![\"Doherty](\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0501-s2p-doherty-beeyond-800x600.jpg\")
Image caption: Doherty Enterprises-Owned Applebee\u2019s Restaurants Honor Above and \u2018BEE\u2019yond Contest Winners.<\/em><\/p>\n
The 2025 New Jersey Above and \u2018BEE\u2019yond Essay Contest Winners are:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In January, the Doherty-owned Applebee\u2019s restaurants asked students in local elementary, middle, and high schools to submit essays explaining how their teachers went above and \u201cBEEyond.\u201d A panel of judges selected the top eight essays and awarded those special teachers with a check for $500 to better their classrooms and the opportunity to host an exclusive end-of-year class celebration at their local Doherty-owned Applebee\u2019s restaurant.<\/p>\n \u201cEach year, we\u2019re inspired by the stories students share about their teachers\u2019 dedication and passion,\u201d said Kevin Coughlin, Director of Operations for Doherty Enterprises. \u201cCongratulations to these deserving educators\u2014we\u2019re thrilled to support their efforts in creating dynamic, engaging classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n The Above and \u2018BEE\u2019yond Teacher Essay Contest invites students to nominate their favorite instructor by submitting a short essay in person at any participating Applebee\u2019s\u00ae location. Winning teachers receive a $500 classroom sponsorship and an end-of-year class celebration at their local Applebee\u2019s.<\/p>\n About Applebee\u2019s\u00ae<\/strong><\/p>\n As one of the world\u2019s largest casual dining brands, Applebee\u2019s Neighborhood Grill + Bar serves as America\u2019s kitchen table, offering guests a lively dining experience that combines simple, craveable American fare with classic drinks and local drafts. Applebee\u2019s makes it easy for family and friends to connect with one another, whether it\u2019s in a dining room or in the comfort of a living room, Eatin\u2019 Good in the Neighborhood™ is a familiar and affordable escape from the everyday. Applebee’s restaurants are owned and operated by entrepreneurs dedicated to more than serving great food, but also building up the communities that we call home. From raising money for local charities to hosting community fundraisers, Applebee\u2019s is always Doin\u2019 Good in the Neighborhood\u00ae.<\/p>\n Applebee\u2019s franchise operations consisted of 1,567 Applebee\u2019s restaurants in the United States, two U.S. territories and 15 countries outside the United States, and 47 company-operated U.S restaurants as of December 29, 2024. This number does not include one domestic Applebee\u2019s ghost kitchen (small kitchens with no store-front presence, used to fill off-premise orders) and four Applebee\u2019s international ghost kitchens. \u202fApplebee’s is franchised by subsidiaries of Dine Brands Global Inc. [NYSE: DIN], which is one of the world’s largest full-service restaurant companies.<\/p>\n About Doherty Enterprises, Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n Established in 1985, Doherty Enterprises owns and operates more than 160 restaurants in New Jersey, New York, including seven restaurant concepts: Applebee\u2019s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Panera Bread, Wendy\u2019s, Jinya Ramen Bar, Chevys Fresh Mex and its own concepts, The Shannon Rose Irish Pub and Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas. In addition, Doherty Enterprises is also a franchisee of Sola Salon Studios with 15 locations in Staten Island and New Jersey.<\/p>\n Doherty Enterprises is ranked 27th Largest Franchisee in the United States by Restaurant Finance Monitor, is recognized as the 80th largest Foodservice revenue company in the United States by Nation\u2019s Restaurant News, the 67th largest privately held business in the New York Metro area by Crain\u2019s Business, and 26th in NJ\u2019s Top 250 privately held companies & 5th Largest Family-Owned Business Based on Employees in New Jersey by NJBIZ.<\/p>\n The Doherty vision is to be the \u201cBest Food Service Company in the Communities We Serve\u201d and its mission is to \u201cWow Every Guest Every Time, Wow our People, Wow Our Communities and Wow Our Suppliers.\u201d Doherty Enterprises has also been lending a helping hand to team members and their immediate families when financially burdened through the WOW a Friend Foundation. To date, the foundation has assisted more than 4,200 people and donated over $5.7 million directly back to those in need. Learn more: https:\/\/www.dohertyinc.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ALLENDALE, N.J., May 2, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Doherty Enterprises-owned Applebee’s® Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurants in New Jersey announced today the winners of the 9th annual Above and ‘BEE’yond Teacher Essay Contest. This spring, eight exceptional New Jersey educators-each nominated by their own students-will receive a $500 sponsorship check to enrich their classrooms for the 2025-2026 school year, as well a special end-of-year party for their students at Applebee’s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9243,"featured_media":125883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,1,173,260,178],"tags":[19811],"class_list":["post-125919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-news","category-business-news","category-new-jersey-news","category-hospitality-news","category-retail-franchise-news","tag-above-and-beeyond-teacher-essay-contest","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":2871,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125919"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125924,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125919\/revisions\/125924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n