Mount Healthy High School Teacher Honored for Inspiring UC Student to Pursue Her Field of Study

UC senior Jesykah Hughes remembers a special high school teacher who pushed her students to give their very best. Hughes says it was those high expectations that helped her succeed in college, and as a result, she’s giving something back to this former teacher and mentor.

Mrs. Angela Brill of Mount Airy, a high-school English teacher at Mount Healthy High School, will be one of three teachers from around the Tristate to receive the Cincinnati USA Outstanding Educator Award at

UC’s Commencement Ceremony, coming up at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 9, at Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center

. Brill will be presented with a $1,000 UC scholarship to present to a high-school senior who plans to enter UC in the 2007-2008 academic year.

Hughes is a 21-year-old UC senior who plans to graduate next August with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in history. “Every day that I write a paper for history or for journalism, I owe my skills to Mrs. Brill. She taught me the skills that I needed for college, and if I had to look back and thank one person for helping me find my career, it would be Mrs. Brill,” says Hughes, who was a student in Brill’s 12th-grade Advanced Placement (AP) English class.

Brill’s own 21-year career in teaching got its start at the University of Cincinnati, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in education in 1986 and a master’s degree in secondary education from UC in 1987. She says her passion for teaching was in part a result of overcoming the tragic death of her 18-year-old brother, who died when she was 20 years old. “I knew I wanted to go into a helping profession. I wanted to be one of the people who answered the need to have an adult that a teenager could turn to – who could provide structure and continuity and help them make their dreams come true.”

Brill adds that one of her mentors in teaching, Associate Professor Chet Laine, still works at UC, preparing teachers in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. “I would credit most of my early success to Chet Laine, who was a wonderful mentor and who helped me understand the importance of building a foundation for learning by building relationships with students.”

Laine says Brill continues to serve the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, speaking about her own personal experiences in teaching to future teachers and serving as a mentor to UC teaching interns. “She has an incredible empathy for a diverse range of students,” he says. “She’s an extremely talented teacher, and that shows in the way her career has advanced through the English department at Mount Healthy High School. She’s a ‘salt-of-the-earth’ human being.”

“I loved her class,” Hughes says of Mrs. Brill, recalling 12th-grade AP English. She agrees that building relationships builds on learning. “If you’re a teacher and you’re just trying to get through the school year, you’re not a good teacher. A great teacher really cares about the student, and works to describe the material so that the student understands it. Mrs. Brill never gave up on me. She always found a way to show me how to learn something that I may not have first understood.”

“Building relationships with students provides teachers with the opportunity to reach them academically,” Brill says. “Once you’ve built that relationship, you need to set high standards for their performance and push them toward a higher level of achievement that even they thought was possible.”

In addition to the honors at the December Commencement Ceremony, Jesykah Hughes and Mrs. Brill will also be able to catch up on old times when they attend a special brunch hosted by UC President Nancy L. Zimpher prior to the ceremony. The brunch will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, at the UC Faculty Club.

Read more about the Cincinnati USA Outstanding Educator Award

UC Commencement Web site