At the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School (CRLS) graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 4, the Class of 2026 honored four accomplished, dedicated educators with Faculty Distinction Awards. Ms. Emma Doyle, Ms. Helen Shin, Mr. Ned Flaherty, and Chef Rick McKinney were nominated by students who were positively influenced by their knowledge, wisdom, enthusiasm, patience, and abilities to make their lessons and interactions meaningful.
Principal Allan Gately Gehant and Interim Assistant Principal Tanya Milner presented the framed certificates, which were produced by Friends of Cambridge Rindge & Latin School (FOCRLS). FOCRLS has sponsored the awards since 2007, making these the 20th annual Faculty Distinction Awards. See the list of all Faculty Distinction Awardees since 2007 here.
As the teachers accepted their awards, Principal Gately Gehant read out their impressive bios (below, with some edits) to the graduates and guests.
Ms. Emma Doyle earned her bachelor’s degree in history from Suffolk University in 2011 and her master’s degree in curriculum & instruction from Fitchburg State University. She began teaching in 2013 and joined the CRLS faculty in 2017. As a history teacher in multilingual education (MLE), she inspires students to think critically about complex issues and motivates them to become confident community upstanders with the unwavering resilience to forge their own paths. Ms. Doyle co-founded the MLE Student Ambassadors program with her fellow MLE teacher Ms. Ellen Lee upon obtaining a Faculty Innovation Grant from FOCRLS and a grant from Cambridge Public Schools’ Office of Equity, Inclusion & Belonging. The purpose of the MLE Student Ambassadors program is to empower multilingual learners in taking on leadership roles to provide visibility of and support to the MLE community at CRLS. Additionally, Ms. Doyle advises the CRLS Badminton Club.
Ms. Helen Shin earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical & biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Soon realizing a life of research was not for her, she found herself studying math education at Harvard. After completing her internship at CRLS in 2016, she accepted a permanent teaching position. Ms. Shin has found deep purpose in teaching newcomers to the United States not only skills in math and problem-solving but also tools to navigate a new country and culture while still celebrating their own identities and building the courage to defend and uplift those around them. As the faculty advisor for the Pan Asian Club, she has helped organize popular annual events such as the ping pong tournament and the AAPI Heritage Month Assembly.
Mr. Ned Flaherty arrived at CRLS in 1998 after finishing his Master of Arts in Teaching at Northeastern University. He did his student teaching in the Summer Discovery program at CRLS and then accepted a permanent position teaching both history and English, all while helping students become caring, thoughtful people who value knowledge and its many uses. Mr. Flaherty helped to start the girls ice hockey program, has built sets and driven the set truck for the drama department, has taken students hiking and camping, and has even skied Mt. Washington with students. Mr. Flaherty also owns a construction company and over the years has hired over twenty CRLS students, many of whom have gone on to develop careers in the trades.
Chef Rick McKinney, a Certified Executive Chef with the American Culinary Federation, has inspired students and instilled work ethic at CRLS’s Rindge School of Technical Arts (RSTA) since 2004. His journey of five decades began at Newton North High School where he majored in culinary arts & commercial baking, continued at Johnson & Wales University, and spanned a career providing a range of luxury hospitality, including world-class dining to the New England Patriots. At RSTA, he established the student-staffed restaurant The Falcon’s Nest and mentored the ProStart Culinary Team to the 2024 State Championship. He is also a SkillsUSA advisor, chess club advisor, and lacrosse coach. In 2025, Chef Rick was named ProStart Educator of the Year by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
Friends of Cambridge Rindge & Latin School (FOCRLS) is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting opportunities for CRLS students, grads, and faculty. In addition to Faculty Distinction Awards and Faculty Innovation Grants, FOCRLS provides Student Travel Fellowships and post-secondary scholarships. In 2026, FOCRLS is presenting 53 CRLS students and grads with scholarships totaling $115,000. Everything FOCRLS does is made possible by donors, sponsors, and grantors. For more information, please visit focrls.org or email info@focrls.org.
Congratulations to the Faculty Distinction Awardees and the CRLS Class of 2026!