Charles Hilgendorf
A few years ago, Scholars' Academy was lucky to hire Mr. Hilgendorf, and steal him from our neighbor across the street. During his 3 and a half years here, Mr.Hilgendorf has become an integral part of the Scholars' Academy community.
From teaching various courses to coaching golf and crunching data, he has shown that he truly cares about and loves this school. (His school pride is also evidenced by the fact that he wears the school uniform most days of the week). In his time here he has taught Earth Science, Chemistry and AP Chemistry - all with phenomenal results. His chemistry regents results last year outperformed almost all (if not all) other NYC high schools. He has coached the boys golf team and helped create a girls golf program as well. He is a member of the Data Inquiry team, and can often be heard rattling off data about the high school. He is constantly looking for ways in which we can improve not only our progress report, but the learning environment for our students and teachers alike. His data inquiry has helped to drive programming and instructional decisions to better suit the needs of all of our students. His inquiry team membership has also had him playing a role in many of the professional development afternoons for the teachers.
Furthermore, Mr. Hilgendorf can often be found at school events, whether it's attending a volleyball game, helping out at a school dance, spending his free time helping a colleague with a lab, chaperoning the prom, or volunteering for a high school orientation. He rarely misses a day of work and is always willing to jump in and assist a student or a teacher - even covering a lunch duty in June for a 9-month pregnant colleague. Every fall he is asked to write numerous college recommendations, and he writes each and every one from the heart. It takes him a long time, but he wants to make sure that he gives every student the letter that fully describes all of their academic and personal qualities.
At home, Mr. Hilgendorf is the consummate family man. He is a loving husband, and a phenomenal dad to his beautiful children, Charles (who just received Student of the Month at 114) and Abigail. In between grading AP Chemistry papers, he finds time to do homework and read books with his kids - and cook dinner every night!
But aside from his resume, what really makes Mr. Hilgendorf a crucial member of the Scholars' Academy team is his true love of teaching children. While he may not always be the most conventional teacher, there is not a day that goes by that he does not spend his prep time, lunch time, and any other free time helping students with chemistry, earth science, or even physics. His door is always open and he never turns a student away who needs help. He is constantly researching articles and new developments in science so that he can incorporate them into his lessons. He always knows exactly what each student needs to work on to become a better science student,and targets those specific areas. Ask any of the Scholars' alumni who are freshmen in college, and they will all say that they are tops in their chemistry classes thanks to Mr. Hilgendorf. His patience and dedication to the students has inspired many former students to become chemistry majors and education majors. In our video to President Obama, so many of our (then) seniors referenced Mr. Hilgendorf as the teacher who truly inspired them, and he does, every day. He is the type of teacher that students will remember when they are 90 years old.