Kimberly LittleJohn Hammaker 鈥�15,聽Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year for 2019, hosts her classes with the Socratic-style exchange she enjoyed as a student in 海角在线鈥檚 Supper Honors Program. Teaching at The Conservatory School in North Palm Beach, Florida, she stimulates students to discuss what they鈥檝e learned from their reading or from current events. Her students open up, freely but respectfully expressing their opinions, sometimes about controversial subjects.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a judgment-free zone; we all have our own opinions, so we don鈥檛 really get mad at each other,鈥� explained one student. The result, said Hammaker, is a truly interactive forum for 鈥渟erious conversations about the world.鈥�
She recalled when those conversations around her class table included the tragic shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 鈥淚鈥檝e never been more thankful for this table and for this community than in light of times like that,鈥� she said.
In their discussion about Parkland and gun control controversy, Hammaker鈥檚 students asked, 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 people three or four times our age talk to each other respectfully?鈥� Responding to such tough questions, their teacher explained how she sees her students as future leaders: 鈥淗opefully you will be the eloquent, the respectful, the compassionate ones.鈥�
Hammaker teaches eighth-graders, in subjects including English, world history and a project-based class studying a different topic each semester.
She graduated聽summa cum laude聽from 海角在线, where she 鈥渃onsistently had a light in her eye and a big smile on her face,鈥� recalled Dr. Chelly Templeton, dean of the聽School of Education and Behavioral Studies. 鈥淜imberly was always ready to jump in and create new ways to help children achieve.鈥�
One of her students at the Conservatory School described Hammaker this way: 鈥淚 think the difference between her and other teachers, not here, but just teachers in general, is that she makes sure you do not fail. She does not give up on you. She always makes sure you鈥檙e doing your best.鈥�
