Three Local Teachers, All UC Alums, to Be Honored at UC s December Commencement

The careers of a high-school English teacher, a fifth-grade science teacher and a middle-and-high-school music teacher will be celebrated at UC’s December Commencement Ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center. The teachers are the recipients of UC’s Cincinnati USA Outstanding Educator Award – an honor coming from nominations by soon-to-graduate UC students who wanted to recognize the teacher who fueled student dreams of pursuing a higher education. Final selections for the USA Outstanding Educator Award came from a seven-member awards committee representing UC students, faculty, staff and administrators.

The award recipients will soon revisit with the student who is honoring them at the December Commencement Ceremony. All are invited to a special brunch with UC President Nancy L. Zimpher that will take place at 11 a.m., Dec. 9, in the UC Faculty Club. At the afternoon commencement ceremony each of the three teachers will be presented with a $1,000 scholarship to present to a student of their choosing who’s planning to enter UC in the 2007-2008 academic year.

Earlier in the fall, President Zimpher invited UC students from around the Cincinnati USA region who were close to graduating to nominate a former teacher from preschool through 12th grades who fueled their love for education and inspired them to continue on the path to a higher education. The honorees were selected from 21 nominations.

The recipients of the 2006 Cincinnati USA Outstanding Educator Award are

Angela Brill

– The Mount Healthy High School English teacher has led the classroom for 21 years and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UC. Her nominator, 21-year-old Jesykah Hughes of Mount Healthy, says “…if I had to look back and thank one person for helping me find my career, it would be Mrs. Brill.”

Donald Koller

– The Summerside Elementary School science teacher has spent 23 years teaching fifth grade and earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from UC. His nominator, 22-year-old Kevin Kew of Milford, remembers his fifth-grade teacher as the first teacher to treat him as an adult, and also has fond memories of a metric walk, a class chess tournament, and a classroom snake named Rocky Balboa.

Gayley Hautzenroeder

– The orchestra teacher for Pleasant Run Middle School and Northwest High School earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from UC and has dedicated 35 years to teaching. Her nominator, 22-year-old Leah Elaine Gindele, graduates Dec. 9 with a bachelor’s degree in communication, and says “Mrs. H. …put her heart and soul into everything that she did.”

UC’s new December Commencement ceremony, marking its second year, is a celebration that exemplifies the UC|21 strategic plan to place students at the center of the university. Each of the marching graduates will have their names announced at the ceremony and will be personally congratulated by President Zimpher and their college deans. The ceremony recognizes graduates who finished their degree last summer or this fall. UC’s doctoral hooding ceremony will be held in the spring.

UC Commencement Web site