Ms. Hill is a teacher who is head-over-heels in love with the profession

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When she is not in her classroom or behind her computer, Ms. Hill enjoys relaxing with yoga.

Ms. Megan Hill has taught at Armijo for the last four years, and this year she divides her time between History and English.

Before coming to Armijo, Ms. Hill taught at schools in both Vallejo and Napa. She spent 14 years teaching in the Waldorf system and uses many of those methods in her classroom at Armijo. Those include creative research projects that are used to assess the progress of her individual students. She continues to teach yoga classes in Napa.

She became a teacher because, as she explained, it’s in her blood and it’s all she had ever really wanted to do. Her favorite part about being a teacher is the very personal connection that she makes with her students and colleagues. She said that she absolutely loves the Armijo High School community.

If Ms. Hill could change one thing about Armijo, she said it would be that she would love for the wandering students to go to class and to find an adult they trust, that they would recognize the value in education and what Armijo has to offer. Collaborating with students and staff makes joy and not many schools allow for much collaboration and we were lucky indeed.

“Be prepared to work for 12 hour days and be paid for 6.5 hours,” said Ms. Hill, sharing advice for future teachers. “Do it for the love, love your students, be passionate about teaching your passions.”

Ms. Hill was one of those future teachers not so long ago. She graduated from Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena before going to college. She spent time at Harvard, Boston University, UC Berkeley, and San Francisco State. When she was working her way through her studies, she also did a lot of other work. In high school, she worked at Planned Parenthood and, in college, she waited on tables and worked in university libraries through work/study programs.

When she is not in the classroom or planning her detailed and entertaining lessons, Ms. Hill loves to read, garden, hike, stand up paddleboard, and do yoga every day. She also likes to write, travel, and cross-stitch.

Her son Owen is in law school studying Social Justice and her daughter Elena is a high school history teacher.

“I am so very proud of the way the AHS community has come together to support each other during this very crazy and unexpected crisis,” she said as she sheltered-at-home due to the COVID-19 situation. “This turn to online learning has been very challenging and the flexibility of staff and students has been lovely. I really miss my classroom and communities created on campus. Nothing can replace that, however, the work we were committing to online seems to be creative”.