Mary Alice Hamilton
Facilitator
My favorite project I did when I was in school happened by accident. I grew up in rural southern Ohio, and so next door to our yard was a cornfield. One day in early spring when I was in 6th grade, while the field was still empty, there was a torrential downpour. Afterward, my two younger brothers and I walked through the field and discovered that the rain had eroded much of the soil to reveal all kinds of beautiful rocks. Every day we would go into the field and find something new. Obviously there was a huge mystery to solve since we found tons of granite, an igneous rock, and yet there was no volcano in sight. We were homeschooling at the time, and so we decided to research more about rocks and minerals and their origins. We checked out all the rocks and minerals books from the library and poured over them. At the end of the project, we insisted on dressing like miners and scientists while we presented our rock collection and what we learned about them to our parents.
Fast forward to high school. I’ve started to attend a public high school and since enrolling, I realized how rare it was to have experiences like I did when I was homeschooled or when I attended a Montessori kindergarten. I found myself struggling to maintain my passion for learning. I knew that others had to be feeling the way I was, which was why I decided to become an educator. My goal was to create a learning environment that would foster a love of learning.
After college, I have since worked in several very different schools. I started at a suburban private school in Indiana, then moved to an urban charter school in Ohio, then a suburban charter, and now World Over International School. During each of these experiences, I have gained a new understanding and appreciation for the world and those that live in it. I value each of our learner’s individual strengths, personality quirks, and contributions to our learning community and my goal is to provide learning experiences that nourish their growth into curious, confident, and kind global citizens.