{"id":134842,"date":"2026-04-27T13:58:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=134842"},"modified":"2026-04-27T13:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:52:09","slug":"doherty-enterprises-celebrates-eight-new-jersey-teachers-in-10th-annual-above-and-beeyond-teacher-essay-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/doherty-enterprises-celebrates-eight-new-jersey-teachers-in-10th-annual-above-and-beeyond-teacher-essay-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Doherty Enterprises Celebrates Eight New Jersey Teachers in 10th Annual Above and &#8216;BEE&#8217;yond Teacher Essay Contest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ALLENDALE, N.J., April 27, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) &#8212; Doherty Enterprises-owned Applebee\u2019s\u00ae Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurants in New Jersey are proud to announce the winners of the 10th annual Above and \u2018BEE\u2019yond Teacher Essay Contest, recognizing outstanding educators nominated by their students.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/26-0427-s2p-doherty-001-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Doherty Enterprises Celebrates Eight New Jersey Teachers in 10th Annual Above and \u2018BEE\u2019yond Teacher Essay Contest\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-134840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/26-0427-s2p-doherty-001-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/26-0427-s2p-doherty-001-800x600-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/26-0427-s2p-doherty-001-800x600-200x150.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><br \/><em>Image caption: Doherty Enterprises Celebrates Eight New Jersey Teachers in 10th Annual Above and \u2018BEE\u2019yond Teacher Essay Contest.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This year, eight New Jersey teachers have been selected for their meaningful impact in the classroom. Each honoree will receive a $500 sponsorship check to support their classroom for the upcoming 2026\u20132027 school year, along with an end-of-year celebration for their students.*<\/p>\n<p><em>2026 New Jersey Winners:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adanatzian, McKinley Ave Elementary School (Manahawkin)<\/li>\n<li>Melissa Nazario, Manchester Elementary School (Manchester)<\/li>\n<li>Patti Raniszewski, Lopatcong Middle School (Phillipsburg)<\/li>\n<li>DeFeo, Oradell Public School (Hackensack)<\/li>\n<li>Katie Torres, Barnegat High School (Manahawkin)<\/li>\n<li>Sarah Hoff, Conerly Road School (Bridgewater)<\/li>\n<li>Hollis, Speedway School (Newark)<\/li>\n<li>Peter Leone, Kawameeh Middle School (Union)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Since 2016, Doherty\u2019s annual Above and \u2018BEE\u2019yond Teacher Essay Contest invites students to submit essays describing how a teacher has positively influenced their educational experience, offering a platform to recognize educators who go above and beyond each day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery year, these student submissions highlight the incredible dedication and influence teachers have in shaping young lives,\u201d said Michael McKee, Director of Operations for Doherty Enterprises. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to recognize this year\u2019s winners and support the important work they do in their classrooms and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Applebee\u2019s\u00ae\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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&#x2122; is a familiar and affordable escape from the everyday.<\/p>\n<p>Applebee\u2019s 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. Applebee\u2019s and its franchise operations together consisted of 1,520 Applebee\u2019s restaurants in the United States, two U.S. territories and 17 countries outside the United States as of December 28, 2025. This number does not include 59 company-owned Applebee\u2019s restaurants.\u00a0Applebee&#8217;s is franchised by subsidiaries of Dine Brands Global Inc. [NYSE: DIN], which is one of the world&#8217;s largest full-service restaurant companies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Doherty Enterprises, Inc.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Established in 1985, Doherty Enterprises owns and operates more than 160 restaurants in New Jersey and New York, including seven restaurant concepts: Applebee\u2019s Neighborhood Grill &amp; Bar, Panera Bread, Wendy\u2019s, Jinya Ramen Bar, Chevys Fresh Mex, and its own concepts, The Shannon Rose Irish Pub and Spuntino Wine Bar &amp;amp; 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<p>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 &amp;amp; 5th Largest Family-Owned Business Based on Employees in New Jersey by NJBIZ.<\/p>\n<p>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. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dohertyinc.com\/\">https:\/\/www.dohertyinc.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ALLENDALE, N.J., April 27, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) &#8212; Doherty Enterprises-owned Applebee&#8217;s&#xae; Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurants in New Jersey are proud to announce the winners of the 10th annual Above and &#8216;BEE&#8217;yond Teacher Essay Contest, recognizing outstanding educators nominated by their students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9243,"featured_media":134840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,67,1,260,178],"tags":[17697],"class_list":["post-134842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-jersey-news","category-awards-and-honors-news","category-business-news","category-hospitality-news","category-retail-franchise-news","tag-applebees","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":335,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134842","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=134842"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134848,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134842\/revisions\/134848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}