North Augusta High School teacher Elisabeth Hardy, who teaches English and reportedly "tells a lot of good stories," has a new one to share today, as she spent much of Wednesday being honored as one of the state's superb teachers.
Hardy, one of five nominees for South Carolina Teacher of the Year, saw the award go to Gaffney Senior High School teacher Erin Fox, who also teaches English. As the winner, Fox will receive $25,000 and have the use of a new BMW for a year.
Amelia Murdock, a senior at North Augusta High, is one of Hardy's students this year, studying Advanced Placement English Literature under Hardy's guidance. Murdock commented Wednesday evening on Hardy's excellence as a teacher.
"First of all, she's extremely smart, and she incorporates a lot into our lesson, and she brings in outside sources a lot, and videos that would help us understand the material, and she really makes learning fun," Amelia said. "She tells a lot of good stories, and just really makes sure that we really understand the material."
Wednesday's event, with the South Carolina Department of Education and South Carolina Future Minds as co-hosts, was held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, and the big news came just before 9 p.m.
Among Hardy's local adult admirers is Sara Ellis, who is now a counselor at Fox Creek High School and once served in the same role at North Augusta.
"She is probably one of the kindest, most caring and generous teachers I know," said Ellis, referring to Hardy. "I mean, working with her is a privilege. She and I once worked on a committee together, as well, but ... she would come to work so positive and upbeat.
"One of the things she'd always do at North Augusta, and she probably still does, is she would bake to relieve her stress, and so her AP Lit kids would end up getting fed all kind of goodies every Monday after she had a stressful weekend. That's just one of her things. Even in her stress, she's thinking of others."
Julia Smith, a senior at the high school, has Hardy for AP English Literature, and offered some insight Wednesday evening. "She's always having us do different group work, and then we kind of teach that back to the class, with her help ... She helps us understand the different topics that we're going over, and she's really helpful. I just really like the fact that she really cares for us, like she's known us for our whole lives."
She also confirmed the occasional appearance of baked goods. "She'll bring us breakfast on occasion, to make sure that we're all eating. Today she brought us biscuits and a granola bar."
Also working with Hardy at the high school has been Aiken resident Phyllis Britt, through her association with the Real Life 101 class, which exposes upperclassmen to such facts of life as personal finance, car maintenance, entrepreneurship, law enforcement, apartment rental and local government.
"When I taught Real Life and she was the coordinator, I was impressed with her rapport with the kids. Every day she would say things like, 'Don't drink this weekend. ... Have fun but don't do anything foolish ... Drive carefully,' – and even an occasional, 'Don't have sex,'" Britt wrote.
"Her curriculum is very impressive – using really good lit with a message and incorporating good behavior, good manners, etc. into the program. And while she was being an exceptional teacher, she was dealing with getting her husband to Charleston regularly for cancer treatments. And she never raises her voice," she added.
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