By Sarah Strickley
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| Ellen Hill is a second-grade teacher at New Vienna Elementary School near Wilmington and Ohio's 1999 Teacher of the Year. |
Hill, who earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development and elementary education from Ohio University in 1982, received the award when Superintendent of Public Instruction John Goff made an unannounced visit to her school in October.
“I was shocked,” Hill says. “It took a student saying ‘Mrs. Hill, you won!’ for me to realize, and then I just cried. It’s a dream come true.”
Hill’s husband, Keith, and children, Laurie, 13, and Tim, 9, were in on the surprise.
“They knew about the award a week before I did, so they were excited because they knew I would be excited,” Hill says of the children. “They were very proud when people would ask them about it.”
A teacher for 16 years, Hill has taught second grade for eight years at New Vienna, an elementary school near Wilmington. She’s a mentor teacher, meaning she helps first-year teachers get acclimated to the profession.
The award — for which she was nominated by her superintendent, Richard Gieringer —came with a $2,000 scholarship and $2,500 to cover the expenses of Hill’s travels across the country as a spokeswoman for Ohio educators. It also qualified her for the national award to be announced in April.
Hill’s duties as Teacher of the Year already have led her to a national conference in Dallas, where she and a ward winners from other states discussed the ideals and methods that they hope to promote nationally. Some emphasis, she says, must be on the responsibilities of teachers and parents.
“We need to establish parent and teacher accountability for children,” Hill says.
As a representative of Ohio teachers, Hill hopes to convey the valuable role she and her peers play in today’s society.
“Teachers are important,” Hill says. “ We need to have good teachers and to show our support in the way we vote and support our schools.”
Hill tries to maintain close personal relationships with her students, giving her another window of opportunity to relate information to them.
“It opens up a world of learning when you can reach students on their own level,” Hill says. “School is a place where kids feel safe. My classroom is a community, a family of learning. A better relationship with the parents and kids allows you to be a better spokesperson for the school and for the institution of educa tion.”
Hill says her experiences at Ohio University helped shape her career as well as her methods and ideals as a teacher.
“I loved Athens. I would come back in a heartbeat,” Hill says. “I had excellent professors and good teachers to work with. Ohio University offers wonderful opportunities to get in the classroom and start teaching.”
Although being named Ohio Teacher of the Year has been a gratifying experience for Hill, the affirmation she has appreciated most in her career has com e in the classroom.
“The real rewards in education come when you see that you’re making a difference in a child’s life,” Hill says. “That’s what makes you get up in the morning and do it again. Education empowers children. It empowers all of us.”
Sarah Strickley, AB ’00, is a student writer for University News Services and Periodicals.
