This year East Hamilton High School teacher, Julie Smith, received the Tom and Stella Mullane Geography Teacher of the Year award. Smith received this award for all her hard work in and outside of the classroom.
Smith has taught Advanced Placement Human Geography for about 7-8 years at East Hamilton High School. She teaches 9th and 12th graders an introductory course to the East Hamilton AP Capstone Program. The course allows students to understand patterns and processes of population growth, farming practices, and how those things have shaped our environment, including human development.
Smith stated, “I very firmly believe that the human geography class prepares students to make informed decisions based on their beliefs and what they learn in this class. When they finish their education and are working or starting families of their own, they will have to confront many of the issues we cover in this class. Whether its population growth, migration, or religious differences around the world - they are going to be the ones making decisions.”
Her goal is to show students how to go about problems that are confronting our world today, such as the challenges faced in being able to feed a growing population. While also teaching how to research various solutions. Smith firmly believes that her students are our future, and it is essential for them to come up with solutions to these worldwide issues.
Smith praised, “I am thankful that at East Hamilton we have a very supportive culture for teachers to seek out opportunities to grow and explore what we teach more in-depth. So, I'm very, very grateful the climate and the culture in our school allow that.” Smit has done so much for our students, and we appreciate her exciting passion for teaching human geography.
However, Smith’s passion for geography extends beyond the walls of East Hamilton High School. She was selected along with 49 other geography teachers from across the United States to come to the American Geographic Society Conference in Columbia, NYC. There she participated with leaders in agriculture, the Federal Government, higher institutions of learning, and more to focus on the future of food. The conference provided resources and ideas for geography teachers to bring back into their classrooms.