Eastside High School teacher Lyonel Dugue on Friday was intently working a quadratic equation on a whiteboard for a one-on-one algebra lesson in Spanish with senior Marvin Henriquez.

Dugue, a native of Haiti who arrived in Camden 35 years ago and has been working in the district for 32 years, was through a demonstration of how to factor to find a solution.

He was explaining the answer when a group of colleagues and representatives of the nonprofit Camden Education Fund burst into the classroom to surprise him with the news that he was one of three Camden educators winning the 2025 RISE Teaching Awards. And he found that the surprise – including an oversized $5,000 check – was being broadcast live on FOX 29’s morning show.

Like the other two Camden educators recognized – and surprised – Friday with the RISE Award, Dugue was shocked. The other two are Tasha Terry, elementary special education teacher, at KIPP Lanning Square primary school and Irma Diaz, elementary English language learner teacher at Mastery Molina Elementary School.