Margaret Fanourgakis Named the 2024-2025 Burlington County Teacher of the Year

The Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) proudly announces Shawnee High School Health & Physical Education Teacher Mrs. Margaret Fanourgakis as the 2024-2025 Burlington County Teacher of the Year. Since 1995, the LRHSD has been home to 12 Burlington County Teachers of the Year with the last one being named in 2014. 

Earlier this year, Mrs. Fanourgakis was recognized as the Lenape District and Shawnee High School Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Fanourgakis is a proud alumna of the Shawnee Class of 1978 and is known and loved by all as “Ms. Fan.” In her 41-year career as a Health and Physical Education teacher, Mrs. Fanourgakis has coached the Girls Volleyball, Boys Volleyball, Cheer, and Girls Lacrosse teams. In addition to teaching and coaching, Mrs. Fanourgakis is the Shawnee Student Council Advisor, Blue Crew Advisor, the 2005 Class Advisor, former SADD Advisor and Disney Trip chaperone. 

Mrs. Fanourgakis is a teacher that every senior student leaves Shawnee High School knowing and interacting with on some level whether they had her in class, as a coach, or as an advisor. She cares wholeheartedly and deeply about the traditions and the community at Shawnee. She gives of her time so freely that it is frequent that one will see her at Shawnee long into the evening hours whether she is working the clock for a basketball game, spearheading supervision for the student section of the football game, attending a school musical or helping to organize gift bags for seniors on the senior trip, which she attends each year. 

“Margaret makes sure that every student at Shawnee knows what they are worth and how special they are. Whether on the volleyball court, the football field, or the Student Council meetings, she shows up. She shows up for the kids, shows up for the staff, shows up for the administration, and supports us all,” said Shawnee High School Principal Matthew Campbell. 

One of the courses that Mrs. Fanourgakis has taught every year is the Senior Health Education Class, which covers the areas of mental health, sex education, reproduction systems and drug abuse. She feels this class is an eye opener for the next step in her students’ lives and she wants to prepare them for the real world. Mrs. Fanourgakis will often receive emails from former students thanking her for teaching them about certain topics and how they recited the lesson on AIDS to their roommates at college or how they stopped a friend from driving under the influence. 

“With some of the material I teach, the subject hits a little too close to home. My students know that they are able to express how they feel and I will make sure they are comfortable with what we are doing for the day. I make sure that all my students feel included in our discussions and that their thoughts and ideas matter and they are comfortable with the topic,” said Mrs. Fanourgakis. 

Mrs. Fanourgakis has been involved in numerous Shawnee High School service projects throughout her career, but the one that she is most proud of is the Annual Dig Pink and Teal Volleyball Fundraiser. Her girls volleyball team has held this event for the past 14 years. Every October, the team sells t-shirts, hosts a bake sale and collects monetary donations while playing a special volleyball game against their sister school, Seneca High School. To date, she has helped raise $80,504, which is donated to The Side-Out Foundation for breast cancer research and American Cancer Society for ovarian cancer research. 

“For an astounding 41 years, ‘Ms. Fan’ has been the cornerstone of the Shawnee community. She has made it her life-long passion to make certain all students feel connected and loved. Her impact stretches far beyond the classroom, leaving a legacy that will be cherished for generations to come,” said LRHSD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carol Birnbohm. 

Mrs. Fanourgakis earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Health & Physical Education from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University). She currently lives in Shamong with her husband Sam. She has two children, Katherine and Nicholas, and two grandchildren Christopher and Samantha. Katherine graduated from Shawnee High School in 2005 and is now a Special Education Teacher at Seneca High School and Nicholas graduated from Seneca High School in 2013.