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Lower School Science Teacher Receives Presidential Award
On Friday morning, Lower School Science Teacher Hilarie Hall will be presented with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. In her first year at St. Andrew’s, Hall has had an enormous impact on the science and design curriculum in preschool through second grade.
This award, which is bestowed upon 108 people annually, is the nation’s highest honor for K-12 teachers of mathematics and science.
Since arriving at St. Andrew's Hilarie has been instrumental in moving forward our design thinking program at the Lower School and forging new initiatives across disciplines to expand the reach of science into all aspects of student learning,” said Jordan Love, Head of Lower School.
This award means a lot of things to me; it's both humbling and motivating,” Hall said. “It means that I can represent our St. Andrew's community in an innovative way and bring many new ideas and experiences to our students. It means that I have access to a great national network of like-minded educators. It motivates me to continue to push myself to work harder and more creatively in my role as a teacher.”
Hall has a B.S. from Boston College and a Master’s of Education from American University. She came to St. Andrew’s after seven years of teaching at Woods Academy where she was a second grade teacher. While there, she was named an NAIS Teacher of the Future and received a Dow STEMtheGAP grant, which encourages educators within the U.S. to voice their concerns on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, and propose solutions to help improve STEM education.
Hall, who is also a St. Andrew’s parent, has seamlessly transitioned into the lower school community.
“I love the tenacity of our lower school students,” Hall said. “They push themselves to dig deeper in their lessons and they become fearless in their learning as they recognize that mistakes and improvements are a part of all of our lives. They have a genuine concern for the greater world and a true empathy in their collaboration.”
“Her pedagogical approach is collaborative, multimodal, and builds upon a belief that all students have boundless potential and capacity to learn,” Love said. ”Hilarie models for the students and her colleagues a passion for teaching, the willingness to take advantage of all learning opportunities, and the value of working in community towards shared goals.”
Hall is very active on Twitter (@HilarieHall), constantly tweeting from the design lab at the Lower School.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is a private, coeducational college preparatory day school for students in preschool (Age 2) through grade 12, located in Potomac, Maryland.