Celebrating Those Who Inspire: New Teacher Award Honors Excellence

On March 6, Student Council President Ripley Chance sent out an all school email, inviting students to nominate teachers who demonstrate intellectual inspiration, student advocacy, professionalism, and community impact. The award is “a chance to highlight the amazing adults we have in our community,” explains Geoff Nelson, Dean of Faculty. 

The award carries a deeper significance in the Hopkins community than just recognizing one teacher a year. Isha Bhatnagar ’29 says that this is a “much needed award” to show teachers that “they’re recognized and what they’re doing is right,” and acknowledge “how amazing they are.” Nelson says that “there are a lot of ways to define great teaching, but ultimately the students are the arbiter of whether that great teaching is made manifest in your lives.” He explained that the “intellectual curiosity and wonder” are things you “carry through your whole life.” They designed this criteria to specifically be aligned “with Hopkins history” and reflected on the Hopkins 1660 motto “for the breeding up of hopeful youths.” He added that this award should reflect teaching that has impacted the student for “more than just that one year.” He believes whoever receives the award should “help students to learn to speak in their own voice, look for what they’re passionate about, reflect on their own learning journey, and turn themselves into the best possible version of themselves.” The award represents more than just a singular recognition, but rather serves as a way to honor teachers who have made an impact and help students grow in every way.

The ultimate deciding committee will involve two student representatives from each grade with the exception of four senior reps, two members of Maroon Key, and two members of the Diversity Board. Toby Huang ’28, a grade 10 representative on the committee, shares that he is “excited about being on the committee because a lot of teachers are underappreciated.” 

Teachers feel that recognition, especially from students, is meaningful. History teacher Daniel Levy acknowledges that “at Hopkins, the expectation is that teachers will be passionate and inspiring, which is great, but it also means sometimes that teachers are taken for granted.” He explains that it “personally means a lot to me when I receive thank you notes at the end of the year” because it can be “hard to know if what you’re doing is having an impact.” He believes that “this award would really allow a teacher to see the positive effect they’ve had.”

Overall, throughout the school, student feedback has been positive saying they don’t “feel much pressure to nominate,” said Emi Onorato ’28 and is a great way to let “teachers everywhere know that they’re recognized,” Bhatnagar said. Others have concerns on how the “best,” said by Kaya Heeger ’29  teacher, will be chosen. Heeger says “different teachers are matches for different people, so you can’t choose the best teacher objectively.” Elizabeth Lang ’29 points out that “some teachers who don’t teach a lot of classes won’t have as great an opportunity.”

One of the head coordinators of this award, Ripley Chance ’26 similarly emphasized that the award was planned to “recognize teachers that are passionate about their subject and can spread that enthusiasm to their students,” and also for those “that are dedicated to creating a supportive environment.” Chance also believes the award will give students a chance to deeply reflect on the role teachers play in their daily lives: “There’s obviously a lot of prizes and awards for students already. But I think that we don’t understand how incredible some of our teachers are”

According to Chance, Head of School Matt Glendinning and Nelson both support this becoming “a decade, multi-decade long thing.” 

The Student Council Award for Excellence in Teaching, in the words of Nelson, reflects the “bridge between an amazing student body who really knows what great teaching is and an amazing faculty who really aspires to the best of our field.” By allowing students to recognize teachers who inspire them, the award celebrates not only an individual teacher, but also the Hopkins learning culture.