regional CERT Team, according to the squad’s website.
Michael Dunlea III, a fifth-grade teacher at Kenneth R. Olson Middle School, was inducted into the National Teaching Hall of Fame in June.
‘I’m blown away’
With screams from his fifth-grade students at Kenneth R. Olson Middle School in Tabernacle, all Michael Dunlea III could do was smile.
“Mr. Dunlea, you are being inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame,” exclaimed David Begnaud, a contributor for CBS News Team, which traveled cross country to help announce five teachers headed to the hall in June.
“I’m blown away,” acknowledged Dunlea, a 22-year teaching veteran, in June. “I’m absolutely stunned … and really uncomfortable.”
The five hall-of-fame honorees got surprise notifications of selection at their schools earlier this spring. Thanks to a new collaboration between the Kansas-based hall and the show “CBS Mornings,” all five teachers were flown to New York City to be celebrated on national TV.
Dunlea looks at teaching as his calling. He earned an education degree through an alternate route program and has taught in New Jersey since 2003, and since 2017 at Olson. He says his overall goal is to uplift the students in his classroom and build a culture of empathy with them.
Superintendent Shaun Banin credits Dunlea for the soaring academic achievement of his students and for improving the culture of the school as a whole with his focus on inclusion and collaboration. As an educator, he has dedicated his career to building a classroom culture rooted in empathy, with a focus on breaking down racial and cultural barriers through student connections.
New superintendent
A familiar face now leads the Lenape Regional High School District.
The district unanimously approved the appointment of Assistant Superintendent Matt Webb to the top job during a special meeting on July 23. He succeeded Carol Birnbohm, who retired effective Sept. 1 after 13 years leading the district.
Birnbohm announced her retirement in May and the search for a new superintendent began. A Cherokee High School alumna, Birnbohm became superintendent in 2012 after an education career in mathematics at Cherokee High that began in 1992.
Webb’s contract started on Sept. 1 and is extended through June 30, 2029. His annual salary is $242,000, said Elaine Kurtz, coordinator of administrative services for the district.
Webb is a longtime employee who joined the district in 2003 as assistant principal of Seneca High School. He has since built a reputation for leading with both his heart and mind, garnering multiple letters of recommendation for his promotion from colleagues and families who described him as a connected and highly compassionate leader, according to a district press release.
As superintendent, Webb said he will continue a leadership style grounded in “collaboration, transparent communication and data-informed decision-making, all in service to supporting student success.
“I’ve had the privilege of learning from exceptional leaders,” he remarked, “including Dr. Birnbohm. And I consider it the highest professional honor to build upon her legacy.”
