Gina Hart '01 Named
Philadelphia Teacher of the Year

by Alisa Giardinelli
05/01/2008

Gina Hart '01 received the Philadelphia School District's teacher of the year award. (Jessica Griffin/Daily News)

Gina Hart '01, a high school English teacher known for her enthusiasm and dedication to her students, received the Philadelphia School District's teacher of the year award this week.  Hart, who spent a year after graduation  teaching English in South Korea on a Fulbright Fellowship, has only taught in the city for six years.  But in a district with nearly 10,000 teachers,  her efforts to motivate her students to attend college and her work as the sponsor of multiple student clubs stood out.  "There are so many people who have had more experience and done a lot more," she told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's a great honor."  The Inquirer later published an editorial lauding her achievement.

Earlier this year, Hart brought some of her students to campus for Martin Luther King's birthday.  Faculty members who remember her are understandably proud. "It's wonderful when a teacher's hard work is recognized and valued," says Professor and Chair of Educational Studies Lisa Smulyan '76.  "Gina has always put her all into her teaching, from student teaching through to the present."